The email or text that gets no response. The call unreturned. The promised meeting that’s never scheduled. It’s happened to all of us. Quite likely all of us have done it ourselves at one time or another. People used to refer to it as getting blown off. Today the more common term is ghosted. Technology … Continue reading Ghosted in the Machine
Author: Fred Bucher
Trump, Twitter, and the Death of Television
Should CNN have hosted a town hall with Donald Trump last week? Everybody has an opinion, I’m sure you do. Inside CNN this question has prompted an existential crisis. According to numerous reports the atmosphere resembles a toxic cauldron of confusion, anger, bitterness, and embarrassment. Only those close to CNN head Chris Licht and his … Continue reading Trump, Twitter, and the Death of Television
Send Lawyers, Guns and Money
Wow. Wow. Wow. Monday, April 24th was a day like no other in recent history in the media business. By now you surely know what happened: Tucker Carlson bounced from Fox. Don Lemon bounced from CNN. Jeff Shell bounced from NBC Universal. (This happened the preceding weekend, but many people didn’t learn of it until … Continue reading Send Lawyers, Guns and Money
We Don’t Need No Education
Don’t stop reading, I promise this isn’t another blog post about Pink Floyd, or music in general. I’m only borrowing one of the band’s most famous refrains to make a point about the value of a college education in today’s workplace. Pretty much any parent who has written a college tuition check recently, or will … Continue reading We Don’t Need No Education
The BS Around WFH and RTO
CEOs, especially those running media companies, are under enormous pressure from Wall Street these days. Finding profits in the streaming age is proving to be a very thorny task. Not to mention the impact rising inflation and a potential looming recession are having on the ad marketplace. To appease investors and analysts, CEOs have been … Continue reading The BS Around WFH and RTO
Floyd and Freebird at Fifty
Lest we never forget, the rock gods have a way of drawing our attention to seminal moments in music history when we least expect it. Earlier this month the world lost Gary Rossington, the last surviving, original member of Lynyrd Skynyrd. Rossington is most known for his signature slide guitar work on Skynyrd’s legendary hit … Continue reading Floyd and Freebird at Fifty
The Love We’re Left With
If you read one book this year, make it I Keep Trying to Catch His Eye by the sportswriter Ivan Maisel. The book is a memoir of the experiences of Ivan and his family dealing with the suicide of his son Max in 2015. Publishers Weekly called it “beautiful and heart-wrenching.” I can think of … Continue reading The Love We’re Left With
Time for Mandatory One Year Severance
There is a moral and ethical decay in many media boardrooms and c-suites today. Its most obvious manifestation is the massive wave of layoffs across the industry in recent months. Disney, WB Discovery, NBC Universal, Meta, Twitter, Netflix, Amazon – virtually every company across the ecosystem is letting people go. And lots of them. In … Continue reading Time for Mandatory One Year Severance
Good, Fast, Cheap
It’s a classic adage in business: “Good, fast, cheap – pick two.” If you want something fast and good, it won’t be cheap. If you want something fast and cheap, quality will suffer. And if you want something cheap and good, it will take longer. While this adage holds true for most things, it doesn’t … Continue reading Good, Fast, Cheap
Help Until It Hurts
The economists tell us we are not in a recession. But if you work in media, it certainly feels like we are. Everywhere you turn another major media company is announcing large scale layoffs. Earlier this month Disney and Yahoo joined the parade. It’s one thing to read about layoffs – seven thousand at this … Continue reading Help Until It Hurts
Nobody Does It Better
Like millions of other people, I’m a big James Bond fan. Seen all the movies. Read all the books. Ian Fleming, the author who created James Bond, wrote his stories during the height of the Cold War. Sadly, Fleming died just a few months before the first Bond movie, Dr. No, premiered in 1962. For … Continue reading Nobody Does It Better
Write It Down
I can still hear his voice. Direct, commanding, with more than a tinge of a Queens accent: “Write it down, Fred. Write it down.” He’d pantomime the writing motion with his hand, sometimes quite intensely, if he thought I didn’t react quick enough. The voice and hand belonged to Andrew Cuomo. In the past I … Continue reading Write It Down
“The Answer to All Your Questions Is Money”
Why are world class athletes like Cristiano Ronaldo and Dustin Johnson playing in clearly inferior leagues when they can still compete at the highest level? Why is the college football playoff expanding to 12 teams? Why is the NFL considering hosting the conference championship games in neutral venues? Why is it becoming increasingly necessary to … Continue reading “The Answer to All Your Questions Is Money”
Do It Again
