SPORTS & MEDIA
Dylan Byers
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February 4, 2026
For Whom Will Tolls
When Bezos bought the ‘Post’ in 2013, he said, “You can’t shrink your way to relevance.” Today, however, his newspaper is attempting to do just that and then some—shuttering entire sections, laying off 300 reporters, and pulling back on crucial reporting. Is a comeback possible, or has K Street officially entered its late Ottoman era?
Peacock’s “Legendary February” Litmus Test
NBC is expecting droves of new subscribers ahead of a trifecta of major sports events: the Super Bowl, Winter Olympics, and the NBA All-Star Game. Now it just needs to keep them.
John Ourand
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February 2, 2026
Requiem for an R.S.N. Dream
Main Street Sports’s wind-down this spring will cap the slow-motion decline of a certain type of local sports deal. As teams look to their respective leagues for safety, and the market resets, is there any future for the regional sports model?
Dylan Byers
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January 30, 2026
Who Will End Up With CNN?
Speculation that Barry Diller had considered buying CNN has set off another wave of panicked fever dreams surrounding the future of the network if or when WBD’s cable portfolio is severed from the Studios and Streaming mothership. Is it all just industry psychobabble, or has Zaz enlisted a pal to help close his deal with Netflix?
John Ourand
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January 29, 2026
Exile From Main Street
The embattled R.S.N. Main Street Sports owns local rights to 29 teams across three leagues, but it’s running out of money and options in its quest to stay afloat. Despite whispers of a mystery investor, a Monday deadline is looming, and leagues and executives are set to flee.
Dylan Byers
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January 28, 2026
Bari the Hatchet
No one said that turning around a legacy news institution in the age of inexorable decline, shattered attention spans, and staff revolts was supposed to be easy. But as Mark Thompson, Will Lewis, and Bari Weiss are proving, you can’t move forward without taking the lead.
Paramount’s Early Knockout
By most metrics, the UFC’s Paramount+ debut was an unqualified success, even as diehard fans complained about the abundance of post-P.P.V. advertising. How can David Ellison & Co. build on the momentum?
John Ourand & Dylan Byers
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January 26, 2026
The WaPo Extinction Event
The Washington Post cuts, which could affect as many as 300 employees, according to sources, are the culmination of a two-year effort by C.E.O. Will Lewis to fundamentally transform the paper and reverse hundreds of millions in annual losses. In that effort, Lewis has decided to focus the Post’s editorial investment on a few core coverage areas—national security, politics, etcetera—and not sports.
Dylan Byers
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January 23, 2026
The Times 4-Day Workweek Holy War
Each era seems to get the New York Times union the negotiations it deserves. The latest, already contentious round of labor relations at the paper is likely to come down to issues like A.I. and return-to-office. Don’t expect a return to the recent age of conciliation.
John Ourand & Eriq Gardner
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January 22, 2026
The People v. Darian Mensah
Assessing Duke’s epic lawsuit and a full slate of other football-related cases approaching their day in court with Eriq Gardner, Puck’s resident legal expert.
Dylan Byers
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January 21, 2026
Bari’s Prison of Her Own Design
After a month of contentious delays, 60 Minutes finally aired its piece on the notorious El Salvador prison CECOT. The “hostage standoff,” as one person put it, ended in an uneasy truce that could have been reached a month ago—and without exposing the distrust and division at Bari Weiss’s CBS News.
NBC’s Golden Ratio
A partnership with Nippon TV will give NBC access to new technology meant to optimize its sports content for younger audiences. It’s a timely play—but one that also belies Peacock’s larger problem with viewer engagement.
Dylan Byers
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January 16, 2026
The Politico Succession Games Begin…
An era at Politico has been ending for the last decade—at least since the departures of Mike and Jim, then Jake and Anna, and, of course, the sale to Axel Springer. But with John Harris ascending to the chairmanship, again, it’s finally Axel’s baby. And Mathias Döpfner may be looking outside the mothership for Harris’s successor.
John Ourand
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January 15, 2026
The ESPYs White Party
ESPN is moving the ESPYs, its moribund 33-year-old awards franchise, to New York, sandwiched between MLB’s All-Star Game and Michael Rubin’s Fanatics Fest. It’s a savvy play.
Dylan Byers
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January 14, 2026
Tony and Bari on the Rocks
The sponcon set dressing at ‘Evening News’ provoked predictable outcry at the House of Bari. But are brand partners in TV news just an inevitability at this point?
Dish, Disney & The Micropayment Dilemma
The legal battle between Disney and Dish Network over Sling TV’s “Day Pass” belies a much more pressing question facing networks and distributors: How do you engage diehard and casual sports fans in an era of unlimited choice?
John Ourand
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January 12, 2026
Fox–TikTok Beef & Hard Rock Life
News and notes on the topics keeping the industry’s hearts aflutter in advance of the CFP, the World Cup, and more.