Curious about what's going on behind the scenes in Hollywood? Odds are Matthew Belloni has the scoop. The veteran entertainment reporter and editor has emerged as the inside voice of show business with What I'm Hearing, his column and newsletter under Puck, the media startup he helped found. He also hosts The Town, a podcast for Spotify's The Ringer.
On Thursday, Matt took the stage at NeueHouse Hollywood for a sold-out live recording of The Town featuring two special guests: John Landgraf, Chairman of FX Networks and FX Productions, and Lucas Shaw, senior entertainment reporter at Bloomberg. Fans were treated to exclusive reporting and insights into the evolving landscape of media and entertainment, followed by a meet and greet with Matt.
Matthew Belloni (Photo by John Sciulli/Getty Images for Spotify)
John Landgraf, Lucas Shaw, and Matthew Belloni (Photo by John Sciulli/Getty Images for Spotify)
John Landgraf (Photo by John Sciulli/Getty Images for Spotify)
(Photo by John Sciulli/Getty Images for Spotify)
(Photo by John Sciulli/Getty Images for Spotify)
NEXT
For the Record caught up with Matt and Elizabeth Fierman, who oversees live events for The Ringer, to hear about the planning process for the evening. We also chatted with Matt about the importance of entertaining as you inform, how he cultivates sources, his dream guest, and more.
How does the prep for a live show compare to a prerecorded show? Matt: For me, it's a pretty similar process. I might prepare a few more crowd-pleaser moments so I don't get booed off the stage. But it's usually just preparing the questions that I'd want to know the answer to if I was listening.
Elizabeth: Typically recordings happen in the studio or at home-pretty controlled environments. When we're planning for a live event, we not only have to consider venue, promotion, travel, and fan experience on top of the technical aspects of recording the show, but we need to be prepared for lots more variability, as well. We also like to work with show teams to consider what content will translate best into the live space for both hosts and fans. It's a lot of work, but hopefully a lot of fun for everyone, too.
What are some of the benefits of a live podcast show? Elizabeth: For the host, getting to see and hear listeners' reactions in real time is a fun change of pace-there's such high energy that comes from being in a live environment. Similarly for fans, I think over time, they feel like they really get to know our hosts, so bringing them together in a room full of people with similar interests feels like a community-building event. There are usually lots of laughs and people seem to have a great time!
It's been such a fun year, with our first Ringer Residency in Los Angeles and The Rewatchables going on tour, plus their recent one-night-only show on Broadway. We've also had live events throughout the sports calendar and around cultural moments like SXSW and Sundance. We're excited to continue building on the momentum and excitement around live shows.
Matt, as a writer and a podcaster, how does telling stories in print compare to audio? Matt: People consume audio differently, they're often doing other things, and I think that's why podcasts that simply read printed words are so much less interesting to most people. You need to entertain as you inform. Not jokes, per se, but you need to have a personality, which is the opposite of most print and digital journalism sources that assume 100 percent of the reader's attention. The only thing that's the same is the benefit of being an accurate source of information. If you're talking out of your ass, the listeners will pick up on it and move on.
You're known for breaking news. Any secrets of the trade you can share? Matt: Develop sources in person. So many young journalists don't actually go out and meet people. I've been doing this awhile and I still do breakfasts, lunches, drinks meetings, and events at night. Mixing it up with the people I cover. Texting relationships aren't the same.
If you could choose anyone (living or deceased) to be on your show, who would it be and why? Matt: Rupert Murdoch would be a fantastic guest. He doesn't do a lot of interviews, but when he does, he does not care who he pisses off. Mark Burnett would be great, but only if we gave him a truth serum and he spilled all the details about Donald Trump on The Apprentice. Oprah, Disney's Bob Iger, Lorne Michaels, and Tom Cruise are on my list.
Are there any Spotify features or tools on Spotify for Podcasters that are especially helpful for you? Matt: I love any and all data on who is listening to the show. And we use the data to better tailor the topics and guests to what the audience likes.
We're nearly at the end of the year. What are some of the biggest media and entertainment trends you've covered in 2024? Matt: The ongoing transition from linear TV to digital streaming is upending everything about Hollywood, including the traditional power structure. Everyone is anxious and afraid, and before this calms down, the entertainment industry will look very different than it does today.
Looking ahead, what are you most excited about for 2025? Matt: I'm very curious to see what James Gunn does with Superman. A lot riding on that movie at Warner Bros.
Stream the latest episode of The Town with Matthew Belloni on Spotify.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
06/04/2026
Michigan legends bring a new voice to the broadcast as TNT Sports and CBS Sports...
06/04/2026
From high school sports all the way up to the major leagues, building high-quali...
06/04/2026
Quickplay, an AI company for the media and entertainment industry, has been accepted into the Advanced tier of the TwelveLabs Ecosystem Partner Program. Quickpl...
06/04/2026
Grass Valley has announced the Future Playmakers Program, a global initiative to...
