In this holiday-week episode of Next TMT Talks, David Bloom and Daniel Frankel dive into the massive hardware, geopolitical, and entertainment shifts reshaping the industry—from the upcoming 250th anniversary of the U.S. to the passing of one of Silicon Valley's most cherished chroniclers.

First, they break down SpaceX’s plans to launch "Starlink Mobile" as a retail terrestrial service to compete head-on with Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile. They explore the technology behind direct-to-device (D2D) satellite communication, the big cable Wi-Fi offload strategy (Comcast and Charter), and Elon’s potential to disrupt the entire mobile industry with a single, flat-rate flat $\$50$ plan.

Next, they tackle the terrifying, fast-moving global chip crisis. Micron’s capacity is fully locked up through 2030 to supply high-bandwidth, high-density RAM for AI data centers—starving consumer tech. They discuss Tim Cook’s "100-year flood" logistical warning, why Apple is hiking prices on Macs and iPads by up to $\$500$, and why high-end Xbox and PlayStation consoles are soaring toward $\$900$, right as gamers prepare for Grand Theft Auto VI.

Finally, they pay tribute to technology blogging pioneer Om Malik (1966–2026), explore Google’s surprising $\$75\text{M}$ investment in indie darling A24, and debate the NFL’s decision to reject college QB Brendan Sorsby over gambling violations. Plus, antitrust settlements at Disney and Roku, and Matthew Belloni’s hilarious Puck take on the glitz of Cannes Film Festival versus the "tacky" Cannes Lions ad conference.

Timestamps:

0:00 - Intro: US 250th birthday, family milestones, and no midweek issue notice

00:50 - Starlink Mobile: SpaceX's retail terrestrial cell service roadshow and D2D satellite tech

02:30 - Big Cable's Defense: How Comcast & Charter use Wi-Fi offloading to protect margins

04:30 - Grok's Rescue: SpaceX's massive $\$60\text{B}$ all-stock acquisition of Cursor

05:45 - DOGE & Political Realities: The fallout of USAID health cuts on international aid

07:50 - Disruption Strategy: Can Elon pull off a flat $\$50$ flat-rate unlimited model?

12:15 - Tech Biopics: Luca Guadagnino's Altman film and the fawning Elon Musk "Howard Roark" project

15:58 - The Great Memory Chip Crisis: Why data center AI needs $4\text{x}$ the RAM of your phone

18:15 - Tim Cook’s "100-Year Flood" logistical warning & Apple's pricing increases

19:35 - $\$900$ Consoles: Xbox and PlayStation price surges ahead of GTA VI

20:20 - Roku’s Edge: Why cloud architecture protects Roku from local RAM taxes

23:25 - In Memoriam: Om Malik (1966–2026) and his structural impact on Silicon Valley reporting

31:40 - Google Buys Cool: The $\$75\text{M}$ minority stake investment in A24

35:35 - Palantir's "Blue Chore Coat": How Karp's defense tech brand sold out B2B merch in minutes

37:05 - The Integrity Debate: NFL Supplemental Draft rejects college QB Brendan Sorsby over gambling

40:40 - Fox News Backs Away: On-air apologies for Kevin O'Leary's false Communist Party claims

42:15 - Regulatory Fines: Florida AG James Uthmeier secures a $\$25\text{M}$ kid privacy settlement with Roku

43:15 - Disney's $\$50\text{M}$ Antitrust Settlement: Clearing live-streaming pay TV (vMVPD/SLPTP) price fixing

44:40 - Cannes vs. Cannes Lions: Matthew Belloni's Puck rant on creative artists vs. ad executives

48:15 - Outro: Happy 85th to David's mom, 34th to his son, and holiday plans

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In this flagship episode of Next TMT Talks, David Bloom and Daniel Frankel break down the massive industrial consolidations, macroeconomic forces, and AI dynamics reshaping the telecom, media, and technology sectors coming out of the Stream TV Show in Denver.

