Each weekend, Next TV writers Daniel Frankel and David Bloom engage in an over-produced, back-and-forth column designed to produce a faux aesthetic of live back-and-forth discourse. You see right through our sham. And for that, we are ashamed … As much as we can be at this point, anyway.
DANIEL FRANKEL: The Bloomster … The Bloom Meister General … David Bloomburger. The Bloominator … Making columns … Now, we just lived through some serious gonna-be-in-textbooks-if-we're-all-still-here history this week. And I have no question in my mind how former Saturday Night Live star and washed-up comedic actor Rob Schneider views the 34 guilty verdicts against former President Donald Trump out of NYC. And I don't question much where the 4.4 million viewers who tuned into Fox News in the verdict's aftermath stand on the issue, either. I just wish a certain global media company wasn't leading them down a cynical rabbit hole, with Sean Hannity lamenting the “weaponized Biden criminal justice system.” I was having drinks with a former Fox cable executive when the verdict came down Thursday afternoon.
Over a pretty solid dry martini, and some real estate advice that worked out pretty badly, this guy told me that it’s never been about ideology with “Rupert” (no last name deployed). Since Fox News’ focus-group-spawned inception, it's always been about the money. And apparently, messaging millions of Americans that our most sacred of institutions — our jury system this time — is politically rigged is just good business.
Also Read: Fox News Admits Making False Claims as It Settles Dominion Systems Lawsuit
Not that a $757 billion settlement with a voting machine company rendered the last time Fox News decided to take down one of our pillars is “sound business,” but I’m sure a good portion of our presently small readership base probably agrees with the general transaction between this specific television network and this legion of American citizens. And it’s been talked about plenty before. But this nexus is making us a very different country. Fly the flag upside down all you want to (which is weird), but if a prosecutor, politically motivated or not, can hoist a charge supported by a rule of law, then successfully beat a defense attorney to prove someone’s guilt of said crime(s) to a jury of the defendant’s peers … well, you subject the sanctity and legitimacy of that outcome for purposes of media business at everyone’s peril.
.@marklevinshow - We need to give the Supreme Court the opportunity to fix this https://t.co/50jqo9vqCbMay 31, 2024
DAVID BLOOM: The seedy and shameless manipulation and calculation behind much of the Fox media empire has been on display a long time, though of course never more so than in the Dominion Voting Systems libel case that forced Rupe and the gang to fork over $787 million and whatever remaining fig leaf of a “journalism” claim they allegedly possessed. The nonagenarian ’nard likely won't be with us much longer, given a string of mostly hidden health scares in recent years, but Murdoch’s vile impact on the body politic is a pustulant pox that won’t easily be cured. I'm more interested at this point in the fate of competitor CNN, supposedly under the whip hand of veteran media executive Mark Thompson, who just presided over one of the network’s worst ratings weeks in decades.
And then the Trump verdict hit and … no one really went to CNN, where people used to turn when actual news broke out. This after CNN tacked toward the political center under the impeccable piloting of Chris Licht, John Malone and David Zaslav. Amid an actual history-making moment, that strategy didn't pay off, unlike decades of previous viewing history. Most viewers turned left or right instead. Turns out, like former Texas Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower always said, ain’t nothin’ in the middle of the road but yellow stripes and dead armadillos. That's what CNN looks like these days, squashed flat and unable to move into the digital future where Thompson says he wants to take it.
FRANKEL: Murdoch, 93, is still spry enough to give love another try, over the weekend marrying wife No. 5, Elena Zhukova, a 67-year-old Russian-born retired molecular biologist. Back to the subject at hand, Fox News uses publications like ours to legitimize itself. Anytime the network makes an executive move, executes a change on of their right-wing TV shows or launches a new one, or soars in the cable news ratings (which it's done prodigiously over decades), it sends us press releases messaging us that it's just a TV network ... just like other TV networks. And to an extent, that’s true — Fox relies on the same basic economic infrastructure we all do. The lights have to be on to transmit signals, sell adds, spew grievance, etc., etc.
Trump verdict has started 'war of weaponization of the criminal justice system,' legal experts warn https://t.co/AiBMWnYyr4June 3, 2024
All those functions are hard to do — I strongly suspect, since I haven't lived through one — in civil war. And if you go around telling everyone that this a “banana republic,” things are falling apart, the jury process sucks and there's no rule of law … well business could get messy pretty fast, for everyone. I, for one, agree that this country is not on the best trajectory right now. But that's a bipartisan problem. And I’ll side with Colin Cowherd here for one of the few times ever — flying the flag upside down right now is just performative ridiculousness, the kind that big media companies should know better to avoid.
As for our most frequently mentioned favorite topic, Zaslav spent Thursday afternoon at the Bernstein Strategic Business Conference sort of soft-peddling his “we don't need the NBA” agenda, citing all the sports Warner still has, including the Olympics in Europe. The optics might be better if he just came out and said it — they didn’t get an NBA renewal. Now, it seems like he’s just pissing everyone off, including the commissioner.
