Reminder: We're going on spring break next week. But we'll be back on Saturday with some superb weekend reads. Today, scroll down for the latest on OpenAI, Joe Rogan, Beehiiv, "60 Minutes," Jeff Shell, "Super Mario Galaxy," and much more... |
OpenAI's out-of-the-blue acquisition of TBPN, the online talk show, stunned the worlds of media and tech yesterday. But it's a continuation of a pattern that dates back a hundred years, to 1926, when RCA created NBC in part to sell radios. Time and time again, pioneers of new platforms have also bought up content and influenced conversations about those platforms. In this case, a live-streaming show with a small but loyal and influential audience — known as a chummy platform for tech entrepreneurs to chat, where executive moves are treated like sports trades, where AI is a constant topic of conversation — will be bankrolled by one of the leading AI companies. In an interview with CNN's AI correspondent Hadas Gold, OpenAI chief global affairs officer Chris Lehane cited that long history of "companies and entities owning and acquiring media properties," harkening to the days of Westinghouse Electric owning CBS and Microsoft partnering with NBC to launch MSNBC. Lehane compared the TBPN deal to news outlets hosting sponsored content and sports teams having dedicated channels. And he said the deal is about messaging. The TBPN guys, while continuing their daily live-streamed show, will also help the ChatGPT-maker with marketing and communications. "These guys at TBPN have really cracked the code, particularly as it relates to a really core audience, but an incredibly important audience within AI — of developers, of builders, of entrepreneurs, thought leaders in AI," Lehane said. "It's really based around not scooping or breaking news, but sort of breaking down the ideas that are behind AI, the how and the why." "We want to let these guys cook," he added, "and the idea is to really scale what they can do and how they do it, so that they are able to really continue to deliver those ideas but to bigger and bigger audiences, particularly as it becomes more and more important to explain the how and the why behind AI." I'm most intrigued by Lehane's comment to Gold that having TBPN's marketing and comms insight in-house will help as "we build out some of our own franchises and our own channels." That suggests OpenAI will be doing more in the media space... |
Does 'editorial independence' matter here? |
OpenAI approached TBPN with the acquisition idea earlier this year. It was spearheaded by Fidji Simo, OpenAI's CEO of applications. The companies did not disclose the terms of the transaction. The FT reported that the deal was in the "low hundreds of millions," which Lehane declined to comment on. The contract with OpenAI includes guarantees for editorial independence, Lehane said. TBPN president Dylan Abruscato posted on X that TBPN will retain full control over all its editorial decisions and branding. But that kind of misses the point, eh? "OpenAI's promise of editorial independence for TBPN is irrelevant," The Information's Martin Peers wrote last night. "Independence for what purpose? Can you imagine TBPN doing a hard-hitting piece on OpenAI? It's not in the show's DNA. That's fine. There's a place for techies to talk with other techies." >> Curious timing? OpenAI just shut down its AI-generated video social media app Sora amid a refocus on compute-heavy core business products. Lehane brushed off a question about whether TBPN is a "sidequest" for OpenAI. "We're focused on where we allocate our compute," Lehane said, referring to the high cost each AI task eats up. "TBPN has nothing to do with compute." |
>> Jessica Lessin summed it up this way: Elon Musk "has X," and now Sam Altman "has TBPN." >> Emily Sundberg headlined her Feed Me newsletter about the deal, "You cannot compete with people who are having more fun than you." And that is a key part of this story — TBPN hosts John Coogan and Jordi Hays love what they do and love the topics they talk about. >> Creator Economy NYC founder Brett Dashevsky tweeted: "It's simple. HubSpot acquired The Hustle [newsletter] for the same reason. You're buying a direct line to the audience that matters most and the credibility that comes with it." >> NYT reporter Mike Isaac: "At a time when consumers are growing increasingly skeptical of the effects of AI on society... I see this as a marketing expense." >> Fortune editor Alyson Shontell: "A lot of being a successful startup is knowing when to sell. I think we could look back on this as the Huffington Post-AOL moment for creators." >> The Intercept's Sam Biddle: "One of the only growth areas left in media is telling tech executives what they want to hear." >> BI's Peter Kafka says the deal's skeptics are "overthinking it": OpenAI "bought TBPN because it can." |
ON A SEMI-RELATED NOTE... | What will Jamie Dimon's media venture look like? |
During a sit-down with Jim VandeHei for "The Axios Show," JPMorgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon teased that he's interested in starting a media company. AP reporter Ken Sweet said on X that it's been "generally known in banking circles for some time that Dimon wants to do something in media after he leaves JPM but this is the first I've seen it actually laid out." >> "I think educating people is unbelievably important," Dimon said. "I think media is critical, media teaches everybody, media's the great influencer..." |
Blanche up next for 'impossible job' running DOJ? |
"In a surprise twist, the Epstein files released the attorney general," Jon Lovett quipped when Pam Bondi was fired yesterday. By now, no one even bothers to dispute that Trump wants the AG to weaponize the Justice Department to hurt his enemies. But it's "an impossible job," The Atlantic's Quinta Jurecic writes, because "the politicized prosecutions that Trump wanted her to bring simply could not get through a legal system that, for all of its flaws, turns out to be capable of checking at least some of the worst abuses of a malicious executive branch." Nevertheless, it looks like Todd Blanche, Bondi's "acting" replacement as attorney general, wants the job permanently. (Well, as permanently as any Trump cabinet job can be.) He went on one of the president's favorite Fox shows, "Jesse Watters Primetime," last night... |
