Fierce media rivals like ESPN and Fox Sports aren’t often eager to see the other do well. But the competitors may be cheering one another this weekend. Fox and ESPN will this weekend each broadcast two games from the new — depending on how one looks at it — UFL, a league that has been built out of the former USFL and its rival, the XFL.
The media coverage of polls that show President Biden lagging behind former President Trump appears to be getting under the president’s skin. While campaigning around the country, Biden has often complained to rooms full of donors about the coverage of polls, including how often the press focuses only on low survey numbers while ignoring more favorable ones.
Harry Smith is signing off from NBC News after 12 years. The beloved correspondent received an emotional sendoff during Friday’s Today show, where his colleagues got choked up sharing kind words about their time together.
Guinness World Records saluted Alhart last year for the “longest career as a television news broadcaster.”
The Home Depot thinks that since retail media networks are growing so fast they’ve eclipsed TV advertising, they deserve as much respect as TV upfronts. So the Atlanta-based retailer organized an elaborate "Infront" event, taking the opportunity to rename its young network as Orange Apron Media. Previously called Retail Media+, the company also detailed ways in which it is trying to add value to ad products. While hundreds of retailers have crowded into the channel, Home Depot executives detailed ways it aims to stand out.
Gossett broke through on the small screen as Fiddler in ABC's groundbreaking 1977 miniseries Roots, which depicted the atrocities of slavery on TV. The sprawling cast included Ben Vereen, LeVar Burton and John Amos. Gossett's performance won him an Emmy. He was 87.
Warner Bros. Discovery’s branded content studio Courageous is helping game app Candy Crush promote its annual All Stars Tournament with custom videos featuring on-air talent.
AI Companies Are Courting Hollywood. Do They Come In Peace?
Hollywood talent agencies and producers have met with AI companies, including ChatGPT maker OpenAI, to learn about how their technologies could be used in entertainment.
In a notorious high-security prison, Evan Gershkovich of The Wall Street Journal stays connected with supporters through letters as they keep up the pressure for his release.
‘Chicago P.D.’ Rises, ‘Med’ Dips On Wednesday
NBC’s Chicago Fire was Wednesday’s most-watched show (6.3 million/0.5), while CBS’s Survivor dominated the night in the 18-49 demo (4.7 million/0.7).
The former executive has earned nearly $1.2 billion through TKO Group stock sales to date. TKO Group was formed last year through the Endeavor-led merger of UFC and WWE. Endeavor maintains a majority interest in TKO.
Cohen's hedge fund Point72 revealed the approximately 5% stake in Fox this week with a market value of about $350 million as of writing.
What started as a public statement condemning Florida's so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law devolved into a years-long, bitter feud in which neither side wanted to give the appearance of surrendering.
Televised political combat existed in earlier times, like Shana Alexander and James Kilpatrick's "point-counterpoint" segment on "60 Minutes" in the 1970s. Politics and journalism had its share of cross-fertilization with figures such as George Stephanopoulos and the late Tim Russert. Yet the idea of building rosters of paid political contributors took off with cable news. MSNBC, CNN and Fox News Channel are, in large part, political talk channels and seek experts to help fill the time. News streaming has similar needs. Being on call to opine can be lucrative work; several reports had NBC agreeing to pay McDaniel $300,000 a year.
For Bolstering Local News, Weather Remains The Most Powerful Tool
How a station handles weather — and the caliber and connectedness of weathercasters in a local market — are critical to a successful news reinvention.
Activist Disney investor Blackwells Capital has filed a lawsuit against the media giant over what it sees as an inappropriately cozy relationship with another shareholder, ValueAct Capital. In the lawsuit filed Thursday in Delaware Chancery Court, Blackwells lays out concerns about whether ValueAct has been paid to take a pro-Disney position in a brewing proxy fight with activists. Blackwells and Trian Fund Management have both agitated for fresh voices on Disney’s board of directors ahead of next Wednesday’s annual shareholder meeting, when ballots in board elections will officially be tallied.
Executives from CBS, Fox Television Stations, Fremantle and Apploff Entertainment to discuss the need for cross-platform interactivity and other strategies to keep viewers more engaged in a panel at TVNewsCheck’s Programming Everywhere conference at the NAB Show in Las Vegas on April 14. Register here.
New Jobs Posted To TVNewsCheck
New jobs posted to TVNewsCheck’s Media Job Center include openings for a reporter in coastal California and a media salesperson to work remotely.
Companies may now create master accounts, buy TVN Plus subscriptions in bulk and assign “sub-accounts” to their executives, managers and professionals. Try it here.