John Ourand • May 20, 2024

Berson of Interest

New CBS Sports C.E.O. David Berson rips a page from McManus playbook, predicts more of the (lucrative) same, and says “Nothing to see here” about Esiason and Simms as Paramount’s deal-or-no-deal drama continues.

Dylan Byers • May 17, 2024

English Patience

So many newsrooms seem to be waiting on newly appointed leaders—a number of them British—to swoop in and restore their swagger. Alas, the more you parse their pablum-laden marketing pitches, the more it all looks like the same old playbooks applied to new platforms.

John Ourand • May 17, 2024

The NFL-Netflix Broken Hearts Club

Perhaps sports media executives shouldn’t be surprised that the NFL—which does whatever it wants because it can—went with Netflix for a pair of Christmas Day games. But that doesn’t mean that they aren’t pissed about it.

Dylan Byers • May 16, 2024

No Country for Old Mann

News and notes on the latest storylines coursing through the industry: CNN’s debate coup, NBC’s internal frustrations, and a Condé Nast departure.

John Ourand • May 14, 2024

Roku at the Bat

The streaming device slash platform, now in more than 80 million homes, makes its maiden voyage into Major League Baseball.

Eriq Gardner • May 13, 2024

Judge Judy Threatens to Make the Tabloids Pay

America’s favorite TV jurist is suing A360 Media, publisher of In Touch Weekly and The National Enquirer, over a Menendez murder trial mix-up. “It’s unconscionable,” she says, “and will be expensive.”

Dylan Byers • May 10, 2024

The Zucker Savior Myth

The endurance of the “Will Jeff buy CNN?” fantasy, which was stoked again this week, highlights the uncertain state of the media industry, and a few enduring truths about Zucker, too. He may have reinvented himself as an investor, but he remains an operator at heart. And, if given the opportunity, he’d probably be back in the control room in a heartbeat.

John Ourand • May 10, 2024

Netflix’s NFL Christmas Miracle

It looks like Netflix will wind up carrying the two NFL games scheduled for December 25, per a bevy of sources. It’s a first-of-its-kind deal, and almost certainly not the last.

Dylan Byers • May 8, 2024

Zaz & The Art of Reputation Maintenance

News and notes on Zaz’s Milken stem-winder, the NBA auction rights derby, and post-Godwin ABC News.

John Ourand • May 6, 2024

NBA Hunger Games Enter the Fourth Quarter

I’ve got my hands on what Pitaro is getting, Jassy’s deal, and what Zaz and Roberts are putting on the table. Oh, and I’ve also got the skinny on that wild notion of breaking the third package into two, so that TNT and NBC would each get a cookie.

Eriq Gardner • May 6, 2024

Carlos Watson on Trial & A Ryan Kavanaugh Deal

News and notes from the legal frontier: Ozy Media heads to court, Triller comes up short, and Clare Locke hunts fees. Plus: Can Drake and Kendrick Lamar sue each other for defamation?

Dylan Byers • May 4, 2024

The Godwin Complex

Notes on the layering of Kim Godwin, the agita inside ABC News, and the looming exit strategy coalescing in plain view.

John Ourand • May 3, 2024

Preschlack Your Luck

A Hail Mary from Amazon may save Dave Preschlack’s Diamond Sports from oblivion—and soften the blow of the Comcast “cliff path.”

Dylan Byers • May 2, 2024

The Zaz-Roberts Proxy War

Warner Bros. Discovery’s inability to lock down its NBA rights, thus allowing NBC to bid them up, represents David Zaslav’s latest headache—and, perhaps, unforced error. And it may offer a taste of the negotiating tenor in a potential future WBD-NBCU combination.

John Ourand • April 29, 2024

The Caitlinsanity Revolution Will Be Televised

The Sports Innovation Lab is staging a NewFront this week in order to help monetize (and infrastructure-ize) the massive growth in the women’s sports space.