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I will admit up front that it has been a frustrating week. I love being an independent journalist and having the freedom to cover the topics that interest me.
But since I don’t work at one of the trades or at some well-funded digital outlet like The Ankler or Puck, I also don’t have a marketing or PR department.
And this has been one of those weeks when I wish I had someone in-house that could pitch my pieces to other reporters and book me into industry conversations. Because the reaction to my somewhat contrarian coverage of the Paramount/WBD merger has garnered a lot of attention. But only amongst people who are subscribers.
I am a bit frustrated watching the same tired conversations play out on the various outlets, because those pieces end up being aggregated everywhere. I’m not arguing that I am always right. But I am suggesting that another point of view might be enlightening.
So if you are able to do so, please consider passing along this newsletter to someone who might find it interesting. Or if you see someone touting the same old theories about the merger online, just suggest perhaps they should check out my work.
And if you are someone in a position to book me onto an industry podcast or other event, I’d love to hear from you at [email protected].
And all this frustration might help explain the piece below….
A Reporter Can Do Very Well Simply Repeating What They Are Told On Background
I was a financial reporter back in the latter days of the tech boom and tech bust of the early aughts. And one of my big takeaways from that experience is that public perception plays a surprisingly outsized role on Wall Street.
As a result, when a company hit a spell of bad news, it was common to begin hearing from top executives or even the CEO, offering up perspective on background.
From the company side, it was an opportunity to get their framing of the story out there into the public without having to deal with mess follow-up questions. And from the perspective of the journalist, it provides access that other reporters might not have. And because of that, not only do you look like a journalist with has inside access, other reporters have to follow your lead.
However, reporters shouldn’t confuse background briefings with anything resembling the truth. You are being told things the company or the executive wants out there in the public. They’re not under oath, they’re not even on the record. So they are just as likely as not to be lying. Or at the very least, being very discriminating with the truth.
That is a big reason why I have been so frustrated this week by the bulk of the entertainment and media news coverage of the Paramount/WBD merger and resulting lawsuit. The headlines have bounced back and forth from topic to topic, led by a number of carefully placed leaks from David Ellison and other executives at Paramount.
Paramount is willing to get rid of CNN. No, it isn’t. David Ellison is threatening to move Paramount out of California if there isn’t a resolution to the ongoing legal battle. Maybe he’ll just move the executives. He’s going to sell both studio lots. No, he won’t, because he’s already turned down Netflix’s effort to acquire the WB studio lot.
Honestly, it’s exhausting. Paramount is just flooding the zone with crap stories and industry reporters seem unable to resist speculating on the news, without any perspective. Unless the perspective comes from some other industry type providing a response to the original half-true story.
If you want to see what this looks like in real time, Status has a solid account of some of this week’s highlights:
In addition to The Journal's story, the New York Post's Charlie Gasparino reported Wednesday, citing an anonymous source, that Ellison is "considering the option of moving CBS News out of the Big Apple," apparently as retribution for New York being one of the states suing to block his Warners acquisition. And earlier this week, Puck's Matt Belloni reported Ellison is mulling moving Paramount out of Los Angeles. (It goes without saying that relocating from both New York and Hollywood would require Herculean efforts, necessitate significant investment, and would ostracize the company from key talent pools in both news and entertainment.)
The reports add to a recent editorial blitz from Paramount. Ellison wrote an essay in The New York Times last week trying to convince the public he'd be a good steward of CNN, while Chris Wallace—who works as an adviser for RedBird Capital, which has a large financial stake in the deal—also wrote a piece backing Paramount's takeover.
None of these stories have any real bones to them. And in many cases, they are refuted by the next leak from Paramount.
But these leaks are not meant to be accurate. They are meant to rile up targeted groups in California and/or Hollywood. They are meant to push David Ellison’s narrative that opposition to the merger with Warner Bros. Discovery is motivated by a hatred of Donald Trump or a fear of the editorial crackdown that might come at CNN under the leadership of Bari Weiss.
None of that matters in the context of this merger. I’m not going to go over it all again, if you are a subscriber, you know my stance on this.
It’s great to have insider access. But just because someone tells you something on background, that doesn’t mean you are obligated to pass along to your readers as if you are a stenographer.
Journalism isn’t just reporting the facts. The best journalists also put that news in perspective and provide the additional context the readers deserve.
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The Deloitte rankings are based on submitted applications and public company database research, with winners selected based on their fiscal-year revenue growth percentage over a three-year period.
Adventures In Vague Ratings Claims
This brief piece in Deadline touts the fact that Anna Pigeon debuted to an eight-year ratings high for USA Network scripted originals. And while my first reaction was, well, maybe they should spend more money on original scripted programs, here are the core claims in the piece, which I suspect came right out of a press release:
The series has debuted as the highest-rated USA original scripted series premiere in nearly eight years and a top new entry on ad-supported cable both in total viewers and in the 18-49 demo, per Nielsen Big Data + Panel.
In the three days post-August 7 premiere, Anna Pigeon averaged 2.25 million total viewers with 269,000 in the key demo across USA, E! and SYFY.
Anna Pigeon is also securing traction on social media, earning 9.5 million impressions from the first trailer release to-date.
I have SO many questions. First, which show from eight seasons ago was the last original scripted show with a strong premiere? Based on the eight years timeline, it’s likely either Pearson or Treadstone.
And given that the piece mentions key demo viewing across the three networks, does this mean the “record ratings” is due to comparing the ratings from three networks vs. just the USA Network eight years ago?
And also, given the collapse of the cable bundle, comparing ratings numbers directly against each other eight years apart doesn’t appear to be a particularly accurate approach.
Other than that, a great piece.
Tweet Of The Day
Odds & Sods
The Altruist
The 2026 Edward R. Murrow Awards were announced on Thursday, with awards being given to two former 60 Minutes correspondents: Anderson Cooper and Scott Pelley.
