Churchill Downs Spends $85M for Preakness IP Rights
Churchill Downs Drops $85 Million to Buy Preakness Stakes IP Rights 🏇 https://t.co/0nWgyU7bqu via @sportico @JustBirny
CPC Ads Favor Sponsors, Leave Newsletter Creators Shortchanged
When will ESPs figure out that this model of CPC for ads in email newsletters puts all the benefit in the sponsor's hands and very little in that of the newsletter creator? I never opt-in because why would I dilute...
Creator Economy Thrives: Artists Earn More, Stay Independent
The @contra team published compelling research that disproves all of the AI doommaxxing being sold to creatives. Artists are making more art, earning more money, and staying independent. I’d argue the Creator Economy is stronger now than it was 5...
Cheaper Game Pass Signals Xbox’s Activision Bet Falters
This seems like a positive development. Making Game Pass more affordable is good for players in Xbox's ecosystem. But it also seems like another (big) admission that the thesis for buying Activision Blizzard did not pan out. https://t.co/Mq3w0Z7xTS
Xbox Forfeits $300M as Call of Duty Exits Game Pass
Call of Duty will no longer release day-one on Game Pass. Xbox gave up more than $300 million in Call of Duty sales after the game started launching on Game Pass, I reported last year after speaking with current and...
Live Nation to Refund Millions After Hidden‑Fee Settlement
D.C. officials said residents who bought tickets through Live Nation or Ticketmaster could soon claim refunds after a $9.9 million settlement over alleged hidden fees and pressure tactics. Up to $8.9 million may be returned, with the company agreeing to...
Roku Shares Hit 4‑year High Before Q1 Results
Why Roku Stock Is At A 4-Year High Ahead Of Its Q1 Report https://t.co/1uv0P7WOwz $ROKU
Vegas Slots Now Generate 70% of Gaming Revenue
Las Vegas slot machines are absurd. Between 1980 and 2025, slots went from 0% of gaming revenue in Nevada to ~70% (more than 2x every other table game combined). Last year, slots made up $11B of Nevada’s $16B in gaming revenue...
Larry Jackson Pushes Kanye's Comeback, Wins Corporate Bets
The return of @kanyewest is being championed by a music executive named Larry Jackson, a protege of Clive Davis & Jimmy Iovine. I spoke to Jackson about his relationship w/Ye and how he's convinced companies to bet on him again. https://t.co/7ouU0Dilty
Zaslav Cashes $500M Exit, Still Wants Warner Stay
This week’s @Variety cover story: $500 Million Exit: David Zaslav Is Leaving Warner Bros. a Rich Man — but He’d Love to Stay Around Even Longer https://t.co/JT201MwSD3
Resorts World Queens Launches NYC's First Live Dealer Tables
Resorts World New York City will open its table games April 28, the casino announced earlier today; Resorts World in Queens will become the first legal casino in New York City to offer live dealer table games
Media Needs Real Funding, Not Clickbait Incentives
media: we need funding to continue the important work of uncovering fraud and corruption or else everything is gonna turn into clickbait vcs: media sucks we won't fund it media: * cuts jobs, turns into clickbait * vcs: media really sucks we...
Clipping Industry Fuels Manufactured Moments, Undermining Trust
For my profile of @N3onOnYT, I learned how big an industry clipping is now & how it incentivizes manufactured moments. Seeing, it turns out, may not be believing https://t.co/NdW8CNOdDT
NFL Media Rights Spark Growing Regulatory Scrutiny
The NFL's push to open its media rights deals--along with its ongoing relationship with the streamers--has opened it up to a wave of regulatory inquiry. But is the scrutiny more than just a headache? @eriqgardner walks us through it all. https://t.co/93JdDEnQhd
Submit Your Indie Track Free for 360° Spotlight
New or old, known or unknown, if your indie song is special, it belongs on 360°. Send it to me and let's find out. Always free: Eric@ThatEricAlper.com https://t.co/8JQ0j376aP
The Onion CEO Explains Infowars Takeover and Satire Business
🎙️ NEW POD: The Onion C.E.O. Ben Collins @oneunderscore__ on the company’s surprise Infowars takeover and the business of satire. Apple: https://t.co/wTBnzYvFz0 Spotify: https://t.co/u7zmENHTiL @PuckNews
Paramount‑Warner Merger Threatens Hollywood; Artists Sound Alarm
I like @RaheemKassam, but there's an obvious market power problem with Paramount buying Warner, which is why 4000+ artists and most of Hollywood opposes it. Netflix is a bit player in the dispute now. The populist right needs to see beyond...
