Dylan Byers

Los Angeles

Founding Partner and Senior Correspondent at Puck

Founding Partner and Senior Correspondent at Puck. Author of In The Room and host of The Grill Room. Reach me at [email protected].

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Articles

Byron Allen's Allen Media Group Hires Moelis to Sell 28 Local TV Stations Across 24+ Markets

3 days ago | deepnewz.com | Dylan Byers

9 posts • GPT (4.1 mini)Published Jun 2, 2025, 03:55 PMMCGTNNXSTSBGIDISPARAAPARAFOXAFOXCMCSAByron Allen's Allen Media Group has initiated the process to sell its portfolio of 28 local broadcast TV stations across more than 24 markets, including affiliates of ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC. The company has engaged investment bank Moelis & Company to evaluate strategic alternatives and solicit offers from potential buyers.
What the Business Insider Layoffs Portend for Digital Media

6 days ago | puck.news | Dylan Byers

On Thursday, Business Insider, the Millennial-hued business news operation owned by Mathias Döpfner’s Axel Springer, announced that it would lay off more than one-fifth of its staff and attempt to diversify its revenue streams through subscriptions, events, and A.I. licensing—a significant and jarring, step forward in the parent company’s years-long attempt to both mature the business and outrun the external threats to its model.
What’s Behind David Leavy’s Departure From CNN?

1 week ago | puck.news | Dylan Byers

On Wednesday, CNN chief executive Mark Thompson announced that David Leavy, his chief operating officer, would be leaving the network and returning to an unspecified role at the parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery. In the grand scheme of CNN’s trajectory—the impending spinoff, the inevitable shrinkage, etcetera—the news was only a mildly notable bookend to a remarkably dispiriting few years. For insiders, however, it also highlighted some of the broader curiosities about WBD’s business.
The Real Reasons Behind Wendy McMahon’s Firing

2 weeks ago | puck.news | Dylan Byers

On Saturday afternoon, Paramount Global co-C.E.O. George Cheeks called Wendy McMahon, the long-embattled C.E.O. of CBS News, and informed her that the time had come to tender her resignation. Practically speaking, he was firing her. But, for the sake of her reputation and that of the company, he was officially giving her the opportunity to save face.
A Disney Exit, ‘Crossfire’ 2.0 & A Cable Doomsday Preppers Guide

2 weeks ago | puck.news | Dylan Byers

Greetings from Las Vegas, and welcome back to In the Room. In tonight’s email, my invariably brilliant partner Julia Alexander offers her insights on a few of the existential questions facing Brian Roberts’ and David Zaslav’s respective cable spincos: Can Versant thrive on its own when it’s seen as nothing but a drag on Comcast’s own books?
Original Sin Revels: Biden in a Wheelchair? Hunter v. Tapper

3 weeks ago | puck.news | Dylan Byers

On Tuesday, Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, the co-authors of Original Sin, the heavily hyped book about President Biden’s cognitive decline and how it was allegedly covered up, launched the opening salvo of their promotional blitz via an excerpt in The New Yorker. The piece was a scathing indictment of Biden’s decision to run for reelection despite his condition, and then drag his feet on withdrawing from the race, even after his infamously disastrous debate performance.
CNN’s Uncertain Future Amid WBD Spinoff Plans

3 weeks ago | puck.news | Dylan Byers

When David Zaslav restructured Warner Bros. Discovery late last year, splitting his declining cable networks off from the growth-oriented streaming and studios business and the ever-prestigious HBO, the implications were self-evident. Officially, Zaz was “enhancing” WBD’s strategic flexibility and optimizing his TV business to drive free cashflow.
Versant, ESPN Flagship Poised to Dominate Upfronts

4 weeks ago | puck.news | Dylan Byers

Next week, the nation’s largest TV networks and streamers will treat their advertising partners to a showcase of their forthcoming content slates: new shows, returning shows, sporting events, etcetera. The upfronts—a once-opulent, multiday wine-and-dine affair across greater Midtown, from Radio City Music Hall and Madison Square Garden to the Beacon Theatre and Hammerstein Ballroom—has become a bit more subdued in the post-Covid late-stage linear era.
Paramount Could Pay Up to $75 Million in Trump Suit

1 month ago | puck.news | Dylan Byers

On Wednesday evening, as representatives for Paramount Global and President Trump wrapped their first day of mediation talks on the president’s $20 billion lawsuit against 60 Minutes—a source of profound anxiety for CBS News and, indeed, the industry at large—The Wall Street Journal reported that Paramount’s front office had privately discussed settling the suit for around $15 million to $20 million.
Shari’s Red Line, SpinCo’s New Name & The Post’s $1.3M Brunch

1 month ago | puck.news | Dylan Byers

Greetings from Los Angeles and welcome back to In the Room. If you’re in town next week for Mike Milken’s Global Conference, drop a line. I’ll be at the summit and surrounding events all week and hope to see you there. Plus, don’t miss my partners Leigh Ann Caldwell and Julia Ioffe onstage, talking press freedom and U.S.-Russia relations, respectively.