🌞 Greetings from Sun Valley, and welcome back to In the Room. I had dinner at Enoteca in Ketchum last night
(Snake River trout and Snake River rosé). So did Andy Jassy and Bob Kraft; Tim Cook, John Ternus, and Eddy Cue; and Derek Chang and his family (separate tables, of course). Speaking of Derek, I’d like to commend the Liberty Media C.E.O. for forgoing the private chauffeur and driving himself to the Lodge in a white Toyota Tacoma. Much cooler.
The Allen & Co. conference is indeed well underway. I’m
told this morning’s session kicked off with a stimulating conversation between Jeff Bezos and Marc Andreessen about the new space race; followed by Andrew Ross Sorkin’s interview with the invariably brilliant if pretentious Ken Griffin; then a bit of a snoozer between Satya Nadella and Reid Hoffman, who mostly talked over the audience’s heads. In tonight’s email, I’ll take you to
the Duck Pond to share the latest insights and observations from this rarified executive class.
🎙️ Plus, on the latest episode of The Grill Room, Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan joined me to discuss Regime Change, the power of their partnership, The New York Times’ “force multiplier” effects, and what it takes to be the dominant reporter on any beat. Follow The Grill Room on
Apple, Spotify, or wherever you prefer to listen.
Also mentioned in this issue: Lord Rothermere,
Prince Harry, Mark Zuckerberg, Tim Cook, Josh D’Amaro, James Murdoch, Joe Kahn, Meredith Kopit Levien, Gianni Infantino, Ben Shapiro, Jeremy Boreing, John Ternus, Brendan Carr, Paul Clement, Max
Mosley, Michael Angelakis, Mike Cavanagh, Paul Dacre, and many more. |
- The
Little Prince: Lord Rothermere’s DGMT is taking a victory lap after the U.K. High Court dismissed a costly and high-profile privacy lawsuit brought against the Daily Mail by Prince Harry, Elton John, Elizabeth Hurley, and other U.K. celebrities. The group had spent more than £50 million in its effort to sue the Mail and its publisher, Associated Newspapers, for alleged phone hacking and theft of
medical records, among other illegal activities—charges the defendant described as “lurid and preposterous.”
In a video statement, former Mail editor-in-chief and current parentco executive Paul Dacre called the ruling an “overwhelming victory” for press freedom and a “magnificent vindication” of the Mail's journalism. He also issued merciless attacks on the plaintiffs, describing Harry as “a confused and angry young man” drawn into a conspiracy to
destroy the paper that had been “financed by the orgy-loving, racist Max Mosley and involving the actor Hugh Grant.” He also invoked Harry’s late mom, Princess Diana, stating that “she liked the Mail.” (Heavy stuff!)
This is indeed another blow to Harry, who has suffered several of them since stepping down from Royal duties and decamping to Montecito. Indeed, the fact that he became the face of this lawsuit only further
strained his familial relations. “The Palace is happy [with this outcome],” one U.K. media executive told me, “although they hate ‘Harry the loser’ suing the press.” - D’Amaro vs. F.C.C., cont’d: Josh D’Amaro is continuing to vigorously defend Disney against Brendan Carr’s attempts to censor The View by trying to apply “equal time” rules for political bookings. ABC filed a reply brief this week emphasizing the
show’s status as a “bona fide news program” and positioning the F.C.C.’s move as an infringement on the freedom of the press. “The First Amendment does not permit the government to sit in an editor's chair,” Paul Clement, the star conservative lawyer assisting Disney in its fight, wrote in the filing.
Disney, which has been soliciting help from The View’s fanbase, noted that more than 77,000 public comments have been placed into the F.C.C. docket since the proceeding
began, with an overwhelming majority urging the commission to stay out of broadcasters' editorial decisions. Nearly 50 organizations spanning the ideological spectrum have also filed in support of ABC. According to ABC, those protests demonstrate that there is “a public perception that the Commission is acting based on political animus against disfavored speakers.”
Of course, every news organization has a vested interest in this case, since the stakes extend well beyond The View.