Joe Buck Nears ESPN Jeopardy Hosting Deal
Glass Break: Joe Buck is closing in on a deal to host ESPN Jeopardy. Details at @FOS https://t.co/m85X8S6YHY
Streaming Thrives on TV Roots, Not Film Libraries
The streaming model is built on the back of TV. Film libraries still matter, but not as much as the industry once thought.
Visa, TikTok Debut Debit Card for UK Live Creators
Visa and TikTok just launched a debit card for UK LIVE creators. This is way more fascinating than it seems at first glance. To understand that you need to understand LIVE Gifting, and the card business model. https://t.co/6fRWRKaP7Z
One Yes Can Overturn a Year of Rejection
You only need 1 yes to make a year's worth of rejection look stupid. For a long time it's ➝ A fat stack of no's ➝ Beats that never leave the laptop ➝ A bunch of doubt in a folder. Then one morning, the email...
Alex Cooper's Media Empire Faces Unexpected Growing Pains
Great reporting from @ashleyrcarman on media darling Alex Cooper and her struggles to build a media business.
ESPN Waited for Cable Decline Before Launching DTC
So ESPN finally launched a direct‑to‑consumer D2C platform. But why the heck did it take so long? My view - as shared in this week's pod: I think the more useful way to look at it is through the lens of commercial...
Zero‑budget Podcast Thrives without Corporate Sponsors
If anyone wants to spend an absurd amount of cash sponsoring a podcast with uniformed technology takes, look no further than @NIApodcast We have been recording for five years (263 episodes) for $0 (our only monetization to date is one in...
Sling TV's 2026 Changes: Evaluate if Still Worthwhile
3 Big Changes Sling TV Is Making in 2026: Is It Still Worth It? https://t.co/FIDGEVoNQ1 via @YouTube
Design Shows for Clipability, Harvest Millions of Views
TBPN is a 7k-live-viewer pod that sold to OpenAI for $200M because their average clip gets 257k views. Everyone's talking about the strategy. Here's the structure: 1. Format is engineered for clippability, not the other way around 3 hours/day, live, 5 days a...
Amir Satvat Offers Complete View of Gaming Jobs
Amir Satvat has the most comprehensive big picture of employment in the games industry. https://t.co/J86MyQ5d93
Super Mario Galaxy Tops Weekend Box Office, Leads $36.5M
FINAL TOP 3 - WKND of APR 17-19: 🥇 Super Mario Galaxy | $36.5M/$356.7M 🥈 Project Hail Mary | $20.51M/$285.2M 🥉 The Mummy | $13.52M #boxoffice $CMCSA $AMZN $WBD $IMAX $AMC
Silicon Valley's Endless Short‑form Video Is Dying
Congrats, Silicon Valley, you built an infinite Jerry Springer machine and no one wants to use it anymore because it makes them look like Jerry Springer. Me on the inevitable death of "clipping" and, probably, the entire short-form video industry. https://t.co/JcKYLDTFR2...
Michael Jackson Biopic Surpasses Major Blockbusters in Pre‑Sales
In #China’s #BoxOffice, ticket pre-sales for #MichaelJackson’s music biopic #MICHAEL ahead of its APR 24 debut (Previews on APR 22-23), saw pacing improve on MON, hitting $590k 6-day cume for the whole APR 22-26 period on 6th day of pre-sales (vs,...
The Onion to Acquire Infowars, Turn It Into Self‑Parody
The Onion Says It Has a Deal to Take Over Alex Jones’ Infowars, Plans to Relaunch It as Parody of Itself https://t.co/Pfn8DMMOGx via @variety
The Onion to Rebrand Infowars as Comedy Site
SCOOP with @NYTLiz: The Onion has a new plan to take over Infowars. It has entered into an agreement to license the Infowars brand and plans to operate it as a comedy site. A Texas judge must approve the deal. https://t.co/YYPmqDHvnv
Snapchat's Growth Hacking Sparks DAU and Engagement Concerns
⚡️ Snapchat Growth Hacking Raises Concerns on DAUs/Engagement ⚡️ $SNAP Ever since becoming a public company, Evan Spiegel, Snap’s Co-Founder, has been critical of growth hacking... https://t.co/cUVqO01ZFu
Amazon Prime Video to Stream All Six NBA Playoff Games Thursday‑Friday
Amazon Prime Video is scheduled to have all six NBA playoff games this Thursday & Friday. https://t.co/OQK3tw5f0L
TV News Must Reinvent or Face Audience Extinction
A media consultancy that helped create the format that ultimately became “Good Morning America” is warning TV-news organizations that they need to blow up their old models as soon as possible, or risk saying “good night” to audiences and ratings.... https://t.co/sciFmWrOuM
Creators Invade TV News: Revive or Replace?
