cable news

The former New York Times and BBC chief Mark Thompson is a leading candidate to lead CNN, according to people familiar with the conversations on both sides of the Atlantic. Thompson, who left the Times in 2020 after eight years, is among a group of candidates in the mix for the job, according to three people familiar with the recruiting process.

If Vivek Ramaswamy wants to appear on Newsmax, he should pay to do it. That was the message that network chief Chris Ruddy delivered to the Republican presidential candidate during a private call earlier this summer, according to two people to whom the candidate described the conversation. Ramaswamy had complained that the right-leaning network was sticking him in little-watched midday slots or ignoring him outright.

The fledgling cable channel NewsNation found a viewership niche in the murky claims of alien visitors but also had to run some corrections.

NFL Network scores third-place primetime finish with pre-season football games.

Abby Phillips will be 10 p.m.’s new anchor in a dramatic overhaul of the network’s morning and evening schedules.

The California governor had taunted his Florida counterpart for months. Now, with his presidential campaign struggling, DeSantis agreed to a debate hosted by Sean Hannity.

The Fox leaders appealed to the former president to participate in the first GOP debate, which is being hosted by the network.

Trump had been seeking punitive damages of $475 million in the federal lawsuit filed last October in South Florida, claiming the references hurt his reputation and political career. U.S. District Judge Raag Singhal, who was appointed by Trump, said Friday in his ruling that the former president’s defamation claims failed because the references were opinions and not factual statements.

CNN Early Start anchor and chief business correspondent Christine Romans has decided to leave the cable news channel. Romans announced her decision Friday morning, in conjunction with an on-air sendoff on CNN This Morning. Her last day at the channel is today.

Nexstar’s cable news network NewsNation received some positive brand exposure during the ongoing congressional UFO hearings being held this week. Former military intelligence officer-turned whistleblower David Grusch repeatedly referenced his NewsNation interview when answering House Oversight subcommittee members’ questions about unidentified aerial phenomena, telling the panel he is “absolutely” certain that the U.S. government is in possession of UAPs, citing interviews he said he conducted with 40 witnesses over four years.

The Hollywood trade publication is being confronted with serious questions about its journalism from top industry figures over a feature story it published Tuesday that aimed to offer a fresh look into the behind-the-scenes drama and power struggles that beset CNN over the last 18 months.

Not even Fox’s $787 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems can compare to the drama that’s enveloped CNN during and after the one-year reign of Chris Licht, who some insiders have described as a Julius Caesar figure surrounded by backstabbers.

Average viewership at Newsmax more than doubled in the second quarter and was higher than after the 2020 election.

The former White House communications director will be based in D.C.

Jesse Watters’ debut as the permanent occupant of Fox News’ 8 p.m. hour gave the network a boost in the timeslot, versus the series of replacement hosts who have filled the time period since the cancellation of Tucker Carlson’s show. Jesse Watters Primetime averaged 2.47 million viewers during the hour. That compares to the 1.66 million that Fox News Tonight averaged in June.

Fox News is facing a new defamation lawsuit from a man who claims that its former host Tucker Carlson falsely identified him as an undercover FBI agent who triggered the January 6th attack on the Capitol. The lawsuit was filed in Delaware Superior Court, the same venue where the network recently faced a lengthy trial over Dominion Voting Systems defamation claims that its hosts and guests amplified a false narrative that the company rigged the 2020 presidential election. Fox News settled the case for $787.5 million.

A former CNN reporter is suing the news channel for unfair dismissal and racial discrimination after she was severely injured while on assignment in Israel. Saima Mohsin was left disabled after an accident while reporting from Jerusalem on the Israel-Palestine conflict. Her cameraman ran over her foot in a car, causing severe tissue damage that has left the British-Pakistani journalist struggling to sit, stand and walk or return to work full-time.

Tucker Carlson, before he was sidelined by Fox, repeatedly endorsed a conspiracy theory about an Arizona man, who may sue for defamation. Legal experts say it would be a viable case.

Erik Wemple: “Fox News relies on a battalion of anchors, reporters, producers and assistants to generate its ratings-topping programming. Trouble is, some of those employees double as walking, talking, text-happy corporate risk centers, privy as they are to the making of the network’s rancid sausage.”

The Source, which will be based in New York and is slated to debut Monday, July 10, at 9 p.m. ET, is a new hour built around up-and-coming anchor Kaitlan Collins, who has, in the space of just a few years, vaulted from White House correspondent to morning co-anchor to primetime personality. Collins has been leading CNN’s 9 p.m. hour over the past few weeks, but under a catch-all rubric of CNN Primetime, which also encompassed town-hall specials and deep-dive interviews with newsmakers led by others.

In an era saturated with digital immediacy, the evolution of news consumption patterns has been both swift and striking. A decade ago, social media platforms held the promise of revolutionizing local news delivery – with broadcasters devoting countless resources to platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. They were heralded as a fresh conduit for information, a means for local stations to expand their reach and a tool to foster a more intimate connection with viewers. Today, however, the landscape appears starkly different. The sheen of social media has dulled and its value for local broadcasters has been called into question.

Fox had its post-Tucker nosedive, CNN had the disastrous Trump town hall — and MSNBC has been reaping the benefits.

Senior vice president of ad sales at Newsmax, Jim Tremblay, has been promoted to executive vice president and chief revenue officer of sales.

Fox News Channel experienced a chaotic second quarter of 2023, one which featured the landmark $787.5 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems and the ouster of primetime star Tucker Carlson in April. Amid the chaos, Fox News not only marked its 86th consecutive quarter as the top-rated cable news network in total viewers, and No. 1 in total viewers and among Adults 25-54 for nine straight quarters. It also continued to average more total day viewers than any other basic cable network.