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Tuesday, December 19, 2023

It's our final issue of 2023! The WaPo averts layoffs, Mediaite readies to release its annual most influential list, Bret Baier shows his clouded judgment, right-wing media attacks Colorado's top court, Google agrees to pay $700 million, Bryant Gumbel signs off HBO, and so much more. But first, the A1.

THE A1

The Most Consequential Figures of 2023

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2023 was a year of titanic change in the industry.

The media and technology sectors were upended by disruptive forces, testing the leadership of some of the world's most powerful executives. At the same time, that disruption also produced some new leaders who were catapulted into positions of immense influence and authority.

We surveyed the media and technology landscapes to identify 11 consequential figures that stood out for their far-reaching decisions in 2023. Below, you will find our non-exhaustive list of the leaders who shaped the space in which the world turns for communication, information, and entertainment.

► Sam Altman: Most of the world had no idea who Altman was at the end of last year. But in just one journey around the sun, the OpenAI founder has become one of the most watched executives in the world. The technology powering his firm's ChatGPT tool has enthralled the public, thrilling Wall Street, upending Silicon Valley, gridlocking Hollywood, and sending some very frightening jitters down the spines of observers across the seven continents. That is why the recent boardroom drama at OpenAI prompted a cascade of headlines. And it's why world leaders have held urgent meetings about the rapidly advancing technology enabling artificial intelligence. It is not an understatement to say that the decisions Altman makes as OpenAI boss might very well limit or accelerate an existential threat to the human race.

► Taylor Swift: The generational talent is in a league of her own. Swift commanded the world's attention throughout the year, dropping music that immediately became the soundtracks to our lives, crisscrossing the country on her acclaimed "Eras Tour," releasing a smash hit concert film for those who couldn't attend in person (or wanted to re-live the magic of her enchanting performances), juicing the NFL's ratings, and so much more. She was such a force that the Federal Reserve actually credited her for boosting the economy. In TIME's piece crowning her as the 2023 person of the year, Sam Lansky said it best, declaring that Swift "became the main character of the world" in 2023. It's hard to disagree with that.

► Elon Musk: The world's richest man certainly tried his best to be the main character of the world, but instead of going about it by creating alluring art and uplifting others, Musk chose to do so by self-immolating before the public. Musk was the focus of an immeasurable number of headlines for his embrace of deranged — and at times hateful — conspiracy theories, ugly attacks on the Anti-Defamation League and figures like George Soros, repeated smearing of the press, and the elevating of dangerous extremist figures on his social media platform, X. The appalling behavior led to a crippling advertiser exodus from X, one that threatens to put the company out of business, according to Musk himself. Regardless of whether that happens, Musk successfully killed the site once known as Twitter, taking from the world what was once an important communications platform.

► David Zaslav: He might be a newcomer to Hollywood, but Zaslav has not been shy about shaking things up. The Warner Bros. Discovery boss continued to buck establishment thinking in 2023 and led the way on several fronts as the media landscape shifted beneath everyone's feet. Zaslav launched the Max streaming service, uniting all of WBD's storied brands and content under a single roof, offering consumers a streaming option that resembled the traditional bundle. And Zaslav has thought creatively to generate revenue, including licensing HBO content to Netflix, a once inconceivable move. Zaslav's bold thinking has been mimicked by some of his peers, with Bob Iger notably moving to combine the Hulu and Disney+ libraries, as well as license select Disney content to Netflix. That said, it hasn't been all rainbows and sunshine for Zaslav. He's received hefty criticism for his high compensation, ruffled the feathers of the Hollywood elite after tinkering at TCM, alienated old friends amid CNN drama, and had to contend with an endless list of industry challenges in 2023, including the historic writers' and actors' strike. But through the thick and thin, Zaslav has been at the center of it all, playing an instrumental role in shaping the media landscape for the future.

► Bob Iger: The king of the Magic Kingdom has never ruled in a more consequential moment. Iger retook the throne last year and has worked through 2023 to position Disney as a media company of the future. What that ultimately looks like remains to be seen. But Iger's vision is slowly coming into focus, with the Disney boss moving to acquire Comcast's remaining stake in Hulu and making moves to set ESPN up for a direct-to-consumer future, which will include sports betting. As with Zaslav, the year has been grueling for Iger, as he's been saddled with a mountain of challenges that are besetting Disney and the industry at large. In the wake of an eyebrow raising CNBC interview over the summer, Iger frustrated his own army of staffers and became public enemy No. 1 in Hollywood among picketers. But with the strikes now resolved, he's moved to calm his own troops by signaling that he may not offload linear television assets such as ABC, despite having suggested so earlier in the year. Iger's decisions have not only impacted the House of Mouse, but sent ripples through the media ocean.

