Too Much TV: Paramount Global Bends A Knee To Trump. Maybe Two Knees

Just because this settlement was expected, that doesn't make it any easier to swallow.

Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Monday, June 30th 2025:

THE ANNOUNCEMENT EVERYONE KNEW WAS INEVITABLE
At midnight ET on Tuesday, Paramount Global announced it has reached an agreement with Donald Trump and Ronnie Jackson over a lawsuit filed against 60 Minutes. The settlement had long been expected, as President Trump has continued to suggest his administration won't make a decision about Paramount's pending merger with Skydance Media until this lawsuit was settled.

Here are the highlights of the proposed settlement:

Paramount has reached an agreement in principle to resolve the lawsuit filed by President Trump and Representative Jackson in the Northern District of Texas and a threatened defamation action concerning a separate 60 Minutes report.

Summary of terms
* Under the terms of the settlement, which were proposed by the mediator, Paramount will pay $16 million in total, which includes plaintiffs' fees and costs, and except for fees and costs, will be allocated to the future presidential library.

* No amount will be paid directly or indirectly to President Trump or Rep. Jackson personally. The settlement will include a release of all claims regarding any CBS reporting through the date of the settlement, including the Texas action and the threatened defamation action.

* The company has agreed that in the future, 60 Minutes will release transcripts of interviews with eligible U.S. presidential candidates after such interviews have aired, subject to redactions as required for legal or national security concerns.

*The settlement does not include a statement of apology or regret.

Notably, the statement from Paramount Global insists there is no connection between the two events, even though Paramount Global's Shari Redstone has pushed company executives to settle the lawsuit in order to pave way for the merger:

The lawsuit is completely separate from, and unrelated to, the Skydance transaction and the FCC approval process. We will abide by the legal process to defend our case.

As I noted, this settlement had been expected and I suppose the fact it doesn't include an apology or statement of regret should be seen as a win of sorts for Paramount Global.

I understand the business reasons for the settlement as well as Skydance head David Ellison's apparent desire to work with the Trump camp in order to move forward with the merger as well as whatever post-merger plans might be coming. But it's ludicrous to pretend there wasn't a connection between this settlement and the proposed merger.

So I would to hear one of the intrepid reporters at CNBC ask Redstone or Ellison the next time they make an appearance on the network to answer these questions. "Do you think CBS and 60 Minutes were at fault with this story? If not, why did you settle the lawsuit other than as a way to push the merger forward?"

The truth is they can't provide an answer to that. Because it's not believable that there isn't a connection. But they can't admit there is a connection without opening themselves up to corruption charges brought by shareholders.

Perhaps the worst part of this is that the "corruption of CBS" will become an ongoing talking point by Trump and his supporters. It will also likely open up other parts of the media to similar charges. In fact, President Trump suggested on Tuesday that he is considering a lawsuit against CNN for its reporting on the U.S. bombing of Iran.

AN INTERVIEW WITH CAT ZAPPA, VP OF DIGITAL ACQUISTION AT HOOPLA DIGITAL
One of the under-reported parts of the streaming entertainment business are the services that allow public library patrons to "rent" a set number of titles per month for free, using their library card. Hoopla is one of the industry leaders in that sector and it allows library patrons to instantly enjoy digital video (movies and TV shows), music, audiobooks, Ebooks and comics.

I recently spoke with Cat Zappa, VP Of Digital Acquisition At Hoopla Digital

Here is the complete interview, but I wanted to share a bit here. Because I think it's a fascinating conversation:

That transactional aspect makes for some interesting challenges. One of which is - from what I understand - basically every library has slightly different rules for their patrons on how many titles they can take out. And I know in the past it's led to some challenges because, for instance, I think my local library has a limit of five titles a month. And for a long time what ended up happening is that if I wanted to watch a season of a show, that was my entire month. That was the five discs. And I know you've rolled out recently a new binge option, which will get around some of that. But that's the kind of challenge that a Netflix doesn't have.

Cat Zappa: That's true. That would be one challenge that a Netflix doesn't have, but we do have far more content than Netflix is offering at present, at least. And yes, the BingePass opportunity is a whole other new opportunity to be able to access more content with a single borrow.

