The bad thing about all of the breaking news this week is that it keeps pushing other stories out of the newsletter.
In theory, tonight’s newsletter should have included several reviews, another PBS profile and a first look at the DirecTV Gemini box, which DirecTV provided for me to review (First take: I like it a lot).
Maybe tomorrow….
What It Looks Like When You Hand The Keys To A TV News Magazine Over To A True Believer
For a lot of people who were previously or are currently employed by CBS News, the central discussion point since Bari Weiss was hired as Editor-in-Chief of CBS News centers around attempting to figure out how much of her schtick is sincere and how much is driven by the desire to give Paramount owner David Ellison and the greater conservative movement some sort of cultural victory.
I have been going back-and-forth with one former CBS News executive a great deal over the past couple of weeks, and in one email, they presented a theory that I think makes a lot of sense. And if I had to bet on what is going through Weiss’s mind, I suspect it tracks pretty closely to this explanation:
“Having worked with her regularly before I left, I think both things can be true. She strikes me as someone who needs to be needed as well and that includes moving CBS News in a much more conservative-friendly, Deep State-hating POV.”
“But she also has not just drunk the Kool-Aid, she’s actively hiring people who can bring her more. She seems to believe in her core that there is a hidden conservative audience that she can tap into. And because her brain has been pickled by online conservative media, she believes things that only exist in that news universe.”
“And you see that in full play on the show. Her feedback on stories tends to focus on imaginary issues or facts that sound progressively dumber the farther you get away from Steve Bannon.”
That theory tracks pretty well with the announcement today that 60 Minutes has hired two new conservative-adjacent correspondents as well as two more center-right contributors. As well as that well-known firebrand Norah O’Donnell.
Here is the full announcement:
The name that instantly pops out is Ross Douthat, who has been working at the NY Times as an opinions columnist.
If you aren’t familiar with his work, here are a few headlines from the past few months:
Let's Get Something Clear About America's National Identity
It depends on both ideas and cultural inheritance.
Trump's Ukraine Policy Is Succeeding While His Iran Policy Flails
With Ukraine, you can glimpse the shape of success.
A.I. May Put Progressives To The Test
The Left needs a sharper A.I. politics.
The ICE Shooting Displays The Need For Equilibrium. But How?
A tough issue for stablization in our politics and public institiutions.
The Liberal Order Can't Heal Itself
Our problems run deeper than debates about affordability.
Why Trump's East Wing Demolition Needs To Happen
The arguments against it illustrate a consistent problem with progressive stewardship of American cities.
Why The Kirk Assassination Is A Warning To The Left
Progressives need a cure for political desperation and despair.
Based on these pieces, I am not convinced he is either a centrist or “one of the preeminent public intellectuals in America today.” But he certainly brings a new perspective to CBS News. In the same way a full-time accordian player would bring a new perspective to a popular K-Pop boy band.
As for the other three hires announced today, The Washington Post has a pretty good rundown of their work histories:
Junger is one of the filmmakers behind the 2010 war documentary “Restrepo,” which received top honors at the Sundance Film Festival. In January 2026, he wrote an article for Weiss’s website the Free Press, titled “How Democrats Lost Men.”
Toboni, who spent a decade as a correspondent at Vice News, directed a documentary called “Just Kids” about transgender kids facing state bans of gender-affirming care.
Phillips is a former U.K. politician who was knighted in 2022. Before that, in 2020, he was suspended from the Labour Party over allegations of Islamophobia, a suspension that was later lifted. Before joining CBS, he hosted a Sunday political show on Sky News.
These hires have just heightened the sense of impending doom I’ve heard from people inside CBS News today.
This WhatsApp message nicely captures the angst that is at the top of the minds of everyone I’ve heard from since the announcement was made:
“Has anyone ever watched a video of Douthat conducting an interview? He has all the natural charisma of someone who is part of a hostage situation. He doesn’t have any real news experience, but with the right producer, they could work around that.”
“Even Andy Rooney had camera skills…this is what drives me crazy. Bari claims she respects what we do. But every decision she makes just reinforces the fact that she believes we don’t know what we’re doing, and only she can save us.”
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HFPA Sues Jay Penske And Penske Media
For months, there have been rumblings from The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) that they were unhappy with what has happened to the Golden Globes following its acquisition by Penske Media Corporation.
So it wasn’t a massive surprise today to learn the HFPA has filed a $150 million antitrust suit against Penske Media, alleging PMC (which owns Variety, THR, Deadline, Rolling Stone, Billboard and many other titles) orchestrated what the suit claimed was a “corrupt scheme” to drive down the value of the Golden Globes and monopolise trade publishing, awards and FYC advertising before acquiring the show:
The Golden Globes were sold to Eldridge in 2022 before Dick Clark Productions — jointly owned by Penske Media and Eldridge — assumed control of the awards. The HFPA later dissolved, while the Golden Globe Foundation continued as its philanthropic successor.
Beyond seeking damages, the HFPA is asking the court to unwind the Golden Globes transaction, arguing the deal allowed Penske Media to cement its influence over Hollywood’s awards economy.
In a related twist, about 55 legacy members of the HFPA held a video call last Thursday and voted out Helen Hoehne as the organization’s president. Hoehne was president of HFPA at the time of the 2023 transaction, and is now president of the for-profit Golden Globes LLC.
A spokesperson from The Golden Globes issued this statement on Tuesday refuting the allegations:
Today's lawsuit continues the absurdity and irrationality that the industry has come to expect from the defunct organization formerly known as the HFPA. The Golden Globes transaction closed more than three years ago and received all required approvals — any assertion that it did not close, or remains subject to reversal, is once again unequivocally false.
