LEAD STORY
Chris Cuomo To Join NewsNation
After a more than nine-month absence, Chris Cuomo is ready to be back on the air. The former CNN anchor is to host a primetime show on the fledgling cable news network, NewsNation, owned by Nexstar Media.
Cuomo’s new weeknight show will debut on October 3 at 8 pm ET. He will join Dan Abrams and former CNNer Ashleigh Banfield in hosting primetime shows for NewsNation.
He was unceremoniously let go from CNN last November after additional information came to light regarding his involvement with his brother’s, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, sexual harassment allegations. The network was also made aware of a sexual misconduct allegation against the news anchor.
In response to being let go, Cuomo hit CNN with a $125 million wrongful termination lawsuit back in March.
Cuomo’s departure led to a cascading of events that resulted in the ouster of Jeff Zucker, CNN’s former president, and Allison Gollust, head of marketing and PR for the network. Chris Licht now leads CNN and recently announced that Kristine Coratti Kelly would be filling the role vacated by Gollust.
Cuomo’s standing amongst his former on-air colleagues is very low because he was the one who got Zucker to resign from CNN. Zucker was well-liked by CNN talent, and his absence is still felt throughout the network’s corridors.
For his part, Cuomo is ready to reestablish his media presence. In addition to his new cable news show, he has launched a new podcast, The Chris Cuomo Project. He appeared on Abrams’ show for his first TV interview post-CNN and said he wants to build something special at NewsNation.
NewsNation, compared to the big three cable news networks, barely makes a dent in the ratings game. The network is trying to steer clear of partisanship with its programming as it tries to find a space in the highly competitive genre. Unfortunately, its highest-rated show is a Blue Bloods rerun, which pulls in an average of 350,000 total viewers an episode.
The network hopes that by having Cuomo, it will be able to lure his fans to the network, thus raising its stature. Realistically they may not get the nearly 2 million viewers Cuomo regularly pulled while at CNN. Still, even a fifth of that audience may be considered a success for that network and Cuomo.
(New York Post, Axios, CNN Press Room, Forbes)
RECAP
Charles Barkley To Remain With Turner Sports
After receiving overtures to join LIV Golf, Charles Barkley has decided that he wants to remain with Turner Sports. Barkley, for the last few weeks, seriously toyed with the idea of jumping from the comforts of what he knew best, which is basketball, to join the LIV Golf TV crew. The Saudi-funded LIV Golf has become a disruptor in the golfing space luring golf players away from the PGA Tournament by offering better payments. LIV Golf doesn’t have a TV presence in the US yet, and it is looking for media partners and an on-air crew to give it the much-needed visibility. One way of going about it was to sign-up big names and personalities by offering more money, and it doesn’t get any bigger than Barkley. In the end, Barkley said he chose to remain with Turner Sports, saying, “Turner and basketball have given me every single thing in my life. It is best for me to move on and I’m staying with Turner for the rest of my TV career.” (New York Post)
NFL launches NFL Plus
If you can’t beat them, join them— Add the NFL to the growing list of companies launching a streaming service, and, unsurprisingly, it will have the “Plus” suffix. NFL Plus launched this past week, offering subscribers a chance to stream local or nationally broadcast regular-season and postseason games, but only on a mobile device. This feature was free on the Yahoo Sports app in previous years. Retailing at $4.99 per month or $39.99 per year, subscribers will also have access to all out-of-market preseason games, some NFL Network shows, and the NFL Films archives. Existing TV deals do not give it a lot of legroom to add more exclusive games, but that could change depending on how many subscribers NFL Plus acquires. The NFL joins the NBA and MLB in launching a streaming service that gives them a vehicle to showcase games and generate additional income. (CNBC and Washington Post)
