TooMuchTV has grown and evolved a great deal over the past year and I have been thinking a lot about the future and what I would like to see happen.
In the upcoming weeks and months you’ll notice a number of tweaks large and small as I work to grow everything and provide the best possible coverage for all of my readers.
Later this week, you’ll receive a survey from me and I hope you can take the time to provide some feedback. With more than 180,000 subscribers, finding the sweet point that works for as many people as possible can be a challenge and I want to provide the mix of topics that works for everyone.
Also, beginning tomorrow this space will include 1-2 short reviews of things I think are worth viewing. So new, some things I just stumbled across. I think you’ll find them helpful. And sometimes, surprising.
And if you can, check out our community chat board, which I am attempting to get off the ground.
This Is The Way You Lose A Merger Case
Paramount Skydance’s David Ellison has always been adept at using the press. From the moment he made a pitch to acquire Paramount through all of the ups and downs of the subsequent mergers efforts, the number of stories in the business and entertainment press that quote “people familiar with Ellison’s thinking” is impressive. He seems to understand that winning the public relations battle is an important component in winning any court case.
That is likely why you have seen another round of stories in recent days recounting his belief that Paramount will still win the current merger lawsuit filed by a number state attorney generals. The pieces also make the repeated point that he and other Paramount executives believe that the lawsuit was brought in large part because the state AGs hate Donald Trump and resent the Ellison Family’s seemingly close relationship to the president.
While it might be true that the relationship between the Ellisons and President Trump concern the state AGs, there are several legitimate reasons to oppose the merger. And if David Ellison chooses to fixate on the Trump Derangement Syndrome defense, he is ultimately going to lose the case.
Offering to spin-off CNN or provide some vague assurances Hollywood jobs will be protected might be nice, but they don’t address the monopoly problems at the core of the merger proposal.
While a lot of coverage has been focused on theatrical window promises and health of the movie industry, one primary issue with the merger involves consolidating the linear TV networks of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery under one roof.
Ellison continues to argue the deal will be good because it will make carriage negotiations with Live TV companies more “efficient.” If by efficient, he means “they won’t be able to say no,” then yes, that much is true.
Imagine you are a local cable TV operator such as Comcast or a live TV provider such as YouTube TV or Hulu Live TV and you sit down to negotiate the next carriage deal with Paramount, the deal that you need to sign so you can continue to air all of this new combined company’s linear channels.
The new Paramount will ask for a substantial raise in what it charges live TV providers and I know that is the plan because Ellison has said in multiple interview that consolidation would give Paramount what he refers to as “pricing power.”
If you are a live TV provider, then you will be left with two equally untenable choices. Accept the per-subscriber price boosts and further alienate your customers, many of whom are already unhappy with their subscriber fees.
Or risk losing all of these channels at one time, a move which could mortally damage any live television provider:
American Heroes Channel
Animal Planet
BET
BET Gospel
BET Her
BET Jams
BET Soul
Boomerang
Cartoon Network
CMT
CNN
CNN International
Comedy Central
Cooking Channel
Destination America
Discovery
Discovery Family
Discovery Familia
Discovery Life
Discovery Turbo
Food Network
HGTV
HLN
Investigation Discovery
Logo
Magnolia Network
MTV
MTV2
MTV Classic
MTV Live
MTVU
Nickelodon
Nick Jr.
Nicktoons
OWN
Paramount Network
Pop TV
Science Channel
Smithsonian Channel
TeenNick
TBS
TLC
TNT
Travel Channel
Tr3s
TruTV
TV Land
VH1
If you are Hulu Live TV or Charter Communications, what would you do if you received this “take it or leave it” deal from Paramount? You would have to take it, because otherwise you’ll have to close up your Live TV business. And your only option would be to pass along the hike to your already price-sensitive subscribers. Which means that Live TV subscribers will be indirectly paying for Paramount’s merger with WBD.
This is a classbook monopoly. And Paramount can’t afford to spin these assets off, because its executives had been pretty transparent about their intention to use the still-profitable linear TV channels to pay for the bulk of the merger costs with Warner Bros. Discovery.
This is not Trump Derangement Syndrome or a hatred of conservatives. This is basic-level merger law. And I haven’t seen anyone at Paramount explain how they can make this right.
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Consumers In The US And UK Now Spend 11 Hours A Day Consuming Media
New research from Ampere Analysis shows that Brits and Americans now spend almost 11 hours a day consuming media. But that consumption diet includes a wide variety of media, ranging from streaming services to AI tools.
Here are some key findings from the company's Attention Economy study, which reveal how increasingly diverse media diets are reshaping the modern entertainment landscape:
Consumers in the US and UK access an average of 11.5 media platforms every week, including pay TV, streaming services, social media, music streaming, gaming and broadcaster VOD. Streaming services like Netflix or Disney+ account for 4.1 of these services per week. Gen Alpha accesses an average of 13.6 platforms, the highest of any age group.
Mobile devices have expanded where media is consumed. More than half (55%) of music streaming users regularly listen outside the home, alongside 34% of podcast listeners, 20% of social media users and 11% of gamers.
Mobile devices have also driven higher daily media engagement by making simultaneous media use easier. In the US and UK, for example, more than one quarter (28%) of Netflix users regularly watch the service on their smartphone.
One third (33%) of YouTube users say they use the platform when they “want something on in the background.”
