What Next? Media Deregulation and The Rise of Valuable Trash
Nov 1, 2025
Ross Benes, a Senior Analyst at eMarketer and author of '1999: The Year Low Culture Conquered America,' dives into the consequences of media deregulation. He argues that while this shift has flooded the market with infomercials and reality TV, these 'trashy' formats resonate with millions. Ross also highlights how the rise in sports rights fees has opened doors for less mainstream sports. The conversation shifts to the migration of online personalities to traditional media, exemplified by Bari Weiss's new role at Paramount, marking a significant media trend.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Deregulation Drives Cheap Programming
- Deregulation repeatedly shifts content toward cheaper, lower-quality programming because it changes producers' incentives.
- Ross Benes shows this with examples from Reagan-era ad rule changes to 1990s syndication rollbacks.
AI Will Flood Media With Slop
- AI content creation lowers production barriers, producing massive low-quality "slop" alongside occasional hits.
- Benes expects an overwhelming flood of amateur and automated content that will be shared widely online.
Ad Loads Explain Streaming’s Small Ad Share
- Streaming captures nearly as much time as linear TV but far less advertising due to lower ad loads.
- Benes explains structural ad-load differences keep linear TV at ~80% of ad impressions.
