Le Blog

Media Musings

Lag Time?

The Super Bowl viewership figures came out yesterday, one of the few situations these days where research (excuse me: data science) executives crunching numbers are held in as high esteem as the executives and pundits who they typically slave away for anonymously.  Later yesterday, ViacomCBS held its investor day, which by its end saw its

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Life Lessons

The Year of No Cats

If you were looking for the Kitten Bowl on Super Bowl Sunday as I was, you may have been as distressed as I was to learn that the Hallmark Channel had discontinued it, choosing human love for its Valentine’s Day movie marathon over pet love.  Yesterday’s news that its former CEO Bill Abbott, now heading

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Life Lessons

Be My Quaran-Tine?

Dearest Barbara, A few weeks ago I wrote at length about how much your valued intelligence and leadership was so influential on my life and health.  Your institutional medical knowledge and unwavering dedication to “trusting your team of medical experts” is constantly cited every time your beautiful face pops up from some remote location in

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Life Lessons

Super Fan Sunday

It’s Super Bowl Sunday, and here in balmy LA the sense of anticipation is none like I’ve ever witnessed before.  For only the second time in 56 years (but also the second time in two), a team that plays regular season games at the Super Bowl site will be contending for the ultimate sport’s ultimate

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Life Lessons

“You Hawf A Sistah”

Way too many February 11ths ago I fell asleep watching THE NEWLYWED GAME while lying in a baby crib that was awaiting the impending birth of my mother’s second child.  As we often did in our cramped garden apartment, my parents would huddle by the working heater in their bedroom with them in their bed

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Media Musings

Don’t Just Laugh At Byron Allen. And Never Doubt Him.

This week’s report that Byron Allen, one-time REAL PEOPLE co-star turned billionaire entertainment entrepreneur, was bidding to own the NFL’s Denver Broncos was seen in some circles as shocking.  How could Allen, whose reported net worth is a fraction of those of the likes of other current NFL owners, and with no experience in running

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Media Musings

Mourn The Fine Print

It was a quick little breaking news story that came through yesterday amidst dozens of others focusing on reactions to Oscar nominations, Super Bowl preps and whatever new drivel trickled out from the daily January 6th investigation committee leak.  ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, along with five other legacy magazine titles under the purview of Dotdash Meredith since

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Media Musings

Running Rings Around Ratings Reality

For the second time in less than a year, and for the third time in four, NBC’s schedule is on hiatus due to Olympic coverage.  For the third consecutive Olympiad, NBC’s ratings have declined precipitously.  For the third consecutive Olympiad, media and financial pundits are eager to prey upon every shred of data that trickles

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Life Lessons

Say Hello To My “Big Brother”

Yesterday this fledgling enterprise got a shout-out from a much more established resource for entertainment and media news and information.  The Programming Insider’s Marc Berman was respectful enough to include my recent observations about celebrity reality bookings in his daily newsletter, with a link to this site.  If you have discovered this effort from that,

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