The Fast Rise, Long Decline, and Agonizing Downfall of the MTV Empire

These days MTV and CMT might be going down in flames, but nobody can kill the dream of music videos. Why? They’re the best starmaking machinery the pop world has ever invented, the ultimate expression ...

Who Will Win Hollywood’s Big Prize?

Paramount, Comcast and Netflix are preparing bids to buy all or part of Warner Bros. Discovery, a crown jewel of the industry ...

An MTV Mogul’s Wild Tales: From Sex Clubs with Sumner Redstone to Advising David Ellison

Despite his 26 years in a traditional media job, ultimately rising to CEO of what was then Viacom, Tom Freston had no ...

Tom Freston Misses MTV, Too

Now 79, Freston presents me with a manila envelope, inside of which is a copy of his new memoir, Unplugged, a frisky account ...

America's First Groundbreaking TV Network Aired 20,000 Episodes Before Paramount Sealed Its Fate

The first American TV network, DuMont Television, had a promising start in the 1940s, though Paramount's interference led to ...