Tessera
Folgen

Pete Johnson

@itstv.bsky.social

Studying media industries, finance, & US television history. Visiting Assistant Professor @ NYU Gallatin Self-hating Yankees fan. anti Kalshitification of culture

48 Posts735 Follower183 Folgt
Pawel Popiel@ppopiel.bsky.social · yesterday

Just as a corrective to the Ellison PR machine, some empirical data and analysis of the significant, pervasive, and detrimental impacts of the merger to the U.S. media system: macrolab.ucsd.edu/paramount-wa...

The Costs of Consolidation: – MACRO Lab

macrolab.ucsd.edu

Freedom of the Press Foundation@freedom.press · yesterday

What a great platform to publicly deny promising Trump a CNN overhaul or $20 million in free advertising in exchange for merger approvals. Or to speak out against his bullying of journalists you employ or want to employ. Weird that you didn’t do any of that.

Mediamorphis@mediamorphis.bsky.social · yesterday

The work done by @adewaard.bsky.social, Shawna Kidman, @mirandabanks.bsky.social, @itstv.bsky.social, @ppopiel.bsky.social & others on this report from MACRO Lab challenging Paramount's takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery is excellent. It's a great example of engaged, policy relevant scholarship.

Pawel Popiel@ppopiel.bsky.social · yesterday

Just as a corrective to the Ellison PR machine, some empirical data and analysis of the significant, pervasive, and detrimental impacts of the merger to the U.S. media system: macrolab.ucsd.edu/paramount-wa...

Pete Johnson@itstv.bsky.social · 6d ago

When it’s an industry-wide practice, it doesn’t make it Enron (unfortunately). I fear they will all get away with it. Others will hold the bag.

Timnit Gebru@timnitgebru.blacksky.app · 7d ago

"As Japanese financial newspaper Nikkei Asia found in a recent investigation, just five US tech giants — Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and Oracle — are hiding an estimated $1.65 trillion in debt that doesn’t appear on balance sheets. futurism.com/artificial-i...

Ben Collins@bencollins.bsky.social · last wk.

TikTok has incredible moderation team. Our InfoWars video about Multiple Horse Theory — the idea that there are many horses in the world and not just one — has been fully deemed misinformation and lost the formal appeals process. Confirmed by Larry Ellison: There is only one horse on Earth.

Bild
Mediamorphis@mediamorphis.bsky.social · 2w ago

We created a new data dashboard for scholars, journalists & policymakers as part of the Global Media & Internet Concentration Project. It helps bring to life the data behind our analysis of the l/t evolution of the communications, internet & media industries in 36 countries. gmicp.org/dashboard/ 1/

A screenshot of the new data visualization tool on the GMICP website.
more tacos, please@tvbookstvbooks.bsky.social · 3w ago

Media scholars from around the country (myself included) have worked with MACRO Lab on an extensive new report: "The Costs of Consolidation: Arguments and Evidence for Blocking the Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger.” macrolab.ucsd.edu/paramount-warner-merger

The Costs of Consolidation: Arguments and Evidence for Blocking the Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger Decades of mergers and acquisitions have reduced the number of major U.S. media companies to a handful of transnational conglomerates that dominate the production and circulation of news, film, television, sports, games, and other forms of media and culture. If Paramount Skydance acquires Warner Bros. Discovery, not only will this newly-formed conglomerate be burdened with $79 billion of debt, it will struggle to respect competitive safeguards, serve consumer needs, cultivate the media industry's long term health, and act in the broader interest of the public. A team of more than 20 media experts from universities across the U.S. and Canada have collaborated on this research to encourage the courts, government regulators, non-governmental organizations, legislators, and citizens to challenge this deal. While this study addresses some of the quantitative impacts of this potential merger, our scope is far wider. The fourteen sections of this study define consumer welfare, public interest, and healthy competition more broadly, and consider democratic objectives like fair media access for non-profit and public-serving organizations, the preservation of community cultural spaces like theaters and of community social events like sports, and the support of a diverse range of stories and storytellers. Having spent decades researching the many (often non-quantifiable) ways that media and culture shape our lives as citizens and individuals, we enumerate here what kinds of impacts we can expect from this deal, and why policymakers and the public should be so concerned. Download the report as a pdf (2.8 MB) or read each section below
NPR@npr.org · 3w ago

California is among the states suing to block Paramount from buying Warner Bros. Discovery in a Hollywood mega-merger that would unite some of the nation's largest movie studios and TV newsrooms. n.pr/4peiT2k

Pete Johnson@itstv.bsky.social · 3w ago

In fortuitous timing, I'm excited to share an extensive new report from MACRO Lab and 23 media scholars from across North America, titled "The Costs of Consolidation: Arguments and Evidence for Blocking the Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger" macrolab.ucsd.edu/paramount-warner-merger

The Costs of Consolidation: – MACRO Lab

macrolab.ucsd.edu

The Hollywood Reporter@thr.com · 3w ago

A coalition of state attorneys general have sued Paramount to stop its $111 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, a sweeping legal challenge to a merger that threatens to reshape Hollywood amid the absence of the Trump administration’s intervention in big deals. bit.ly/4wJqybG

Pete Johnson@itstv.bsky.social · 2mo ago

I had a chance to speak at the recent @econliberties.bsky.social Town Hall on the debt implications of this deal. youtube.com/shorts/d7DPi...

"This is not just a bad deal for jobs, it is a bad deal for Paramount."