► Steve Bannon: The "War Room" host currently wears the crown as king of the MAGA Media. In 2023, the center of gravity in far-right media moved into Bannon's corner, particularly after Fox News fired Tucker Carlson. The extremist rhetoric championed by Bannon often sets the agenda in the dishonest media space in which he holds court. Bannon might not have the loudest microphone, but he certainly plays a crucial role shaping the narratives that are often adopted by Donald Trump and his allies. His "War Room" show is to 2024 what Breitbart was in 2016.

► Greta Gerwig: With her smash hit "Barbie," Gerwig established herself as an entertainment force. Yes, her previous projects "Little Women" and "Lady Bird" were acclaimed by critics and nominated each for several Academy Awards (the former took one home). But Gerwig surfaced to the front of the public's consciousness in a major way over the summer, breaking records at the box office, with "Barbie" generating more than $1.4 billion in global ticket sales. Accompanied by Swift and Beyoncé, Gerwig played a leading role in the summer of women.

► Adam Mosseri: When people talk about Meta, founder Mark Zuckerberg often comes to mind. And while Zuck certainly holds the ultimate power within the empire he has built, Mosseri stood out in 2023. The Instagram boss expanded his portfolio, overseeing Meta's X competitor, Threads. And as a result, he expanded his visibility, becoming a far more prominent figure in the public square. As Threads boss, Mosseri has played an important role in shaping the platform (which has become the de facto home for X refugees) and critical policy decisions. Mosseri also found himself the subject of some unflattering news coverage. Outlets like The Wall Street Journal continued to aggressively report on disturbing traits of Instagram's powerful algorithm — a not so great reminder of the power Mosseri wields as the executive calling the shots at the Meta properties.

► Kara Swisher: If there is one journalist that every executive in the media and tech sectors knows, fears, and respects, it's Swisher. The reporter-podcaster-commentator is a force of nature, prolifically updating her millions of followers with important insights into the biggest stories of the day, while also not being afraid to call anyone out on the carpet. And despite her no-holds-barred style and unique ability to get under the skin of some of the world's most powerful people, Swisher still manages to secure top-notch interviews, both at in-person events and on her many podcasts. It's a nod to how widely respected she is.

► Janice Min and Jon Kelly: Those In The Know in The Biz have likely noticed their media diets change in the last two years. While Hollywood denizens still obsessively scan the major Hollywood trades, Min and Kelly have assigned them some mandatory reading material as well. Both The Ankler and Puck have emerged on the scene as big players in Hollywood media, delivering essential reporting on the industry about – and to — the top figures in the entertainment business.

——— BELOW THE FOLD ———

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The Losers: It wasn't the best year for some of the industry's leading figures. Some were fired. Others saw their reputations destroyed. And others were dealt historic setbacks that threaten the dominance of the companies they lead. Here are six figures who had a particularly rough year.

► Linda Yaccarino: Has any executive so destroyed their reputation as quickly and publicly as Yaccarino? The once-respected NBCUniversal advertising chief moved over to X where she set ablaze the sterling reputation she had acquired over decades of hard work. Yaccarino, who holds the title of X chief executive, has actually served as Elon Musk's pain sponge, becoming the public face for the disastrous decisions and often gross behavior executed each day by the billionaire as he embraces conspiracy theories. Yaccarino's friends in the advertising business implored her to leave after Musk's endorsement of an antisemitic conspiracy theory, but Yaccarino chose to stay, driving a nail into the coffin on what was left of her public standing.

► Rupert Murdoch: There are 787 million reasons that Murdoch had a less-than-ideal year. The Fox boss was forced to pay the historic fortune to settle a damning lawsuit brought against his right-wing cable network by Dominion Voting Systems. The lawsuit brought even more shame to Murdoch and his stable of hosts and executives, who were revealed to have known that Donald Trump's election lies were bogus, despite broadcasting it to millions of their loyal viewers. And it revealed, to some extent, that Murdoch had lost control of the right-wing media universe he once ruled, with emails showing the Fox News owner was fearful of Trump's army of supporters. Elsewhere in his media empire, Murdoch had to scrap plans to reunite News Corporation with Fox Corporation. It was an all around terrible year for the media mogul — one capped by Murdoch even seeming to acknowledge that his powers are fading, handing the keys to his empire to his son Lachlan as he retired — at least on paper — and transitioned to chairman emeritus of his companies.

► Tucker Carlson: The one-time king of Fox News thought he was untouchable. And, to be frank, it certainly seemed that way to most of the public. But Murdoch turned that notion on its head when he fired Carlson in April. Murdoch gave no reason for the firing of the right-wing extremist who had repeatedly abused the primetime perch entrusted to him. Regardless, it was a brutal blow to Carlson, whose influenced had unquestionably diminished without the prominent platform Murdoch had provided him. In the wake of his firing, Carlson turned to vlogging on X. More recently, he claimed to launch a "streaming network," which is really a collection of his videos being sold at an outrageous price to his fans.

