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A couple thoughts on the passing of Sumner Redstone, my old boss and the mogul behind Viacom/MTV Networks. There is a gaping hole in his obituaries right now and it is about a historic exploitation of freelance labor in broadcasting. Not a single obituary mentions it, so ... 1/
... I figured I'd dive in. If you read Redstone's obituaries right now, the most repeated tropes are how he coined the phrase 'content is king', discussions of his famous corporate battles/buy-outs and salacious family lawsuits. Here's Variety ... 2/ https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/sumner-redstone-dead-97-viacom-cbs-paramount-1234732722/
... a lot of ink gets spilled about his hard-nosed business style, his sexual picadillos, even his iPad that said only 'yes', 'no' and 'fuck you' show up. But what isn't discussed is how Mr. 'Content Is King' got his 'content' ... 3/ https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/sumner-redstone-dead-cbs-viacom-media-mogul-was-97-622455
... Viacom Networks (MTV, BET, Comedy Central, CMT), the engine that drove Redstone's media empire was almost entirely built on 'reality', 'live' and 'free' content. Which is to say, Redstone's genius was finding a way to pipe content ... 4/ https://www.wsj.com/articles/sumner-redstone-media-mogul-dies-11597234760?mod=e2tw
... made and paid for by other people (music labels, comedy clubs) on to cable. And to fill the gap with non-union, unprotected 'perma-lance' innovation in-house. Reality and music television was just union-busting. Plain and simple. ... 5/ https://gawker.com/a-twisted-industry-reality-tv-workers-are-really-fed-1601137605
... 'My Super Sweet 16'? A PA came up with that. 'Jersey Shore'? Just a rip-off of a True Life pitched by an AP. There was no IP ownership. No health-care. And Redstone's bet was freelance 20 year olds wouldn't have the stones to organize or sue. ... 6/ https://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/25/business/business-unions-aim-to-share-in-the-success-of-reality-tv.html
... which, for decades they didn't. It starved a generation of workers out of wages, health-care and residuals. And it had a corollary of making the cable broadcast industry whiter and more upper-middle/upper class. Because who else could ... 7/ https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/11/business/media/11mtv.html
... afford to work in New York under these conditions without parental subsidy? And at the time, Viacom kept posting quarter after quarter of record profits. So why is Redstone's anti-union, anti-labor content playbook scrubbed from his final obituary? No fucking idea. ... 8/
... but it's a legacy worth noting. He made reality TV, even forced up its content on CBS when he bought CBS, because Mr. Content Is King never thought content was worth paying for. So rest in peace, Mr. Redstone. You cost a lot of my friends a lot of sweat and a lot of years 9/
... shout-out to all my Viacom alums, who got paid peanuts, fired every 11 months and rehired days later to avoid being paid health benefits and had their ideas stolen. I see you and I love you all. END/