BLOOM: Zaz’s Bernstein appearance felt like half trial balloon/half state of acceptance that Turner’s 40-year NBA era is ending. His issue now is how much sports is enough? No NBA, but hey, we have that other stuff you mentioned. Please let that be enough to keep our cable carriage fees afloat. We'll see how cable negotiations go.
The other impossible-to-handicap legal question: Can WBD save an NBA deal with a “match” of a competing bid, as the outdated contract language allows? Is a mid-sized/sub-scale streaming service with modest international presence tied to a fading U.S. cable platform able to truly “match” the $1.8 billion Amazon bid, backed by its 240 million or so global Prime Video households? Any court challenge might further screw already soured relationships with the league while also failing. You’d feel sorry for Zaz, except so much is literally his direct fault, from constructing a debt-laden leveraged buyout to the memorably insulting “we don't need the NBA” to their lowball renewal offer.
"Some of the higher up people...they just said, 'listen, it's not over, we're still talking to them.' I mean you still have Zaslav talking to Adam Silver, they are still trying. That's what I am being told."- Adam Lefkoe when DP asks about the future of the NBA on TNT. pic.twitter.com/di25eflTOdMay 30, 2024
More amusing, this week also brought news that the “Smiling Crocodile,” Norman Peltz, has a billion more reasons to grin widely. He disposed of his pile o’ Disney stock for a reported $120 a share, after acquiring it somewhere in the low $90s ahead of that failed spring proxy battle. His enabler Ike Perlmutter is probably still mad at the world, but Peltz cleared a reported $1 billion in profit, almost enough to cover his next family wedding and related lawsuits. Not exactly the “Wedding Bell Blues.” While you're grooving to the Fifth Dimension, see if you can dodge the omnipresent fundraising pleas on YouTube from newly convicted felon D.J. Trump.
FRANKEL: Thousands upon thousands of voters are hearing those Trump pleas on Fox News and donating right now. The outrage is as thick as it’s ever been. Collectively, the American cable news consumer has lost the ability to gauge anyone’s merit, skill or honesty.
OVER $200,000,000 TOTAL raised since Thursday night.OVER $70,000,000 raised from small-dollar donations since Thursday night.30% of these small-dollar donations are from Americans who are 1st-time donors.Americans are sick of the political weaponization of our institutions. pic.twitter.com/tkKGR9oybWJune 2, 2024
Truth is lost in vague, hyperbolic declarations — “They’ve weaponized the judicial system!” Well, no, it's just that your guy lost today. Fox News wasn’t declaring the judicial system broken when a Kenosha, Wisconsin, jury acquitted Kyle Rittenhouse three years ago. On the other side, MSNBC was also critical of those proceedings, pointing out Kenosha County Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder’s decision to have everyone give a round of applause to a defense witness on Veterans Day. But I don’t remember Rachel Maddow declaring the whole legal system compromised.
Two years ago today, accused of unjust charges, I heard 'NOT GUILTY' five times over from a jury of my peers who heard the facts.My case split the nation into opposing sides fueled by emotions, politics, and misconceptions driven by media and political figures.Today, I want…November 19, 2023
OK, I’ll come clean — the only thing I ever liked that came out of Kenosha was Nick “The Quick” Van Exel.
Sure, prosecutors and judges might be politically inclined to go after someone … or, conversely, let something slide. But if a case is deemed legally sound by a rightfully appointed judge, and a trial process is initiated “ and the defendant refuses to testify … we may not love the outcome, but it’s a huge, dangerous leap for a giant, multinational media company to publicly say the system is “rigged” and “weaponized.” I think in this case, Alvin Bragg simply had the goods. Fox News and Elon Musk, which seem to carry a critical mass of misinformative water right now, and aren’t offset, propaganda-wise by CNN anymore, can debate Bragg's motivations to pursue the case all they want to. That criticism is probably fair. But D.A. Bragg executed his case against Donald Trump fair and square. He wouldn't have been able to do that if Trump hadn’t committed crimes. Like James Carville, I still believe in that process.
I’ve heard plenty on X about how corrupted the process is. But I haven't heard one cogent, insider account providing one shred of detail about how the New York jury system is compromised. It’s been said before “ but this country has lost its mind. I mean, we’re waiting for a 57-year-old man, Mike Tyson, to get over his ulcer so he can fight in a heavyweight match on Netflix against a much-younger social media influencer. And the WNBA has its most magnetic star ever … and … OK, I’ll admit it, Fox News’ culture war catnip is sometimes … irresistible to old angry white guys who are trying real hard not to be old angry white guys …
Also read: Caitlin Clark-Cameron Brink WNBA Matchup Draws 724,000 Viewers
Maybe Caitlin Clark also has Larry Bird’s mouth, and she has it comin’. And certainly, the weighty class and race undertones run 400 years deep for many observers. But it’s hard not to get behind the way this particular rail-thin warrior bravely competes.