If the F.C.C. succeeds in narrowing—or effectively politicizing—the longstanding “bona fide news” exemption, it could give this and future administrations sway over broadcasters’ editorial decisions. Indeed, the F.C.C.’s threats are already having a chilling effect. Semafor’s Max Tani recently noted that The View “hasn’t featured a single political candidate running in a competitive midterm race” since Carr launched his investigation. - James
takes New York: The Federal Trade Commission has approved James Murdoch’s acquisition of New York and the Vox Media Podcast Network. I dissected this deal back when it landed in May. The TL;DR:
James will leverage the publishing and podcast assets as part of a broader influence play built around his events businesses, which also include Art Basel and the Tribeca Film Festival. That, and he wants back into the media game, and these assets came relatively cheap—even if New York is a beloved (but bloated and barely profitable) enterprise.
- Fit to stream: For the umpteenth time, The New York Times is becoming a
video-centric streaming platform. I’ve written several versions of that story over the last year, and even spoke about it at length with Times Company C.E.O. Meredith Kopit Levien last summer. Now executive editor
Joe Kahn has made it clear in an interview with Peter Kafka: “The transformation of The New York Times newsroom into what I expect will be the leading multimedia news organization, where we're providing journalism in multiple forms—including video-first forms that serve a much larger readership—is massive,” he said. He also likened the pivot to “the print-to-digital transformation,” and said it was “as big a structural adjustment” for the paper. “It's
going to touch every part of the newsroom,” he said, “and the way that we do a large subset of our stories.”
- The Boreing Company: Jeremy Boreing, the excommunicated former Daily Wire co-C.E.O., is buying his anti-woke consumer brands back from Ben Shapiro. The deal will transfer ownership of Jeremy’s Razors and Jeremy’s Chocolates to Jeremy’s Boreing Media—where, as I’ve
noted, he seems to be laying the groundwork to launch his own RevengeCo when his noncompete clause expires next March. For Ben, the deal may help offset some of the costs incurred from Jeremy’s eight-figure Pendragon Cycle adventure.
- And finally…: There’s still seven matches left in this year’s World Cup, but FIFA president and recent Trump buddy Gianni Infantino is already shopping media rights for the 2030 and 2034 tournaments. CNBC’s Alex Sherman has reported that Fox, Disney, Netflix and YouTube are all interested in the package, which is likely to include both the English- and Spanish-language rights. Sources at all companies confirmed their interest, though they disputed any specific budget range for the rights.
You can understand the appeal. The
USA–Belgium game drew an average of 30 million viewers on Fox, making it the most-watched soccer telecast in the nation’s history. The audience peaked just shy of 37 million in the second half—then presumably fell off after Belgium’s devastating and humiliating third goal.
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Amidst the quaking aspens and the idling Gulfstreams, the media world once again gathered in
Sun Valley to launch deals, close deals, and merely check in with their fellow media titans over a brisk hike. And this year it was more apparent than ever that the tech titans rule the world—and beyond. |
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On Wednesday morning, Jeff Bezos took the stage at the annual Allen & Co. conference here in
Sun Valley and, in conversation with Marc Andreesen, regaled this rarefied audience with the civilization-altering opportunities that exist above them in space and on the moon. By building gigawatt-scale data centers in the great unknown, he said, humanity could more efficiently harvest solar energy while relieving the demand for power and water here on Earth. The centers would be drastically more efficient than terrestrial energy plants, given their constant access to the sun,
and would not have to contend with the pesky limitations of real estate. The opportunity of this new infrastructure explained why he and Elon Musk had invested so much of their time and resources in getting to space, Bezos continued. Indeed, as Americans begin to comprehend the physical constraints on building data centers and manufacturing the G.P.U.s that power A.I., the economics of space have been sufficiently reframed. As it turns out, it may not just be a
dick-swinging contest between two ultra-high-net-worth plutocrats.
This was the highlight of a morning of programming that also included Ken Griffin proudly espousing his latest economic and political insights (he said he’d support Rubio in ’28) in conversation with Andrew Ross Sorkin, and Satya Nadella discussing the transformative power of A.I. with Reid Hoffman. The last conversation wasn’t quite as
compelling as the others, I’m told, since Reid lobbed several highly specific questions about technology that may have risen above the fluency of, say, Bryan Lourd or Alan Bergman. But Satya did end the discussion with a memorable appeal to his fellow executives to respect and appreciate humanity’s fears about the disruptive power of these new technologies.
