The Town with Matthew Belloni

The Town with Matthew Belloni

Author: The Ringer Language: English Episodes: 100
Ever wonder what Hollywood executives are really arguing about in their private meetings, or how the fate of a billion-dollar franchise gets decided over a tense lunch? That’s the kind of access you get with The Town with Matthew Belloni. Hosted by Puck founding partner Matt Belloni, this isn't just industry gossip-it's a direct line to the mechanics of entertainment, powered by exclusive reporting and decades of insight. Each episode pulls back the curtain on the stories behind the stories, whether it's the strategy of the latest streaming war or the creative battles inside a Marvel movie. Several times a week, Belloni sits down with the major players themselves: the dealmakers, studio heads, and journalists who are shaping what we watch. Their conversations cut straight to the core of what’s getting made and why, pinpointing who’s winning and who’s losing in real time. Listening to this podcast feels like having a front-row seat to the most important conversations in show business, the ones that happen after the cameras stop rolling. For anyone fascinated by the intersection of power, money, and creativity in culture, The Town delivers the unfiltered context that turns headlines into understanding.
Episodes
Is Film School Still Worth It? With a Top Dean. [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:20
Matt is joined by Stephen Galloway, the dean of Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, to discuss the state of film school education in 2025, how it has evolved, and the increasingly high tuition cost…
Why the NFL (and Everything Else) Keeps Breaking Ratings Records [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:26
Matt is joined by Nielsen Global Media executive Brian Fuhrer to discuss why NFL ratings seem to be setting new viewership records all the time, how sports-ratings measurements have changed, why these numbers are so impo…
Would Netflix Really Embrace Theaters to Buy Warner Bros.? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:01
Matt is joined by Bloomberg's Lucas Shaw to discuss Lucas’s recent report that Netflix would continue to release Warner Bros. movies in theaters if it were to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery. They talk about whether they…
Did Hollywood Ever Have a Chance Against YouTube? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:59
Matt is joined by Tom Freston, former CEO of Viacom and MTV Networks, to discuss why legacy companies missed the boat with YouTube in the early aughts, the similarities YouTube from the aughts shares with the AI boom of…
The Brewing Backlash to Hollywood Consolidation [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:26
Matt is joined by Jonathan Kanter, a lawyer who served as Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice from 2021 to 2024, to look at the looming Warner Bros. Discovery sale from…
The Fall Box Office Crisis: A Phase, a Fluke, or the Future? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:28
Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to investigate a historically bad fall season at the box office by highlighting which issues are actually real and which are insignificant. They look at larger industry-wide trend…
Why Anime Is Becoming Undeniable in Hollywood [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:50
Matt is joined by Rahul Purini, the president of Crunchyroll, to discuss the anime boom both globally and in America, the rise of global streaming services and its role in spreading anime and manga content, and what is i…