Tetragrammaton with Rick Rubin Barry Diller
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Jan 21, 2026 
Barry Diller, a transformative media executive, shares his insights on the evolution of television and digital media. He discusses the dramatic shift from three networks to an overwhelming number of channels while emphasizing storytelling's enduring significance. Diller recounts pioneering long-form TV with the Movie of the Week and launching the Fox network, revealing his creative processes and the importance of robust advertising solutions. He also reflects on his childhood influences, sailing, cloning beloved dogs, and the fragility of truth in today's media landscape.
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Storytelling Is The Constant
- Storytelling remains the constant even as distribution explodes from three networks to thousands of channels.
- Barry Diller warns the real change is how quickly cultural attention disappears in the modern landscape.
Birth Of The Miniseries
- Barry Diller invented the TV "novel" format after being frustrated by two-hour movie adaptations.
- He produced QB VII then Rich Man, Poor Man and greenlit Roots, creating the miniseries form.
Making The Movie-Of-The-Week Factory
- At 24 Barry Diller launched Movie of the Week and built an internal film factory making up to 75 TV movies annually.
- He became ABC's youngest vice president by proving a manufacturing approach to TV content worked.