We have seven-day access periods when it comes to the BingePass. And we are sending our patrons on over into third-party SVODs in some cases, like Hallmark Plus, CuriosityStream, where you can get access for a whole week to all their content as though you were a subscriber. However, after that week ends you would have to use another borrow to get access, thereby the enumeration is also happening back to that vendor partner, the content provider, if you will, at the end of the day.

So that way that continued enumeration or revenue stream is still coming in, even if somebody were to re-borrow again, which is really great. But it's all about getting access to more and more content at the end of the day that seems to be a good fit, right? So when it comes to those BingePass partnerships that we mentioned, we always are looking at those partners to see "Are you the right fit for Hoopla?"

Are we going to be bringing in content that a library patron ultimately would want to engage with and is excited about engaging with? For those potential content providers that don't happen to have their own SVOD, we do have alternatives in the binge pass space, too, where we can host that content, almost creating a channel for them. So that's another really great opportunity for access to a large library of content at the end of the day.

From that perspective, we tend to go in a little bit more with a brand push. So one instance that might be Pokemon. Pokemon doesn't have its own brand channel or SVOD, but we're able to create and host a channel on the platform that's Pokemon.

There's hundreds and hundreds of episodes available in that binge pass. We've also got the season pass, too, which is a brand new opportunity which we rolled out. That's where the entire first season of content might be bundled into a single borrow offering.

So yeah, lots of different opportunities to get engaged with content that we host on our platform and beyond our platform.

I am going to be doing more of this type of interview as I move away from a lot of the actor/showrunner conversations. I have been firm with publicists about my desire to do more longform conversations. And that means I will be doing a lot less of them. But to be honest, I'd rather not talk with someone at all than only have five minutes to ask questions.

And beginning tomorrow, I am going to rolling out some longer interviews with people working behind-the-scenes in the entertainment business: casting directors, publicists, marketing experts. The type of people doing important work that is often overlooked and misunderstood.

If you know someone I should talk to, email me at rick@allyourscreens.com

HFPA REBOOTS, UPENDS GOLDEN GLOBES OWNERSHIP BY PENSKE-BOEHLY
The Ankler's Richard Rushfield has a deep dive today into a possible collapse of the deal that transferred ownership of The Golden Globes from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) to Penske Media Eldridge (PME), a joint venture between Penske Media and Todd Boehly’s Eldridge Industries, and the owner of Golden Globes producer Dick Clark Productions:

However, in February, less than a year into their term of employment — and just after the annual Globes ceremony, which aired on CBS and streamed on Paramount+ — the former members, now employees, were terminated. In place of a yearly salary of $75,000 over five years ($375,000 in total potential salary earnings), they were instead offered a $102,500 severance package on their way out the door. A PME spokesperson at the time explained the dismissals had come as “an acknowledgment that continuing to pay members could add to a perception of bias in voting.” It was an issue they apparently just stumbled upon, only after the deal based on this arrangement had been concluded. PME also asserted that the severance pay covered its contractual obligations to the former members who had handed over their organization not long before.

The June decision by the board returned the members to their original status, allowing them access to the organization’s treasury from now on, and it potentially gives them the ability to review the still-unconsummated transaction.

This is an extremely complex story. But it sounds as if there is a decent chance ownership of the Golden Globes may return to the control of the HFPA. Which would be problematical for PME, which has spent the past couple of years aggressively renting out the Golden Globes name for all sorts of vaguely related events:

After taking control of the group, PME sought to aggressively parlay the Golden Globes brand with a series of hastily ginned-up events around the world, including an “International Icon Award” presented to Sharon Stone at an event in the yachting hub of Bodrum, Turkey, and a “Golden Globes Tribute Event” in Cairo.

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE STREAMING BUSINESS IN INDIA
I suspect most people in the United States understand in the abstract that the streaming video business is very different in India than it is here. But it's a complicated country to cover and there are a dizzying number of streamers, all of them with slightly different business models.

