Eriq Gardner

2 days ago | puck.news | Eriq Gardner

When I first read Jon Voight’s plan to rescue Hollywood, I’ll admit that I felt some shock. Not because he’s stumping for pie-in-the-sky tax incentives for domestic production—everyone in town wants that. Nor because he’s calling for tariffs, which might be ludicrous, but nevertheless rest comfortably beside Diet Coke and gauche interior design on Donald Trump’s shortlist of enduring passions. No, what stopped me was Voight’s call to revive the long-buried “fin-syn” rules.

1 week ago | puck.news | Eriq Gardner

Ever since the so-called “Reality Reckoning” of 2023, when Bethenny Frankel and a few fellow Bravo-verse insurgents decided that tequila-fueled humiliation should come with worker protections, NBCUniversal and its unscripted partners have drawn from a familiar arsenal of corporate containment. They’ve denied that reality stars are employees, and funneled complaints into the black hole of arbitration.

2 weeks ago | puck.news | Eriq Gardner

The seemingly endless, $8 billion merger of Skydance and Paramount remains the hottest topic in the media business—and with good reason. Every week seems to bring a fresh complication. The F.C.C. is dragging its feet on regulatory approval, and Donald Trump’s lawsuit over 60 Minutes’s election coverage lurks in the background. Is there some kind of détente on the horizon, or will the whole thing collapse under the weight of legal and political theatrics? The pressure is starting to show.

3 weeks ago | puck.news | Eriq Gardner

Hello and welcome back to What I’m Hearing+, the Sydney Sweeney attached to star in WIH’s Michael Bay movie. I was en route to Miami this morning when 60 Minutes chief Bill Owens dropped his resignation letter, which adds yet another dramatic twist to the ongoing Paramount-Skydance sale drama. Eriq Gardner is here today with a related analysis of how F.C.C. chair Brendan Carr is approaching that hot-potato deal—and why he won’t even meet with wannabe Paramount mogul David Ellison.

3 weeks ago | puck.news | Eriq Gardner

Ever since Donald Trump made Brendan Carr chairman of the Federal Communications Commission three months ago, the Republican media cop has rarely missed an opportunity to generate news—posting bite-size provocations on X and making himself available for just-sardonic-enough interviews. In short, he’s a regulator who treats the media not only as a sector to oversee, but also as a foil. But if you really want to understand Carr, look at his appointment book.