This is one of those twists that you might not have seen coming. EchoStar, which owns the Dish system, is in bankruptcy, and over 3,000 small property owners who allowed their property to be used for Dish Wireless' equipment are feeling the brunt of the move. Dish has not paid rent for its equipment - which can range from hundreds to thousands of dollars a month - and is refusing to pay for the equipment's removal. Nearly 80 churches are among those affected and they are out tens of thousands of dollars.
Tyler Duckworth, the two-time winner of MTV’s The Challenge and former Real World: Key West star, has died at age 44 of “unknown causes.”
The eight-episode series The Altruist, premieres Thursday, November 19th on Netflix. Here is the official logline: “The story of Sam Bankman-Fried and Caroline Ellison, two hyper-smart, ambitious young idealists who tried to remake the global financial system in the blink of an eye – before they were accused of stealing $8 billion and became Gen Z’s own Bonnie & Clyde.”
At the L.A. Times, Mary McNamara writes that David Ellison has made himself the best argument for blocking the Paramount-Warner Bros. deal.
The stand-up special Jared Freid: The Family Plan premieres Tuesday, September 1st on Netflix.
Coven Academy premieres Thursday, October 1st on Freeform. The series follows “three teenage witches and their dangerously charming warlock peers at an elite magic boarding school where power is currency, secrets are lethal, and attraction is a liability. Caught between ancient supernatural wars and forbidden love interests, the coven must decide how far they’re willing to go to protect their city—and themselves.”
In 2025, only 33.6 percent of speaking roles in movies were women or girls, on par with the past two decades of data, indicating that yet again men outnumber women on screen two-to-one. And I would that most of those roles were wives, girlfriends and whacky co-workers.
Shane Gillis’ ‘Tires’ Might Be A Funny Show, But He Is A Kinda Terrible Person
Season three of the Shane Gillis comedy Tires premiered Thursday on Netflix. And it is remarkable how many entertainment outlets have reviewed the show without reflecting on Shane Gillis.
I have written about him the past, noting that he uses these “normy” projects to build his career and spark a bunch of profiles about how he is not the right-wing adjacent casually racist guy he used to be. When in fact, if you listen to any of his podcasts, not only has he not changed, he laughs about how he has been able to fool the mainstream press.
But if you aren’t familiar with his podcast work, I recommend reading the Seth Simons piece 83 True Things About ‘Tires’ Star Shane Gillis:
Shane Gillis once said of the book Human Accomplishment, in which Charles Murray argues that European men drove most human advancement throughout history: "Someone should have pulled Murray aside and been like, 'Yo, dude, everyone knows. You don't need to write a book. Yeah, white dudes invented everything. Don’t write about it.'"
In 2025, Shane Gillis complained about "race baiting" in the film Sinners: "The only white people in the movie were evil nasty fucks," he said. "Obviously it's strategic. They shoehorned Native Americans and Asians into the good side, so it was everybody against the honks."
In another episode of his podcast, Shane Gillis complained about the portrayal of Black people in the film Hidden Figures: "The movie is, 'Black women are the smartest and a bunch of white dudes try to stop them from being smart.'"
"I didn’t see it," Shane Gillis added. "I knew what the fuck it was. I knew exactly what it was."
"They added racism to that movie that didn’t exist," Shane Gillis continued, describing a fictionalized scene in which a character walks through the rain to a segregated restroom. "Do we really need that? Do we need her to walk to the colored-only bathroom? We don’t need that."
Like other comics in his circle, he has two standard responses to criticism. First, he argues he is just joking and that people on the Left are too sensitive and he’s just trolling them. Maybe, but he is sure is doing a lot of trolling. If Gillis believes some of this stuff, fine. But at least muster up the stones to take responsibility for your beliefs.
Secondly, he argues that people want to “cancel” him. I think that any reasonable person can look at Louis C.K.’s career and realize canceling isn’t actually a thing if you’re a stand-up.
I’m not arguing that Gillis shouldn’t have a career. I am arguing that people should have a clear idea of who they are supporting. I don’t have any interest in writing about or watching the new Harry Potter TV series. But I’m not arguing it shouldn’t be made. And I think that is a reasonable approach to take with Gillis’ work. Maybe his personal beliefs don’t affect how you see Tires. But you should at least be well-informed enough by the Hollywood press in order to make an informed decision.
What’s Coming Tonight And Tomorrow
FRIDAY, AUGUST 14TH:
A Murder Between Friends (LMN)
Cocktail 2 (Netflix)
Don't Say Good Luck (Netflix)
Hellcat (Shudder)
Honest Renovations Season Four Premiere (The Roku Channel)
Link Click Series Premiere (Crunchyroll)
Moria (Netflix)
My Best Friend, His Girlfriend, And Me (Netflix)
To The Max (Netflix)
Umthetho Series Premiere (Netflix)
Whitmer Thomas: Terminal Crew Of Dudes (HBO)
SATURDAY, AUGUST 15TH:
Aussie At Heart (Hallmark)
Iyanla: The Inside Fix Season Two Premiere (OWN)
Jep & Jess: Beyond The Bayou Series Premiere (Great American Family)
The Daughter She Left Behind (Lifetime)
SUNDAY, AUGUST 16TH:
Disney Princess: The Ultimate Concert Celebration (ABC/Disney+)
Home Safe (Lifetime)
Lanterns Series Premiere (HBO)
MONDAY, AUGUST 17TH:
It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia Season Eighteen Premiere (FX/FXX)
Lion (NatGeo)
Little Singles Season Finale (TLC)
The McBee Dynasty: Real American Cowboys Season Three Finale (Bravo)
The 1% Club Season Three Finale (Prime Video)