SPORTS & MEDIA
The NBA’s TikTok Paradox
Adam Silver knows that young people are watching NBA content on free social platforms rather than TV—not ideal when the league is trying to prove it’s actually worth the $77 billion that its partners just paid for games. So what’s he going to do about it?
John Ourand
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September 15, 2025
NFL ’29 Opt-Out Watch
Right now, we’re wading through a bizarre and likely ephemeral market in which the linear players have become preferred destinations for sports rights. Will this all end when the NFL hits the block? And when it does, who will get left out?
Dylan Byers
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September 12, 2025
The Book of David
As he prepares a potential all-cash bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, David Ellison is aiming to reshape Hollywood and the news business on a Murdochian scale.
John Ourand
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September 11, 2025
The NBA’s Plural Marriage
As the NBA gathered media partners for its board meeting this week, one thing became clear: This year, viewing is going to be more complicated, more fragmented, and more expensive than ever before. Adam Silver wants to make sure that his media partners can work together amicably to mitigate some of the complaints.
Dylan Byers
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September 10, 2025
All My Children
The Murdoch family’s long-running power struggle ended with Lachlan establishing control of Fox and News Corp, underscoring Rupert’s enduring leverage—and leaving James estranged, still defined by opposition to his father’s empire.
The YouTube-NFL Postgame Show
It’s time to argue over the numbers for YouTube’s first NFL game. Was that 17 million figure soft, or should the real conversation be about the 69 million creators whose individualized viewing experience could be key to the league’s future?
John Ourand
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September 8, 2025
Mike & Tony’s Excellent Adventure
Even in ESPN’s anti-sentimental, multichannel, needle-mover era, the company is doubling down on the old-school curmudgeons who starred in its golden age. Mike Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser are being rewarded with new three-year deals that might truly mark the beginning of the end of an amazing journey.
Dylan Byers
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September 5, 2025
The Times Enters Its Post-Text Era
The paper of record is quickly evolving from a lifestyle product into a walled-garden multimedia platform, turning its biggest stars—Ezra, Swan, Maggie—into talking heads, and transforming itself into CNN faster than CNN can become the Times.
John Ourand
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September 4, 2025
YouTube’s Friday Night Lights
Yes, YouTube is streaming its first NFL game tomorrow from Brazil, and yes the NFL seems to be conceding to the long-inevitable march toward streaming—even embracing YouTubers like Dude Perfect. But don’t let that fool you. The NFL is still about the TV business, and business is still good.
Dylan Byers
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September 3, 2025
The Bari Market
With Paramount securely in his pocket, David Ellison is on the verge of acquiring Bari Weiss’s The Free Press and tossing her the keys to CBS News. The deal is on the 1-yard line, I’m told.
When Will YouTube Win the Super Bowl?
Nothing produces more sports media agita than YouTube, whose sports endgame remains a mystery. But former YouTuber turned Octagon executive William Mao has some ideas about what might be coming next.
Dylan Byers
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August 29, 2025
ESPN, NYT & The Future of D.T.C.
A surprising conversation with Andrew Rosen, the digital media savant, on how the Times and ESPN’s digital paths diverged, and who’s getting in right in the long run.
John Ourand
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August 28, 2025
The Carriage Trap
YouTube and Fox reached a deal Thursday night. But their unusual carriage spat had YouTube asking Fox to treat it like Amazon, while Fox insisted the real comp should be Charter or DirecTV. The stakes of this battle could impact YouTube TV’s coming deals with NBCU and Disney, too.
Dylan Byers
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August 27, 2025
The Times Co. Greets Its Barbarians at the Gate
Yesterday, a pair of activist investors took it upon themselves to remind the New York Times Company of its A.I. potential (as if it needed reminding). Of course, whatever form that will take will likely determine the future of newspapers in the A.I. era.
Area Man Scores League Rights
We’ve entered a brave new world in which individual YouTube creators are signing deals with leagues for limited sports rights—perhaps foreshadowing an era in which viewers get to choose from 1,000 different Manningcasts.
John Ourand
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August 25, 2025
Crossing Jordon
A spirited, mediated, and unsanctioned debate between two of college football’s leading analysts over the viability of Bill Belichick at UNC, the potential pitfalls of recruiting a head coach from the professional ranks, the never-ending Jordon Hudson intrigue, and much more.
Dylan Byers
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August 22, 2025
All the CBS News Fit to Print
News and notes on Paramount-adjusted EBITDA.