"This latest act of duplicity is a new low, even for the HFPA. The attempt by former HFPA members to leverage the Golden Globe Foundation, an independent nonprofit, simply to secure Golden Globes tickets is an unfortunate distraction that inappropriately diverts resources from legitimate charitable causes. We remain troubled that the HFPA, an organization so widely criticized for ethical failures, non-inclusivity, racism and misconduct involving talent, continues to find attorneys willing to push such illegitimate claims."
No matter what you think of some of the allegations - and the fact the HPFA was perceived to be so corrupt that NBC refused to broadcast the awards, leading indirectly to the sale to Eldridge - it’s hard to argue with the allegations around Penske using its wide range of editorial assets to get what it wants. People at the company have never tried to hide the fact that it wants to control as much of the conversation in Hollywood and beyond because that market consolidation allows a great deal of control over editorial access as well as advertising opportunities.
I suppose my general take is that in a battle between the HPFA and PMC, my first reaction is to ask if there is a third choice available to root for.
Odds & Sods
Here is a bit of a round-up of television-related announcements from the San Diego Comic-Con.
Acorn TV has renewed art-crime drama Art Detectives, starring Stephen Moyer as DI Mick Palmer, for a second season.
Meta signs an AI licensing deal with Newsmax, letting Meta Platforms use current and archived editorial content to help train Meta's search and discovery tools.
MGM+ has picked up the North American rights to Embassy, a six-part action thriller starring Anna Kendrick as a US diplomat, Sam Heughan and J.K. Simmons as the ambassador, after mercenaries storm the US Embassy in London.
Man Whose Company Signed A $7.7 Billion Deal With Paramount Argues For The Merger With WBD
I have never met Ari Emanuel, but even his biggest critic will admit that he has been wildly successful and has changed the face of Hollywood.
But it’s also fair to note that a great deal of his success is the result of Emanuel being very focused on the things that matter to him.
Generally speaking, I suspect that if you asked him to list in order the people and things most important to him, the rundown would look a bit like this:
1) Me
2) My companies
3) My Clients
4) My business partners
5) The guy who makes that Frisee salad I can’t stop thinking about
6) Everyone else
In other words, if you encounter Emanuel in the wild, you should always assume he has some sort of angle.
Emamuel wrote a guest op-ed column that appeared in the Wall Street Journal today touting his belief that a Paramount/WBD merger would be great for Hollywood.
His angle in this piece isn’t hard to figure out. If you scroll down to the bottom of the column, you’ll find this brief (and weirdly vague) disclaimer:
Mr. Emanuel is executive chair and CEO of TKO, which does business with movie studios.
“Business with movie studios?” While that is technically true, among other things, TKO Group Holdings signed a landmark seven-year, $7.7 billion media rights agreement in August 2025 making Paramount+ the exclusive U.S. home for all UFC events starting in 2026. So it’s not surprising that Emanuel is Team Paramount. Although he’s also savvy enough to not bring that up in a column explaining all the reasons why Paramount rocks:
The lawsuit by California’s Rob Bonta and 11 other state attorneys general to block the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery by Paramount Skydance puts it all at risk. They say they are protecting competition. Their actions threaten to destroy it.
You know an antitrust case is trash when it ignores some of the fastest-growing competitors in the market. In their analysis, the state attorneys general pretend Amazon MGM, A24 and Lionsgate don’t exist and that Netflix isn’t leaning into theatrical films with its coming release of Greta Gerwig’s "Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew" (which I suspect will whet its appetite for more).
I’ll be tactful and suggest that Emanuel knows what he is arguing isn’t true. The AGs aren’t ignoring those other players. They’re arguing those other players aren’t big enough to offset this market consolidation.
And there are other parts of the column that just seem to be making things up. Like this paragraph about the consolidation of linear TV channels as the result of this merger:
The complaint performs the same sleight of hand with basic cable, claiming that the companies’ combined networks will have market power over distributors. This might have been a good argument in 2005 but is absurd in a world of fast-shrinking cable subscriptions and the rise of streaming, which has transformed both consumer behavior and the bargaining environment.
Emanuel certainly knows about slight of hand. I’m not going to spend a lot of time breaking down all the things that are wrong with this paragraph. So I’ll just say he’s very selective on the facts he suggests are important.
I don’t doubt that Emanuel believes that Paramount is the best steward for Warner Bros. He has $7.7 billion to believe that.
But this WSJ column is an embarrassment and if some lower level agent presented him with this level of reasoning, the agent would be sent off to write contracts for the World Pickleball League.
What’s Coming Tonight And Tomorrow
TUESDAY, JULY 28TH:
Beat Shazam Season Eight Premiere (Fox)
Chum Island: Catching A Killer (Discovery)
Jaws Vs. Orca (Discovery)
Jurassic Sharks (Discovery)
Kitchen Undercover Series Premiere (Food)
Mary Beth Barone: Galaxy Brain (Netflix)
WEDNESDAY, JULY 29TH:
Alien Sharks: Untamed America (Discovery)
Diarra From Detroit Season Two Premiere (Paramount+)
Eons: Life And Death On Pangea (PBS)
Expedition Unknown: Shark Secrets (Discovery)
Expedition X: Atomic Sharks (Discovery)
Final Project Series Premiere (Netflix)
House Of Stassi Series Premiere (Freeform)
The Ark Season Premiere (Syfy)
The Devil's Mouth (Prime Video)
The Idaho Murders: College Nightmare (Netflix)
The Proud Family: Louder And Prouder (Disney+)
Wrath Series Premiere (Netflix)