Hollywood Week: Warner Bros Set New Deadline, Macy’s Parade, Super Savings on Streaming Deals, Ethan Browne
- Details
- Category: Haute This Issue
- Published on Saturday, 29 November 2025 10:03
- Written by Janet Walker
As the first non-committal round of bids were reviewed, Warner Bros Chief David Zaslav has announced the deadline of December 1, 2025, for binding bids, in his pursuit to sell the storied Warner Bros., Discovery and its resources.
It is expected that the three initial bidders from streaming giant Netflix, Skydance, and Comcast will meet the deadline, with offers above the last rejected unsolicited bid from Paramount/Skydance of $23.50 per share.
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Netflix and Comcast have submitted bids for one half of the company, the Warner Bros Discovery, which includes the Warner Bros film and TV Studios, the Motion Picture Group, including the main Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema, DC Studios, and Castle Rock Entertainment. In addition to these, the group also has a minority stake in Spyglass Media Group and streaming channels HBO and HBO MAX.
"WBD has indicated that it believes the sale process can be concluded by late December, although the transaction may require at least a year to be cleared by regulators. Bankers and executives on both coasts will be working overtime as new offers are due right after the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend. The bidders previously signed non-disclosure agreements and have been examining Warner's books," Deadline reported.
Even if the sale is completed by the end of 2025, each of the three will need to have FCC approval. And while speculation is that politics may eventually play a role in the outcome, the ease in which Paramount-Skydance received FCC approval, was not based on anything other than a quid pro quo settlement between CBS and the Trump White House.
Future approvals may be harder to gain as it is possible that regulators would see Paramount-Skydance as building a monopoly, and possibly any anti-trust issues could also be flagged for Netflix, while Comcast, by only bidding for Warner Bros., Discovery, can sidestep any anti-trust issues by not acquiring Warner Bros. global networks.
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Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Unites Viewers
No turkey about it. The 99th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade easily won the day as more than 34 million viewers turned in nationwide, across all viewing options, to be a part of the annual spectacular that ushers in the traditional Holiday season.
"This year's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade has set an all-time viewership record across NBC and Peacock, delivering 34.3 million watchers for the biggest combined audience on record, per preliminary data from Nielsen. The festivities outperformed last year's parade by 8%, or 2.5 million people," Deadline reported.
As the parade began, it was unclear if the huge helium filled balloons would fly, but even the chilly and windy weather couldn't stop the 2.5 million spectators from lining the streets of Manhattan, beginning on Central Park West, to watch the like of Buzz Lightyear, and Spiderman fly, even if they flew a little lower.
NBC's Today show team including Savannah Guthrie, and former host Hoda Kotb, along with Al Roker, joined, providing viewers with insights into the marching bands, celebrity news, and announcing the world famous Radio City Rockettes, and of course, the arrival of Santa Claus, and the beginning of the traditional holiday season.
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Streamers Join the Black Friday Hysteria With Huge Savings
From Big Box retailors to family owned and operated depend on the hype and often hysteria of Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving and the day, and expended weekend, to put them into the black often becoming the key date to determine if the business closes or lives to see another year.
This year is no different, and as the shadow of politics have cast a pall over much of life, the buoyancy of the holiday season seemed to magnify, with an abundance of good cheer, tradition and a big deals offering shoppers a savings bonanza.
Even as theaters have little to applaud, October 2025 saw ticket sales plummet to the lowest, in more than two decades, November, which is the start of the traditional Holiday season when studios release their blockbuster movies and theater owners hope for a banner season.
For those who have transition from movie theaters to the living room experience, every streamer is offering families Black Friday deals, that are to good to pass up and guaranteed to brings hours of family fun and entertainment to every household.
Disney is offering an unbelievable deal bundling Disney + and Hulu, for new and returning subscribers, an ad sponsored platform at $4.99 per month, for one year, with no additional obligation. Offer is available here and must be claimed before December 1, 2025.
HBO/HBO MAX is offering incredible Black Friday savings with a $2.99 deal for 12 months. Offer is available here and is valid until December 1, 2025.
Netflix, the granddaddy of streamers, does not traditionally participate in Black Friday deals, however, they do offer a $7.99 monthly ad-sponsored subscription, the lowest tier the streaming giant supplies, which has served them well and has picked up an additional 15 million subscribers, bringing the global total to more than 310 million subscribers.
Verizon is running a Netflix/HBO bundle for $10.00 per month as well as a Disney +, Hulu, and ESPN, for 10.00 per month with home service.
Tech Radar lists every streaming service, including Apple +, Prime, Paramount +, Roku, and YouTube, along with the deep discounts available until December 1, 2025 on one year streaming services.
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Ethan Browne, Son of Rock Legend, Jackson Browne Dies
Actor and model, Ethan Browne, son of rock legend Jackson Browne, died suddenly this week. He was 52.
Browne, announced on Facebook, the only son of singer-songwriter Jackson Browne, 77, and his late wife Phyllis Major, was found unresponsive in his home on the morning of November 25, 2025. No cause of death has been listed. The Los Angeles coroner has ruled the death as deferred, indicating further investigation is necessary. The statement further asked for privacy at this time.
Ethan's mother, Phyllis Major, overdosed in 1977, while he was still a toddler. The elder Browne stepped up and took over raising his young son and often stated he became his main priority.
"It was my main focus. I only had two things that I hoped I could fit together: being a songwriter and a father. And I looked at it like this, if I have to only be a father, I hope I'll know it, and just do that. But life's not like that and you don't get a notice in the mail saying you're blowing it as a parent. You think you have the advice and the help you need, and sometimes you don't, or you don't heed it. The mistakes I've made as a parent are still with me. I think about them fairly often," Variety reported.
Browne, who wove his style and brand of soft rock throughout the late 1970s for is best known the albums "The Pretender," and included the rock ballad, "Here Come Those Tears Again," which peaked at Number 5 on the Billboard charts, and the follow up "Running on Empty," which sold more than 7.7 million units.
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Janet Walker is the publisher, founder, and sole owner of Haute-Lifestyle.com. A graduate of New York University, she has been covering international news through the Beltway Insider, a weekly review of the nation's top stories, for more than a decade. A general beat writer/reporter and entertainment/film critic, she is also an accomplished news/investigative news/crime reporter and submitted for Pulitzer Prize consideration "Cops Conspire to Deep Six Sex Assaults" in the Breaking News Category and was persuaded to withdraw the submission. Ms. Walker has completed five screenplays "The Six Sides of Truth," "The Assassins of Fifth Avenue," "The Wednesday Killer," "The Manhattan Project," and the sci-fi thriller "Project 13: The Last Day." She has also published "Unholy Alliances: A True Crime Story," and "Days, Times, Seasons, and Events: A Collection of Poetry & Prose," which can be purchased here. She is a member of the Los Angeles Press Club, the National Writers Union, and a member of the International Federation of Journalists.
