Weekly Recap of Broadcast & Cable News Media, Sports Media, & Streaming Media
LEAD STORY
The first week of 2021 looked like a continuation of 2020, as what was supposed to be a momentous week due to the Georiga run-off election this past Tuesday, and Congress’ validation of Joe Biden’s presidency the following day.
These two major events were set to receive a significant amount of attention from all the major news organizations. Not to be forgotten was the continous coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, which was still wrecking havoc across the country — all of these events ended up being overshadowed by an insurrection.
What transpired on Wednesday afternoon when pro-Trump protestors became rioters and mobsters by storming into Capitol Hill while congress was certifying the presidency made a newsworthy day turn into an extremely unforgettable one. The fact that we were witnessing an insurrection on live TV in the United States made it all the more surprising. For some in the media what they witnessed was not all that shocking.
News organizations may not have expected an uprising but they knew that something would transpire that day and so they were appropriately staffed and were not really caught flat-footed by the sharp turn of events. News coverage was initially focused on what was happening within the chambers of Congress, but they made a quick pivot to the outside when it became apparent that an insurrection was taking place.
The cable nets began marathon coverage using their best possible vantage points to show how the Capitol was being breached. They had reporters embedded amongst the rioters providing regular updates of what was happening, which ended up being very tricky because historically the media had been subjected to hostile attacks from President Trump and his supporters.
When reporters are covering protests or a riot they typically wear identifiable clothing showing them as being part of the press. Sometimes their attire may also include a logo of the news organization they belong to. But, because of the frequent attacks from pro-Trump supporters and the president himself, journalists dressed up in unidentifiable gear and in keeping with COVID-19 guidelines wore masks, which aided in disguising who they were and who they worked for.
On the ground reporters also traveled with a security team protecting them from the mob and guiding them to safety when things got heated. It was fascinating to see during live shots how quickly news anchors alerted their reporters when they sensed danger was approaching and how quickly folks in the control room moved away from them to another shot giving the reporting crew a chance to quickly seek safety.
One media organization was not so lucky and encountered the wrath of the pro-Trump mob. The Associated Press, which had an elaborate reporting set up outside of Capitol Hill had to quickly abandon it as the pro-Trump mob engaged with them. Sensing the oncoming danger they hurriedly disassembled cameras and took whatever they could carry leaving a lot of expensive broadcast gear behind, which was quickly thrashed by the unruly mob.
Conditions inside the halls of Congress also became dangerous once it was breached and members of the media had to find ways to hide and protect themselves from the mob. Some managed to hide with the congressmen and congresswomen, while others had to find hiding spots within the building.
Skills that were typically required for war zones were put into use in Washington, D.C. the capital of the United States of America. It’s unbelievable to see that in print, but that is what happened. For four-plus years the press has been branded as the ‘enemy of the people’ by the president because he did not like what was being reported about him and/or his administration. His followers embraced such rhetoric and have treated the press as such, which in turn created dangerous reporting conditions for them.
Continuous coverage of the insurrection had folks glued to their screens, which resulted in record-breaking ratings for the cable networks. CNN led the way having its highest-ever total day ratings with 5.2 million viewers tuning in.
The remaining days of the Trump presidency are sure to be chaotic and the news organizations are well aware of that and will be ready to tackle whatever is presented in front of them.
(NPR, New York Times, Deadline, The Independent, TVNewser, MediaPost)
RECAP
Ashleigh Banfield To Host A Primetime Show on WGN America
She has been with MSNBC, NBC News, ABC News, CNN, HLN, and now Ashleigh Banfield is taking her talents to WGN America. Starting March 1 she will host a nightly talk show at 10 pm ET on the cable channel. The show will be titled Banfield and will have a similar feel to CNN’s Larry King Live. Banfield is also a legal analyst for CourtTV and a contributor for Investigation Discovery. WGN America has been slowly moving towards the news space — last year it launched a three-hour primetime news show, but the ratings haven’t moved the needle much and so it has been cut to two hours with Banfield now taking over the last hour. (Variety)
Ricky Strauss Leaves Disney Plus
Now that Disney Plus is humming along nicely, the house that Mickey built is sad to see the departure of an executive who was instrumental in the launch of the streaming service. Ricky Strauss who was in charge of content and marketing for Disney Plus is leaving the streaming service. Strauss who had been part of the Disney family for nine years is leaving on his own accord. Assuming most of his responsibilities will be Disney Plus’ EVP of marketing and operations Joe Earley, who will now add content curation for Disney Plus to his portfolio. Earley will continue to report to Michael Paull, President, Disney Plus, and ESPN Plus. (Deadline)
Discovery Plus Is Now Available
The latest streaming service, Discovery Plus, launched with little fanfare this past week. Discovery Plus will be the home to original unscripted programming from channels like Discovery, Food Network, TLC, and HGTV. A subtle marketing campaign did little to create broad awareness for it and its launch was buried by the chaotic news cycle involving political stories coming out of Georgia and Washington, D.C. Discovery Plus, unlike other streaming services, was made available on launch on a variety of distribution platforms including Roku — it costs $4.99 per month with ads and $6.99 per month for the ad-free version. (Reuters)
QUICK RECAP
Kristen Welker & Peter Alexander named Chief White House correspondents for NBC News. (Alex Weprin/Twitter)
Jon Decker moves from Fox News Radio to Gray TV. (TVNewser)
Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews named CBS News Washington bureau chief. (ViacomCBS Press Express)
Mark Strassman has been named senior national correspondent for CBS News’ Face The Nation. (TVNewser)
MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart named a regular contributor on PBS NewsHour. (TVNewser)
Dan Le Batard finally leaves ESPN. (Awful Announcing)
Dan Le Batard and his former ESPN boss John Skipper to launch a sports content company. (Sports Business Journal)
Stephen J. Alder steps down as Reuters Editor-In-Chief. (Talking Biz News)
Steve Scully returns to C-SPAN. (TVNewser)
Disney Plus to launch in Singapore. (Variety)
NFL regular season ratings wrap-up. (Sports Media Watch)
Struum: A streaming service to make watching streaming services easier is set to launch. (Wall Street Journal)
Katie Couric to guest host Jeopardy! (Steve Battaglio/Twitter)
Olympic rings return to NBC bugs. (NewscastStudio)
Politician Jeff Flake is now a CNN contributor. (Jeremy Barr/Twitter)
Dana Strong becomes the new CEO of the Sky Group. (Variety)
Roku grows to 51.2 million active monthly users in December. (MediaPost)
2020 Fourth Quarter Ratings: CNN becomes #1 in the 25-54 demo. (CNN Pressroom)
Supercross and Pro Motocross are moving to Peacock Premium. (The Streamable)
Stephen A Smith’s new ESPN+ show debut’s on Monday, January 11. (ESPN Press Room)
Golf Channel’s Golf Today debuted from its new studios in Stamford, Connecticut. (NewscastStudio)
FuboTV has a strong fourth quarter. (MediaPost)
ABC to air UFC fights. (John Ourand/Twitter)
Roku buys the rights to Quibi’s content. (Axios)
SportsNation debuts Monday, January 11 on ESPN+. (ESPN Press Room)
Fox News wants its viewers to be angry but not violent. (Vox)
CBS, NBC, FOX getting more ad time during the NFL playoffs. (Wall Street Journal)
Netflix raises its prices in the UK. (The Guardian)
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