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Barry Diller

Things Barry Says on Podcasts

Where to Find Them

Barry Diller writes Squawk Pod and writes FRESH HELL Tina Brown's Diary . They have also been a guest on Masters of Scale (3 times) , On with Kara Swisher (2 times) , HBR IdeaCast , The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway , Big Take , The Knowledge Project (Shane Parrish) , Recode Media , Decoder with Nilay Patel , Acquired , Lovett or Leave It , Squawk on the Street , The Skift Travel Podcast and Invest Like the Best (Patrick O'Shaughnessy) . They also write for Barry Diller on Substack.

Recently: “Barry Diller on Big Bets, AI, and Knowing When to Walk Away” on Recode Media (November 2026); “Who Framed Richard Nixon?” on Lovett or Leave It (October 2026); “Leaders Playbook: Billionaire Barry Diller 1/21/26” on Squawk Pod (January 2026); “Leaders Playbook: Billionaire Barry Diller 1/21/26” on Squawk Pod (January 2026); “Acquired Live at Radio City Music Hall (Presented by J.P. Morgan)” on Acquired (October 2025); “Barry Diller: Building IAC” on The Knowledge Project (Shane Parrish) (September 2025).

What They Said

“I'm ready to turn on any dime that sounds smarter to me than the previous nickel.” — Barry Diller, Recode Media

Kafka had noted that Diller walked away from both a planned MGM buyout and an earlier streaming push, and asked whether admitting a mistake is a trait he has always had. This is Diller's answer on reversing course when peers hold on out of ego or sunk cost.

Recode Media · 2026-11-04 Permalink → Listen →
Recode Media Around 21:57 into the episode
Barry Diller

either they're dumb or I'm smart or I'm dumb.

Peter Kafka

Is this a trait you've had all your life or is it something you came to over time?

Barry Diller

No, I think it's always been true with me. As I said earlier, I'm ready to turn on any dime that sounds smarter to me than the previous nickel.

Peter Kafka

We've been talking about AI throughout this conversation. You said you don't know what it's going to be like, but also you think some things like that. I'm sure it's going to be. Yeah. So you've made a hedge with MGM. You think that people have life in an AI world, but you're not sure what.

Barry Diller

Oh, no, no. I'm quite sure what. I don't know. I mean, I can't tell you. I can tell you that for now, as I say, 11 straight quarters, we have grown while others have not. So I'm confident of our path of growth. I'm also increasingly confident that we are taking all of the knowledge we have, depth…

Peter Kafka

your name on something. And we would

Speaker names come from our own diarization. The position is estimated from where the line sits in the episode.
“Netflix won. … You are simply never going to beat Netflix. I do not think ever, unless they do something weird. I mean, truly weird, which they won't do. So that game, if you want to call it a game, is to me over.” — Barry Diller, Recode Media

Peter Kafka pushed back that everyone else in media says they must get bigger to take on Netflix. Diller says the streaming contest is already decided, though a studio can still run a good, profitable business.

Recode Media · 2026-11-04 Permalink → Listen →
Recode Media Around 39:35 into the episode
Barry Diller

…of concentration for scale i have never thought so long as you have sufficient scale to get your product out and get it distributed you don't need any More scale. Scale is not the answer to really much of anything. It is, it is not to me a determinant. So I don't really believe in consolidation.

Peter Kafka

You're really swimming against the tide there. Everyone says, no, no, we've got to be bigger to take on the Netflix as well. You don't have to

Barry Diller

Netflix won. Now, that doesn't mean you can have a perfectly good and profitable and growing business. You are simply never going to beat Netflix. I do not think ever, unless they do something weird. I mean, truly weird, which they won't do. So that game, if you want to call it a game, is to me over. Now, does that mean you can't have wonderful, profitable businesses? And frankly, the more the better. It makes me sad. I ran 20th Century Fox for over eight years, and I adored the company. I adored what we did, both in the movie area and television area and building the broadcast company. And it no longer exists. 20th Century Fox is gone. I mean, yeah, there may be little pieces, remnants. Paramount, I suspect, notwithstanding, and I'm not predicting anything, but over time, I suspect Paramount will be gone.

Peter Kafka

Does it matter if Paramount, the brand, the company goes away, but they're still making stuff from that, the entity?

Barry Diller

Well, no, you can't, whatever the commitments made to keep the same level of production, over time they'll make as many things as the market demands, notwithstanding what happened before. But the loss of, you know, when we had six major studios was a very healthy environment to make good stuff. And…

Peter Kafka

bubble that's deflated.

Speaker names come from our own diarization. The position is estimated from where the line sits in the episode.

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