► Chris Licht: When Licht took over as CNN boss, he had tremendous goodwill. Suffice to say, he had squandered every ounce of it by the end of his short-lived tenure, which ended over the summer after a very public firing by his boss, David Zaslav. Licht's brief one-year tenure was stained by a series of severe missteps. It was marked by layoffs, shrinking profits, historically low ratings, the firing of two anchors, and rock-bottom employee morale. The final death knell was a devastating — and highly embarrassing — 15,000-word profile in The Atlantic. The blistering piece, in which author Tim Alberta spoke to more than 100 CNN employees, called into serious question Licht's ability to lead the organization into the future. Zaslav ultimately agreed, exiling his one-time friend from the WBD kingdom.

► Kevin Feige: Once upon a time, Marvel Studios reliably churned out billion-dollar hits acclaimed by critics and fans alike. 2023 shattered that notion, leaving a mess for Marvel boss Feige to marvel at. The studio's $200 million-plus "The Marvels" bombed at the box office and was panned by critics and fans. And, earlier in the year, "Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" was savaged by the critics. To make matters worse, Marvel had to drop Jonathan Majors — who was positioned to play the chief villain in the new phase of the MCU — after the actor was convicted of harassment and assault. Taken together, it's a dire state of affairs for the Feige-led Marvel, which has long been one of Hollywood's most lucrative studios.

► Sundar Pichai: For years and years, Google has operated without facing any serious threats to its business. That changed in 2023, with the abrupt ascension of OpenAI, which has left the tech titan doing everything in its power to play catch-up. Pichai, facing what could be an existential threat to Google's dominant search product, announced Gemini late in the year, but the product hasn't quite lived up to the promised hype. On the antitrust front, Google is also in unprecedented territory, having lost a major trial to Epic Games as it simultaneously battles the Department of Justice in a separate consequential lawsuit. At the very least, the lawsuits have exposed how the sausage is made at Google — and it hasn't been the best sight to behold.

THE INDUSTRY

TK TK TK

WaPo Avoid Layoffs: I'm sure The WaPo's C-suite is breathing a sigh of relief. Interim chief executive Patty Stonesifer told staff in a memo Tuesday that the outlet had reached its voluntary buyout goal of 240 employees, meaning that forced layoffs are no longer necessary to trim headcount by 10%. "We will enter the new year with a smaller organization but a better financial position on which to continue and build a great future for The Washington Post," Stonesifer said in the memo. "I am very aware of how difficult this process has been for everyone involved and I want to thank you for the grace and respect you have shown at every step." Axios' Kerry Flynn and Eleanor Hawkins have more here.

🔎 Zooming in: Reaching the buyout goal also means that incoming boss William Lewis will actually start his role in the beginning of January with a fresh slate, and not be forced to grapple with mandatory layoffs as part of his first few weeks on the job.

THE FOURTH ESTATE

First in Reliable | Mediaite is set to released its annual list of the most influential figures in media on Wednesday morning at 10am ET. But, unlike previous years, the list will not coincide with a party, though I'm told the outlet might host an event in the new year. Some early names from Mediaite's 2023 most influential list are: Megyn Kelly, Jake Tapper, Piers Morgan, Andrew Ross Sorkin, Mehdi Hasan, Kara Swisher, Rashida Jones, Tucker Carlson, and Elon Musk.
Variety published its seventh annual Variety500 list, "an index of the 500 most influential business leaders shaping the global media industry." (Variety)
Apple News+ will add sports content from The NYT's The Athletic, though the Gray Lady's other articles will remain unavailable on the platform. (Variety)
"Wordle. Connections. Spelling Bee. Ye olde crossword": Charlotte Klein reports on how The NYT "is home to beloved brainteasers that are helping boost the paper's bottom line." (Vanity Fair)
Mail Online said it will make up to 15 daily articles subscription-only under its new service starting at the end of January. (Press Gazette)
The Foreign Press Association petitioned Israel's Supreme Court for press to gain independent access to Gaza. (Reuters)

MEDIA MOVES

ESPN named Josh Krulewitz to lead communications. (ESPN)
NowThis hired Sharon Mussalli as its chief executive. (Adweek)
The Baltimore Banner named Bob Cohn its chief executive. (Baltimore Banner)
TIME appointed Kelly Conniff deputy editor. (TIME)
NBC News hired Marquise Francis as correspondent. (AdWeek)
The NYT named Dan Wakin the deputy international editor for opinion. (NYT)
Sony Pictures Entertainment promoted Maria Anguelova to the global head of corporate development and named Erik Moreno executive vice president for growth and new initiatives. (Deadline)

THE INFO WARS

CNN Photo Illustration/Paul Morigi/Getty Images

Baier Goes Bananas: C'mon Bret! For the second consecutive day, Fox News' chief politics anchor gave credence to a bad faith argument that worked in defense of Donald Trump. While discussing Trump's racist and dangerous use of the "poisoning our blood" phrase, Bret Baier on Tuesday said it was "important to point out the former president is married to an immigrant," adding that "there's a disconnect there if that's the dog whistle he's sending." It is obviously an absurd argument to make. For one, there is no serious person who does not think that's the "dog whistle" Trump is sending. Secondly, the notion that Trump being married to Melania prevents him from holding anti-immigrant views, especially when the immigrants he is referring to are Latino, is absurd. Either Baier is pretending not to understand that, or he actually does not understand that. Whichever is the case, it doesn't look good for Baier.

