Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Tuesday, September 9th, 2025:
IS MTV A NOSTALGIA BRAND OR CAN IT FIND A NEW GENERATION OF ENGAGED VIEWERS?
After writing about MTV last night - among other Paramount linear networks - I had quite a few people reach out and ask me some variation of "Okay, smart guy. You don't think David Ellison's plans to reinvigorate MTV will work. So what would YOU do?"
That is genuinely difficult question. Because I don't believe it's possible to turn MTV or any other linear network around without spending some money. Better branding efforts doesn't offset smaller content spend and I think recent ratings for The Food Network and HGTV illustrate what happens when you start cutting back on original programming.
But the real core question for MTV is whether it wants to be a nostalgia brand or something that might connect those older fans with newer generations. Yesterday's Wall Street Journal article makes it sound as if the corporate answer might be nostalgia brand. Focusing on archival footage and helping the MTV name "live outside of linear television" are not the moves you make if you truly want to reinvigorate the brand.
The challenge for MTV is that it is several generations away from mattering to music fans. The average age of an MTV fan is in the late 50s and sure, you can grab a bit of traction by bringing out a bunch of old interviews and music events (assuming you can get them cleared). But that approach is never going to grow MTV's audience. It's only going to - at best - slow the decline.
But there is a space for someone to really dig into the current music scene. At a time when many bands complain they can't afford to tour, they can't afford to promote their records, having a widely distributed platform to promote the groups in exchange for low-cost concerts and interviews would likely have a big impact.
It's not something you can do for free. But by filming things outside the high-cost areas such as NYC or LA would not only keep overall costs lean. It would give the efforts an outside the mainstream vibe that works for younger viewers.
There are a lot of similar things MTV could do to reboot the network. The reality show scene is played out for the most part. It's certainly not going to cut through the clutter in 2025. It's possible to make a big impact on a small overall programming budget. But you really have to push the boundaries of what it means to be MTV.
IT WILL COST $935 TO STREAM EVERY NFL GAME THIS SEASON
As you likely now, NFL games are increasingly spread across a multitude of streaming platforms, all of which require a separate subscription. So what will it cost if you are the type of NFL fan who wants to watch every game? This piece in Sportcal has the rundown and it's not pretty:
This month, you’ll need ESPN ($30/month), Fox One ($20), Paramount Plus ($8), Peacock ($11) and Amazon’s Prime Video ($15), for a total of $84. In October, things get a little better, with ESPN and Fox bundling their services for $40 combined, lowering the total for that month and November to $74. Come December, Netflix joins the party, with plans starting at $8. You’ll also need two months of NFL+ ($7/month) to catch all of this year’s international games. Altogether that puts the regular season total at $328.
Out-of-market games on YouTube’s Sunday Ticket service add up to another $522 for returning users who also want the RedZone whip-around show, though there have been many discounts made available. That product is now also available monthly for the first time, with prices ranging from $85 to $155/month.
And don’t forget the playoffs! Games are spread across all the season-long streaming providers in January, while NBC and Peacock will have the Super Bowl in February for another $11, assuming the service’s price hasn’t increased before then.
So, the highest possible all-in, direct-to-consumer price to watch every NFL game this season comes out to … $935.
Of course, as the piece notes, no fan NEEDS to watch this much football.
ANOTHER PIECE ABOUT THE END OF CRITICS
New York Magazine media columnist Charlotte Klein has another one of those "no one wants to employ a critic anymore" pieces and for the most part, it's a variation of things you've read elsewhere. Although this paragraph did jump out at me:
Still, the flurry of changes can’t be separated from the larger contraction of the media industry, which is forcing outlets of all sizes to make difficult decisions about how cultural criticism contributes to the bottom line at a time when there is no shortage of opinions or platforms on which to air them, from album reviews on YouTube to movie takes on Letterboxd. Other traditional functions of the review — telling readers what a book is about, say — have also been usurped by the internet. Criticism has been in decline for so long that you can count the full-time staff positions in certain critical fields on one hand — which makes every loss reverberate even louder and the questions more pressing. Do reviews draw readers? Boost subscriptions? Sell ads? And if the answer is “no,” how do reviews fit with both a publication’s identity and its quest to stay afloat?
The consensus of the people I spoke to was that stand-alone reviews just don’t generate traffic, and reviews of more niche art forms, like an independent film or a string-quartet performance, are even harder sells. There are exceptions: the latest Sally Rooney novel, a highly anticipated Hollywood blockbuster, an especially beloved critic going to town on someone. But the vast majority of reviews go virtually unread.
What strikes me about her piece is: a) who are these people she spoke to about traffic? Both of her examples point to pieces on Vulture, which makes me suspect this is more of a Vulture thing than a "reviews are bad" problem. Based on my experiences, I don't think her "consensus" view is accurate at all.
