The Town with Matthew Belloni

Episode: “YouTube’s NFL Debut, A Surprise Box-Office Hit at the Sphere, and Warner Bros. Merger Candidates”

Release Date: September 8, 2025
Guest: Lucas Shaw (Bloomberg)
Host: Matthew Belloni (Puck/The Ringer)

Overview

In this fast-paced lightning round episode, Matt Belloni and Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw break down three major industry stories:

• YouTube’s first exclusive NFL broadcast and what it means for sports streaming.
• Eye-popping (and contentious) revenue numbers for “The Wizard of Oz” at Las Vegas’ Sphere, and whether this new 4D movie experience is the future of moviegoing.
• Billionaire cable king John Malone’s strategic moves as Warner Bros. Discovery splits in two, and speculation on the next wave of media consolidation.

Throughout, Belloni and Shaw bring deep industry knowledge, exclusive reporting, and lively, irreverent banter.

Segment 1: NFL's YouTube Debut – “A Pretty Big Win”

[03:37 – 08:11]

• Historic Stream:
  The LA Chargers vs. Kansas City Chiefs game from Brazil was the first-ever NFL game exclusively streamed on YouTube, pulling 17.3 million viewers (16.2 million in the U.S. per Nielsen).

  • “I think this is pretty big win for YouTube…a comparable audience to a regular game.” – Belloni [04:35]

• Consumer Experience:

  • Shaw notes it felt “cool to open YouTube and be able to click on and watch an NFL game.” [04:14]
  • Belloni points out the platform was “confusing” for some older viewers but is “a good first effort.”

• Viewership Data and Measurement Controversy:

  • Some expect higher international numbers, but timing (a night U.S. game) suppressed global viewership.
  • Discussion on Nielsen’s new “big Data plus panel” method. There’s skepticism from the NFL and some broadcast partners, concerned about potentially “artificially inflated” numbers.
    • “Maybe we should have someone from Nielsen on the show because I don’t know what to make of these…revised ratings.” – Belloni [06:37]
  • Shaw summarizes: “Anytime an entity complains or fights with Nielsen, it’s usually a contract dispute…because as the number of pay TV households plummeted, sports leagues and TV networks didn’t want the ratings for their sporting events to go way down.” [06:44]
  • They both lament the lack of a truly independent, trusted measurement system.

Segment 2: The Sphere’s Surprising Box-Office – “Vegas Money Is Different”

[08:11 – 19:47]

• Inside the Numbers:

  • The re-imagined “Wizard of Oz,” now a 70-minute, AI-enhanced spectacle, is drawing 4,000–5,000 attendees daily at up to $200 per ticket—about $2 million in daily gross. [08:11]
    • “Any [theater] in America would kill for those numbers.” – Belloni [09:05]
  • Belloni is skeptical about sustaining this pace:
    • “You can’t extrapolate over years from the first two weeks…Tourists are there and they’re checking it out. But is the Wizard of Oz still going to be grossing $2 million a day in a year or two years?” [09:44]

• Sustainability and Business Model:

  • Shaw: The Sphere needs movies—music alone can’t make the venue profitable long-term.
    • “If they can even have it more than half full at a slightly reduced ticket price, then it works. The movies are the engine of the Sphere.” [10:33]

• Hollywood’s Appetite and Creative Tensions:

  • The Sphere aims to license more IP and entice studios, but faces creative and legal pushback—especially from directors’ guilds and filmmakers upset over “butchering” beloved films.
    • On adding famous faces via AI: “…this is a butchering of this movie. Essentially they were saying, like this filmmaker had no say in what this presentation was…People already are saying this was a desecration of the wizard of Oz.” – Belloni [12:01]
  • The prospect of other blockbusters:
    • “If they did [Star Wars] right…I don’t think average people care about the sanctity of the wizard of Oz.” – [12:54], C (unidentified commentator)
    • Licensing and creative control would be a challenge for newer, more protective studios and filmmakers.

• Who Is Paying?:

  • Shaw wonders who is shelling out $150–$200: “It’s Vegas, man. Money is treated differently in Vegas. People do crazy things.” – Belloni [14:49]

• The “Future of Moviegoing”?

