MEDIA
Dylan Byers
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July 13, 2026
Let CNN & CBS News Eat Their Cake
As the Paramount–Warner Bros. merger has played out alongside the Bari-fication of CBS News, there was a sense among some in the media class that regulators might make hay of the deal’s proposed combination of two of the nation’s most storied brands. Any such notion turned out to be seriously misguided.
Julia Alexander
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July 10, 2026
The Pivot to Video Killed the Radio Star
Search is dead, A.I. is ripping your site, and no one under the age of 30 is reading. But if you’ve got topical authority, telegenic talent, and a decent relationship with the bots, there may yet be a way out of this, dear publisher.
Seen & Being Seen in Sun Valley
Amidst the quaking aspens and the idling Gulfstreams, the media world once again gathered in Sun Valley to launch deals, close deals, and merely check in with their fellow media titans over a brisk hike. And this year it was more apparent than ever that the tech titans rule the world—and beyond.
Dylan Byers
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July 6, 2026
One Flew Over the Comcast Nest
Versant (a Comcast spinoff) and Sky (a future orphan) both just announced bold acquisitions that may offer a strategic blueprint for how to survive outside the mothership—and amid an ever-consolidating mediaverse.
Between 30 Rock and a Hard Place
The Comcast–NBCUniversal breakup is raising a familiar, possibly existential question about the historic yet vulnerable NBC News: Who really wants to own a linear news operation in an era of declining profits, increasing political risks, and a wide web of new competitors?
Dylan Byers
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June 29, 2026
Comcast Away
Brian Roberts’s plan to spin off NBCUniversal opens up an array of tantalizing strategic possibilities for a number of competitive suitors—from Netflix to Amazon and beyond. And while the theme park business is solid, who can really make the most of the linear assets that Roberts is casting off?
Julia Alexander
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June 26, 2026
All the Newsletters Fit to Print
As the business matures, newsletter creators need new strategies—including more differentiated content, smarter pricing, and community engagement—to stand out amid the glut. A new report reveals some crucial insights.
Ben on a Wire
The Daily Wire is pitching investors on the dream of a conservative media empire in growth mode—but the company’s declining revenue, disappearing audience, and executive turmoil tell a very different story. Is anyone buying Ben Shapiro’s narrative that the Wire is 18 months from a $2 billion I.P.O.?
Dylan Byers
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June 22, 2026
MacCallum of Duty
Amid all the Sturm und Drang at CNN as it shifts under the purview of the Ellisons, everyone inside the WarnerMount mothership seems to agree on one thing: Alex MacCallum, the C.O.O. of CNN, may be the one person with a vision for how to drag the global news network into the future.
Dylan Byers
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June 19, 2026
MS NOW & Later
Six months post-Comcast spinoff, Versant C.E.O. Mark Lazarus is working to turn the company’s portfolio of declining cable assets into a legit growth business. He’s got cash, and some time, but what’s the plan?
The Big Cibrowski
David Ellison’s search for the right executive to help Bari Weiss run her two-headed CNN–CBS News monster might require a unicorn—someone with solid television news experience, a pliable journalistic backbone, and the willingness to play the loyal number two. In other words, he needs a supersized Tom Cibrowski.
Dylan Byers
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June 15, 2026
The Times’ Ruemmler in the Jungle
Weeks after the Kristof vs. Bibi kerfuffle, the Times newsroom is again in an uproar over an Opinion story, this time allegedly attempting to rehabilitate the reputation of an Epstein associate. Big deal? Little deal? No deal?
Julia Alexander
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June 12, 2026
The Wellness Wars
CNN is chasing The New York Times to tap into the wellness-obsessed world of peptides and GLP-1s as its next great subscription engine. Can legacy media compete with an army of TikTok doctors? And, perhaps more to the point, should they?
Dylan Byers
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June 10, 2026
The Bari Matchmaking Sweepstakes
By all accounts, Bari Weiss could use some help running CBS News. But hiring the right executive with the right skills will be tricky, especially when the usual suspects are probably too cautious, myopic, or smart to join the gang.
Julia Alexander
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June 8, 2026
All Tuckered Out
A conversation with Peter Rothpletz, founder of the newly launched Verbatim Media, which hopes to do for progressive creators what Fox’s Red Seat Ventures has done for Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly.
William D. Cohan
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June 7, 2026
Lesley’s Choice
In a candid chat, the longtime 60 Minutes star correspondent explained her fraught decision to stay on after perhaps the most bizarre week in the show’s history. “It’s just been obviously the hardest chapter of my career,” she said. “This was by far the worst experience I’ve been involved in, or even witnessed.”
Dylan Byers
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June 5, 2026
Lesley Stahl & The ‘60 Minutes’ Guys Are Staying
In a brief manifesto, Stahl, Bill Whitaker, and Jon Wertheim acknowledged deep frustrations with the new leadership of the show, but worried that leaving now would make things even worse. An earlier draft of the memo was even more critical.