Cavaliers F LeBron James, LRMR Management Founder Maverick Carter and their partners are "betting some of the most compelling sports content in the shifting entertainment landscape will be created by the athletes themselves" with Uninterrupted, the James-backed digital media company, according to a front-page piece by Ben Cohen of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. Uninterrupted is the "latest evolution of a movement in which athletes, celebrities and other public figures are using social media and other technology to control their images." In the process, they are "loosening traditional media’s grip on the way sports is delivered and consumed." Uninterrupted’s multimedia offerings "include full-length documentaries, web series and a growing podcast network." Some of its shows have been "licensed by traditional media outlets such as Fox Sports," which broadcast an Uninterrupted documentary about an MMA fighter. Shows also "appear on YouTube, Instagram and Uninterrupted’s own website." Ventures like Uninterrupted are "limited in their power to supplant traditional media because there is no substitute for live games." However, more athletes have realized the leagues "don’t own their personalities and likenesses -- and there are now more vehicles than ever to satisfy fans’ craving for an unfiltered view and make money along the way." Adam Mendelsohn, a media strategist who advises James and Carter, said, "Uninterrupted is not journalism and never will be. Uninterrupted is entertainment and a way for athletes to connect in new, creative ways with fans." The company "gives athletes a cut of any revenue from sponsorships or licensing deals, though terms vary." Cohen noted James and Warriors F Draymond Green "star in Uninterrupted’s latest project, 'The Shop,' a 30-minute panel talk show set in a barbershop." ESPN "plans to show clips of the pilot episode in its programming around Finals games" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 6/8).
