How the Netflix-Warner Bros.-Paramount Mess Could Affect You; Childhood Mortality Rates Are Projected to Rise–Coachella Valley Independent’s Indy Digest: Dec. 8, 2025

Indy Digest: Dec. 8, 2025

You’ve almost certainly heard that Netflix agreed to purchase Warner Bros. for $72 billion. Well, that may or may not happen, in large part because Paramount Skydance is now making a hostile bid for Warner Bros. and its Discovery subsidiary.

Whatever happens will eventually affect you, unless you eschew all entertainment delivered on screens. And of course, because we live in the idiocy that is 2025, President Trump is involved—in a way that does not exactly to seem ethical.

Let’s look at that Trump/ethics part first. As explained by The New York Times:

Ted Sarandos, the co-chief executive of Netflix, made a stealthy visit to the Oval Office in November, chatting with President Trump as his company prepared an audacious bid to buy Warner Bros. and HBO. It went well enough that Mr. Trump was soon praising Mr. Sarandos as “fantastic” and comparing him to the legendary Hollywood mogul Louis B. Mayer.

On Sunday night, David Ellison, the chairman of Paramount Skydance, which is bidding against Netflix, had his chance to make his case face to face. Mr. Ellison was spotted in the presidential box with Mr. Trump at the Kennedy Center Honors ceremony in Washington.

Hours later, Mr. Ellison unveiled a hostile bid to block Netflix’s acquisition—and, in the fine print, revealed his version of a trump card: A private equity firm founded by Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, is on board as an investor in the deal.

Presidents are not supposed to influence the regulators who review major corporate deals, a process traditionally carried out at arm’s length from politicians’ whims.

But with the future of the news and entertainment industries in the balance, Mr. Trump, himself a film and TV connoisseur, has broken precedent by placing himself directly in the middle of the sale of Warner Bros. Discovery, the biggest media deal of the decade. And both Netflix and Paramount are paying attention.

“I’ll be involved in that decision,” a tuxedoed Mr. Trump told reporters as he posed for pictures on the red carpet of the Kennedy Center Honors on Sunday.

In other words: Trump is placing himself smack-dab in the middle of something in which he should NOT be involved, both because of historical precedent and family conflicts of interest. But, again, we live in the idiocy that is 2025.

One way in which this entertainment mega-deal may affect you involves movie theaters. Damon Rubio, owner of D’Place Entertainment, which operates the Mary Pickford Theatre in Cathedral City, sent the Independent an “open letter” he addressed to Rep. Raul Ruiz. Rubio makes the case that if Netflix’s purchase of Warner Bros. takes place, it could lead to the demise of most movie theaters:

Any deal that results in fewer movies being released theatrically or fewer choices for consumers is not in the best interest of the public or the industry. Past mergers have demonstrated this clearly. For example, following the Disney/20th Century Fox merger that was allowed to go through with very little attention, wide domestic releases (2,000+ locations) dropped sharply, from a combined 26 titles in 2016 by both Disney and 20th Century Fox to just 14 in 2025. So far this year, 20th Century titles alone are on pace to generate 43% less domestic box office compared to the $1.4 billion the studio earned in 2016.

Regardless of who acquires Warner Bros., our industry cannot withstand another decline in theatrical production or another consolidation that pushes content away from theaters. Any transaction that reduces film output, raises film rental costs, or fails to include a meaningful and enforceable theatrical commitment will have devastating consequences: fewer theaters, fewer jobs, diminished consumer choice, and lasting harm to the systems of production, exhibition, and distribution. Small-market and independent theaters like ours will be the first to suffer, leading to a future in which only affluent urban communities retain access to local cinemas.

Key stakeholders must recognize the serious implications that further studio consolidation poses. Real oversight, along with binding and enforceable commitments, must be required before any sale is allowed to proceed.

David R. King, a mergers expert and a professor at Florida State University, agrees with Damon Rubio that the merger would be bad news for movie theaters. He writes in The Conversation:

I believe that in general, consumers will largely not be impacted when it comes to the overall cost of entertainment, as inflationary pressures for food and housing limit available income for streaming services.

But where they access content will continue to shift away from cable television and movie theaters.

Greater stability in the streaming industry through consolidation into a Big Three model only confirms the decline in traditional cable. …

Netflix’s goal is to ensure it remains consumer’s first choice for streaming TV and films. So while streaming is fast becoming a Big Three industry, Netflix’s plan is to remain at the top of the triangle.

Paramount, meanwhile, is using the movie-theater industry’s concerns about Netflix to make their case. Variety reports:

Paramount promised to release more than 30 films theatrically as the company launched its hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery. In a call with press and investors on Monday, the company said it will also honor “healthy traditional windows.”

It’s a clear swipe at Netflix, which outmaneuvered Paramount to reach a binding agreement to acquire Warner Bros. and HBO for $82.7 billion. Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos has been dismissive of the theatrical experience, sparking fears among Hollywood’s creative community that by overtaking one of the major film studios, Netflix would hurt cinemas by releasing fewer films. 

We will see who winds up acquiring Warner Bros.—but because of the president’s son-in-law’s involvement, my (figurative) money is on Paramount.

