SPORTS & MEDIA
Julia Alexander
& Dylan Byers
•
September 20, 2022
CNN+ Reveries & Zaz’s I.P. Strategy
A frank conversation on the hottest topics in streaming: Warner Bros. Discovery’s war chest, CNN’s future, Wall Street’s demands, and the future of ESPN.
Eriq Gardner
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September 19, 2022
A Washington Legal Scandal for the MAGA Media Era
A lawsuit targeting James O’Keefe’s undercover sting-video tactics aims to resolve once and for all whether Project Veritas is practicing journalism or just political dirty tricks.
Dylan Byers
•
September 16, 2022
When Life Gives You Lemon…
CNN’s new morning show concept, led by Don Lemon with Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins, is a “mass appeal play” aligned with Chris Licht’s less-partisan strategy (while conveniently nudging Brianna Keilar off center stage). It also evidences the hard new reality for linear media: In a post-Maddow, post-Cuomo world, it’s no longer all about primetime.
Tina Nguyen
•
September 14, 2022
Doug Mastriano’s Snowflake Strategy
After crashing through a G.O.P. primary, Mastriano’s fringey brand of Q-inflected, hyper-MAGA politics has been a harder sell with general election voters. The Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate hasn’t made things easier by insulating himself from the very media outlets he needs to win.
Dylan Byers
•
September 14, 2022
VandeHei in the Arena
Weeks after Axios’s $525 million sale, Washington’s most influential media C.E.O. recalls some lessons from the Politico era and Axios’s ascent. And then offers some advice for the next generation of D.C. disruptors, like Punchbowl and Semafor.
Dylan Byers
•
September 9, 2022
Semafor Is Almost Ready for Prime Time
Some Friday notes on the hottest topics in our media industry: Semafor, The Washington Post, and the Today show.
Dylan Byers
•
September 8, 2022
Licht’s Teacher’s Pet Syndrome
After Stelter’s ouster and the Harwood sunset, many in CNN wonder if Brianna Keilar is modulating her tone to satisfy the boss.
Eriq Gardner
•
September 6, 2022
Anderson Cooper’s Secret Deposition & CNN’s “Triad” Misfire
The media remains obsessed with Dominion’s $1.6 billion libel lawsuit against Fox News. But that suit obscures even more complex litigation involving CNN, Zucker, and Anderson Cooper’s sealed testimony about the network’s “Triad.”
Dylan Byers
•
September 2, 2022
The September of Stelteritis
Various and numerous personnel changes across the network landscape, from Reliable Sources to Meet the Press, all point toward a single cruel reality: the industry can’t program its ways out of the apparent and very real Linear Big Bang. It’s here.
Tina Nguyen
•
August 24, 2022
The Chip & Joanna of MAGA America?
Ben Shapiro and Jeremy Boreing have gone from millennial alt-right content jockeys to full-blown influencers to, truly, mini-kingpins of a billion-dollar MAGA D.T.C. media business. Is the only thing that can stop them their own ambition?
William D. Cohan
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August 24, 2022
Dan Loeb’s Chapek Punch List
When you cut through it, all Dan Loeb really really wants Bob Chapek to do is slash Disney’s bloated costs and pay down the company’s $50 billion of debt. And maybe shake up the board. And maybe spin ESPN. And, oh wait…
Dylan Byers
•
August 18, 2022
The Brian Stelter Show Is Over
Brian Stelter, the CNN host and inveterate newsletter O.G. and perceived Jeff Zucker mini-me, is the latest casualty of the Licht era. His undeniably successful tenure is a powerful metaphor for the media industry’s past, present, and future.
Dylan Byers & Julia Alexander
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August 17, 2022
Chapek Second-Guessing & Zaz Whispers
The inside conversation in Hollywood and on Wall Street, about Warners’ synergies, HBO layoffs, and the activist investor putting Disney on notice.
William D. Cohan
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August 14, 2022
Barbarians at the Times
More notes on ValueAct’s Sulzberger love tap, plus Rivian’s latest correction, and Elon’s Twitter liquidity headfake.
Dylan Byers
•
August 12, 2022
The ‘Times’ & Its Times
A little tickle from an activist investor throws into stark relief the Times Company’s subscriber journey and portfolio growth—especially when juxtaposed with its peer set.
Dylan Byers
•
August 10, 2022
Axios in Wonderland
How VandeHei, Allen, Schwartz & Co. remade media in a town that doesn’t like to remake anything. Plus the latest media schadenfreude enveloping Semafor.
Dylan Byers
•
August 5, 2022
Zaz & The Art of Investor Maintenance
In the earnings call heard round the world, David Zaslav punctured a wound in the entertainment industry’s top-line subscriber-growth fetish. Now he needs to perform the ultimate superhero task: make huge hits while cutting huge costs.