If you'd like an education on the landscape in India, a good place to start is The Streaming Lab newsletter. Today's newsletter focused on the race to bottom when it comes to pricing, and this excerpt provides a clear example of the complicated business model for India's streaming video business:

Recent developments illustrate how regional streamers are blurring the lines between ad-supported (AVOD) and subscription (SVOD) services to grow their base:

• aha’s ₹67 Pocket Pack: A premium Telugu/Tamil content plan at just ₹67 per month, signaling an industry-low price point. This move aims to democratize regional OTT content and boost engagement by bringing in price-sensitive users.

• Sun NXT’s Ad-Supported Push: Sun TV’s Sun NXT platform now offers a basic annual plan (~₹48 per month) with ads, and even a free tier supported by ads – a clear bet on advertising to broaden viewership.

• Content Rights Innovation: Big-ticket South Indian titles like Kalki 2898 AD are adopting split-rights OTT releases – for instance, Hindi on Netflix while Tamil/Telugu versions stream on Prime Video – highlighting creative distribution strategies.

• Telco Mega-Bundles: Telecom giants are bundling regional OTTs into all-in-one packages. Bharti Airtel’s new prepaid “mega bundle” packs include 25+ OTT subscriptions (from Netflix to Sun NXT and aha) for as low as ₹279/month [airtel.in], reshaping how Tamil–Telugu content reaches users.

ODDS AND SODS
* If you want to see what a legal battle looks like when both sides have great lawyers and a lot of money, the lawsuit Dan Schneider filed against Warner Bros. Discovery over the documentary Dark Side Of Kids TV, continues to make its extremely slow walk towards a trial. On Monday, the two sides had a Zoom status meeting in front of L.A. Superior Court judge Ashfaq G. Chowdhury. After a discussion, the Status Conference was continued to 11/17/2025. What was discussed with the judge? We don't know. Because under California law, while in person status conferences would be made available to the public (with some restrictions), virtual meetings aren't subject to the same requirements.

* FX and Disney+ Latin America’s Necaxa docuseries from Eva Longoria and Welcome to Wrexham‘s Rob Mac and Ryan Reynolds, will premiere Thursday, August 7th, on FXX. Episodes will be available next day on Hulu.

* FX has renewed The Bear for a fifth season.

* The CW will premiere the Canadian series Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent on Wednesday, September 24th.

* The new Chuck Lorre comedy Leanne will premiere Thursday, July 31st on Netflix. Here is the official logline: "Leanne's (Leanne Morgan) world is turned upside down when her husband of 33 years unexpectedly leaves her for another woman. Supported by her family, including her ride-or-die sister Carol (Kristen Johnston), Leanne learns to embrace the chaos and finds strength, laughter and hope in the most unexpected places. This heartfelt comedy proves that it's never too late to rewrite your story."

TWEET OF THE DAY

WHAT'S NEW TONIGHT AND TOMORROW

WEDNESDAY, JULY 2ND:
* American Pickers Season Premiere (History)
* Clevatess Series Premiere (Crunchyroll)
* Dora (Paramount+)
* Dora & Diego: Rainforest Rescues (Nickelodeon)
* Dora And The Search For Sol Dorado (Nickelodeon)
* Dear Ms.: A Revolution In Print (HBO)
* Heads Of State (Prime Video) - (first video look)
* Honestly Cavallari: The Headline Tour Season One Finale (E!)
* New State Series Premiere (Crunchyroll)
* Nine Perfect Strangers Season Two Finale (Hulu)
* Onmyo Kaiten Re:Birth Verse Series Premiere (Crunchyroll)
* Reborn As A Vending Machine, I Now Wander The Dungeon (Crunchyroll)
* The Old Guard 2 (Netflix)
* The Ultimatum: Queer Love Season Two finale (Netflix)
* Tour de France: Unchained (Netflix)

THURSDAY, JULY 3RD:
* Batman Ninja vs. Yakuza League (Max)
* Countdown: Taylor vs. Serrano (Netflix)
* Dan Da Dan (Crunchyroll/Hulu/Netflix)
* Kamitsubaki City Under Construction Series Premiere (Crunchyroll)
* The Sandman Season Two Part One Premiere (Netflix)
* The Water Magician Series Premiere (Crunchyroll)
* Welcome To The Outcast's Restaurant! Series Premiere (Crunchyroll)

SEE YOU ON WEDNESDAY!