Gerald Levin, Media Executive Behind Time Warner-AOL Merger Debacle, Dies at 84

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Paramount Global and its parent company are moving closer to an agreement with Skydance Media for an exclusive window for acquisition negotiations as Shari Redstone and David Ellison inch toward a deal to bring their companies together in a three-way transaction. The New York Times on Tuesday reported on the rumors that have been swirling around Hollywood for the past few days.

Trump Media & Technology Group, the newly formed company whose assets include nascent social media platform Truth Social, has reported 2023 revenue of $4.1 million and a net loss of $58.2 million.

Tyler Blevins, the 32-year-old video gaming superstar and the “Ice Cream”-costumed competitor on The Masked Singer, has revealed a diagnosis of melanoma after a mole removed from his foot proved to be skin cancer.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Hernan Lopez, the former 21st Century Fox executive who launched podcasting giant Wondery in 2016, has set up consulting firm Owl & Co. aimed at delivering data and analysis designed to help media and entertainment businesses manage the transition to the streaming era. Lopez has put early emphasis on a deep-dive study of the streaming content marketplace, using available viewership and spending data to crunch the ROI numbers based on the cost of TV series and movies.

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor Paula Weinstein, the respected producer of films including “The Perfect Storm,” “Analyze This,” “The Fabulous Baker Boys” and “Blood Diamond,” and former chief content officer at Tribeca Enterprises, died Monday in New York. She was 78.

EXCLUSIVE: Canadians are consuming as much or more content than ever and Sean Cohan’s job is to make sure that one of Bell Media’s services is where they go to for it. “I know that from three years of working in measurement and data analytics that sleep is losing and consumption is winning,” he says. The analytics reference speaks to his time as Chief Growth Officer & President at Nielsen, which followed a stint as President of Pawn Stars prodco Wheelhouse, and before that, 15 years at A+E.

CBS News has hired Rhona Tarrant to serve as executive editor of CBS News Confirmed, its new verification and fact-checking initiative.

No, King Charles III is not dead!

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Minute Media, the sports media company that owns The Players’ Tribune, landed the publishing rights to Sports Illustrated — coming two months after a financial crisis at SI’s former publishing partner led to mass layoffs. ABG had previously licensed the rights to publish Sports Illustrated the magazine to a company called Arena Group — but after the Arena Group missed a recent $3.75 million payment, in January, ABG revoked the license, leading the Arena Group to institute major job cuts at the publication.

Veteran New York City broadcast news anchor Bill Jorgensen, remembered for his show’s nightly admonishment, “It’s 10 o’clock — do you know where your children are?” died on Wednesday at age 96.

A fitness influencer tragically passed away at the age of 23 in a freak accident this week that occurred while filming content during a trip to Italy.

Dan Wakefield, a prolific author and journalist who made television history when he created and wrote the controversial late-1970s drama James at 15 only to resign when NBC executives bristled over an episode’s depiction of teenage sexuality, died yesterday at a hospice facility in Miami. He was 91, and had been in declining health in recent months.

Meredith Woerner Deputy Editor, Variety.com The last scandalous reveal in Ryan Murphy’s docudrama “Feud: Capote vs. The Swans” was far more surprising than any of the gossip-filled tales penned by Truman Capote (played by Tom Hollander). The final twist came 32 years after his death when a longtime confidant, Joanne Carson (played in the drama by Molly Ringwald), decided to auction off the writer’s remains to the highest bidder.

Gerald M. Levin, the former CEO of Time Warner who helped oversee its calamitous merger with AOL, died Wednesday in Long Beach, CA. He was 84.

EXCLUSIVE: The Bear creator Christopher Storer is shooting Season 3 of the 10-time Emmy-winning show in Chicago, but he’s lined up a big feature project at Warner Bros: the big-screen take of Amor Towles’ The Lincoln Highway.

David Mixner, the activist and political strategist who lobbied — and protested — political figures in the movement for LGBTQ equality, died on Monday. He was 77.

Jaden Thompson Scott Kenyon, a longtime agent at Innovative Artists, died suddenly on February 15. He was 39. Kenyon’s death was confirmed by Innovative Artists.

Jaden Thompson Malachy McCourt, an Irish American author who also appeared on television as the bartender in “Ryan’s Hope,” died in Manhattan on March 11. He was 92. The New York Times received confirmation of his death from his wife, Diana McCourt.

EXCLUSIVE: New York Times bestselling writer and award-winning comic creator Brian K. Vaughan has signed with UTA for representation.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Steve Lawrence, a king among easy-listening crooners who rocketed to fame in the ’50s and ’60s as half of the duo Steve and Eydie, died Thursday at age 88. Lawrence died at home in Los Angeles, and the cause of death was complications from Alzheimer’s disease, according to a spokesperson for the family, Susan DuBow. Lawrence’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis had finally put an end to his touring career in 2019, after a run in the public eye that spanned six and a half decades.