David Ellison and David Zaslav. (Status/Patrick Fallon/Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images)
Over the summer, David Zaslav was deep in negotiations with Paramount over “South Park,” hoping to extend HBO Max’s licensing deal for the popular program. For the previous five years, Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s powerhouse comedy show had streamed exclusively on the Warner Bros. Discovery platform after the episodes aired on Paramount’s Comedy Central, serving as an audience magnet for the service. Zaslav, naturally, wanted to keep the popular series in the fold.
During the talks, Zaslav floated an unconventional idea: a 10-year, $1 billion licensing agreement that would not grant HBO Max exclusivity. Instead, he proposed co-sharing the rights with Paramount, a structure that both surprised and delighted the Paramount side. But David Ellison, the then-incoming Paramount chief who inserted himself into the negotiations, suggested a tweak. He wanted to cut the term from ten years to five—an ask Zaslav ultimately accommodated, though the licensing fee would also be cut in about half. At that point, the two sides had what amounted to what was believed to be a handshake agreement.
Then Ellison reversed course. Apparently unhappy with the price Paramount received for “South Park” in its broader arrangement with Parker and Stone, Ellison relayed to WBD that it would need to absorb half the additional cost, Status has learned. Parker and Stone even offered to cover the costs to get a deal done, but the idea was rejected by Paramount. The eleventh-hour drama blindsided WBD, which thought it had a deal all but inked, and left Zaslav irritated and increasingly distrustful of Ellison, Status has learned. Paramount later announced a direct deal with Parker and Stone, making Paramount+ the exclusive streaming home for “South Park” and prompting the removal of all 26 seasons from HBO Max.
The episode was one of Zaslav’s first business interactions with Ellison and, suffice to say, it didn’t leave him feeling great. Indeed, afterward, Zaslav privately…
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The New York Times building. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
The NYT's Pentagon Pushback: The NYT on Thursday filed a lawsuit against the Pentagon, accusing the Pete Hegseth-led Department of Defense of infringing on its First Amendment rights by seeking to impose draconian restrictions on what its journalists could report in exchange for credentials. Every major media outlet—including Fox News—opted against signing on to the new rules, which prohibited basic news gathering activities, given it would reduce their journalists to propaganda mouthpieces for the U.S. government. "The Policy abandons scrutiny by independent news organizations for the public's benefit, and it violates the Constitution's guarantees of due process, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press," the lawsuit stated. Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in response: "We are aware of the New York Times lawsuit and look forward to addressing these arguments in court."
Who exactly will anchor the “CBS Evening News” in a month? Maurice DuBois announced he will exit the network, following in the footsteps of co-host John Dickerson who also announced his exit earlier this year. [LAT]
Thus far, the outside talent Bari Weiss and Tom Cibrowski have expressed interest in—Bret Baier, Anderson Cooper, Matt Gutman—have all…
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