Jeffery Toobin Is Back On CNN
His appearance on TV caught a lot of people by surprise and that also includes those who consider him a coworker. After an eight-month absence, this past Thursday, CNN’s chief legal analyst, Jeffery Toobin, was back on the network’s air.
Toobin had been off the air as a result of unknowingly exposing himself and masturbating in front of his The New Yorker colleagues during a work-related Zoom call. This act led him to be fired by the magazine and CNN placed him on indefinite leave.
His reemergence was on CNN’s afternoon show CNN Newsroom with Alisyn Camerota and Victor Blackwell where he had to explain to Camerota his egregious actions. It was an uncomfortable moment for both of them as Camerota first had to bring viewers up to speed on what happened and then she lobbed the question “What the hell were you thinking?”
Toobin acknowledged and apologized for his transgressions — he said he said he was not defending his actions but was using the time to explain what he was thinking. He said he thought he had closed out of the Zoom call when he was doing what he was doing.
He did think that being let go from The New Yorker was excessive, but he was very grateful that CNN kept him on.
It seems CNN management kept Toobin’s come back a secret as CNN staffers found out at the same time as its viewers. Some staffers were happy to have him back, while others were not happy with the move. CNN’s president, Jeff Zucker, is said to have seriously thought through the various scenarios, but ultimately thought that keeping Toobin around was better than letting him go.
Some have concluded that if you are a high-profile talent at CNN like Toobin and Chris Cuomo then the chances of being let go are extremely low. For the former employees who have been let go for much less, this must feel like a slap in the face.
(New York Times, Curtis Houck/Twitter, Associated Press, TVLine, The Daily Beast)
RECAP
NBC Sports Reveals Its Tokyo Olympics Coverage Plans
With the Tokyo Olympics happening next month NBC Sports has revealed who will be hosting the primetime coverage on each of its cable networks. News anchor Shepherd Smith and Meghan Triplett the host for the Memphis Grizzlies’ morning show will handle duties on CNBC. Golf Channel hosts Cara Banks and Damon Hack will perform anchoring duties on NBCSN, and Carolyn Manno will be at the helm on the Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA. The Olympics coverage will kick off on July 23rd with the Opening Ceremony being shown on NBC. (NBCUnviersal Media Village)
The Jason Kilar Conundrum At WarnerMedia
WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar is the odd person out in the forthcoming merger between WarnerMedia and Discovery Inc. Kilar was excluded from the secret merger discussions that took place between Discovery CEO David Zaslav and AT&T head John Stankey earlier this year. Zaslav will be leading the new company called Warner Bros. Discovery. Kilar has indicated that he will remain with WarnerMedia until May 2022 at the very least and what may seem like a well-intended gesture may actually be more about securing the bag. Kilar stands to make $20 million if he remains with the company until the merger is complete. (The Hollywood Reporter)
Cable News Networks Streaming Plans
Cable news ratings have cooled off considerably in the second quarter of 2021 as a result of a quieter news cycle and the continuous erosion of viewers as they ditch cable. To counter that, the cable news nets, as a way to generate additional revenues, are embracing the streaming game albeit using different strategies. Fox News which was the first one to launch a streaming service with Fox Nation will now air their primetime programming on the service a day later. MSNBC is helping out the Peacock streaming service by launching new programs there, while CNN is looking to build a streaming service from scratch. The working title for the streaming service is CNN Plus and it’s expected to launch later in the year. (The Hollywood Reporter)
QUICK RECAP
ESPN director Kurt Ackerman passes away. (Awful Announcing)
Former NFL player Charles Woodson was added to the Fox NFL Kickoff pregame show. (New York Post)
Stan Verrett signs a long-term, multi-year deal with ESPN. (ESPN Front Row)
Jason Whitlock joinsThe Blaze. (Michael McCarthy/Twitter)
Netflix starts a merch store. (Axios)
The UK’s GB News talks about its news mission. (City AM)
The Friends Reunion scores huge signups for HBO Max. (The Wrap)
ESPN is looking to set up its own betting sportsbooks. (Front Office Sports)
How Fox News became radicalized by its viewers. (The New Republic)
CNN lawyer was under a strict gag order as Trump DOJ looked at Barbara Starr’s e-mail records. (CNN)
Amazon lands the TV rights to the French soccer league, Ligue 1. (Front Office Sports)
Kevin Weeks, AJ Mlezko Griswold, and Ryan Callahan added to ESPN’s NHL coverage. (Awful Announcing)
The success of Lupin is the blueprint for Netflix’s global ambitions. (AdWeek)
Jeff Gordon could be leavingFOX Sports’ NASCAR coverage. (Awful Announcing)
Bloomberg TV and Radio makes changes to its political broadcast ream. (TVNewser)
Alex Smith, Mark Sanchez held NFL analyst auditions with CBS Sports. (New York Post)
Former CNNer Elisa Berkowitz Gill talks about what happens after being let go. (Poynter)
ABC News, PBS, CNN, CBS News, and NBC News and MSNBC win Gracie Awards. (ABC News/Twitter, PBS/Twitter, CNN/Twitter, CBS News/Twitter, NBC News/Twitter)
The UK’s Sky invests in original programming as it looks to take on Netflix. (Bloomberg Business Week)
Sinclair Broadcast Group is raising $250 million for its new streaming service. (New York Post)
CNN adds two new docuseries to its summer schedule. (CNN Press Room)
ESPN wins nine Sports Emmys. (ESPN Press Room)
Noah Oppenheim president of NBC News talks about the company’s streaming plans. (TVNewser)
WarnerMedia joins Comscore’s Addressable Measurement Trial. (MediaPost)
MLB play-by-play announcers will be back calling games in stadiums soon. (Awful Announcing)
NBC News’ streaming channel, Today All Day, launches new programs. (TVNewser)
News websites like CNN were hit by internet outages. (MediaPost)
ESPN’s Chiney Ogwumike gets her own podcast. (Michael McCarthy/Twitter)
Paramount Plus added more than 1,000 movies to its catalog. (Variety)
NBC News’ Savannah Guthrie marks 10 years anchoring Today. (Los Angeles Times)
CNN’s Max Foster honored by AdWeek in their Creative 100 issue. (TVNewser)
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A MarkHenry Media LLC publication - issue #59 - 2021