IN THE BATTLEFIELD

The right-wing media universe is already — and expectedly — going on offense for Donald Trump after Colorado's top court ruled him ineligible to hold the office of the presidency due to the Constitution's insurrectionist ban. "DEMOCRACY IS UNDER ATTACK," Breitbart's homepage blared. "This is an outrageous assault on American democracy and cannot stand," added The Gateway Pundit. On Fox News, the court was portrayed as antidemocratic and dangerous.
Rumble is promoting a video that shows the so-called lizard people conspiracy theory on its selected editor picks. (MMFA)
Charlie Kirk praised Michele Bachmann after she said on his show, "It's time that Gaza ends. The two million people who live there, they are clever assassins, they need to be removed from that land." (MMFA)

THE VALLEY

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Paying for Play: Google is going to have to foot quite the bill to put to bed an antitrust lawsuit over its Play Store brought by states attorneys general. The Silicon Valley titan said it had agreed to pay $700 million, in addition to making other concessions that will allow for more competition in the Play Store. About 102 million U.S. customers will be eligible to receive a share of a $630 million pie. The other $70 million will go to the states that leveled the lawsuit against Google. CNN's Melissa Alonso, Diksha Madhok, and Brian Fung have more here.

TOO MANY TABS

OpenAI "is putting together a new team of experts solely dedicated to preventing a potential robot uprising," Tony Ho Tran reports. (Daily Beast)
Meta said a bug briefly blocked news on Threads for users in Canada. (Engadget)
In an interview with Jake Tapper, John Fetterman blamed TikTok for having "warped" the minds of young Democrats on the Israel-Hamas war. (Mediaite)
Meta's Oversight Board says automated tools behind Facebook and Instagram "mistakenly" removed important content concerning the Israel-Hamas war. (The Hill)
Tesla has removed the Disney+ app from its cars as Elon Musk's feud with Disney's chief executive, Bob Iger, grows. (Mashable)
TikTok will allow kids under the age of 13 to keep their accounts. (The Guardian)
Rob Price reports on "audacious new schemes" powered by A.I. that are "posing thorny questions for Google." (Business Insider)

CURTAIN CALL

CNN Photo Illustration/HBO

Gumbel Says Goodbye: It's a wrap. On Tuesday night, HBO's "Real Sports" will come to an end after 29 years and host Bryant Gumbel will say goodbye. Gumbel told The WaPo's Ben Strauss he believes the program "is going to be remembered as a show that tried to do sports journalism the right way and tried to treat fans, athletes and sports with a degree of respect." Gumbel said he doesn't "foresee" there ever being a show quite like "Real Sports," noting it was "a very expensive show to do" and that "most outlets have some kind of a contractual relationship with a sports league that would prevent them from doing an honest kind of show." Read the full interview.

OFF STAGE

Richard Rushfield has a list of the "flubs, embarrassments, misfires, and meltdowns" that defined Hollywood in 2023. (The Ankler)
Lizzo has asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit brought against her by her former designer, Asha Daniels. (Vulture)
Celine Dion's sister, Claudette Dion, says the musician doesn't "have control over her muscles" as her health continues to deteriorate from stiff-person syndrome. (Vulture)
Neon has picked up the rights to "Immaculate," the horror film starring and produced by Sydney Sweeney. (TheWrap)
Angela Bassett, Dan Stevens, and Matthew Modine are set to join the cast of Netflix's "Zero Day" alongside Robert De Niro. (THR)
Andy Harries, the chief executive behind Left Bank Pictures, which produced "The Crown," is eyeing a series about the Rolling Stones after it was pushed out of development at FX amid Disney cuts. (Deadline)
Season six of "What We Do in the Shadows" will be the show's last. (THR)
Octavia Spencer and Hannah Waddingham will executive produce and star in Prime upcoming untitled action-adventure series. (TheWrap)
A24 dropped the trailer for "Love Lies Bleeding," which stars Kristen Stewart and Katy O'Brian. (YouTube)

Thank you for reading! This newsletter was edited by Jon Passantino and produced with the assistance of Liam Reilly. Have feedback? Send us an email. You can follow us on Instagram, Threads, and LinkedIn. We will see you back in your inbox next year.