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 Media 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? |
