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MEDA

Dylan Byers • September 20, 2023

Mark Thompson’s Message & MTP Overheating

News and notes on the latest preoccupations of the television news business: Mark Thompson’s Five Year Plan and Kristen Welker’s debut on ‘Meet the Press.’

Dylan Byers • September 15, 2023

Iger’s New Suitors & ABC Agita

Bloomberg reported that Bob Iger has held “exploratory talks” about selling ABC.

Nexstar and other potential suitors, including strategic buyers and private equity firms, have called to express interest in ABC, but none have enough clarity about exactly what Disney is willing to sell—or how they would structure a deal—to move forward.

Dylan Byers • September 13, 2023

ESPNomics & Mark Thompson’s Previews

Mark Thompson has already started his new CNN job incognito, meeting with members of the quadrumvirate interim leadership team and top talent almost immediately upon news of his appointment.

News and notes from the last bastions of the cable bundle: ESPN and CNN.

So far in his second iteration, Iger’s superpowers seem wanting, as if sapped by kryptonite.

Dylan Byers • September 8, 2023

The Iger Bunker

As Disney’s stock has hit a decade low, former heir (and current Blackstone-funded roll-up guru) Kevin Mayer is making his presence felt across the Disney portfolio. But in the everything-on-the-table era, what’s actually on the table?

We are in the “everything on the table” era, after all, when Bob Iger is publicly floating an ABC sale and seeking a strategic partner for ESPN.

Dylan Byers • September 6, 2023

Iger’s ESPN Game of Chicken

Notes on the existential reality undergirding Disney’s white-knuckled negotiation with Charter. (“The game is over,” as one media executive put it.)

Thompson would not have taken the top CNN job if he didn’t intend to impose dramatic transformations that more thoughtfully align the network’s editorial efforts with its business ambitions.

Dylan Byers • September 1, 2023

Mark to Market

And so the Mark Thompson era officially begins at CNN…