The average American and British adult spends 11 cumulative hours engaged with media products every day. This includes overlapping activities, such as using a phone while watching TV or streaming.
Streaming services (1:57), social media (1:46), and YouTube (1:35) attract the highest levels of daily media engagement.
Consumers build their media diets around different moods and needs. Streaming services are most often used for relaxation and immersion, YouTube for discovery and lifting users’ mood, while social media is used to relieve boredom or provide distraction.
Media diets also differ by age. Gen Alpha (11-15) spends the most time on YouTube (1:45) and gaming (1:56), while Gen Z (16-29) spends the most time on social media (1:54) and music services (1:20). Generation X and Baby Boomers spend relatively more time with streaming services, TV channels and live sports.
“Today's consumers have more varied media diets than ever before, selecting from an expanding menu of media depending on what they want in the moment. Whether they're looking to relax, discover something new or simply fill spare time, each medium serves a different purpose. That's today's attention economy. For advertisers and broadcasters, understanding those different moments is just as important as understanding the audience itself."
Odds & Sods
Grantchester
I feel as if this event was invented just for me.
I wrote a piece for Forbes about how a Substack legal defense fund paid for the legal representation of a reporter who was sued for defamation by a Pentagon official.
I had no idea that PBS Masterpiece had 14 different Spotify playlists, including one for season eleven of Grantchester.
Columbia Journalism School dean Jelani Cobb announced that for former 60 Minutes correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Scott Pelley have been appointed Journalists in Residence for the 2026–27 academic year.
Some "micro drama" actors say their performances are being stolen by AI dopplegangers.
In another indication the press is facing continuing challenges, The New York Times has revealed that one of its freelance reporters, Matthew Cole, has been fighting a subpoena from Donald Trump’s Justice Department since February, as part of the administration's effort to force him to reveal his sources for a story about a failed secret mission in North Korea.
CBS News has hired Tanya Lukyanova, a video journalist at Bari Weiss' The Free Press, to be an associate producer on 60 Minutes. She might be best known for a piece she did with Olivia Reingold about the famine in Gaza. The piece argued that "viral photos" of starving children "lacked context" and suggested some of the photos were hoaxes or attempts at anti-Israel propaganda.
It probably isn’t a good sign that the YouTube teaser for Alix Earle’s Netflix series Earle Meets World only has 33,000 views in more than 24 hours.
Front Office Sports is reporting that Molly McGrath is moving from ESPN’s college football coverage to being the sideline reporter on the NFL Network’s package of games as well as the top fill-in host on NFL Live when Laura Rutledge is out.
A behind-the-scenes look at The Chris Gethard Show episode “One Man’s Trash” episode, which turned ten this year. This is an episode that many people consider one of the best half hours of comedy ever on television.
Some Advice From Ken Burns
I frequently have people tell that “You should use AI agents to find the stuff for your newsletter” and that might make sense for some people. But I tend to find a lot of ideas in unexpected places, in newsletters and web sites that an AI agent would never think to look.
A good example of that comes from the newsletter Civil Discourse With Joyce Vance, which I read because I am a politics junkie and spent a couple of years working in Birmingham.
In Saturday’s newsletter, she wrote about hearing Ken Burns speak the filmmaker and documentarian Ken Burns speak in Kennebunkport, Maine:
Burns described most people as thinking about the additive value of the work they do, what they uniquely bring to their subject matter or their area of expertise. He described the challenge of documentary filmmaking as subtractive instead of additive, explaining that there is a lot that is known about historical events and a finite universe of documents, sources, and photographs to draw upon. He explained that his challenge is to figure out how to draw from that whole and present an accurate picture of history in the limited amount of time he has and with the resources available to him. No small challenge—and something that he delivers on immaculately.
That is really great insight into his work and it helps me see his documentaries in a very different way.
Netflix Sets On-Air Team for First-Ever Regular Season NFL Game in Australia
Netflix will be streaming the first-ever regular season NFL game in Australia, which will take place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Thursday, September 10th at 8:35 PM ET. The game will feature a match-up between the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams.
Monday morning, the streamer announced its on-air team for the game:
Studio Coverage:
Elle Duncan, Desk Host (Emmy Award-winning host, Netflix Sports)
Michael Irvin, Desk Analyst (Pro Football Hall of Famer, 3× Super Bowl Champion and host of The White House), second year with Netflix
Nick Foles, Desk Analyst (Former NFL quarterback and Super Bowl Champion)
Clay Matthews III, Desk Analyst (Former NFL All-Pro linebacker, Super Bowl Champion)
In-Game
Noah Eagle, Play-by-Play (Play-by-play announcer), third year with Netflix
Luke Kuechly, Booth Analyst (Game analyst, Pro Football Hall of Famer)
MJ Acosta, Sideline Reporter (Sideline reporter, award-winning bilingual sports journalist and broadcaster)
What’s Coming Tonight And Tomorrow
MONDAY, AUGUST 3RD:
Futurama (Hulu)
The Chelsea Detective Season Premiere (Acorn TV)
The Great American Baking Show Season Premiere (The Roku Channel)
TUESDAY, AUGUST 4TH:
Badly In Love (Netflix)
Betrayal (Hulu)
Das Boot Series Premiere (MHz Choice)
Hard Knocks: Training Camp With The Seattle Seahawks Season Premiere (HBO)
Special Ops True Series Premiere (Paramount)
Wizards Beyond Waverly Place Season Three Premiere (Disney)