In this episode of Next TMT Networks, Daniel Frankel and Dan Jones break down the massive infrastructure pushes, market moves, and geopolitical realities shaping the modern telecom landscape.

First, they dive into Verizon's massive 5G "dome" deployment across 11 US stadiums hosting the World Cup, detailing the physical hurdles of drilling through concrete and mounting specialized MatSing ball antennas to handle crushing fan upload densities.

Then, they discuss the brewing battle in the private enterprise 5G sector as Ericsson moves aggressively to capture Nokia’s divested "campus enterprise" contracts, bolstered by Verizon's international port deployments.

Finally, they tackle the Western security myth of rural Huawei deployments, why Mavenir is warning telecom operators to build their own sovereign AI GPU stacks to avoid million-dollar token bills, and a hilarious real-world lesson in streaming latency from a Denver hotel bar.

Timestamps:

0:00 - Intro: Berkeley trips, England's chances, and World Cup hype

01:10 - Verizon’s Massive World Cup Stadium 5G Upgrades (mmWave & MatSing Antennas)

03:45 - The Private 5G Shake-up: Ericsson Chases Nokia’s Divested Enterprise Leftovers

06:10 - Geopolitics & Western Security: The Huawei Reality Check in "Podunk"

07:55 - Sovereign AI: Mavenir’s Warning on the Rising Cost of LLM Tokens

09:15 - The Latency Gap: A Real-World Lesson in Live Sports Delay from Denver

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🚨 BREAKING NEWS UPDATE: Talk about timing! Hours after we wrapped recording on this episode, Fox officially announced its massive acquisition of Roku. Check out our brand-new intro for the immediate update, and then listen to the first 12 minutes to hear our exact, unedited breakdown of why this deal makes perfect strategic sense for Lachlan Murdoch's portfolio, how it supercharges Tubi, and the regulatory hurdles they face.

In this episode of NextTMT Talks, David Bloom and Dan Frankel dive deep into a wild week for tech, media, and telecom.

Beyond the breaking streaming news, the guys take a hard look at the newly filed SpaceX IPO prospectus. With a claimed Total Addressable Market (TAM) of $28.5 trillion, is it a revolutionary leap for global telecom or just a beautifully illustrated pitch deck masking massive losses?

Plus: The White House’s sudden national security clampdown on Anthropic’s latest AI models, Peter Thiel’s bizarre new "Objection" AI tribunal targeting journalists, and Sensor Tower’s data proving Google’s absolute dominance over global web traffic.

Episode Timestamps:

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David Bloom and Daniel Frankel welcome back Robert Rose, independent producer and creator of Raw Travel — syndicated in 97% of the country and heading into its 14th season — for a wide-ranging conversation ahead of the Stream TV Denver conference, where Next TMT will be publishing show dailies and daily wrap-ups all week.

📺 The Independent Producer's Dilemma — Rob has 200 episodes of mostly evergreen travel content that has run through two full syndication cycles. The new distribution landscape offers more ways than ever to monetize that library — FAST channels, vertical video, digital-first formats — but it's an expensive and confusing maze to navigate without a studio behind you.

🌍 The Travel FAST Channel Problem — Rob looked hard at launching his own FAST channel and found the travel category is a wasteland of generic content. Does it have a tangential relationship to travel? Put it on. The same lack of curation that plagued broadcast TV has followed content into streaming.

🎬 Celebrities Who Travel vs. Travelers Who Make TV — Stanley Tucci, Zac Efron, Conan O'Brien. These are celebrities doing travel shows, not travel show creators. Rob makes the distinction — and explains why it matters for audiences who actually want to learn something about the world.

⚖️ Ken Paxton Goes After Netflix — The Texas AG turned Senate candidate is now targeting Netflix, complete with AI-generated campaign ads putting his opponent in a dress. The intersection of streaming, politics, and Gen AI advertising is getting very weird very fast.

📰 CBS Is a Dumpster Fire on Purpose — Scott Pelley's exit, Bari Weiss, and the systematic dismantling of a 57-year-old institution. Rob doesn't mince words: this is destruction by design, not an attempt to build something better.