Once a small child discovers something that delights them, they want to experience it over and over. Any parent knows this all too well. Stacking the blocks and knocking them over. “Do it again!” Catching them when they jump in the pool. “Do it again!” Pulling them around the block in the wagon. “Do it … Continue reading Do It Again
What’s On Tonight
That question was probably never uttered by any human until the mid-twentieth century and the arrival of the television set into the American home. But once watching television became our favorite pastime, I’d bet no question has been asked more often by more people. In the days before SVOD and AVOD services, when your choices … Continue reading What’s On Tonight
Welcome to Middle Age
When does middle age begin? Some believe it’s 40, others 50. Friends of mine, especially those in their mid 40s, like to delude themselves that they aren’t quite there. They enjoy reminding me that since I’ve past the big “five-o,” there is no debating that I’ve reached middle age. But let’s be honest, what we … Continue reading Welcome to Middle Age
Bob, It’s Time to Sell ESPN
When I started writing this post, I had a different Bob in mind. But even though Bob Chapek is out and Bob Iger is in, the sentiment remains. Disney should sell ESPN. Like many others I’m not buying the company line that Bob Iger returned to stabilize investors and the creative community before resetting the … Continue reading Bob, It’s Time to Sell ESPN
We Will Get Fooled Again
When “The Great Train Robbery” premiered in 1903 many people fled the theater during the scene where the train speeds directly towards the camera. Those who ran had never seen a motion picture before and believed they were about to get run over. Sounds kind of silly, right? Orson Welles’ famous live radio performance of … Continue reading We Will Get Fooled Again
The Most Important Person In Golf Right Now
The most important person in golf right now is not a household name like Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, or Rory McIlroy. It’s Fred Ridley, Chairman of Augusta National Golf Club. In my mind no one is better positioned to help the sport move past what undeniably has been an “annus horribilis,” to quote the late … Continue reading The Most Important Person In Golf Right Now
Let’s Put An End to the “Streaming Wars”
Everywhere you turn in the media business people are talking about the “streaming wars.” It’s the catch-all label for journalists, bloggers (including yours truly) and analysts when writing about the latest developments with Netflix, Disney, or any of the other players in the space. As someone who is actively engaged daily in this so-called “war,” … Continue reading Let’s Put An End to the “Streaming Wars”
Backstage with the Brand Podcast
Recently I joined Andy Wiedlin's "Backstage with the Brand" podcast to talk media, weather, sports and my book All The Lies We Believe. Thanks to Andy and the team at Magnet Media for having me. You can listen to the interview here.
“Looks Like I Picked the Wrong Week to Quit Drinking”
Steve McCroskey, a somewhat legendary air traffic control director at LAX in the 1970s, is never referenced in conversations about leadership and crisis management by MBA academics and executive coaches. There are very good reasons why this is so. First, in times of crisis, McCroskey allowed his personal demons to get the better of … Continue reading “Looks Like I Picked the Wrong Week to Quit Drinking”
In Defense of the Hare
One of the things that happens to empty nesters, at least in my case, is that occasionally you find yourself getting sentimental when coming across objects from the early days of parenting. I had this experience recently when I found a book of fables and short stories I used to read to our kids when … Continue reading In Defense of the Hare
Indiana Jones & The Lost Office
Ok, I admit, that’s a terrible name for a movie (maybe for a blog as well). Who would want to watch a film about the most famous archeologist in cinema history looking for an office? Indiana Jones has come to mind often lately as I’ve spent some time working in an actual office and thought … Continue reading Indiana Jones & The Lost Office
What Are You Thinking
All of us have a to do list. Whether we write it down or keep it in our heads, the to do list is pretty much standard operating procedure for any professional. But when was the last time you gave any thought to what you’re going to think about on a given day? I realize … Continue reading What Are You Thinking
Things That Go Bump In The Night
What were you doing at 3 a.m. last night? I read recently that more people than ever are dealing with anxiety-related sleep issues. Given the state of the world right now I guess this isn’t a surprise. Probably all of us remember being scared during the night at one time or another when we were … Continue reading Things That Go Bump In The Night
Why the PGA Can’t Compromise with LIV, Yet
What a mess. The PGA Tour and the Saudi backed LIV Golf are locked in a cage death match right now, for all the world to see. As a big fan of the sport, it’s depressing. As a marketer, it’s incredibly frustrating to watch the sport’s brand be so badly tarnished, perhaps in ways that … Continue reading Why the PGA Can’t Compromise with LIV, Yet
