Media
Shields weighs next move at the Herald
Bevan Shields clocks four years in the Herald’s top job next week, but industry chatter says he won’t make it to five, with a quiet move into another senior role expected.
According to James Madden at The Australian, rumours have been swirling for months, and with killing season looming, the smart read is an early-2026 exit.
Jordan Baker remains the favoured successor.
BBC plans overhaul of editorial oversight
The Guardian’s Michael Savage reports that the BBC is preparing a shake-up of how it handles editorial concerns, a move that will curb the influence of former adviser Michael Prescott, whose memo on alleged liberal bias helped spark internal turmoil.
A new deputy director general role is expected to be added to ease the load on Tim Davie’s successor, with senior leaders arguing the organisation has become too unwieldy for one person to run.
Radio
Nine cools talk of a Singleton radio deal
Weekend gossip suggested Nine Radio had quietly shaken hands with John Singleton’s consortium on a $25m to $30m play for the network.
But as James Madden reports in The Australian (a busy day for Madden), sources familiar with the process say there is no verbal agreement with Singleton or anyone else, and Nine is still deep in its strategic review of its audio assets.
Social Media
Platforms stall on under-16s pledge
Tech platforms covered by the Albanese government’s upcoming under-16s ban are refusing to publish a compliance pledge drafted by the eSafety Commissioner, fuelling talk of possible legal pushback as the deadline looms.
As Sam Buckingham-Jones and Paul Smith report in The Australian Financial Review, the Commissioner also added Twitch to the age-restricted list on Friday, a late inclusion that caught the industry off guard.
Companies
Paramount Skydance leads early in WBD bidding
Paramount Skydance is shaping up as the frontrunner to buy Warner Bros Discovery, with industry chatter pointing to one surprising advantage: it is the only bidder keen to keep CNN in the deal.
The New York Post’s Charles Gasparino reports formal bids from Paramount Skydance, Comcast and Netflix landed on Thursday, kicking off the race for a portfolio that spans a major Hollywood studio, a top streaming service, HBO and CNN.