🗺️ What Travel Teaches You — From Finland's disinformation resilience model to Morocco's plastic bag ban, Rob makes the case that independent travel journalism still has something to say that celebrity travel shows never will.

🎙️ Hosted by David Bloom & Daniel Frankel | Guest: Robert Rose, Raw Travel Next TMT × Media Play News — Live coverage all week from Stream TV Denver

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00:02 Introduction to Raw Travel and Upcoming Conference

02:50 The Evolution of Travel Content Creation

04:11 Navigating the Travel Landscape: Challenges and Opportunities

07:07 The Role of AI in Travel Planning

09:57 The Future of Travel Shows and Content Distribution

13:02 Geopolitics and Travel: A New Perspective

15:45 The Importance of Authentic Travel Experiences

18:41 Building a Diverse Travel Content Library

21:32 Conclusion and Future Plans

26:42 The Fight for Media Consolidation

28:49 The Role of Netflix in Media Dynamics

32:10 Political Maneuvering in Media Regulation

34:47 The Impact of Disinformation on Society

41:51 Opportunities for Independent Producers

46:43 The Future of Traditional Media

50:24 The Importance of Truth in Media

Dan Jones sits down with Mike Dano of Ookla — one of the most respected analysts in wireless — to dig into the real story behind the SpaceX IPO and what it means for Starlink Mobile's direct-to-device ambitions.

🛰️ Starlink's Two Businesses — The fixed internet side is thriving with 10 million customers and strong revenue. The mobile D2D business is a different story. Ookla's data shows fewer than half of one percent of monthly users in the US actually make direct-to-device satellite connections. The reason is simple: very few people ever leave cellular coverage. Unless you're climbing Mount Rainier.

📡 The Indoor Problem — Starlink's D2D signals aren't designed to penetrate concrete and steel. Neither was millimeter wave 5G. It's a law of physics that no IPO valuation can override. The service works where it's designed to work — completely outside cellular coverage — but that's a much smaller market than the $1.75 trillion valuation implies.

🤝 The MVNO Question — To make Starlink Mobile work indoors and at scale, Starlink needs an MVNO deal with one of the big three US carriers. AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon have all said no. Starlink is currently partnering with T-Mobile, Entel in Chile and Peru, and Virgin Mobile in the UK for wholesale D2D access — but a direct-to-consumer mobile service under the Starlink brand would require something much bigger.

🛸 The 2028 Timeline — Starlink plans to double its 650-satellite D2D constellation and deploy next-generation hardware within a couple of years. But even that upgraded network won't match the capacity of a terrestrial cell network. The real inflection point may come around 2028 — when third-generation satellites are live and early 6G networks are coming online.

🎙️ Hosted by Dan Jones, Principal, Next TMT Networks | Guest: Mike Dano, Analyst, Ookla

Part of the Next TMT family in partnership with Media Play News. Subscribe free at nexttmt.com — also on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

00:02 The Impact of SpaceX IPO on Starlink Mobile

06:17 Challenges of Direct-to-Device Communications

09:23 Future Prospects for Starlink Mobile

Here's your Beehiiv show notes for this episode:

Next TMT Talks — Sunday Edition NFL Antitrust Hearing, Paramount-WBD Merger Crisis & Scorsese Embraces AI

David Bloom and Daniel Frankel are back with another packed Sunday edition covering the week's biggest stories in media, tech, and telecom.

The NFL's Washington Problem Jim Jordan is convening a congressional hearing on sports streaming migration — and Roger Goodell isn't even showing up. The powerful bar and restaurant lobby has entered the fight, citing $30,000 per-location upgrade costs to transition from satellite to streaming. With 200,000 commercial establishments once subscribed to NFL Sunday Ticket, this is real money and real political leverage. But if Congress actually stripped the league's antitrust exemption, would anything get better for anyone? David and Daniel aren't so sure.

