A great deal can occur within the confines of 365 days — and 2024, in particular, promises to feed us an abundant set of hefty courses to chew on.
The media industry remains enveloped in a transformative and especially disruptive period, technology titans are grappling with the rapid and unsettling rise of artificial intelligence, and the much-anticipated — or, perhaps, much-dreaded — 2024 presidential election is on the menu, offering up a plate full of stomach-turning issues for the American public to digest.
It's in that spirit that we thought it fitting to offer a look at some of the most pressing and consequential questions confronting the media industry and its leaders. So, without further ado, here is our non-exhaustive list of questions for the year ahead:
► Will news organizations supply the public with essential and uncompromising coverage of anti-democratic candidates, such as Donald Trump? Or will the urge to pacify "both sides" cloud stories ahead of the once-in-a-lifetime election?
► Will Fox News settle with Smartmatic? Or will the right-wing channel find itself continuing to answer for its dishonest 2020 coverage amid the 2024 election? And if it does back down, will the cost exceed the already historic settlement it struck with Dominion Voting Systems?
► What will Mark Thompson do to set up CNN for the future? Will he find a way to expand the news outlet's digital portfolio while also restoring the channel's lackluster ratings and overall reach?
► Will William Lewis find a way to restore morale and turn around the sagging revenue and subscriptions at The Washington Post?
► Will The New York Times ever hire a new media columnist?
► What will become of some of the splashy upstart digital news organizations that launched in recent years, such as Semafor and The Messenger?
► Will a court find Catherine Herridge in contempt for refusing to reveal the source(s) she relied on for a years old story? Will Congress pass the PRESS Act, offering journalists federal protections from being forced to reveal their sources?
► Will Shari Redstone find a suitor for Paramount? Perhaps Warner Bros. Discovery? Or will WBD look elsewhere, maybe NBCUniversal, for M&A opportunities?
► Will David Zaslav find a way to breathe some life into WBD's stock? Or will it continue to hover around $10-12 a share?
► How will Bob Iger renovate the House of Mouse? Will he offload some of Disney's linear assets? What details will he offer on ESPN's direct to consumer offering, which is expected to launch in 2025?
► Will Disney and WBD strike new deals with the NBA and retain their lucrative broadcasting rights?
► Will Nelson Peltz get his board seats and end his proxy fight with Disney?
► After hiking the prices of streaming services, will the major streamers join forces in a cable-esque bundle in hopes of staving off cancelations?
► What avenues will Big Tech find to wade further into the live sports arena?
► Will the box office continue to fly even higher in the wake of the pandemic, or will it take a hit after the historic strikes that brought Hollywood to a halt?
► When will the muted advertising market make a full recovery?
► Will governments put into place any meaningful regulations around A.I. to safeguard society from the potentially dangerous technology? Or will elected officials continue to fail the public in governing the technology space?
► What will become of The NYT's lawsuit against OpenAI?
► Will businesses, organizations, and notable public figures finally wake up to the ugly reality of Elon Musk's X and ditch the imperiled social media platform? Will brands ignore the site's embrace of conspiratorial and hateful speech and quietly resume advertising on the site? Will Linda Yaccarino survive? Will X itself make it through the year?
► Will Threads supplant X as the go-to destination for real-time information and conversation? Or will it flounder?
► Will TikTok finally iron out an agreement with the U.S. government to operate in the country? What will become of all the lawsuits filed against the company by various states?
► Will TikTok Shop eat into Amazon's dominant e-commerce business in a substantial way? Or will the Jeff Bezos-founded website remain unscathed?
► Will Apple Vision Pro revolutionize media and tech? Or will consumers reject the pricey headset?
► Will Taylor Swift reign supreme as the world's main character? Or will someone else take her place?
► And an evergreen question we ask every year: What's the biggest unknown in the media and tech business that no one is even thinking about right now?