YouTube video by Economic Liberties

youtube.com

Pete Johnson@itstv.bsky.social · 2mo ago

A reminder that the case for this merger is based on bad assumptions: - Realizing $6B in synergies in ~1 year (AT&T + WBD took 3+ yrs to underachieve promises) - Selling billions of dollars in assets - Linear TV biz does not decline - No macro disruptions Any slight miss exacerbates PSKY debt prob

Andrew deWaard@adewaard.bsky.social · 2mo ago

I have a new feature essay at MUBI Notebook on the Paramount-WB merger. It goes long on our billionaire-dominated media monopoly, the Ellison empire, the effects of the merger, and most importantly, HOW it can be blocked and how we can take back our cultural system. mubi.com/en/notebook/...

Consolidation Crisis: What Paramount Skydance's Purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery Means, and How to Stop it

A new dark age of Hollywood is coming. What can we do about it?

mubi.com

Tanya Goldman@tanyagoldman.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Great opportunity for a PhD Candidate in fields related to media history and archival research!

Nontheatrical Film and Media Scholarly Interest Group SCMS@nontheatricalscms.bsky.social · 3mo ago

The Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television has issued a call for an Editorial Assistant. Great opportunity for a PhD Candidate! Interested candidates should contact the journal co-editors at hjfrt.1981[at]gmail[dot]com before 25 May. See visuals (with alt text) for more details!

Historical Journal of Film, Radio, and Television — CALL FOR EDITORIAL ASSISTANT The Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television is one of the leading academic journals concerned with all aspects of media history from circa 1900 to the present. It is international and interdisciplinary in scope, and explores the institutional and ideological contexts of film, radio and television; analyses the evidence produced by the mass media for historians and social scientists; and considers the impact of mass communications on political, social and cultural history. It is the official journal of the International Association for Media and History (IAMHIST), co-published by IAMHIST and Taylor & Francis. All articles published in the journal have undergone rigorous peer review, based on initial editorial screening and the opinion of at least two anonymous referees. ABOUT THE ROLE The Editorial Assistant will be expected to assume the following responsibilities: - Providing administrative assistance to the journal’s editorial team, including preparing and circulating the team meeting agenda and taking minutes at the monthly editorial meetings. - Assisting the editorial team with managing manuscript peer review within a reasonable timeframe, using an online submission system (training will be provided) - Checking whether submitted manuscripts meet the stylistic requirements of the journal - Answering author queries and communicating with authors and reviewers - Preparing, in collaboration with the co-editors, semi-annual reports on the journal for the IAMHIST council – including, among other aspects – metrics on journal performance, impact factors, activities of the editorial team, themed issues, marketing activities and future directions). - Promoting the reputation, success and prosperity of the journal together with the editorial team and IAMHIST.
Dr. Suzanne Scott@iheartfatapollo.bsky.social · 4mo ago

I am officially writing an article about Alamo Drafthouse (anti-)fandom and their buyout and anti-labor policies in the broader context of media consolidation. If you are a fan of the drafthouse, current or present employee, etc and you would be interested in speaking about this, please reach out!

IndieWire@indiewire.com · 4mo ago

Once America's most promising movie theater chain, the Alamo Drafthouse has become a QR-coded symbol of corporate enshittification.

Dr. Molly Schneider@moschneids.bsky.social · 4mo ago

CFP, hot off the presses! Stacy Takacs and I are co-editing a book on Atomic TV, and we hope you'll consider submitting a chapter proposal. #TVstudies #atomicTV #TVhistory @scms-tv.bsky.social @tv-radio-history.bsky.social @misig-scms.bsky.social @warstudiessig.bsky.social bit.ly/4lRzbwH

Call for Chapters - Atomic TV.docx

Call for Chapter Proposals – Atomic TV Submission deadline: June 15th, 2026 This proposed edited collection, Atomic TV, seeks to address the relationship between television and “atomic” history, cul...

bit.ly

Aca-Media@aca-media.bsky.social · 5mo ago

It's SCMS conference week! A good time to recirculate this 2023 document: "Tips From SCMS Members for Having a Productive and Supportive In-Person Conference" docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Tips for Having a Productive and Supportive SCMS In-Person Conference Experience

Tips From SCMS Members for Having a Productive and Supportive In-Person Conference Note: This was originally composed in April 2023 for the first SCMS back in-person after the virtual ones. It has b...

docs.google.com

Michael Socolow@michaelsocolow.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Sometime in the mid-1980s, when Larry Tisch owned CBS, he ordered a New Jersey warehouse holding the CBS corporate archives to be cleaned out to save money. Those files were largely destroyed. They likely could've resolved several mysteries in U.S. media history. www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...

The C.B.S. Problem in American Radio Historiography

The Columbia Broadcasting System (C.B.S.) emerged in the late 1920s as the only sustainable competitor to the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) in American network radio. But scholars know far le...

tandfonline.com

Josh Shepperd@joshshepperd.bsky.social · 5mo ago

I worked on this on the Library of Congress project for about five years, and CBS was not interested in preserving their history!

Kyle Clark@kylec.bsky.social · 5mo ago

The Trump administration has approved the acquisition of 9NEWS' parent company, TEGNA, by Fox31's parent company, Nexstar. Nexstar issued a statement praising President Trump, who says the deal will "help knock out the Fake News." Nexstar has declared itself "the anti-fake news"