The Paramount-WBD Merger Is Running Out of Time California AG Rob Bonta is now armed with a fresh primary win and real political momentum to challenge the $111 billion deal. The Writers Guild held its first rally in Beverly Hills. And the September 30th closing deadline is looking increasingly out of reach — with a $650 million per quarter penalty clock ticking for every missed day.

Scott Pelley's Blaze of Glory The 37-year 60 Minutes veteran gave the New York Times a devastating interview on his way out the door. The numbers tell the story: 60 Minutes grew its audience 9% year over year and generated 2.5 billion social views globally last year. Bari Weiss and new EP Nick Bilton — neither with broadcast experience — are remaking one of television's most respected institutions from scratch.

Anthropic Files for IPO Valuation estimates are pushing toward $715 billion or more. More importantly, Anthropic disclosed its models are approaching self-improvement capability — and is essentially asking the industry to slow down while competitors race ahead.

Scorsese Says Yes to AI Martin Scorsese, 83, is using Black Forest Labs text-to-image tools for pre-visualization. The same filmmaker who resisted digital editing until 1995 is now an AI early adopter. Hollywood is having complicated feelings about it.

Also This Week Grand Theft Auto VI owns all of November — not even Call of Duty is touching it. Apple flexes its Formula One streaming muscle. Huawei's 14-year federal indictment heads to a September trial with no national security language remaining in the filing. And the New York Knicks are one series win away from the NBA Finals, with Donald Trump planning his first NBA game appearance in decades.

Next TMT Talks is hosted by David Bloom and Daniel Frankel and published twice weekly in partnership with Media Play News. Subscribe free at nexttmt.com — also available on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

00:00 NFL Streaming Challenges and Political Implications

07:31 The Impact of Streaming on Bars and Restaurants

11:31 Paramount and Warner Brothers Merger Controversies

20:07 Media Dynamics and Political Pressures

22:32 World Cup and Global Issues in Sports

23:02 FIFA's Controversial Decisions and Global Politics

26:17 World Cup Dynamics in North America

28:44 NBA Finals: Viewership and Fan Dynamics

32:40 AI Advancements and Societal Implications

38:33 Huawei's Legal Challenges and Market Position

43:03 Video Game Release Strategies and Market Trends

Next TMT Networks with Dan Jones

Your weekly deep dive into the infrastructure powering everything — wireless, broadband, satellite, and the networks being reshaped by AI, big tech, and government policy.

Hosted by veteran telecom reporter Dan Jones, formerly of Light Reading and Fierce Network, Next TMT Networks covers the stories that don't make the mainstream tech press but determine how the internet gets built, who controls it, and what it costs.

From Starlink's battle to crack the terrestrial wireless market and the AI-RAN turf war between Nvidia and Intel, to 5G stadium buildouts, spectrum policy, and the cable-wireless convergence nobody can stop — this is the newsletter and podcast for anyone who wants to understand what's happening under the hood.

New episodes weekly. Part of the Next TMT family in partnership with Media Play News.

