SPORTS & MEDIA
John Ourand
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June 26, 2025
A Spulu Silver Lining
Venu, the sports frankenstreamer that died on the vine, did have one lasting impact on the sports viewing universe: It gave birth to skinny bundle offerings, like DirecTV’s, that were meant to compete against it.
Dylan Byers
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June 25, 2025
I Now Pronounce You Donald & Larry
While the media world’s eyes are trained on the CBS–Trump settlement negotiations, and its impact on the Ellison family’s tortured acquisition of Paramount, Larry himself has his eyes on a bigger prize at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue: TikTok and Stargate.
Netflix’s French Connection
Netflix’s ultimate goal is to transcend its dominant streamer status and simply become TV, itself. That grand plan is now playing out with sports at its center, and a new partnership with France’s TF1.
John Ourand
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June 23, 2025
Gunnar, Germs & Steel
The newly separated TNT Sports will keep bidding on sports packages… but rights holders are wondering if they’ll see big numbers in the Gunnar Wiedenfels era.
Dylan Byers
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June 20, 2025
Substacks to Grind
Editorial salaries have been on a grim, steady slide since Graydon Carter gave up the reins—and the generous coffers—at Vanity Fair. But this week, news of The Atlantic’s hiring spree and the elusive promise of Substack riches has reporters following the money.
John Ourand
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June 19, 2025
Cordella Cutters
NBC Sports president Rick Cordella chats candidly about Peacock’s streaming journey, leveraging premium sports to drive subs, the prophetic decision to carry the Big Ten, why they got into the NBA, and what linear and streaming still have in common.
Dylan Byers
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June 18, 2025
Don’t Substack In Anger
Leaked details about Substack’s new fundraise conjure deeper questions about the tech platform cum writing tool. For starters, is it a media company or a tech play?
The Zaz Sports Streaming Fallacy
As the dust continues to settle on the Warner Bros. Discovery partition, David Zaslav’s decision to leave live sports coverage on the curb has baffled the sports media world.
John Ourand
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June 16, 2025
Earnhardt Knocks
Racing legend Dale Earnhardt Jr. candidly discusses NASCAR’s post-pandemic blues, the lessons from F1, and the on-track value structure.
Dylan Byers
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June 13, 2025
The Low Post
What’s changed at The Washington Post amid this endless and ostensible period of transformation and renewal? Almost nothing, which is either part of a master plan to turn the Post into the Amazon Marketplace of news, or just more inertia and mismanagement at America’s allegedly third-most-important newspaper.
John Ourand
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June 12, 2025
Rolapp Ditches His Bridesmaid Dress
It’s not easy being Roger Goodell’s number two. Now, Brian Rolapp, a longtime resident of the NFL commissioner shortlist, is at the precipice of taking a job with the PGA Tour, instead.
Dylan Byers
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June 11, 2025
CNN Prepares for the Afterlife
With the industry in inexorable decline, ratings at a nadir, and younger audiences turning to YouTube and TikTok, Gunnar Wiedenfels will inevitably look at CNN and decide he can maintain relatively similar profits at a mere fraction of the cost. This is the beginning of the end.
The Zaz-Gunnar Sports Showdown
Now that WBD’s unwieldy marriage of streaming and cable has dissolved, there will likely be instances—most notably, regarding sports—where Zaz’s interests and those of his trusted financial henchman, Gunnar Wiedenfels, who will run the spun-off Global Networks, diverge.
John Ourand
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June 9, 2025
Top Gunnar
Amid the seismic news of the WBD divorce, Zaslav’s hodgepodge of post-NBA sports assets will find themselves in an excised cable company run by a severe belt-tightener. There are worse options, right? Right?! Actually, yes.
Dylan Byers
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June 6, 2025
Karine Toward a Cliff
K.J.P. is politically homeless after an ill-timed defection from the Democratic Party—yet another misstep for a White House press secretary who could never read the room. Worse, she appears to be positioning herself for a second act on television at the very moment that the industry is melting away.
John Ourand
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June 5, 2025
Sports Rights in the Multiverse
The full impact of a post-monoculture world, where sports are viewed on multiple platforms, is beginning to emerge. To no one’s surprise, the streamers, who are younger and new to the ad game, are already starting to dominate.
Dylan Byers
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June 4, 2025
Jeff’s Post Snub
After rebuffing A.I. publicly—including suing OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement—the Times finally announced a content deal with… the company run by the owner of its rival.