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No doubt. I'm already talking to my AG.

Even with this, there is no way this deal actually passes this year. The EU review is likely to last into the fall, by which time the multi-state AG lawsuit will probably be filed. We’ve got a long way to go…

I know this was announced over a month ago, but I'm surprised no one made a post on here regarding this. https://deadline.com/2026/05/the-westminster-dog-show-netflix-2027-1236900363/

The Justice Department has signed off on the $110 billion Paramount Skydance acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, concluding after an eight-month investigation that the deal is "not likely to result in harm to competition or American consumers." This is really difficult to take that at face value. This merges two of Hollywood's oldest studios, combining CBS, Paramount+, HBO Max, CNN, and a suite of cable channels under one roof controlled by David Ellison, son of Oracle's Larry Ellison and a Trump ally. Over 1,000 entertainment professionals sent an open letter calling this out as further concentrating an already concentrated market. The DOJ reviewed two million documents and heard from extensive third parties. That doesn't scream confidence in the outcome. It screams "we covered ourselves." We must also consider recent actions of Bari Weiss. Ellison installed her as CBS News editor-in-chief, and one of her first major moves was firing multiple "60 Minutes" correspondents at the end of the most recent season. Think about that timing: Weiss purges veteran CBS News talent while the acquisition is still pending DOJ clearance. Whether that was editorial housecleaning, ideological realignment, or a signal to Ellison's allies in Washington is a fair question nobody at DOJ apparently felt like asking. That's the part the "not harmful to competition" framing conveniently sidesteps. Competition in distribution is one thing. What happens to editorial independence when a Trump-aligned owner's hand-picked editor starts cutting staff at a 60-year-old news institution before the ink is even dry is another question entirely. State AGs in California and New York are still investigating. Senator Warren is calling it "terrible news for every American." The EU is reviewing the deal separately over its backing by three Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds: Saudi Arabia's PIF, Abu Dhabi's L'IMAD, and Qatar's QIA. This is not settled. Watch the AG actions. Source: NBC News

https://www.fox32chicago.com/video/fmc-v3kmck5k2i59gtlz

The announcement was cut off on the stream. Here it is in it's entirety:

A sad day today in the Today household... Gene Shalit has passed away. The longtime film critic was 100. He spent 40 years on the program, the first three part-time in 1970 before spending the next 37 years full time before retiring in 2010. https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/gene-shalit-today-show-movie-critic-dies-100-rcna103405

Hopefully she gets a better send off than the one she got at ABC7. Edit: Oops it looks like she did and its posted on YouTube.

This is awful. It had become abundantly clear that Bill’s performance was fading. He’s a legend, I remember enjoying his stint on GMA decades before I moved to NYC. His history of work speaks for itself and it’s admirable that he’s continuing his work at WABC to help the next generation. A lasting legacy in this great city. Thank you for everything Bill.

I saw parts of the 6pm newscast and Liz was on the verge of tears at the beginning of the newscast and right before the last commercial break. This must of happened this week and Bill wanted to say goodbye to the viewers while he still could. It make sense now that Liz has joined him on Up-close and Sandra has filled in for Liz at 6pm for the last few months. I wish Bill the best from Chicago and as he said, hopeful for a cure for Alzheimer's/dementia.

Wow this came sooner than expected. Bill was a household name and while I wasn’t his biggest fan this is still very sad. To compare the “weight” of his name to the earlier anchors I don’t think is fair because times were a little different then, like now you can’t really compare names tho those in the 90s. I wonder if this is why the station decided to starting putting “fill in” anchors at 6. I assume it will be David or Sandra to fill the spot.

RIP Gene and that mustache https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/gene-shalit-today-show-movie-critic-dies-100-rcna103405?cid=sm_npd_nn_fb_ma&utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwdGRjcASZbedleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEe0awzPJjHOXzJzxEbXPM6mR_SCv_oEZ1_cQit2rNqb6QjabhMn-vxoZ7S6F4_aem_dpYqTp3XSgd-C1lXLUvcaQ

You know Bill Ritter may be the last anchor WABC has in a big caliber I haven’t seen Mike Marza enough to accurately say he’ll fill his shoes. But this is a great loss for them. What’s your thoughts on Mike Marza? Could he fill his shoes.

Sorry I couldn’t give an exact date last week - but the day has come. We all saw Bill fading - and we knew about the struggle - and those of us around long enough saw the similarities to Bill Beutel. Just as his predecessor - he is a journalistic giant. Ritter may not be from the same era as the storied NY anchors - but he has earned the respect of his colleagues at WABC and the network. The truth is that he kept viewers watching when the opportunity was there for them to stray - and he has steered what is the channel 7 ship for 25 years.

This very much reminds see I have some family in NYC I’d watch Bill all the time always engaged energetic newsman. I reminded me where I live locally where an anchor had a similar situation he stepped down and announced he had ALS. That station was WABC sister station WTVD it was another prominent anchor announcing he stepping down due to an essential slow death sentence. I wish bill very well is there a survival rate.

Here's one... https://au.variety.com/2026/tv/news/network-10-unveils-new-channel-101-broadcasting-entire-schedule-one-hour-later-37521/

And this will also be reported on the national WNT this evening as well.

Posted this in the WABC thread, but thought I'd post here too knowing he's done nat'l work in the past for ABC, but Bill Ritter is stepping down as Eyewitness News anchor tonight after the 6pm news citing health. https://nypost.com/2026/06/12/media/abc-new-york-anchor-bill-ritter-to-retire-due-to-health-issue-sources/

After 40+ years in the business, Sylvia Perez has decided to step down as a anchor/reporter at Fox 32.

Sad day for WABC as Bill Ritter is expected to announce today he'll step down from the anchor chair at Eyewitness News citing health. Filled the big shoes of the legendary Bill Beutel (RIP) well & pretty much the last of the well-known guard amongst NYC news anchors as pretty much elsewhere on the dial, hardly much notoriety or gravitas amongst what's out there. All the best, Bill!! https://nypost.com/2026/06/12/media/abc-new-york-anchor-bill-ritter-to-retire-due-to-health-issue-sources/

Link's broken. Try again, this time with the actual link, not the routed-through-LinkedIn-for-data-collection-purposes version.

Don't give them any ideas.

Just today, I came across a rare WCMH commercial block from November 1982 and at the beginning is a portion of a promo that WCMH used featuring meteorologist Jym Ganahl who was at the station during this time. But, here is something fascinating I came across. WCMH's slogan at the time was "That's What Friends Are For" which leads me to believe that this must have been the name of WCMH's 1983 news theme. However, I do not know who composed the theme package. You can view the video below the text to check it out. Also, you can go at 20:22 to view the Larry Roberts promo that is in this video.

Are they now?

After six years, today was Sam Jacques' last day at WZZM 13. Its also her last day in the TV business.