LEAD STORY
Meet Wake Up With Cheddar’s Baker Machado & Shannon LaNier
This week TVNewser featured an interview with Cheddar News’ “morning dream team” of Baker Machado and Shannon LaNier.
Despite being on a digital news channel, the two, alongside Katie Sands, are determined to stand out and get Cheddar News to be part of the morning conversation.
Check out the rest of the interview below.
I can’t help but notice this is a male-led morning show; what do you think about that?
Lanier – I haven't seen every program. But definitely, you know, we’re one that you won't want to turn off. I can say that.
Machado – I've been on Wake Up with Cheddar for five years now since we started the show. This is actually the first time my co-host has been a male. I’ve always had a female co-host, and that's not to say that, like, you know, we're working with Katie Sands, our other correspondent, and she's been with us as much as possible. So I wouldn't say that we're male-led; I definitely would say, like, we're a three-person panel with Katie Sands. But I've never really thought about us having two males on the show.
Lanier – And then we have Arielle (Hixson), who joins us from DC with our politics every morning, too. So I think it's a nice balance of a little bit of everything.
Machado – Yes, we are male lead, but also, you know, I'm openly gay, you know, you're (Shannon Lanier) are a person of color. Like I also feel like that is a separate sort of element that we're also adding out there as well.
Lanier – Diversity is definitely alive on the show.
That leads to the next question. Your show is probably, one of the few shows, or maybe the only show that right now that is diverse in the morning, outside of Today, GMA, and CBS mornings.
Lanier – Well, that's one of the things that Cheddar, I think, takes pride in working really hard because we want our program to reflect our viewers. So you know, and I think that we come from so many different backgrounds. And that's why our anchor team here is so diverse, not just on our show but on other shows.
Machado – Yeah, it's such a good point. I mean, that's been the case that's been Cheddar’s, you know, M.O., since I started here, you know, six years ago, when the company launched. It was always wanting to be sort of forward-thinking but also represent the broad swath of things because we never wanted that network to sort of be this traditional stodgy old, white, you know, network.
What does it take to prepare for the morning show, and what do you guys do after?
Machado – I don't think you ever get used to like…
Lanier – You cope.
Machado – I mean, like, I think Shannon gets up around the same time as me. I get up at three forty-five/ four o'clock in the morning, and I've done that for five years, and I don't think I've ever gotten used to that. I think Robin Roberts even said she has never gotten used to it.
Lanier – This is later than another show I worked on. We started at 4 am, and we got to the office at four, so this is sleeping in for me.
Machado – So when I get home, I become a really good bartender, so martinis have become my thing of sorts.
Lanier – He shows off his skills on the show. We have other shows that we drink (sic).
Lanier –I try, if I can, when I wake up to work out first, kind of kick start my day. Baker likes coffee; I like a workout. Then we know, bust out the day. Sometimes I try to take a nap after work, but sometimes, if I get out too late if I take a nap, I can't go to bed on time. So that's like a catch-22, do I nap, or do I just, you know, go for it? Once I get home, once I am with the kids, there is no napping.
Machado – Once Shannon gets into the office, and where he and I are combing through our scripts, you know, we'll listen to music, we'll do something like that puts us sort of in a really good mood. So that way, when we start the show, Shannon and I are always in a great headspace.
Shannon, you talked about your kids; how does working mornings affect your family life, especially when dealing with your kids?
Lanier – Sometimes, it's difficult to get everybody to go to bed on time. You know, the mornings are the worst time to be a parent anyway because you got to get everybody. Nobody wants to wake up; they don't want to get dressed; they want to go slow, and you got to get them out the door.
Machado – Especially your kids, Shannon, your kids got a lot of energy.
Lanier – A lot! So I don't mind missing that. I feel sorry for my wife. But she's a good drill sergeant. She gets them up and out the door on time, and they never miss the bus. But I like to be there when they're out of school, and they're happier and tell me about their day. I shuffle them around to tutoring to basketball or soccer to all these different activities. But I like to be a part of those things. So I think that's the most impactful part of their day, not the mornings when they're groggy and like you see them for like 45 minutes before they out the door. So I like being available for them. So I can participate in those parts of their life. Because my mom was a teacher, and a lot of times she wasn't able to go to all those activities for me. So I'm making it a point to be able to go to as many things as possible that I can that are impactful to their life and to them growing up. So it can, I guess, positively affect them.
Machado – By the way, one thing Shannon didn't mention is he talks to his wife and his kids during commercial breaks. I mean, it's so cute. It's so adorable. His wife will say we're on our way to school and he will say Have a great day at school during the commercial break. Still, how ingrained he is in his kids’ life, and I think it's so amazing.