By now, you may have gleaned that Sun Valley’s reputation as a media deal summit is outdated and,
frankly, facile. In truth, every year, the media executives seem increasingly subordinate to the true masters of the universe, who are redefining the very nature of media itself. Ostensibly, Brian Roberts’s recent decision to split Comcast and NBCUniversal is a seismic event in the industry; but in my conversations here, most folks simply shrugged it off as an inevitable progression in Hollywood’s long slide to submission. (“What else was he going to do?”
one Sun Valley regular asked.) Most trade scuttlebutt over NBCU’s potential acquisitions of studios or video game companies was quickly dismissed. (“He can’t afford it,” as one person put it.) You can only imagine how little any of these folks care about the future of NBC News. (“Do you know anyone who gets their news on TV?”)
The real raison d’être for Sun Valley, of course, is that it affords all of these folks the opportunity to hold bilateral meetings that either
serve as the culmination of preexisting negotiations or as the precursor to deals that will be culminated further down the line—or simply as a chance to see one another amid the quaking aspens, on the golf course and hiking trails (or, you know, on the shooting range), while their kids enjoy the perks of heavily programmed childcare. Last year, Apple’s Tim
Cook and Eddy Cue wrested the rights to Formula One from ESPN. David Ellison landed his acquisition of The Free Press, and with it, his new editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss—the sole
news media personality that this crowd actually does care about. (Yes, they like Andrew and Anderson and Gayle and the other sanctioned journalists, too.)
Obviously, this time around, Brian and his new chief executives Michael Angelakis and Mike Cavanagh, will meet with all prospective dance partners, including Disney and Netflix. On Tuesday night, Amazon C.E.O. Andy Jassy dined with
Bob Kraft, the Patriots owner and chair of the NFL’s media committee, at Enoteca in Ketchum—a conversation that may portend an expansion of Amazon’s relationship with the NFL, or could merely be one of the hundreds of check-ins that take place here between existing business partners. Some years, there’s drama—a surprise Elon appearance, iciness between Iger and Chapek, a security transgression by a Page Six reporter—but, most years,
everyone simply enjoys themselves.
The truth, of course, is that this distinguished class actually convenes throughout the year—from Montecito to the Mediterranean, at Zeitgeist and the Super Bowl and F1, at private parties and golf retreats, and, more to the point, absolutely whenever they’re so inclined to hop on the Gulfstream or Bombardier and go see one another. Indeed, one of the great and confounding misconceptions of the trade press—evidenced rather
egregiously this week in Variety—is that media deals happen because of Sun Valley when, obviously, these folks conceive and execute deals over the course of months, and would regardless of whether or not this conference existed. But they come here because it’s still remarkably convenient to have everyone in the same
place at the same time, and because it remains among the most anticipated stops on the circuit.
With the exception of Elon, no executive who is invited to this event passes it up. Inevitably, it will remain a coveted invitation even as the focus shifts further away from traditional media. Because even if these exalted mortals are building in space or speaking in maths about A.I., they’re still humans—and many of them were picked last in sports or played the tree in the high school
musical. It’s important to remember that they’re here not only because they want to be here, but because they want everyone to see them here, too. See you at the Konditorei, guys. |
That’s all from me. If you still have time for something else, I encourage you to read Ben
Thompson’s script for Mark Zuckerberg’s next earnings call, which encourages Meta to start conceiving of itself as an entertainment company as it invests in A.I. It’s a fun and thought-provoking piece.
See you Friday, from the Hailey tarmac. |
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A professional-grade rundown on the business of sports from John Ourand, the industry’s preeminent journalist, covering the leagues,
players, agencies, media deals, and the egos fueling it all. Plus, the latest intel from Eriq Gardner on the sports legal beat. |
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Join Puck’s chief political columnist, John Heilemann, as he roams the corridors of power and influence in America on this twice-weekly
interview show, taking you beyond the headlines with the people who shape our culture: icons and up-and-comers, incumbents and insurgents, moguls and machers in the overlapping worlds of politics, entertainment, tech, business, sports, media, and beyond. The conversations are rich and revealing, unrehearsed and unexpected… and reliably impolitic. A Puck-Audacy joint, new episodes drop every Wednesday and Friday. |
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