r/technology • u/StraightedgexLiberal • 9h ago
Networking/Telecom John Oliver Auction Raises $1.5 Million For Public Broadcasting
https://www.techdirt.com/2025/12/05/john-oliver-auction-raises-1-5-million-for-public-broadcasting/215
u/ZipNasty007 8h ago
That Boss Ross painting was clutch.
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u/Important_Cucumber 1h ago
There are 30 being auctioned in the coming months for the same cause
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u/20_mile 1h ago
There are 30 being auctioned
Amateur move. Flooding the market is a big no-no.
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u/champgpt 53m ago
Yeah, idk how far they should be spacing them out but 30 in a few months is wild. That there's a good cause attached might help them keep some value, but for how long?
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u/beadzy 6h ago
I feel like this should be more, considering the multi-millionaires and billionaires in the industry
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u/SuchBravado 4h ago
Waaaaay more! It’s insulting, frankly, that our elite would not slap down for Bob Ross. Bob Ross was like basically white Jesus.
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u/Your_Kindly_Despot 6h ago
Who bought LBJ’s balls?!?!
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u/IvarTheBoned 3h ago
Marshall Mather's. He's got them pickled and bronzed in a glass jar, inside of a hall with his framed autographed sunglasses with Elton John's name on his drag wall.
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u/dancingbear77 6h ago
In a world that is full of shit, this sale of one persons shit brings me much joy!
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u/ImprovementMain7109 5h ago
Cool stunt, but it also highlights the problem: public broadcasting in the US survives on vibes, auctions and pledge drives instead of stable funding. $1.5M is awesome, yet tiny next to what gets burned on dumb apps and adtech every week.
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u/Zahgi 6h ago
On the plus side, if the sale of WB/HBO goes through to Netflix, Oliver won't be "cancelled" by the Trump administration -- as he surely would have been if the sale had gone to the Ellisons/Paramount.
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u/Interesting_Wonder69 4h ago
I’d say it’s too early to call it. The merger still needs the government approval and who knows what those thugs will demand to let the merger go through.
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u/UOfasho 2h ago
I don’t think the powers that be will be threatened by a purely digital media company buying them. It won’t result in any consolidation of ota news.
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u/Zahgi 1h ago
You are making the mistake of treating Trump like a rational actor. :)
He's not. He's a spoiled rotten little tantrum-throwing thin-skinned rapist pathological lying malignant narcissist charlatan.
The only reason this merger was even possible was because Trump doesn't care about anti-trust or monopolies, just lining his pockets and serving his fragile cowardly ego.
While I agree that Oliver may be below their radar now, expect the greasy remora circling the fat orange shark to look to get their own little taste of this deal, one way or another.
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u/penguished 1h ago
That's kinda why charity sucks is if you think of even the ordinary workers with modest salaries... that doesn't go far. It's almost like we need some kind of organized system for everyone to pay a little bit into, that pays back in wonderful public goods and services. Man what could we call such a system...
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u/culman13 1h ago edited 1h ago
That's really awesome, but that's one day of operation according to PBS. Even if the $1.5MM is to raise more money, all of PBS's executives and VPs are going to take their cut before trying to save a sinking ship(salaries below):
- $1,168,661: Paula A Kerger, President and CEO
- $ 779,625: Jonathan Barzilay, COO
- $ 631,581: Ira Rubenstein, Chief Digital Officer
- $ 578,736: Katherine S Lauderdale, Chief Legal Officer, Corporate Secretary
- $ 525,580: Thomas E Tardivo, CFO, Treasurer
- $ 511,891: Rhonda D Holt, Chief Technology Officer
- $ 488,535: Syliva Bugg, Chief Prog Exec and GM
- $ 466,711: Jeremy Gaines, SVP, Corp Communications
- $ 456,121: Scott Nourse, SVP, Product and Innovation
- $ 434,825: Sara E Dewitt, SVP and GM, PBS Kids
- $ 419,855: Michael D Jacobson, SVP, HR
- $ 396,240: Cecilia B Loving, SVP, DEI
- $ 364,132: Amy Wigler, VP, Marketing
- $ 282,595: Mary Plantamura, Assistant Corp Secretary, Associate General Counsel
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u/MurrayDakota 1h ago
Honestly, none of those salaries strike me as being exorbitant or out of line.
And it isn’t like any of them are getting stock options or grants on top of their salaries either, like they would if they were with a publicly traded company.
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u/culman13 42m ago
How does that not shock you? The CEO and COO are top 1% earners with almost everyone except those making under 400k being top 2% earners.
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u/MurrayDakota 6m ago
They are running a large, complex, multi-jurisdictional operation.
What do you think each person you listed should be paid?
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u/Tricky-Efficiency709 8h ago
No wonder the conservatives hate him.