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

“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”

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”

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

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”

The Future of TV is Bright and Gray

The conventional wisdom in the media industry these days is that Covid 19 delivered the knock out blow to traditional television. For almost 20 years prognosticators have been predicting that the Internet revolution would ultimately disinter-mediate broadcast and cable television just as it did newspapers and magazines. Television held on longer because of the complex … Continue reading The Future of TV is Bright and Gray

Reinventing Sports Media In the Covid 19 Era

What impact will the pandemic have on upcoming sports media rights negotiations?  Once the games return, team owners, league executives and collegiate sports administrators face huge decisions about the primary financial engine that drives each of their respective sports: the television broadcasting rights.  Those decisions will impact millions of Americans. To cut to the chase, … Continue reading Reinventing Sports Media In the Covid 19 Era

Where’s the competition to SportsCenter?

Bloomberg broke the news recently that Fox executives are considering a plan to launch a national sports network to compete with ESPN.  The media largely focused on the impact of another deep-pocketed player in the lucrative sports rights marketplace. No doubt live events are the core of the business, attracting large audiences and driving big … Continue reading Where’s the competition to SportsCenter?