Secondly, it's true that print outlets and even digital news organizations continue to contract and losing critics is part of that contraction. But while places such as the various Penske Media outlets continue to shed reporters, other more nimble digital outlets are growing. It's a tough period to be a critic and one of the biggest challenges is just reminding the industry that thoughtful curation and criticism matter. But there are critics out here with growing audiences and just because they don't work at a legacy media outlet, that doesn't mean they are just some random yahoo cranking out meaningless hot takes.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT JOHN MALONE
I have written before that while media mogul John Malone is a smart guy, his biggest talent isn't growing successful media companies. It developing ever more complicated and unique ways to assemble media properties into something he can strip mine for personal and investor profits. I reminded of that again today when I read this description of Malone in Evan Shapiro's newsletter:
For what it’s worth, the term EBITDA is not as old as business itself, but rather was invented by John Malone in the late ‘70s because he was frustrated that his cable companies didn’t show enough profit due to the enormous amount of cash they spent building out cable infrastructure. One view is that looking at Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization allows us to see a company’s profitability through a different lens, by removing the amortization of capital-intensive investments. Another view is that Malone invented this metric to hide actual expense, to make his companies artificially look better, and allow Malone to reap the rewards of bigger bonuses and higher share prices. It’s no accident that the phrase was popularized by leverage buyout firms in the ‘80s, many of whom made Gordon Gekko seem like a boy scout. It also should be noted that John Malone just admitted to not doing proper diligence during Discovery’s acquisition of Warner Media, after which he and David Zaslav set $45 billion in shareholder value on fire, costing thousands of dedicated employees their jobs.
These terms have become the vernacular of capitalist industry. We all adopt them, because we have no choice - if you don’t speak the language, you’re not in the club. So, this nonsensical Newspeak - often specifically designed by someone in power to obfuscate reality - becomes the norm, as do the often made-up metrics that go with it. EBITDA is one of myriad examples - see MAUs, CTRs, Reach, Scale - of business leaders choosing a language of meaningless, vanity metrics specifically to fool Wall Street into pumping up stocks and convince boards to raise the ante of Executive Pay.
It astounds me that Malone is now claiming that investors will "welcome" the de-coupling of Warner Bros and Discovery, given the fact he was a primary architect of the merger. Which only really made money for investors such Malone and a select number of Warner Bros. Discovery executives.
TWEET OF THE DAY
ODDS AND SODS
* CBS has set fall premiere dates for its daytime lineup: The Price Is Right returns for a 54th season on Monday, September 22nd. Also, on the 22nd, Let's Make A Deal returns for a 17th season. The daytime drama The Young & The Restless returns for 53rd season on Tuesday, October 7th. The Bold And The Beautiful returns for a 39th season on Monday, September 15th.
* Netflix has renewed the comedy Leanne for a second season.
* It turns out that your Zodiac sign might be 2,000 years out of date. I wonder how the California Psychics are dealing with this news? Or more importantly, how are the California Psychics still a thing?
SUPPORT THE BACK INDIE MEDIA DRIVE
As I mentioned in an earlier email, Too Much TV is part of a September Back Indie Drive, in which 30+ independent publications are taking part. Each one is run by a creator-model journalist who’s building something sustainable, bold, and deeply needed in today’s fractured media environment.
Every day this month I am going to quickly highlight a publication from the campaign list and I hope you'll check them out. Supporting independent media has never been more important and there are truly some talented journalists on the list:
Subscribe for free here. Or you can can upgrade to a paid subscription at this link.
WHAT'S COMING TOMORROW
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9TH, 2025:
Becoming Thurgood: America's Social Architect (PBS)
Guts & Glory (Shudder/AMC+)
Jordan Jensen: Take Me With You (Netflix)
Kiss Or Die Series Premiere (Netflix)
Only Murders In The Building Season Five Premiere (Hulu)
Seen & Heard: The History Of Black Television (HBO)
Songs & Stories With Kelly Clarkson Season One Finale (NBC)
The Tech Bro Murders (Investigation Discovery)
Thirst Trap: The Fame. The Fantasy. The Fallout. (Paramount+)
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9TH:
Becoming Thurgood: America's Social Architect (PBS)
Guts & Glory (Shudder/AMC+)
Jordan Jensen: Take Me With You (Netflix)
Kiss Or Die Series Premiere (Netflix)
Only Murders In The Building Season Five Premiere (Hulu)
Seen & Heard: The History Of Black Television (HBO)
Songs & Stories With Kelly Clarkson Season One Finale (NBC)
The Tech Bro Murders (Investigation Discovery)
Thirst Trap: The Fame. The Fantasy. The Fallout. (Paramount+)
SEE YOU EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING!