Warner Bros. Discovery's Max streaming service -- with roughly 117 million subscribers worldwide -- has "a clear, demonstrable path" to 150 million by the end of 2026, CEO David Zaslav said Thursday as the company announced Q4 2024 results. The U.S. is largely a mature market, and most of that Max growth will likely come internationally, said President-Global Streaming J.B. Perrette. Zaslav said Max plans to launch in markets including the U.K., Australia and Germany in coming years. Warner Bros. Discovery had revenue of $10 billion in Q4, compared with $10.3 billion a year earlier. CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels said Q4 ad sales were weaker than expected, particularly with political advertising on CNN. He said Q1 2025 is showing "some mild positive signals" from the ad market.

Paramount+ should be profitable this year, Paramount Global said Wednesday as it announced Q4 2024 results. It said the streaming service added 10 million subscribers in 2024, ending the year with 77.5 million. Viewing hours across its Paramount+ and Pluto TV streaming services were up 28% year over year. The company said it saw revenue of $8 billion in the quarter, compared with $7.6 billion in the same quarter a year earlier. TV revenue was down slightly, due to fewer sporting events on CBS and a softer linear TV advertising market. The company also said it expects the Skydance Media deal to close in the first half of the year.

The FCC should dismiss Mack Toys’ complaint against Paramount Global because it fails to bring a claim where relief can be granted, Paramount said in a motion Wednesday. Mack’s complaint concerned Paramount’s trademark on the word “slime,” which Mack said violates the Communications Act (see 2502060068). It invoked Section 308 of the act, which applies only to common carriers, Paramount said. “The Complaint, however, does not allege that Paramount Global is a common carrier, and nor could it -- Paramount Global operates broadcast stations and other media that in no way resemble a common carrier.” The Enforcement Bureau should dismiss the complaint, Paramount said. In a separate filing, the company also asked for filing deadlines connected with the complaint to be suspended.

In a pair of posts on Truth Social, President Donald Trump said Saturday that MSNBC is a threat to democracy and parent company Comcast “should be forced to pay vast sums of money for what they've done to our country.” He called Comcast “Concast” and MSNBC “MSDNC” in one post, in which he also said the “whole corrupt operation is nothing more than an illegal arm of the Democrat Party.” MSNBC has “BAD PEOPLE AT THE TOP!” he said in another post. Trump has repeatedly decried Comcast, and the FCC under Chairman Brendan Carr has opened an investigation into Comcast's diversity policies and reinstated a complaint against NBCUniversal over allegations that it violated the FCC's equal opportunity rules (see 2502110063).

Litigation such as FuboTV's challenge of the now-defunct Venu sports streaming platform points to sports being must-have content, International Center for Law & Economics senior scholar Eric Fruits wrote Friday. Companies under competitive pressure will likely try legislative solutions as well to try to forestall any changes in how sports content gets delivered, he said. But price controls or mandates to unbundle sports content could lead to unintended consequences such as reduced investment in sports programming or stifled innovation, he said. "Media regulations are often implemented with an eye on the rear-view mirror, rather than out the front windshield, inviting the likelihood they will be obsolete soon after they are enacted."

Paramount Global content, including CBS, will go dark on YouTube TV starting Friday, YouTube said. The platform said it's "fighting for an agreement that avoids passing along additional costs and offers you more flexibility in how you watch your favorite sports and shows." It said that if the blackout goes on "for an extended period of time," subscribers will receive an $8 credit. Paramount didn't comment Thursday.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s plan to investigate agency regulatees over diversity, equity and inclusion programs causes Commissioner Geoffrey Starks “grave concern,” he said in an emailed statement Wednesday. “From what I know, this enforcement action is out of our lane and out of our reach,” Starks said. “I have asked for a briefing to understand the Enforcement Bureau’s theory of the case, the authority relied upon, and any prior precedent.” In a letter Tuesday to Comcast CEO Brian Roberts, Carr said the FCC “will be taking fresh action to ensure that every entity the FCC regulates complies with the civil rights protections enshrined in the Communications Act and the agency’s [equal employment opportunity] rules, including by shutting down any programs that promote invidious forms of DEI discrimination.” Starks pointed out that as a commissioner, Carr excoriated the prior FCC’s digital discrimination proceeding as “a framework that gives the FCC a nearly limitless power to veto private sector decisions.” At the time, Carr said the FCC’s restrictions on digital discrimination were “motivated by an ideology of government control that is not compatible with the fundamental precepts of free market capitalism.” In a post Wednesday on X, he said, “I expect that every entity the FCC regulates will be complying with our civil rights laws.”

