MEDIA
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.
Dylan Byers
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April 29, 2022
Ben and Justin Prepare to Announce Their Next Announcement
Media’s most anticipated start-up is gunning for a launch in Q4, and the money bag is in sight. Semafor’s plans, at least the initial ones, are coming into view. And they’ll start not globally, but in Washington.
Brian Morrissey
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April 28, 2022
The New Media Arbitrage Moment
The fall of CNN+ demonstrates, among other things, that the definition of “quality” media has changed irrevocably.
Dylan Byers
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April 26, 2022
Cesar’s Ukraine Tour
30 Rock is aflutter with frustration and eye-rolling over the NBC News chairman’s recent trip to Lviv. Is it typical TV news backbiting, or is a larger frustration afoot?
Dylan Byers
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April 22, 2022
CNN+’s Chronicle of a Death Foretold
Months before the deal closed, Discovery executives made it clear to both AT&T chief John Stankey and WarnerMedia chief Jason Kilar that they had questions and doubts about CNN+'s strategy, its cost, and the product itself.
Dylan Byers
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April 15, 2022
The Maddow Iceberg
Maddow’s non-surprise surprise announcement has been foreshadowed for months. So why doesn’t the network have a viable solution? Is 20 percent Maddow at 1.25x or so the price really better than nothing? And at what cost?
Julia Alexander
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April 14, 2022
Dear Zaz, Read This Before the “Synergies” Start…
The streaming wars are, simply put, a race to own the best content and have the strongest pipes to distribute it (along with all the financial engineering and tax avoidance befitting a media behemoth, naturally). Here are my four predictions for how David Zaslav can take Warner Bros. Discovery from No. 3 to No. 2—or even higher.
Dylan Byers
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April 8, 2022
Norah O’Donnell Makes Her Next Career Move
After plenty of rumors to the contrary, Norah O’Donnell is staying home, and set up to finally become the Peter Jennings of CBS—the star that the news division is built around, which in 2022, naturally, means some streaming stuff, too. So is it all water under the bridge with Neeraj?
Dylan Byers
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April 1, 2022
D.C.’s Post-Trump Media Reality-Check Rumbles On
Is there life after the 45th president? Some companies are articulating a new path; others, not so much.
Dylan Byers
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March 30, 2022
Notes on Zaz Rule and CNN+’s Debut
David Zaslav’s date with destiny—the endlessly anticipated consummation of Discovery and the WarnerMedia assets—is finally (finally) less than two weeks away. And yet the first major artifact of his tenure—the emergence of CNN+—is already in the market. Herewith, some notes from Hudson Yards.