Subscribe at nexttmt.com

00:02 Introduction to Next TMT Networks

01:44 Deep Dive into Satellite Internet and Starlink

04:45 The Role of AI in Telecom

07:56 Disruption in the Telecom Industry

09:17 Future of Handsets and Starlink

10:46 Verizon's Innovations and the World Cup

12:43 Conclusion and Future Insights

Daniel Frankel and David Bloom dig into the biggest stories in media, tech, and streaming — from Hollywood's complicated relationship with AI to Peacock's TikTok pivot, the slow-motion unraveling of 60 Minutes, and the Paramount-WBD mega-merger's legal landmines.
🤖 Hollywood's AI Civil War — Two of three filmmakers who won Amazon's Project Nara grants backed out after peer pressure from anti-AI colleagues. Meanwhile Gareth Edwards (The Creator, Godzilla, Star Wars) says AI is a creative accelerator — "an assistant director that's a billionaire on acid." And Kane Parsons, a 20-year-old YouTube creator, just opened Backrooms to $120M on a $10M budget.
🎬 YouTube Creators Are the New Studio System — Backrooms. Iron Lung. Obsession. Three films made by creators with built-in audiences, tiny budgets, and no studio gatekeepers — all outperforming legacy Hollywood franchises. Meanwhile The Mandalorian & Grogu spent $200M+ and stalled at $240M.
📺 Peacock Goes Full TikTok — Vertical NBA game highlights, micro-dramas, Bravo content, Real Shorts — Peacock's new mobile app is engineered to reclaim the 30% of Love Island's audience that drifts to YouTube. It's further along than Netflix or Disney on this.
📰 Bari Weiss Is Breaking 60 Minutes — A fifth-place broadcast institution. A new EP with zero broadcast experience. Sharon Alphonse pushed out in what looks like retribution. CBS News ranked 27th in the season's newscast ratings while ABC finished first. And now she may get her hands on CNN too — if the Paramount-WBD merger clears 13 state AGs.
⚖️ The Nexstar-Tegna Injunction & Media Consolidation — California's injunction is being appealed, Nexstar wants August hearings, and Tegna already cleared out its senior management. Who broke the rules and who has to live with it?
🏈 College Football Playoff Expansion: Fox's $100M Play — The Big Ten wants 24 teams. The SEC wants to protect its $50-100M conference championship. Fox — which missed the last broadcast rights round — is the hidden hand pushing the whole thing.
🤫 ByteDance at AI on the Lot: "Don't Quote Us" — Seed Dance told journalists not to write about Gareth Edwards' talk. Within 12 hours, two stories ran. A masterclass in bad PR — or a very weird counterintuitive strategy.
🎙️ Hosted by David Bloom & Daniel Frankel | Next TMT × Media Play News
🔔 Subscribe → https://nexttmt.com
🎧 Spotify & Apple Podcasts — Also launching: Next TMT Networks covering wireless, broadband & compute with Dan Jones

00:00 Hollywood's Fear of AI
02:59 Young Filmmakers and AI Concerns
06:05 The Rise of YouTube Creators
09:05 The Future of Star Wars
12:08 Environmental Concerns in AI
14:52 Gareth Edwards and the Role of AI in Creativity
17:56 CBS News and Barry Weiss's Controversial Moves
20:48 The Future of Broadcast News
23:12 Diversity in News Opinion
24:34 Regulatory Challenges in Media Mergers
26:49 Legal Implications of Media Ownership
30:24 Streaming Wars: The Rise of TikTok-like Features
34:44 The Future of Journalism and Media Integrity
41:01 College Sports and the Future of TV Rights

David Bloom reports live from AI on the Lot in Culver City — the fastest-growing AI filmmaking conference in Hollywood — with 2,000 filmmakers, technologists, and studios gathered next to Amazon MGM's virtual production stage.

Amazon's Project Nara is now open to independent filmmakers via a new grant program, with three animated series already greenlit. Google's Gemini Omni Flash tool is reshaping multimodal production workflows. A Spanish-Brazilian co-production called Miasma used AI for costume design and set building at a fraction of traditional cost — and a $500K horror film that ran $400K in compute tokens just screened at Cannes.

Markiplier's Iron Lung — a $3M self-distributed film that made $35M — shows what happens when YouTube creators with built-in audiences get access to serious production tools. The creator economy just got a film studio.

David also moderates a panel at Car App World on the explosion of in-vehicle apps, and why it mirrors the early days of connected TV. Plus: Cineverse's Matchpoint technology maps every emotional beat of a film for contextual ad placement — so Delta never ends up next to the plane crash scene.

The real story from AI on the Lot: Hollywood isn't uniformly afraid of AI. Two thousand people showed up voluntarily. The question is whether the industry can adapt faster than the tools can replace it.

Next TMT Talks is produced in partnership with Media Play News. New episodes twice a week on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts. Subscribe to the newsletter at nexttmt.com.