How Netflix Made the 2022 Upfront Completely Irrelevant
You probably saw the press announcements: Disney booked a record $9 billion. NBC Universal took home “its largest ever” upfront haul at $7 billion. WarnerMedia Discovery made a splash coming together as a combined company for the first time. They all boasted of record CPM increases and, most importantly, a massive shift of money to … Continue reading How Netflix Made the 2022 Upfront Completely Irrelevant
Showing Up Isn’t Enough
Woody Allen famously said “80% of success in life is just showing up.” Sometimes I wonder if he was talking about the conference rooms of corporate America. Show up in meetings. Show up in client presentations. Show up in 1:1s with employees. Get on a plane and show up at panels, events, and major industry … Continue reading Showing Up Isn’t Enough
The Walls We Build
“Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,” wrote Robert Frost in his timeless poem Mending Wall. I’m not much one for poetry but I’m a fan of Frost and Mending Wall because it speaks to a fundamental truth of the human condition – we love walls. We build them in our work and in … Continue reading The Walls We Build
Roe v Wade, The NFL & The SEC
If the Supreme Court overturns Roe, how would it impact the NFL and big-time college football? Before addressing this question, I want to make clear that I fully recognize that for millions of people, especially women, how football or sports in general would be impacted by a change in the country’s abortion policy is completely … Continue reading Roe v Wade, The NFL & The SEC
The Boss’s Job
Very often it’s the one we most covet. We look at the person immediately above us on the corporate ladder and think we could do that job. We want that job. This is especially true for the young and ambitious. Early in your career when you’re eager to take the next step, make more money, … Continue reading The Boss’s Job
Why CNN+ Failed
CNN+ met an ignominious end last week, canceled after barely a month in existence. Since then, the industry has been awash in epitaphs and explanations for the collapse. To me, it boils down to one simple reason. No, it’s not because Jeff Zucker, the architect and primary advocate for CNN+, got ousted. Nor is it … Continue reading Why CNN+ Failed
Reed Hastings – The Ultimate “Mad Man”
The headlines last week were head-spinning. Elon Musk is buying Twitter, CNN+ shuttered barely a month into its existence, and Netflix took a pounding after announcing its first loss of subscribers in more than a decade. Consuming media is our national pastime so it uniquely captures the attention of millions of consumers in ways no … Continue reading Reed Hastings – The Ultimate “Mad Man”
“Don’t Make Me Angry…”
I confess to being an enthusiastic Marvel fan. During the height of the lockdown my daughter Melissa and I watched every Marvel movie in order. While she’s away at college we’ve fallen behind on some of the new Marvel series and movies, but we will catch up this summer. My favorite Marvel character by far … Continue reading “Don’t Make Me Angry…”
“Take This Job And…”
How many times have each of us walked out of a bad meeting with our boss and dreamt of going full throated Johnny Paycheck and telling them what they could do with this job? If you work long enough, I think it’s inevitable. Everyone has a story or two to share. Complaining about bad bosses … Continue reading “Take This Job And…”
How Tall Are You?
“Do you have legs?” “Are you a real person or just a very convincing avatar?” Never could I have imagined a colleague asking me those questions, even in jest. But for the past 18 months it’s been the running joke at work. I’m one of the millions of people who started a new job, working … Continue reading How Tall Are You?
How Phil and Professional Golf Forgot About the Fan
Phil Mickelson has taken a beating the past month for his reckless and foolish comments about the Saudi-backed “Super Golf League.” The responses from other players, sponsors and the media are understandable – you can’t ignore or whitewash the things he said. The PGA Tour also came down hard on Phil. The officials at the … Continue reading How Phil and Professional Golf Forgot About the Fan
The Dumbest Person in the Room
It’s no one’s ambition. Who in their right mind would ever want to be the dumbest person in the room? My guess is however that there have been times in our careers when many of us have felt that way. Maybe when we were young and just starting out and realized we had no clue … Continue reading The Dumbest Person in the Room
Why Paul’s Genius Ended With The Beatles
Paul McCartney is undoubtedly one of the top five rock musicians of all time. Some may rank him #1. Yet no one can credibly make that statement if his recording career started after The Beatles. His solo work has been inconsistent and mostly average. I realize to say such a thing is nothing short of … Continue reading Why Paul’s Genius Ended With The Beatles
Fred Bucher 