—Jimmy Boegle

More News

• Here are two related stories that show how much damage the presidential administration’s greedy, anti-science leanings are causing. First, from NPR: “In a historic vote, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisers recommended narrowing the agency’s hepatitis B immunization guidance for newborns. The result, if approved by the CDC’s acting director, will be a rollback of a universal recommendation to start hepatitis B immunization at birth, a standard practice in the U.S. for more than 30 years that has been credited with dramatically lowering liver diseases caused by the virus. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, voted 8-3 to recommend hepatitis B at birth only for infants born to women who test positive for the virus that attacks the liver, or whose status is unknown. Women whose hepatitis B status is negative should talk with their doctors about vaccination, the recommendation says. The changes were made over the strong objections of liaisons from the medical community, who say the decades-long universal birth dose policy has dramatically reduced cases of hepatitis B in U.S. children.”

• Second is this heartbreaking article from Time magazine: “For the first time in 25 years, child mortality rates for preventable diseases are projected to increase, after having declined for 25 years. The new estimate comes from models created by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington and was released for the first time in the Goalkeepers report from the Gates Foundation. It shows that an additional 200,000 children under age 5 may die this year of a disease that modern medicine can prevent, either with vaccines or other treatments. The deaths can be traced to a number of economic and political factors, the most important of which are significant cuts to spending in global health from the world’s largest donors, including the U.S., according to the report. ‘It’s a tragedy that the world is richer, and yet because we have made disproportionate cuts to the money that helps the world’s poorest children, more of them are dying,’ says Bill Gates, chair of the Gates Foundation, in an interview with TIME.”

• The First Amendment Coalition, on behalf a former Desert Sun reporter, is suing the county for not releasing details regarding jailhouse deaths, as required by law. City News Service reports via News Channel 3: “A San Rafael-based press freedom advocacy group is suing Riverside County for alleged violations of a state law intended to ensure timely access to documents tied to in-custody deaths, based on significant delays in responding to media requests and other deficiencies, it was announced today. … FAC filed its Public Records Act civil action in response to the experiences of New York Times and Desert Sun journalist Christopher Damien, who has focused on procuring autopsy reports, jail management records, jailhouse security surveillance videos and other materials since last year. The suit is predicated on Senate Bill 519, which the state Legislature approved and the governor signed into law in 2023. The measure stemmed in large part from the elevated death count—19—in Riverside County’s correctional system in 2022, according to the plaintiffs. Lawmakers mandated via SB 519 that authorities fulfill California Public Records Act requests related to in-custody fatalities in 45 days. ‘The county slow-walked the production process; withheld, redacted and delayed the disclosure of records related to several deaths … and omitted responsive records from its production,’ according to the plaintiffs’ suit. ‘In defiance of SB 519, the county is continuing to withhold records related to 13 (custody) deaths and is standing by numerous improper redactions.’ … In an email to City News Service Friday, Sheriff Chad Bianco said that the ‘lawsuit is about as legitimate as the articles Chris Damien writes: Fictional pieces based on his own biased, anti-law enforcement opinions.’” Well … why don’t you release the records so we can see for ourselves, Sheriff Bianco?

• Here are two pieces showing, yet again, how haphazard and cruel the feds’ war on immigrants has gotten. First, WGBH Boston reports: “Becoming a U.S. citizen takes years and involves immigrants acquiring a green card, extensive interviews, background checks, classes and a citizenship test. The naturalization ceremony is the final step to the process, where the oath of allegiance and a citizenship certificate are granted. Immigrants approved to be naturalized went to Faneuil Hall Thursday—known as the country’s cradle of liberty—for that long-awaited moment to pledge allegiance to the United States. But instead, as they lined up, some were told by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officials that they couldn’t proceed due to their countries of origin. The same situation is playing out at naturalization events across the country as USCIS directed its employees to halt adjudicating all immigration pathways for people from 19 countries deemed to be ‘high risk.’ ‘One of our clients said that she had gone to her oath ceremony because she hadn’t received the cancellation notice in time,’ said Gail Breslow, executive director of Project Citizenship. ‘She showed up as scheduled, and when she arrived, officers were asking everyone what country they were from, and if they said a certain country, they were told to step out of line and that their oath ceremonies were canceled.’”

• Second: ICE has been arresting tens of thousands of people without criminal records. NBC News says: “More than a third of the roughly 220,000 people arrested by ICE officers in the first nine months of the Trump administration had no criminal histories, according to new data. The data, which includes ICE arrests from Jan. 20 to Oct. 15, shows that nearly 75,000 people with no criminal records have been swept up in immigration operations that the president and his top officials have said would target murderers, rapists and gang members. ‘It contradicts what the administration has been saying about people who are convicted criminals and that they are going after the worst of the worst,’ said Ariel Ruiz Soto, senior policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute. The figures provide the most revealing look to date into the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. They were shared by the University of California, Berkeley’s Deportation Data Project, which obtained them through a lawsuit brought against Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The data is compiled by an internal ICE office that handles arrest, detention and deportation data. The administration stopped regularly posting detailed information on ICE arrests in January.”

• And finally … just a friendly yet dead-serious reminder to avoid eating wild mushrooms unless you’re sure that the person who harvested them really, truly knows what they’re doing. The Associated Press reports: “California officials are warning foragers after an outbreak of poisoning linked to wild mushrooms that has killed one adult and caused severe liver damage in several patients, including children. The state poison control system has identified 21 cases of amatoxin poisoning, likely caused by death cap mushrooms, the health department said Friday. The toxic wild mushrooms are often mistaken for edible ones because of their appearance and taste. ‘Death cap mushrooms contain potentially deadly toxins that can lead to liver failure,’ Erica Pan, director of the California Department of Public Health, said in a statement. ‘Because the death cap can easily be mistaken for edible safe mushrooms, we advise the public not to forage for wild mushrooms at all during this high-risk season.’ One adult has died and several patients have required intensive care, including at least one who might need a liver transplant.”

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