DirecTV has standing to pursue antitrust claims against Nexstar, Mission Broadcasting and White Knight Broadcasting, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Tuesday (docket 24-981). Judges Denny Chin and Steven Menashi reversed a District Court ruling that DirecTV lacked antitrust standing and remanded the case. They said lost profits from a reduction in output is a cognizable injury, and DirecTV has made a plausible case that it lost profits from a price-fixing conspiracy by the broadcasters.

President Donald Trump signed off Thursday night on an executive order that would direct NTIA to potentially curtail non-deployment funding from the $42.5 billion BEAD program for states that the Trump administration determines have AI laws that are overly burdensome. Some estimates have found that $20 billion in BEAD funding qualifies as non-deployment money. Trump's order is identical to a draft proposal, circulated in November, that drew significant bipartisan opposition.

Paramount Skydance is launching a hostile takeover attempt to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, announcing Monday that it's attempting to purchase all outstanding shares of the company for $30 each. The move follows the announcement that Netflix struck an $82.7 billion deal last week to buy WBD (see 2512050046).

No final decisions have been made about what happens with BEAD non-deployment funds, but NTIA "is operating under the assumption states will get to use BEAD savings," agency Administrator Arielle Roth said Tuesday at a Free State Foundation event. Guidance about the funds will likely come early in 2026, she said, noting that NTIA estimates that about $21 billion of the $42.5 billion allocated to states will go unused due to changes made to the BEAD program earlier this year, including dropping its fiber-centric focus.

Sinclair has made an offer to buy E.W. Scripps in a deal that it said could proceed under existing broadcast-ownership rules, according to an SEC filing Monday. “We are confident that under existing rules, including the national cap, the transaction can be completed in a timely manner with limited select divestitures,” said the filing. Sinclair would pay $7 per share to Scripps shareholders -- $2.72 in cash and $4.28 in combined company common stock. Under the terms of the deal, Sinclair would also separate its broadcast business from its other endeavors and merge it with Scripps. The company’s board would include representation from both the Scripps family and the Smith family, which owns Sinclair. The new company would also “propose adopting jointly developed editorial standards” and appoint an independent ombudsman selected by both families to oversee adherence to them, the filing said. Sinclair has asked for a response from Scripps by Dec. 5. Scripps didn’t immediately comment.

Senate Consumer Protection Subcommittee Chair Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Communications Subcommittee ranking member Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., filed an upper chamber companion Thursday to the House Communications Subcommittee-cleared Broadband and Telecommunications Rail Act (HR-6046), Blackburn’s office told us Thursday night.

Citing a California law barring the state from collecting Social Security numbers or sharing data with the federal government, the FCC said Thursday that it was suspending California's ability to run its own Lifeline verification program. Instead, the state will have to go through the federal Lifeline verification system, the commission said. A spokesperson for California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) didn't immediately comment.

A draft White House executive order that was circulating Wednesday night would resurrect a scuttled legislative bid to preempt nonfederal AI laws by making states ineligible for some allocated funding from the $42.5 billion BEAD program if they passed their own AI measures. The draft EO would require NTIA to issue a policy notice within 90 days “specifying the conditions under which States may be eligible for remaining [BEAD funding] that was saved through my Administration’s ‘Benefit of the Bargain’ reforms,” more commonly known as non-deployment funds estimated to total $20 billion.

Sinclair has purchased 8.2% of E.W. Scripps as part of an effort to purchase the company, Sinclair told the SEC in a filing Monday. Sinclair’s board of directors and management team ”have engaged in constructive discussions” with Scripps “for several months regarding a potential combination of the two companies,” the filing said. In a news release issued after Sinclair’s filing, Scripps said its board “will take all steps appropriate to protect the company and the company’s shareholders from the opportunistic actions of Sinclair or anyone else” but also said it “will continue to evaluate any transactions and other alternatives that would enhance the value of the company.” Sinclair’s SEC filing says it bought 6,275,204 shares of E.W. Scripps. On Friday afternoon, Scripps share price was $3.06, suggesting Sinclair’s outlay was roughly $20 million. On Monday morning, the share price had risen to $3.65. A person familiar with the deal said Sinclair purchased the stock to put cash on the line and move negotiations with Scripps forward. In the SEC filing, Sinclair said combining with Scripps would provide “the ability to compete successfully for advertising share, critical programming, and distribution economics through enhanced local and national scale, coupled with disciplined execution of synergies.” The stock trade doesn’t require Sinclair to file with the FCC, but a full purchase of Scripps would put Sinclair over the current national ownership cap, and so require either waivers or the elimination of the cap. Nexstar’s proposed purchase of Tegna is already in a similar situation. Sinclair told the SEC that “upon reaching a definitive agreement, a transaction could be completed within nine to 12 months.”

Both Nexstar and Sinclair Broadcast will preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Tuesday, according to news releases Monday and Tuesday morning. “We made a decision last week to preempt 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' following what ABC referred to as Mr. Kimmel’s 'ill-timed and insensitive' comments at a critical time in our national discourse,” Nexstar said Tuesday. “We stand by that decision pending assurance that all parties are committed to fostering an environment of respectful, constructive dialogue in the markets we serve.”