MEDIA
Dylan Byers
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May 17, 2024
English Patience
So many newsrooms seem to be waiting on newly appointed leaders—a number of them British—to swoop in and restore their swagger. Alas, the more you parse their pablum-laden marketing pitches, the more it all looks like the same old playbooks applied to new platforms.
Dylan Byers
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May 16, 2024
No Country for Old Mann
News and notes on the latest storylines coursing through the industry: CNN’s debate coup, NBC’s internal frustrations, and a Condé Nast departure.
Eriq Gardner
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May 13, 2024
Judge Judy Threatens to Make the Tabloids Pay
America’s favorite TV jurist is suing A360 Media, publisher of In Touch Weekly and The National Enquirer, over a Menendez murder trial mix-up. “It’s unconscionable,” she says, “and will be expensive.”
Dylan Byers
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May 10, 2024
The Zucker Savior Myth
The endurance of the “Will Jeff buy CNN?” fantasy, which was stoked again this week, highlights the uncertain state of the media industry, and a few enduring truths about Zucker, too. He may have reinvented himself as an investor, but he remains an operator at heart. And, if given the opportunity, he’d probably be back in the control room in a heartbeat.
Dylan Byers
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May 8, 2024
Zaz & The Art of Reputation Maintenance
News and notes on Zaz’s Milken stem-winder, the NBA auction rights derby, and post-Godwin ABC News.
Eriq Gardner
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May 6, 2024
Carlos Watson on Trial & A Ryan Kavanaugh Deal
News and notes from the legal frontier: Ozy Media heads to court, Triller comes up short, and Clare Locke hunts fees. Plus: Can Drake and Kendrick Lamar sue each other for defamation?
Dylan Byers
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May 4, 2024
The Godwin Complex
Notes on the layering of Kim Godwin, the agita inside ABC News, and the looming exit strategy coalescing in plain view.
Dylan Byers
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May 2, 2024
The Zaz-Roberts Proxy War
Warner Bros. Discovery’s inability to lock down its NBA rights, thus allowing NBC to bid them up, represents David Zaslav’s latest headache—and, perhaps, unforced error. And it may offer a taste of the negotiating tenor in a potential future WBD-NBCU combination.
Dylan Byers
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April 26, 2024
Biden & His Times
News, notes, and fresh reporting on a deliciously perfect WHCD week micro-scandal—Politico’s mischievous, made-for-pot-stirring report on the alleged beef between the Times and the White House.
Dylan Byers
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April 24, 2024
VandeHei in Full
Life lessons, media observations, and industrial analysis with the co-founder of both Politico and Axios on the eve of the town’s annual prom.
Dylan Byers
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April 19, 2024
CNN and Its Discontents
Six and a half months after Mark Thompson’s arrival at CNN (almost half of Chris Licht’s disastrous tenure), a restless and dour mood is once again enveloping the network. What is Thompson’s true plan, many wonder, and why won’t he articulate it?
Dylan Byers
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April 18, 2024
The Beast and the Brightest
Why are shoulder-rubbers Ben Sherwood and Joanna Coles taking over Barry Diller’s last-gen mediaco that no one else really wanted? Well, what were the alternatives?
William D. Cohan
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April 17, 2024
Gerry & The Jeffs Come for Shari’s Baby
I’ve got the skinny on the Ellison-Paramount deal—an extraordinarily fascinating deleveraged recap featuring a multibillion-dollar PIPE, Jeff Shell’s return to the top ranks of the media world, and possibly even Jeff Zucker’s revival as a top television executive. You can’t make this shit up. Will the special committee of the board buy it?
Dylan Byers
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April 12, 2024
Mark Mysteries & Daily Beast Micro Deal Heat
News and notes on three trending media mini-sagas: Mark Thompson’s inability to share his CNN reinvention, CBS News’ dreary ploy, and Joanna Coles and Ben Sherwood’s Daily Beast M&A effort.
Dylan Byers
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April 11, 2024
Cesar Salad
Weeks after the McDaniel micro-nightmare, a peek into the halls of 30 Rock, where talent and executives are trying to put the incident behind them while continuing to grumble and privately rehash questions about accountability.
Dylan Byers
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March 29, 2024
Cesar’s Palace
In the aftermath of the Ronna McDaniel hiring-and-firing scandal, the NBC News Group blame game has begun to point back toward chairman Cesar Conde, his hands-off leadership style, and his very transparent ambitions.
Dylan Byers
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March 27, 2024
Ronnaghazi & The Hunger Screams of Late-Stage Linear
Inside 30 Rock, the dueling narratives over the lengthy courtship and rapid firing of the 2020 election-denying former R.N.C. chair highlight a behind-the-scenes blame game over the network’s conflicted vision of political diversity, and itself.