<p>Julia and Dylan reunite to reflect on the biggest media plotlines of the first half of 2026: the impact of A.I. on news organizations, the rise of prediction markets, and the transformation of platforms like YouTube and Instagram into full-blown entertainment hubs. They also dig into the struggles of legacy brands like CBS and CNN to adapt, before looking ahead at how media companies can evolve, differentiate, and stay alive in an increasingly hopeless era of A.I. slopification.</p>

Julia and Dylan reunite to reflect on the biggest media plotlines of the first half of 2026: the impact of A.I. on news organizations, the rise of prediction markets, and the transformation of platforms like YouTube and Instagram into full-blown entertainment hubs. They also dig into the struggles of legacy brands like CBS and CNN to adapt, before looking ahead at how media companies can evolve, differentiate, and stay alive in an increasingly hopeless era of A.I. slopification.

Media’s Midyear Report Card

Finally, a media podcast about what’s actually happening in the media—not the over-sanitized, legal-and-standards-approved version you read online. Every Tuesday and Friday, join Dylan Byers, Puck’s veteran media reporter, and Julia Alexander, a longtime media analyst, as they sit down with TV personalities, moguls, political pundits and industry executives for raw, honest, sometimes salacious conversations about the business of media and its biggest egos. “The Grill Room,” an homage to the exclusive dining room within The Four Seasons where a generation of media executives consummated deals and traded gossip, is produced in partnership with Audacy Podcasts. The Grill Room is an extension of In the Room, Dylan’s private email for Puck, where he chronicles the intrigue and inside stories behind what’s really going on in the media industry—from the board room to the newsroom to the green room and everything in between. Subscribe here:&nbsp;https://puck.news/dylanbyers

News

Finally, a media podcast about what’s actually happening in the media—not the over-sanitized, legal-and-standards-approved version you read online. Every Tuesday and Friday, join Dylan Byers, Puck’s veteran media reporter, and Julia Alexander, a longtime media analyst, as they sit down with TV personalities, moguls, political pundits and industry executives for raw, honest, sometimes salacious conversations about the business of media and its biggest egos. “The Grill Room,” an homage to the exclusive dining room within The Four Seasons where a generation of media executives consummated deals and traded gossip, is produced in partnership with Audacy Podcasts. The Grill Room is an extension of In the Room, Dylan’s private email for Puck, where he chronicles the intrigue and inside stories behind what’s really going on in the media industry—from the board room to the newsroom to the green room and everything in between. Subscribe here: https://puck.news/dylanbyers

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Media’s Midyear Report Card

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