Hot List: Larry, David And 13 Originals
Larry, David
If not for the horrible murder of Charlie Kirk, the week that passed might have been etched in the American media psyche as the one where Ellison’s Larry and David took center stage.
Larry became the world’s new richest human through a deal with Oracle and OpenAI. He now presides as the king of an empire that, in addition to critical infrastructure for the global information economy, now indirectly (but totally directly) includes SkyDance, aka Paramount’s papa, AKA the new suitors of Warner Bros. Discovery, led by his son, David.
This group is also leading the conversation on the forced TikTok spinoff, is gobbling up media properties that shape culture (South Park is just the start) and is infiltrating places like Oxford University.
What math are they doing exactly? Big Money + Distribution + Infrastructure + Influence = ???….. Sounds Musk-ily familiar.
Other questions from this week:
Why were YouTube’s NFL numbers (17mm) on the underwhelming side compared to Netflix (31mm)?
Why would Warner renew Nielsen amid a never ending correction or (in-correction) cycle?
What the hell does pay TV and news do if Pharma goes away?
Pharma on TV through 8 months of 2025, per iSpot.
Post Script: News It and Lose It
This newsletter was written from New Orleans at the Online News Association conference where news publishers, once fearful of AI, now pack the halls to learn how to AI vibe code without hallucinating the news.
It’s possibly a losing battle because the news in general so often resembles a hallucination, even when its simply a fair accounting of facts.
TV news on the other hand, is stuck with the job sharing facts while competing in a medium designed for entertainment. That too is a losing battle since personalized algorithms-where 75% of news is now consumed-are so often driving engagement through enragement.
And so we find ourselves here, wondering how and why these recurring tragedies could happen; yet knowing the answers all the same.