I fell myself for this Fox News headline over the weekend: WNBA has been a ‘failure’ until Caitlin Clark, league would be ‘suicidal’ to not protect most valuable asset.
Certainly, this latest cheap shot — and the perpetrator’s response to it (or lack thereof) — was ugly. Hoping Clarke’s team, the Indiana Fever, can find a female Charles Oakley before the trade deadline.
BLOOM: Caitlin will be fine, especially when other players figure out that her success helps their success. Same for Angel Reese, who went to the Met Gala, and the L.A. Sparks’ newest addition, No. 2 overall pick Cameron Brink, who’s in that Skims ad with other league stars. Even Coco Gauff, the brightest young American tennis player, knows another star when she sees one wearing her tennis outfit in homage.
Just remember all these recently drafted players were still in college five weeks ago. Now they’re playing full-grown, big-shouldered women with quick hands, quick mouths, serious hops and a point to make with the new kids. Nonetheless, Clark already has five 20-point games, including a 30-point night, in her first 10 games. Clark and the others will find their way, and the league will, one can hope, keep a batch of new fans as they settle in. May the rest of our nation do so well in finding its way over the next several months.
I spent time Friday watching Brink’s alma mater, Stanford, mow down Oklahoma State 8-0 in the College Softball World Series behind the powerful arm of the national player of the year, Nijaree Canady. Canady’s biggest challenge was probably her second-to-last pitch, which she painfully bounced off her own inner thigh. A grimacing Canaday struck out the OSU batter on the next pitch to end the game early under the mercy rule. I don't know if Canady, or women's softball, will break out like women’s basketball, in part because there’s no pro game for Canady, a sophomore, to graduate to. But she’s a treat to watch, like Roger Clemens before, ahem, his wife allegedly needed some medication. College softball’s pitching rubber is only 43 feet from the plate, compared to baseball’s 60 feet, so Canady’s 77-mph fastballs get there mighty fast. Hey, maybe Zaz can sublet some women's softball games from ESPN too!
FRANKEL: Couple of interesting research reports came out this week. The always sound Antenna reports that Max has the least “committed” customer base among the major U.S. premium SVOD services, with only 28% of users having been signed up for the past six months.
Also, Horowitz Research says that 60% of U.S. TV sports fans age 18-49 report being “likely” to sign up for Venu Sports when it comes out next fall … and a chunk of those users plan to ditch their pay TV service when that happens. This is based on a price point of $35-$40, but I'll be surprised if the Venu streaming bundle arrives that cheap.
BLOOM: Love context-free studies like this one from Horowitz. They’re basically meaningless for anything but some strat-planning analyst’s spreadsheet projections. THE MOST IMPORTANT THING is price, especially when your nonsense-named startup features only half of major sports programming. Xenu, er, Venu still hasn’t announced a price four months after it was announced. Like you, I'd be shocked if it debuts this fall at $35, or stays near there long. Why? Because that’s how nearly every skinny bundle has operated so far: they started years ago around $35, and crept upward steadily. Now prices hover between $60 and $70. The lone clear exception is Philo, which includes no sports or broadcast nets, for $25. Sling bifurcates its offering, which complicates pricing, but its two bundles combined cost $60 a month. Venu will feature comparatively little non-sports offerings alongside only half of TV’s most expensive programming. This one is starting to feel like a Quibi/The Messenger media mess in the making.
Also Read: Philo Raises Monthly Price for First Time Since 2021
FRANKEL: To be fair, Horowitz did specify a hypothetical Venu Sports price point of between $35-$40 in its fine print. And Philo just raised its prices for the first time in three years, to $28 a month for its “Core” tier. Hey, I'm trying real hard to be like America's most straight-shooting seller of refabricated mobile homes, Robert Lee, owner/proprietor of Cullman Liquidation. You want basic digital trade journalism without frills? That’s what we got.
BLOOM: Speaking of surveys, given your gloomy assessment of the electorate, you may be slightly heartened to hear that three different post-conviction surveys found a shift among independent and even GOP voters in their support for the convicted felon running for president. The IPSOS, Morning Consult, and Echelon Insights polls show support for the rule of law and jury trials, and in turn, Biden edging into the lead, though by only a couple of percentage points, i.e., within the margin of error. We’re also five months out from the election, and lots can still happen. But in a straitjacket-tight race, that attitudinal shift is notable. We’ll see if it proves stickier than Venu’s debut price.
Also Read: OPEC+ Agrees to Extend Production Cuts in Bid to Boost Oil Prices
Also, the WNBA upgraded that egregious foul by Chicago’s Chennedy Carter to a Flagrant 1, without a fine or suspension.
Based on her post-game tweet, Carter appears to be angling for the villain role, saying she grew up fighting with all her brothers, and “I’d rather you hate me (than) love me.” The league did fine Carter’s team for not adequately participating in the after-game media availability, and docked Carter’s teammate (and Clark’s college nemesis) Angel Reese for appearing to cheer the elbowing from the bench. Clearly, some players have been taking cues from WWE and/or Joseph Campbell as they build their personal brands.