Skydance could address the Center for American Rights’ allegations about news distortion at CBS and the deal to purchase the broadcast network by privately agreeing to conditions on the company’s news operations proposed by CAR, the organization's president, Daniel Suhr, said in an interview Tuesday (see 2502110073). Suhr said he was encouraged by Skydance and CBS parent Paramount Global’s response brief stating that they're committed to fair and balanced journalism. “That’s good rhetoric. I just want to make sure it's not simply sentimentality, that there's something concrete to it, and if we can find a way to structure something that's concrete and accountable,” he said. The news distortion complaint and the Skydance merger are “different docket numbers and even different bodies of FCC doctrine,” but CAR’s underlying concerns in both proceedings are the same, Suhr said. “If they can address those concerns, I think that'd be real progress.” CAR, Fuse Media and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters submitted a joint ex parte filing Tuesday supporting one another’s positions and proposing conditions on the deal. CAR’s proposals include increased viewpoint diversity on the New Paramount board, editorial staff located in cities besides New York and Los Angeles, and an oversight board or ombudsman. The Teamsters and Fuse want Skydance to reach collective bargaining agreements with all employees and reserve space on streaming services for independent programmers. There’s precedent for companies reaching private agreements to address regulator concerns in lieu of merger conditions, said David Goodfriend, who represents Fuse and the Teamsters. “We're not trying to kill the deal,” he said. “We're not trying to be obstructionist. We just want to see the deal go through in a way that respects the public interest.”

Conservative group the Center for American Rights has joined with Fuse Media and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in asking the FCC to “avoid rubber-stamping Skydance’s proposed $8 billion acquisition of Paramount Global and hold Skydance accountable for keeping its public interest commitments,” according to a joint ex parte filing Tuesday. CAR President Daniel Suhr and attorney David Goodfriend -- who represents Fuse and the Teamsters -- met with Commissioner Nathan Simington, acting Media Bureau Chief Erin Boone, and aides to Commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Anna Gomez in a call Tuesday. “Each of us filed comments addressing very different issues in this transaction but with the same goal: making sure that Skydance lives up to statements it made to the FCC,” said the filing. CAR and Goodfriend’s clients said they believe Skydance should provide more details to the agency and be held accountable, the filing said. Both groups in the ex parte filing listed possible conditions the FCC should impose on Skydance. CAR, which filed the news distortion complaint against CBS, wants Skydance held to commitments on unbiased news and said the FCC should require more viewpoint diversity on the New Paramount board, editorial staff located in cities besides New York and Los Angeles, and a well-funded oversight board or ombudsman. The Teamsters and Fuse want the agency to require collective bargaining agreements with all employees and reserve programming services on PlutoTV and other streaming platforms for independently owned content providers.

Paramount Global's restrictive trademark on the word "slime" is a Communications Act violation, toy putty and slime maker Mack Toys said Wednesday (24-275). In a 69-page complaint, Mack said that Paramount not letting it advertise its toy slime products using that word undermines the Communications Act's Section 214 requirement that the FCC "ensure non-discriminatory access to communication services." Mack said Paramount's "slime" monopolization "is emblematic of broader anticompetitive practices that harm small businesses." It said the FCC needs to erect structural remedies preventing greater monopolistic behavior if the Paramount/Skydance Media deal is allowed to go through. Mack said requiring Paramount to drop its exclusive rights to the word "would restore fair competition in toy, digital app, and media markets."