MEDIA
Dylan Byers
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July 6, 2022
Fast Times at Sun Valley High
Stock prices may be down, but the mood isn’t dour—though companies that once fantasized about shedding linear assets for that coveted Netflix multiple are now thankful for their dual revenue streams. That may be one reason why Disney has abandoned talks to spin ESPN.
Dylan Byers
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July 1, 2022
Will Licht Let CNN Digital Bleed?
In the months since Jeff Zucker’s departure, much of the focus on CNN has pertained to CNN+, talent decisions, and headline-friendly gimmicks like pumping the breaks on the Breaking News banner. But are Zaz and Licht hitting pause on Zucker’s other, less-discussed powerhouse, CNN Digital?
Dylan Byers
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June 29, 2022
Is There Life After Maddow?
Alex Wagner is, by all accounts, a brilliant and seasoned anchor. The TV insiders I speak to sing her praises while simultaneously scratching their heads about the hire and what it suggests about MSNBC’s future.
Eriq Gardner
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June 27, 2022
Charles Harder vs. Vice
Harder, the attorney who drove a stake through Gawker, is taking aim at the media industry again with a case against Vice Media that could tempt the Supreme Court to reverse The New York Times v. Sullivan—and another targeting The Times, itself.
Dylan Byers & Peter Hamby
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June 24, 2022
The Media Braces for Its Second Trump Marriage
As the 2022 midterm cycle metamorphosizes into the 2024 presidential cycle at light speed, the media industry is bracing for the reality that it’ll be stuck covering Donald Trump again, for better or worse. Dylan Byers and Peter Hamby discuss how it will be different this time.
Eriq Gardner
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June 20, 2022
The Times vs. Twitter, Round Two
Some of America’s most august media companies are struggling to get reporters off social media, where advocacy and backbiting have become a reputational risk. A series of legal tests could make that much harder.
Dylan Byers
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June 17, 2022
Zaz & His Ax Man
Speculation inside Warner Bros. Discovery points to fresh “synergies” coming for HBO Max’s unscripted team. Plus other notes and news on Chris Licht’s town hall and Joe Kahn’s grand plans.
Theodore Schleifer
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June 14, 2022
S.B.F.’s Media Dreams
Like previous mega-successful billionaires, the 30-year-old metal-haired crypto king is becoming media-curious. Plus new reporting from inside the Web3-political-fundraising industrial complex and some Harris-Biden fundraising dish.
Dylan Byers
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June 10, 2022
Chapek’s Purge & The WaPo Aftermath
New reporting on the two biggest scandals roiling the media industry.
Dylan Byers
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June 3, 2022
More Brian Roberts & Chris Licht Buzz
The inside conversation about Brian Roberts’ M&A appetite, and the truth about Shari Redstone and Bob Bakish’s Paramount position. Plus, some fallout from the ongoing anxiety inside Chris Licht’s CNN.
Dylan Byers
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May 26, 2022
First Lichts
Inside CNN’s newsroom, a top story remains the network’s new boss, Chris Licht, and his attempt to fill the Zucker void without being Zucker, all while managing a team of remnant Zuckerites.
Dylan Byers
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May 20, 2022
Brian Roberts’ One That Got Away
For months, the media elite have been wondering what the Comcast impresario might buy to scale up in the content wars. Turns out, Roberts had a plan that almost came together.
Dylan Byers
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May 18, 2022
The Tao of Chuck Todd
Can an anchor cut from the Russertian mold re-reinvent a historic franchise as a modern media brand? And is NBC betting on the future for Meet the Press or merely paying a “talent management tax” to fund Todd’s vision?
Dylan Byers
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May 13, 2022
The Tom Brady Conundrum
Is Tom Brady worth nearly $400 million as a broadcaster? The critics say no. But, they also concede, what is Fox without the N.F.L.—and, ergo, without him?
Dylan Byers
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May 11, 2022
Chris Licht’s Master Plan Comes Into View
Sure, an adult-table bastion of centrist upscale cable news sounds fantastic, especially since Fox News and MSNBC have totally abdicated the middle. But can it still be done, and will it rate?
Dylan Byers
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May 6, 2022
Licht Battles the Zucker Ghosts
One week into his new job, CNN’s new boss is already having his manage-from-above strategy questioned and second-guessed. How long till he climbs down from the 22nd floor?
Dylan Byers
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May 5, 2022
Licht’s Non-Zucker Playbook Emerges
Three days into the job, at least technically-speaking, new CNN C.E.O. Chris Licht is trying to establish himself as an anti-Zucker: hands off the creative, not messing with the chyrons, a delegator-in-chief. Which may explain why he’s sitting in Ann Sarnoff’s old office.