Frustrated by the bad press? |
👀 on this line in the WSJ this morning: "Some people close to Trump and Bondi say it wasn't a single issue that led to her dismissal but a steady drip of frustrations, including what Trump saw as a lack of positive news coverage on the Justice Department." |
🚀 Artemis crew films for NatGeo |
National Geographic trained the Artemis II crew to act as "photographers for the magazine, videographers for social media, and filmmakers for [a] documentary," NatGeo's Brian Resnick writes in this really fun, video-heavy article, where you can watch the astronauts give a pre-launch video tour of their Orion replica. It's all part of a partnership between NASA and Disney, in which the Artemis crew is using NatGeo's equipment to film what will later this year become "a documentary special to bring audiences closer to the experience of traveling beyond Earth's orbit." Can't wait for that! |
Sources continue to buzz about a Bari Weiss-led overhaul of "60 Minutes" — even though it's apparently not going to happen for months. Yesterday, Variety's Brian Steinberg wrote about speculation that exec producer Tanya Simon might be "removed from the role later this year," raising the prospect that Weiss "could place an outsider — a person with no ties to the show — in charge of '60 Minutes' for the first time in its history." The NYPost's Alexandra Steigrad cited a source saying that a "major shakeup" is coming in June, after the newsmag's season ends in May. As everyone in TV-world knows, "60" is the best thing CBS News has going for it — huge ratings, famous faces, fantastic storytelling. But sources told Steigrad that "Weiss wants to focus... more on scoops and hard-hitting investigative reporting — while downsizing what she has viewed as an excess of 'soft programming' this season." |
Jeff Shell negotiating his exit |
"Less than a year into the job as Paramount president, Jeff Shell is negotiating his exit after being accused of leaking... creating a fresh headache for David Ellison," Oliver Darcy reports over at Status. >> "So…who's gonna be Ellison's No. 2?: That's the question bouncing around the studio," Puck's Matt Belloni writes... |
>> Joe Rogan's criticism of Trump keeps getting louder: Now he says "I can't believe we went into this war." (TheWrap) >> The New York Times is giving its 130-year-old magazine a facelift for the first time in a decade. (NYT) >> In other NYT news, it has struck a novel in-flight distribution deal with Delta. (Axios) >> "The 60-member union for CBS News 24/7, the news organization's streaming service, reached a tentative three-year contract deal with the network." (TheWrap) >> Al Jazeera set up a "secret backup studio" amid fears of an Israeli cyberattack on its Doha HQ, Ariel Zilber reports. (NYPost) |
🐝 Beehiiv expands its colony |
The newsletter-centered platform announced that it is "introducing native podcast hosting," allowing creators to "host, distribute, and monetize their podcast directly on Beehiiv," as TechCrunch's Aisha Malik reports here... | >> Meta has discussed ending funding to its independent Oversight Board, Casey Newton reports. (Platformer) >> Penguin Random House "has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI," alleging the company violated copyright "by mimicking and reproducing the content of a popular series of German children's books," Philip Oltermann writes. (The Guardian) >> Meanwhile, "HarperCollins has announced a multi-year partnership with Toonstar, an 'AI-powered' animation studio, to adapt a slate of the publisher's titles into original YouTube series," Sam Spratford reports. (Publishers Weekly) >> The aforementioned Sam Altman told Laurie Segall that OpenAI is still working with Disney "to find a world where they can still do something amazing and we can help with that." (YouTube/TheWrap) |
Big box office weekend ahead |
"'The Super Mario Galaxy Movie' is off to an impressive start at the box office, serving up a huge opening day gross of $34 million domestically as it unfurled in theaters Wednesday to get a jump on Easter weekend," marking "the biggest opening day of the year to date," THR's Pam McClintock reports. >> "According to data from Comscore, overall domestic grosses for the year through the end of March reached $1.77 billion, just topping the first quarter total for 2023 by approximately $20 million," giving theaters "the best start to the calendar year since the COVID pandemic," TheWrap's Jeremy Fuster notes. |
A few more Hollywood headlines |
>> "A federal judge tossed out Blake Lively's sexual harassment claims against her 'It Ends With Us' director Justin Baldoni, roughly a month before the high-stakes trial was set to begin," Nicki Brown reports. (CNN) >> Netflix "is getting back into business" with Louis C.K., with a headlining live performance and a new standup special. This comes nearly a decade after he'd been "exiled from many mainstream comedy spaces" over allegations of sexual misconduct. (THR) >> Olivia Rodrigo's third LP, "You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love," will drop on June 12. (Rolling Stone) |
Some bittersweet laughs... |
As "The Late Show" nears its final broadcast, Stephen Colbert had some laughs and looked out for his soon-to-be-jobless staff earlier this week. Using the set for his "Rescue Dog Rescue" segment, Colbert called up producers, editors and an accountant to showcase their employability by (humorously) breaking down some of the odd things they've done at the show. If you're looking for a good laugh, you can check that out on YouTube here. |
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