TV News Goes Crazy for Creators: Will Digital Mavericks Add Life to Old Format or Wipe it Out? https://t.co/eJwkrRcMVN via @variety
Bill Ackman Urges Fixes as UMG Shares Keep Sliding
Shares in Universal Music Group, home to Taylor Swift and The Weeknd, keep falling. @BillAckman has ideas on how to fix it, but UMG hasn't been listening. Inside the bizarre tango between music's biggest mogul & one of Wall Street's loudest voices: https://t.co/ohgGcYL4eu
Investing in MTS: Real-Time Multi‑Angle News on X
Thrilled to announce our investment in MTS. Beginning today, MTS will be monitoring the situation across technology, business, politics, and culture, interviewing the main characters of the moment all day long on X. We’re seeding it alongside other angel investors such as...
Stadium Ads Return Sparks Debate Among Baseball Purists
Ads covering the stadium is nothing new. The disappearance of ads actually caused just as much of a stir among baseball "purists" when it happened. https://t.co/giW5htoW0R
Netflix Posts Record Q1 Revenue and Soaring Profit
Netflix revenues hit a record $12.3 billion in Q1, up 16% YoY. Net income hit a record $5.3 billion, up 83% YoY. Operating margins moved up to 32.3% from 31.7% a year ago. $NFLX https://t.co/L4wWI2gmjO
Zaslav's Warner Bros Deal Boosts Him, Hurts Hollywood
David Zaslav spoke to me for a @nytopinion piece about how things turned out with buying Warner Bros - with Hollywood for the worse, him for the better. https://t.co/WAh0svnSZ0
Gov Race Highlights Hollywood Job Crisis, Proposes Incentive Boost
Hollywood Jobs Crisis Becomes Focus of Governor’s Race as Candidates Offer Incentive Hike https://t.co/aSMdDa4W3C via @variety
Artists Defy Labels, Succeed Independently Every Day
The label system spent 50 years telling artists they couldn't do it alone. Here's exactly how thousands of them are proving that wrong every single day: https://t.co/kI1xDdCJtH
From Post‑War Rubble to Global Tech Giant
Inside a ruined Tokyo after World War Two, two engineers tried to build a company everyone thought was impossible. Sony began as a tiny repair shop surrounded by rubble and hunger. Yet the world’s greatest electronics, music, movies, and games...
Netflix Accelerates Its Evolution Amid Market Shifts
Today's TSOH Investment Research Netflix: The Pace of Change $NFLX Thank you to @FrancoOlivera for his feedback https://t.co/pCr6qiYKfI https://t.co/5kuiihQ5I9
FCC Considers Reallocating Nine UHF Channels to 6G
D.C. Memo: @FCC Asked to Adopt Plan Taking Nine UHF TV Channels from Broadcasters for Reassignment to 6G Wireless; Ahead of @nabtweets show in Las Vegas this week, a group called Landover Saturn 5 is targeting ‘underutilized’ UHF spectrum amid...
NFTs Still Falling Short for Artists
NFTs may have a little run but they still aren’t where they need to be for artists.
Success Demands Speed: Embrace Change or Fade
Reed Hastings (2011): "My greatest fear at Netflix has been that we wouldn’t make the leap from success in DVDs to success in streaming. Most companies that are great at something, like AOL dialup or Borders bookstores, do not become...
Creator Platforms Converge Into One-Size-Fits-All Toolkits
Axios reports that Creator Platforms are in their copycat era, with most players effectively offering the same one-stop toolkit for creators. Are you using any of these platforms as part of your creator business?
Mario Galaxy Tops 2026 Box Office, China Strong
Global #BoxOffice Top10 2026 releases ONLY #TheSuperMarioGalaxyMovie 🇺🇸 $747.5M #Pegasus3🇨🇳$649M #ProjectHailMary 🇺🇸 $573.1M #HOPPERS🇺🇸$367.2M #WutheringHeights 🇺🇸$241.4M #BladesOfTheGuardians🇨🇳$215M #Scream7🇺🇸$213.4M #ScareOut🇨🇳$199.9M #Dhurandhar2 🇮🇳$195.9M #GOAT🇺🇸$190.3M https://t.co/s8h1T99Dhw