Welcome to The Business of Television Max(+)!
I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it (so far).
I am excited to welcome you to The Business of Television Max(+). And not “excited” like when you say, upon scheduling a work meeting or call, that you are “looking forward to it.” No, I mean truly excited — dare I say, inspired? — to share everything I’ve been working on for this launch, and many more things I’ve dreamed up for the months ahead. And there are a lot of reasons for that excitement, but perhaps none more important than this:
I am not here to play the role of dispassionate journalist or detached academic; I am here as an active and concerned member of the community for and about which I write. I am anything but “dispassionate” or “detached” about this stuff.
If you’re reading this post during the week of its initial publication, then there’s a good chance you came to it via my Q&A with Elaine Low, published in the Ankler this morning. So, up front, I want to extend a huge thank you to Elaine and the Ankler for bringing you here (and for providing me with a very satisfying answer to the initially vexing question, “How does one launch a new Substack anyhow?”).
So now that you’re here, what do you need to know?
Join Now for 50% Off
Subscribe to The Business of Television Max before the end of March 2026 to receive 50% off your rate for the first year!1 Learn more about subscriber benefits on the About page, and click the button below to take advantage of this special offer while you still can.
Free Preview Week
Need a few days to think it over? No problem. For one week from today’s launch, the full The Business of Television Max(+) site will be available to all visitors, at no charge.
In addition to my inaugural four-part series on the merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, you’ll be able to check out valuable reference material before it goes behind the paywall permanently, including:
The Glossary of Industry Terms, a control-F-able version of the Glossary from the 2024 second edition of The Business of Television (already featuring some corrections and new entries); and
My personally-designed Scale Cheat Sheets, updating and improving upon the Streamlined Schedules of Minimums in the book, featuring all of the most important and frequently relied upon scale minimums from the WGA, DGA, and SAG-AFTRA Basic Agreements in one place (and in far more readable/usable form than you can get from the guilds themselves).
Free access expires at 11:59 p.m. PDT on March 15, 2026.
Launch Month Calendar
One of things I’m most looking forward to about The Business of Television Max(+) is the opportunity to write many different types and styles of articles — everything from 30,000-foot analyses of the industry’s most existential challenges to deep-in-the-weeds explainers of important dealmaking concepts. Not every article will be equally relevant or useful to every reader; but if I do my job right, every reader will find something truly interesting or worthwhile for themselves (and at least one decent chuckle) in every post. To give you some sense of the breadth of style and substance that I have in mind, here’s a preview of what you can look forward to for the rest of this month:
Week 1 (March 9–15, 2026) — High-Level Analysis: The WarnerMount Deal. Over a special debut four-part series — running Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday this week — I’ll analyze Paramount’s victory in its bidding war with Netflix from the perspectives of the bidders, the bought, and the rest of us (the bystanders).
Week 2 (March 16–22, 2026) — Lessons in Negotiation: Bully Tactics. On Monday (March 16), I’ll make the case for why bullying isn’t just a mostly ineffective negotiation tactic; it actually usually leads to worse outcomes. And on Thursday (March 19), I’ll offer some advice on how to handle verbally abusive negotiators (without giving in or abusing them right back).
Week 3 (March 23–29, 2026) — Dealmaking Toolkit: The 50/50 “Pools” Waterfall. On Monday (March 23), I’ll walk you through a revenue sharing structure that most TV dealmakers have never worked with, but every indie film lawyer, producer, and financier knows very well. And on Thursday (March 26), I’ll explain how this model is now making its way into the TV business, and why it’s one of the handiest gadgets for any dealmaker to have in their toolkit.
See You in the Comments…Maybe
The articles I have lined up over the next three weeks represent just a sample of the wide variety of content I intend to offer and lessons I want to explore in this space. But it’s not just about what I want to write I want; it’s about what you want to read. And maybe we can even build ourselves a little community here along the way.
That’s why, to help me get feedback from and engage directly with readers, every post will have a comments section, and some posts will include direct invitations for you to respond to, expand upon, or disagree with me in the comments. And, to try to prevent those comments sections from devolving into the kind of wretched hive of scum and villainy you find in most Internet comments sections, they will be limited to paying subscribers only.
I won’t respond to every comment, but I will read them all, and I will always be on the lookout for good opportunities to jump in and join the conversation. Hope to see you there.
Look Around, Make Yourself at Home
In addition to the features described above, feel free to check out:
The Corrections tab, featuring real-time updates and corrections to the second edition of The Business of Television (published in 2024), with no subscription required.
The Prime tab, featuring information about this Substack’s big brother professional training/coaching/consulting service, The Business of Television Prime.
The 1Up tab, featuring information about 1Up Productions, the strategic, creative, business, and legal advisory service designed specifically to help video game publishers successfully navigate Hollywood’s shark-infested waters.
A personal explanation of why I decided to make launching The Business of Television Max(+) my unofficial new year’s resolution for 2026, entitled “The Stubborn Idealism of Substacking.”
This Is Just the Beginning
I’m already hard at work on two more subscriber benefits (that I am willing to talk about):
An ongoing series of California Bar-certified video trainings, offered in partnership with my friends at the Beverly Hills Bar Association. Max subscribers will enjoy access to a growing library of pre-recorded sessions (eligible for self-study MCLE credit), while Max+ subscribers will also be invited to attend new trainings (online or, if available, in-person) featuring real-time, interactive Q&As (eligible for participatory MCLE credit).
Access to TBOT, the exclusive AI-powered chatbot specially trained on The Business of Television, full-length collective bargaining agreements, and other books and materials about the entertainment industry that I have personally selected (and appropriately cleared with their authors before use).
The video training library is expected to go live during the second quarter of 2026; new live training events will likely start during the third quarter of 2026 (and occur regularly thereafter); and TBOT is anticipated to launch during the fourth quarter of 2026. (All dates are subject to change. Especially the TBOT one. Stick with me here, it’ll be worth it.) Look for further updates and announcements about these (and other) new benefits to appear as new (free) posts on this Substack in the months ahead.
Offer expires at 11:59 p.m. PDT on March 31, 2026. Discounts apply to the first 12 months for monthly subscribers, or to the first year for annual subscribers. After the promotional period expires, your subscription will automatically adjust to the undiscounted subscription rate of $20/month or $200/year. Offer is not available for premium tier subscriptions (Max+), training/coaching/consulting services (Prime), or video game industry advisory services (1Up Productions). Lifetime subscription rate guarantee is based on the prevailing undiscounted price at the time of sign-up.