Peacock Doesn’t Add Subscribers In The 2nd Quarter
During Comcast’s second-quarter earnings call, the company reported that its streaming service Peacock did not add new subscribers to its paid Premium tier and remained with its previous total of 13 million subscribers. As it continues to build up, the streaming service lost $467 million in operational expenses, up from $363 million in 2021. Peacock did not have any buzzworthy titles during this period that would have helped it drive up subscriptions, although it did acquire Bravo’s titles this past May, which moved from Hulu. The return of the English Premier League and the NFL should help move the needle. The streaming service launched a new interface and added a “Catch Up” feature allowing viewers to watch key plays from the Premier League after a game has already begun. Peacock, in 2023 will debut new movies starring LeBron James, Chloe Bailey, and John Woo. (The Streamable)
QUICK RECAP
Former CBS News producer Diane Rona passes away. (CBS News)
Former Trump aide, Alyssa Farah Griffin, joins ABC News’ The View. (Vanity Fair)
Former CNN International anchor, Stan Grant, was named permanent host for Q+A on Australia’s ABC. (The Guardian)
Versatile play-by-play announcer Jason Benetti joins Fox Sports. (Fox Sports Press Pass)
Kat Terrel rejoins ESPN as a New Orleans Saints reporter. (ESPN PR/Twitter)
Megan Pratz moves to NPR from Cheddar. (Talking Biz News)
Former CNN anchor Christi Paul was named anchor for NBC affiliate WKYC in Cleveland. (TVSpy)
Pierre Moossa was named director for Amazon’s Thursday Night Football. (Sports Video Group)
Raney Aronson-Rath becomes editor-in-chief of PBS’ Frontline. (TVNewser)
Ian Darke joins Fox Sports as a play-by-play announcer for this year’s FIFA World Cup in Qatar. (Fox Sports Press Pass)
Former NFL QB Brock Osweiler joins ESPN as a college football analyst. (Awful Announcing)
John Keefe jumps from CNN to The New York Times as their weather data editor. (The New York Times)
Mike Moon departs Netflix; he was their head of adult animation. (Deadline)
ESPN and Turner Sports see ratings boost from MLB’s Subway Series. (Sports Media Watch)
ABC News and CNN lead in news and documentary Emmy nominations. (The Hollywood Reporter)
NBC News throws a party for Pete Williams before he retires. (TVNewser)
NBC News’ Pete Williams honored as he retires. (Today Show/Twitter)
CNN’s Alex Marquardt speaks on support for war journalists’ health and safety. (Deadline)
This year’s World Track and Field Championship on NBC is the most watched in years. (Sports Media Watch)
Warner Bros. Discovery is set to report its 2nd quarter earnings this week. (Deadline)
SAG-AFTRA union recognized by PBS NewsHour Productions. (Next TV)
Is there a rift between Donald Trump and Fox News? (The Hill)
Rich Eisen re-signs with the NFL Network. (Rich Eisen Show/Twitter)
Warner Bros. Discovery names its ad sales leadership team and its new chief global diversity, equity, and inclusion officer. (Warner Bros. Discovery)
Which way is it for pro sports leagues, ownership of content channels, or TV rights deals? (The Hollywood Reporter)
Warner Bros. Discovery announces programming for various journalism conferences this year. (Variety)
Hulu to begin airing political issue ads. (Axios)
Warner Bros. Discovery and the UK’s British Telecom receive okay to merge the sports broadcasting business. (Reuters)
Daryl Johnston could be named the No. 2 NFL game analyst at Fox Sports. (Front Office Sports)
ESPN on TikTok passes 25 million viewers. (ESPN Front Row)
ABC News launches ABC News Studios. (ABC News Public Relations)
What is the new game plan for ESPN/ESPN Plus? (MediaPost)
Fan Duel to launch sports betting network. (The Streamable)
CBS Stations launches a new evening newscast for its independent and CW-affiliated stations. (TVSpy)
NFL Network’s Good Morning Football debuts its new team. (Good Morning Football/Twitter)
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A MarkHenry Media LLC publication - Issue #95 - 2022