It”s an unfortunate reality of the media business calendar that the come-to-Jesus moments for those whose livelihoods rely on hard numbers occur around the times of the holidays themselves. Such results are usually received around the time that the “hard eight” weeks of the advertising year come to an end–the ones where a goodly number … Read more
Once again, the best laid plans of mice and men oft times go astray, especially when this man was intending to muse about a mouse of a project that dropped yesterday on Netflix (more on that–but, pinky promise, not all that much more–in a tad). But then as has tended to be the case more … Read more
It actually hasn’t been all that long since I was last choosing to spend extra time in my office around this time of year. In my line of work, it was all the more necessary as we frequently rescheduled oft-postponed vendor presentations to the last full week of the year–which most willingly went along with … Read more
I sometimes get asked how I determine what elevates in my mind to the point that it’s worthy of a musing. Usually, something of interest turns up in my inbox or DM, or I happen to actually see something in a physical newspaper or even IRL, since I’m fiercely determined to still immerse myself in … Read more
Call me either paranoid or pragmatic, but I just simply could not get on the bandwagon of celerating Dick Van Dyke’s centennial under now. You can blame a couple of game show personalities, a coach and perhaps a few of my ex-relatives for that. We are a culture that tends to obsessed with big numbers, … Read more
There are many adjectives that one could justifiably apply to Disney’s venerable czar Bob Iger, now four years into a board-requested second act after a 15-year that outlasted most of his peers. That run began with a groundbreaking deal that VARIETY’s equally seasoned Andrew Wallenstein recently revisited that he teed up thusly: On Oct. 12, … Read more
NOTE: This musing also appears today on our sister site, The Double Overtime. Please visit it regularly for coverage of media, sports, politics and life. I was literally on the cusp of the purported target demographic that ESPN was going after when it took full advantage of the demand for additional channels that the advent … Read more
You would have been justified in calling me out for somehow completely missing the announcement of Golden Globes nominees that as per usual of late took place in the wee small hours of the morning in early December. If you’ve been a regulat reader. or at least someone with nominal Google skills, you’d note I … Read more
Like most young lovers who get jilted on a Friday, David Ellison could have taken the weekend to regroup, reflect and regenerate. But most jilted young lovers aren’t nepobaby billionaires with ‘tude, so instead we got an over-the-top plan for revenge that would make his daddy’s bosom buddy proud. Instead of sitting down and putting … Read more
I get that the announcement late last week that Netflix was acquiring the sexier assets of Warner Brothers Discovery is a BIG deal. It’s not every day when a century-old media brand gets somewhere between $72 and $83 billion thrown at it by an upstart that didn’t even exist in the 20th century–and that price … Read more