This Week’s Highlights:
Skydance closed its Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger owing nearly $80 billion; Fitch puts its debt at 7.8 times earnings, against the 2 to 3 usual for media companies (TheWrap). Disney is preparing layoffs of thousands more, with some managers asked for annual savings of up to 20 percent (Deadline).
The New York Times is negotiating to buy Letterboxd, the film-lovers’ social network, for $330 million, over 20 times its projected earnings (IndieWire).
A federal judge froze construction of Trump’s 250-foot arch for 14 days, less than two hours after a planning commission approved it 8–4 (NPR). In Bogotá, a judge gave the government 48 hours to restore 63 objects it had pulled from the Museo Nacional for “political indoctrination,” and the ministry complied (The Art Newspaper).
The Phoenix Symphony laid off all 66 musicians two weeks ago; now musicians, board and staff say playing could resume this month, though a $6.5 million donation is on hold (KJZZ). The Boston Symphony premiered a score by Tod Machover, the MIT Media Lab composer, in which an AI, run by an operator embedded in the orchestra, answers the players (Los Angeles Times).
All this week’s stories below, organized by topic.