SPORTS & MEDIA
Dylan Byers
•
November 7, 2025
Stan By Me
A handful of disgruntled employees confronted Stan Duncan, Condé Nast’s H.R. chief, about the company’s decision to shutter Teen Vogue. There was a video, of course, which captures either a noble moment of employee solidarity or a bunch of entitled staffers willfully unaware of Condé’s dwindling fortunes and the realities of the legacy media business. Either way, how far they’ve fallen.
John Ourand
& Julia Alexander
•
November 6, 2025
The YouTube TV Offensive
As the YouTube TV–Disney rights feud stretches into its second weekend, a talmudic reading of the legacy behemoth’s leverage, the challenges posed by Google’s dry powder, and the various ways this battle could influence the next skirmish.
Dylan Byers
•
November 5, 2025
MS Doom
Spirits are uncharacteristically high at the post-spinoff MS NOW, but this is still a late-stage linear operation that’s shedding (mostly geriatric) viewers at a steady clip. Despite Versant’s money and Rebecca Kutler’s ambitions, is it just a matter of time before the realities of cable’s decline drag them under?
Iger & Goliath
The nearly week-old Disney–YouTube TV carriage dispute is arguably a microcosm of the broader challenges facing legacy mediacos as old-world distribution channels give way to streaming, and as social video eats the world.
John Ourand
•
November 3, 2025
MLB’s Saturday Night Fever
News and notes on the latest fascinations and frenzies of the sports media business: Fox’s World Series numbers, the Disney–YouTube TV beef, and the roiling NBA gambling saga.
Dylan Byers
•
October 31, 2025
The Bari Method
Bari Weiss walked into CBS News guns ablazin’, booking guests and shooting for the moon with on-air talent, most of whom are locked in multiyear contracts. Will her inexperience in TV be a real hindrance, or is it just what the sleepy Tiffany network needs?
John Ourand
•
October 30, 2025
Hans Solo
With more games in more markets airing with more partners than ever before, the NFL is constantly seeking to maximize its rabid domestic audience while minting new fans abroad. Hans Schroeder, the league’s media distribution chief, explains how it’s all working, and where on earth there’s still room for growth.
Dylan Byers
•
October 29, 2025
The Great Weiss Whale
Bari’s takeover of CBS News, and her direct line to David Ellison, is sending a clear message: This is Bari’s CBS now, layoffs and all. The big question is what talent she’ll get to join her. Anderson Cooper will be her first test.
Zaz Sports Bundle Economics
A wide-ranging chat with renowned analyst Peter Supino about the auction for Warner Bros. Discovery, including the true value of WBD’s sports rights, the potential buyers most likely to bid on the motherlode, a few strange and overlooked aspects of the deal, and much more.
William D. Cohan
•
October 27, 2025
A Fanatic’s Notes
Michael Rubin explains how his $31 billion company evolved from an e-commerce merchandiser into the third-largest sportsbook in the U.S., and why he’s in “no rush” for an exit.
Dylan Byers
•
October 24, 2025
The Longwell Game
Since the early days of Trump 1.0, The Bulwark has evolved into a hysteria-free, self-sustaining home planet for conservatives-in-exile, where the ethos, according to publisher Sarah Longwell, holds that democracy cannot be saved “from behind a paywall.” Now, she’s contemplating a Free Press-level exit, too.
John Ourand
•
October 23, 2025
Portergate & Its Discontents
Despite the screaming headlines about the Rozier–Billups nightmare, grizzled sports media executives are more sanguine in private—recognizing that sports betting isn’t only an irreversible trend but also an increasingly central part of the economic future of the industry.
Dylan Byers
•
October 22, 2025
Makan America Great Again
Now that David Zaslav has finally admitted Warner Bros. Discovery is for sale, the Ellisons will lean on Paramount’s newly recruited chief legal officer, Makan Delrahim, to potentially articulate their antitrust talking points.
Did Apple Overpay for F1?
Apple’s $140 million annual investment in F1 is a huge bet on its future, even as the data suggests its U.S. popularity may have already peaked. Did Liberty Media pull off the deal of the century? Or does F1 make sense for Apple in ways that it didn’t for ESPN?
John Ourand
•
October 20, 2025
Shanks on the NFL’s Deal
A wide-ranging conversation between Fox Sports C.E.O. Eric Shanks and MoffettNathanson analysts Michael Nathanson and Robert Fishman about the forthcoming NFL negotiations, reaching audiences outside of the bundle, the creep of private equity into college football, and much more.
Dylan Byers
•
October 17, 2025
CNN’s Sequelitis
The imminent launch of Mark Thompson’s “All Access” streaming service recalls all the familiar questions that plagued CNN+: Can subscriptions save CNN from its post-linear malaise? Does anyone really want this? And is it all too little, too late?
John Ourand
•
October 16, 2025
Silver Linings Playbook
A special live conversation with NBA commissioner Adam Silver about his new $76 billion rights deal and how A.I. will transform his business.