Dylan Byers • February 1, 2025

Shari Shrugged

Apparently, Shari Redstone has waited too long and stands to make too much on the sale of her declining family business to get tripped up in a journalistic ethics debate or public spat with the new president. Why not just cave? These days, everybody’s doing it.

Lauren Sherman • January 31, 2025

A ‘New York’ Story Fit for ‘New York’

Until now, New York magazine’s union members have never threatened a work stoppage. And while their demands seem reasonable—over salary, health insurance, and (of course) concerns about A.I.—this is one of those unfortunate situations where the structural challenges of the parentco might preclude a tidy ending.

John Ourand • January 31, 2025

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the ACC

ESPN locked down its deal with the ACC, ensuring the league will avoid Pac-12 overreach problems and keep Clemson and Florida State in the fold. But the price ESPN paid proves its sports rights market is not a bonanza for everyone.

Dylan Byers • January 30, 2025

Boiler Room

News, notes, and observations on the superficial changes inside the Brady Room and the far more significant transformations under the hood within the D.C. media industrial complex.

John Ourand • January 28, 2025

The Bundle in the Jungle

DirecTV and Comcast are only the latest cable distributors to offer Venu-esque sports-and-news bundles as an antidote to cord-cutting. Michael Nathanson, the renowned media analyst, explains why the industry is on the right track—but still getting the details all wrong.

Dylan Byers • January 25, 2025

CNN After CNN

The contracting news network is finally leveling with staff that its future won’t look anything like its past. But Mark Thompson is still focused on where and how people consume news, without offering a vision for how CNN competes in a more crowded media landscape.

John Ourand • January 24, 2025

The NFL’s Playoff Slump

Ratings for NFL playoff games are down close to double digits so far this season, a surprising reality that has spawned all manner of business philosophizing—some of it banal, some of it quite sage.

Dylan Byers • January 23, 2025

The Contracting News Network

With a defanged and fully demoralized staff, and a mandate from Mark Thompson to drop the #Resistance posturing, could the new year be any gloomier at the most trusted name in news? Layoffs are on the way…

John Ourand • January 17, 2025

Maverick Ball

Maverick Carter, LeBron’s longtime wingman and business partner, shocked the sports world with the news that he was attempting to raise $5 billion to take on the NBA. Is this a new LIV or a basketball F1, or something more quixotic?

Dylan Byers • January 16, 2025

Kingdom Kutler

Rebecca Kutler, Jeff Zucker’s onetime heir apparent at CNN, is now the big boss at MSNBC, where she’ll lead the company into the SpinCo wilderness—managing talent, decline, and anxieties along the way. And yet, she’s not only the best person for the job, but perhaps the only one who can do it.

John Ourand • January 14, 2025

The Cliff Path Civil War

Greg Rigdon, Comcast’s president of content acquisition and the architect of the dreaded “cliff path” deal for regional sports networks, turns his fire on his own sister stations.

John Ourand • January 10, 2025

Uncut Gem

Diamond Sports Group has emerged from bankruptcy reborn, renamed, and with Norby (!!)—but is it all too little, too late? Plus, news and notes on Liberty and Peacock.

Dylan Byers • January 9, 2025

A Matter of Life & Jeff

Yes, we’re all grossed out by billionaires and C.E.O.s genuflecting to the incoming president, even if much of it is cynical lip-service. But the agony and angst of it all has overly simplified a much more complex challenge.

John Ourand • January 7, 2025

Garden & Gun

The showdown between MSG Networks and Altice is leaving fans of the streaking Knicks out of luck and Jim Dolan running out of options. LightShed Partners’ Brandon Ross illuminates the issues and explains how an MSG Networks bankruptcy could play out, including a potential merger with YES.

Dylan Byers • January 3, 2025

Politico, Brother, Where Art Thou?

More news and notes on the traditional inter-administration employment musical chairs within the D.C. media scene.