  • Discussion if this is the beginning of more 4D, augmented-reality movie experiences.
    • Belloni: “I think we are going to go this direction as AI and other stunt-type technologies allow for different presentations…but it’s not totally new…The Sphere is a tourist attraction…The Sphere reported an operating loss of $83 million last quarter…The Sphere is not proven that it is a ongoing long term business. They need to do that first and maybe this will help them get there.” [18:43]
  • Shaw: “I guess I’m kind of skeptical. Because it still feels stunty.” [19:47]

Notable Moment:

• Imagining future 4D adaptations: “Jaws would be kind of cool…Dunkirk, or something like that would be very cool.” – Lucas Shaw [16:07–16:12]

Segment 3: Warner Bros. Discovery Breakup & Media Merger Chess

[20:12 – 26:49]

• John Malone’s Memoir and Messaging:

  • Malone, the “cable cowboy,” appears to position the spin-off of Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio/streamer from its cable business as a path toward a sale—possibly to David Ellison’s Skydance.
    • Belloni: “He would very much like somebody to buy the studio and streamer portion of Warner Brothers Discovery…Ellison wants Warner Brothers and Malone is going to be more than happy to sell it to him.” [21:06]
    • Shaw: “The split that they're doing is all about, you can come and buy one, you can come and buy the other.” [21:20]

• Who Buys What?

  • Discussion of possible buyers for the “Krapco” (cable nets) and studio sides post-split.
  • The emergence of Skydance as a “media rollup” brand:
    • “Paramount, a Skydance Corporation…TikTok, a Skydance Corporation. Warner Brothers, A Skydance Corporation. That seems to be the plan.” – Belloni [22:26]

• Antitrust and Regulatory Questions:

  • Antitrust would likely not be a stumbling block, since Warner doesn’t own a broadcast network; cable market share is less crucial now.
  • The conversation highlights how much the regulatory landscape has shifted due to streaming and fragmentation.

• Malone’s Legacy:

  • Is Malone orchestrating a “swan song” exit? Shaw is unconvinced:
    • “You don't write a memoir unless you recognize you're kind of at the end. Near the end. But he still cares, right? He just fired Greg Maffei…You don't do that unless you're still paying attention.” [25:49]
  • Belloni jokes, “If I'm Zaslav, I'm sending him health supplements and, you know, longevity cryogenic chambers to keep him alive. Because Zaslav's incredible run has been due to the backing of John Malone.” [26:07]

Notable Quotes & Banter

• On Football Streaming:

  • “My initial reaction on the number was I thought it would be bigger, but I think I've revised the opinion. It's a good first effort.” – Lucas Shaw [04:23]
  • “I know people that had to be told that you can watch YouTube on your TV.” – Matthew Belloni [05:28]

• On The Sphere:

  • “Tourists are there and they’re checking it out. But is the wizard of Oz still going to be grossing $2 million a day in a year or two years?” – Belloni [09:44]
  • “This is just the new version of Carrot Top or Siegfried and Roy…The question is, how long can it go?” – Belloni [14:49]

• On Hollywood Control:

  • “If you did that and George Lucas went absolutely crazy and told his fans, never see this, it’s an abomination — that would matter.” – Belloni [13:04]
  • “What if he just did a deal with Steven Spielberg and took a bunch of his movies? Indiana Jones would probably be fun there. Jaws would be fun, but [Spielberg] would want to be involved.” – Shaw [17:12]

• On Media Mergers:

  • “You can come and buy one, you can come and buy the other.” – Shaw on the Warner Bros. Discovery split [21:20]
  • “Malone seems to know that something is up…he thinks the Ellison family will be very important to the next generation of media. AKA they're going to buy a whole bunch of shit.” – Belloni [22:49]

Bonus Segment: CBS News, Kristi Noem, and Bari Weiss

[27:08 – 30:34]

Belloni and producer Craig briefly address CBS News controversies:

• Editing controversy around an interview with Kristi Noem.
• Paramount’s likely purchase of Bari Weiss’s Free Press, with Weiss joining CBS. Belloni predicts brief tenure for Weiss due to cultural clash.
  • “…She will say after a year that she needs to go back to her roots as a, you know, anti mainstream media force. And it will be very on brand for her to bail on CBS after a year.” – Belloni [30:16]

Final Thoughts

This episode puts a spotlight on the evolving media landscape—how sports find new homes on streaming platforms, how theatrical experiences adapt to survive, and how the biggest players jockey for dominance through deals, brands, and personalities. The tone is brisk, occasionally skeptical, and always rooted in hard-nosed industry savvy.

Key Timestamps:

• [03:37] – NFL on YouTube opens the season
• [08:11] – The Sphere’s Wizard of Oz revenue breakdown
• [20:12] – John Malone/Warner Bros-Discovery merger candidates
• [27:08] – Bonus: CBS News & Bari Weiss