Far too often in my lengthy career I’ve been tasked with the unfortunate responsibility of having to tell extremely proud and dedicated creatives that their baby is, at least in terms of hard numbers, ugly. That’s an even less easy place to be in when more than a smattering of tastemakers, especially those with pulpits … Read more
I don’t know about you, but it seems like whatever news is coming out of media companies lately is eminating from the Department of Redundancy Department. Yesterday yet another legacy company’s demise dominated the news cycle, as exemplified by what VARIETY’s Brian Steinberg wrote: Paramount Television Studios, a production facility originally aimed at getting Paramount … Read more
Well, I woke up on my birthday. Sorry to disappoint the person who continues to text me with threats for legal actions. So it may not be all that surprising to you that when I did wake up, after yet another sleepless night filled with stomach issues that thank goodness I am finally on a … Read more
So my one time (VERY briefly) colleague Linda Yaccarino is back in the news, and yet again, the outpouring of disbelief and sympathy from those who claim to know her far better than I do has been almost as newsworthy as the statement she made. As HUFFPOST’s David Moye attempted to empathically report earlier this … Read more
I managed to find a little time yesterday to check out the season premiere of a show that somehow I had never seen before. But since I happen to know a couple of members of the recurring guest cast of TYLER PERRY’S RUTHLESS, I spent some time in the BET+ ecosystem. As it turned out, … Read more
I’ve taken more than a few jabs at the actions, decisions and attitude taken by Warner Brothers Discovery’s czar David Zaslav since he ascended to this throne two Aprils ago. While to Hollywood he was an outsider, he did help build an empire of profitable, distinct and popular linear networks in the relatively less glitzy … Read more
The news that dropped yesterday afternoon on several media and even a couple of general business sites was neither surprising nor unexpected. But it still was a sobering reminder of the passage of time and more than a little personally upsetting when I read what the LOS ANGELES TIMES’ Stephen Battaglio reported: The media business … Read more
MEMO TO: WENDY MCMAHON, PRESIDENT AND CEO, CBS NEWS AND STATIONS AND CBS MEDIA VENTURES FROM: STEVE LEBLANG, MEDIA CONSULTANT, SL MEDIA ENTERPRISES RE: ALL THIS NEWS STUFF Hello again, Ms. McMahon. It’s been a while since my last outreach and boy, has your plate filled up. You have jurisdiction over just about everything outside … Read more
I freely admit that I’m not the most ardent follower of all things GAME OF THRONES; I’ve only sampled parts of several episodes of the OG series even when it was one of the last vestiges of appointment Sunday night television that drove HBO to the level of fandom and zeitgeist that defined at least … Read more
On balmy Saturday mornings, I actually allow myself a few minutes to pore through the physical pages of my LOS ANGELES TIMES. These days, it doesn’t take all that much time anyway; aside from the real estate inserts, it’s a mere two sections where sports, local news and entertainment share one of them. And yesterday, … Read more