06/04/2026
El l der de operaciones impulsa la producci n en estudio mientras encuentra insp...
06/04/2026
The ops leader helps lead the charge in studio for the Spanish-language broadcas...
06/04/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...
06/04/2026
The National Hockey League (NHL), in partnership with Verizon and the New Jersey Devils, today announced the opening of the NHL Innovation Lab powered by Verizo...
06/04/2026
Rock League, a new professional curling league, has announced that ESPN+ will stream its inaugural 2026 season for fans in the United States. The first Rock Lea...
06/04/2026
Advanced Systems Group has announced the appointment of Andrea (Andy) Cummis as Vice President of Systems Design and Engineering. In this role, she will lead de...
06/04/2026
Backed by Bolt Ventures, the venture brings Bryson DeChambeau, Grant Horvat, and...
06/04/2026
With this environment we can start that collaboration even earlier because we ca...
06/04/2026
Like the immortal lives of vampires, some stories never really end. That's t...
06/04/2026
As podcasting continues to evolve, growth increasingly means building beyond aud...
06/04/2026
Multiband dynamics plug-in enhanced
California-based developer FSK Audio have released a significant update for their innovative multiband dynamics processo...
06/04/2026
Share official & user-created full-rig presets
IK Multimedia's latest TONEX update makes it possible for users of the popular amp and effects modelling ...
06/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/04/2026
Dalet Showcases Dalia Agentic AI and End-to-End Media Workflows at NAB Show 2026
Brie Clayton April 6, 2026
0 Comments
Dalet, a leading technology and...
06/04/2026
OpenDrives Shows Off Sports Expertise in Sports Business Hub located in NAB Show...
06/04/2026
Proton to Demonstrate 3D Application at NAB 2026
Brie Clayton April 6, 2026
0 Comments
Yet further creative potential unleashed through innovation in ...
06/04/2026
Autoscript Highlights Voice-Driven Prompting and PTZ Solutions at NAB 2026
Brie Clayton April 6, 2026
0 Comments
Experience Autoscript Voice, PTZ prom...
06/04/2026
Mediaproxy Highlights Significant Enhancements to its LogServer suite at NAB Sho...
06/04/2026
Wayne, N.J., April 6th, 2026 Phantom High-Speed announces the release of PCC 4...
06/04/2026
April 6th, 2026
TRIBECA STUDIOS AND LILLY ANNOUNCE WINNERS OF INAUGURAL VITAL...
06/04/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Expands Kids Entertainment Lineup With Playground App ...
05/04/2026
Tackles all reported bugs!
SoundBridge have just announced the launch of a new update that introduces a couple of minor changes to their remote collaboratio...
04/04/2026
The University of Arizona's Men's Basketball team has only loss twice th...
04/04/2026
1080p HDR arrives, a new generation of storytelling tools takes center stage, an...
04/04/2026
Michigan legends bring a new voice to the broadcast as TNT Sports and CBS Sports...
04/04/2026
Faster, cleaner and more intuitive than ever
The control software for Flock Audio's digitally controlled patchbay systems has just been treated to an up...
04/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/04/2026
DHD Introduces AI-Based Audio Noise Reduction to XD3 IP Core
Brie Clayton April 3, 2026
0 Comments
The accompanying image shows the rear panel of the ...
04/04/2026
Macnica Redefines ST 2110 Flexibility with Two Speeds on One Card
Brie Clayton April 3, 2026
0 Comments
New for NAB Show 2026, MEP100 SmartNIC now sup...
04/04/2026
Unified Media Workflows for Story-Centric Production
Brie Clayton April 3, 2026
0 Comments
Framelight X unifies field capture, editing and publishing ...
03/04/2026
Michigan's Fab Five will reunite for an alternate presentation of the Mich...
03/04/2026
Avid will exhibit at NAB Show 2026 (April 18-22, Booth N2226, Las Vegas Convention Center), demonstrating its Content Core platform and new AI-driven workflow c...
03/04/2026
Mark Roberts Motion Control (MRMC) has announced the appointment of Nick Barthee as Chief Operating Officer.
The announcement follows MRMC's transition fro...
03/04/2026
Interra Systems has announced that Elite Media Technologies has selected its BATON file-based QC solution for media workflows. Elite Media Technologies speciali...
03/04/2026
Ateme has announced that Moldtelecom has deployed Ateme technologies across its streaming workflow, covering encoding, delivery, operations, and analytics.
Mol...
03/04/2026
Grass Valley will demonstrate Framelight X, its content management platform, at NAB Show 2026. The platform connects capture, ingest, editing, and publishing in...
03/04/2026
Encompass Digital Media and Techex have announced a cloud-native Master Control ...
Curious about what's going on behind the scenes in Hollywood? Odds are Matthew Belloni has the scoop. The veteran entertainment reporter and editor has emerged as the inside voice of show business with What I'm Hearing, his column and newsletter under Puck, the media startup he helped found. He also hosts The Town, a podcast for Spotify's The Ringer.