(TVNewser)
RECAP
Fox News And News Corp May Be One Again
Fox News Media's parent company Fox Corp is in talks with News Corp about re-combining their assets. The two media companies, owned by Rupert Murdoch, used to all be under the same umbrella until they split in 2015. Murdoch separated the print assets, which were seen as slow-growth vehicles, from the broadcast, cable, and movie assets, which were doing very well at that time. Since then, the Fox assets have become even smaller and vulnerable due to the cable, minus Fox News, and studio assets being sold to Disney in 2019. Discussions are at an early stage, but both media houses have formed a special committee to look into the merger. (Wall Street Journal$$$, Axios)
Netflix With Ads To Launch On November 3 For $6.99
Netflix has set the launch date and monthly price point for its much-anticipated ad tier for November 3 and at $6.99. The ad-supported tier will launch in 12 countries, including the U.S. Netflix says that the ads will run before and after Netflix shows and will be 15 or 30 seconds long. The streamer also says they will run an average of four to five minutes of ads within each hour. Shows within the ad tier will be tracked by Nielsen beginning in 2023. Unfortunately, a small number of shows and movies will not be available on the ad tier plan due to licensing restrictions. With the cheaper ad-supported tier, Netflix hopes they can bring back the subscribers who had dropped the service due to rising subscription prices. (CNBC, Axios)
Amazon Looking To Go After NBA Media Rights
Now that it understands the mechanics of live streaming a high-profile sports game with its Thursday Night Football, Amazon is turning its focus to the NBA. The NBA is expecting north of $75 billion for its next media rights package, which is set to begin in 2025, and Amazon's Prime Video could be one of the media entities making a play for those rights. Currently, the rights are being tightly held by Warner Bros. Discovery's TNT and Disney's ESPN/ABC. In the same way cable was viewed as the next frontier in live sports coverage in the 20th century, streaming may be that in this century. AppleTVPlus will, at the start of the 2023 season, be the streaming home of the MLS, and the success of that will determine what the future will look like for the NBA, MLB, and eventually the NFL as they encounter technology companies with deep pockets encroaching in areas that were usually reserved for media titans. (Front Office Sports)
QUICK RECAP
Phil Lipof joins ABC News as a New York-based correspondent. (ABC News Public Relations)
Veronica Miracle joins CNN as a San Francisco-based correspondent. (CNN Press Room)
Daysia Tolentino joins NBC News as a culture and trends reporter. (Daysia Tolentino/Twitter)
Former NFL player Marshawn Lynch joins Amazon Prime's Thursday Night Football pre-game show. (New York Post)
Netflix adds three executives to its adult animation unit. (The Hollywood Reporter)
Eboni K. Williams and Marc Lamont Hill to host new shows on theGrio. (Broadcasting & Cable)
Michelle Beadle, Shams Charania, and Chandler Parsons to launch FanDuel show. (New York Post)
Charles Barkley signs a new contract with Warner Bros. Discovery.
Profile: Larry Jones is Fox Sports’ deal closer. (Sports Business Journal)
Profile: 60 Minutes’ Lesley Stahl celebrates 50 years at CBS News. (USA Today)
Canada’s Global News rebrands. (NewscastStudio)
CNN and MSNBC are battling for 2nd place at 9 pm. (Variety)
Disney Plus to raise subscription price. (Vulture)
Ian Eagle’s son Noah to call his first NFL game. (Awful Announcing)
BloombergTV is expanding its presence in Africa. (Talking Biz News)
NFL Sunday Ticket is still up for grabs despite Apple being in the driver’s seat. (CNBC)
Fox Sports to avoid covering sensitive issues during next month’s World Cup in Qatar. (Fútbol with Grant Wahl)
Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime is bringing a large percentage of the 18-34 demo. (Los Angeles Times)
Speedvision to return as a FAST channel. (The Hollywood Reporter)
CNN's new morning show gets a name. (Associated Press)
What did CNN's new weekday and primetime look like? (NewcastStudio)
Wayne Gretzky is serious about his NHL on TNT role. (The Hollywood Reporter)
3 pm blackout could be lifted in the next EPL TV deal. (The Guardian)
MSNBC's Steve Kornacki to host special midterm election show on Fridays. (NBCUniversal Media Village)
This Is Life with Lisa Ling returns for its ninth season on CNN. (CNN Press Room)
CNBC accidentally posted a story that Rev. Jesse Jackson had died. (Talking Biz News)
CNN quietly ends its NFT marketplace. (The Verge)
NFL teams in 23 markets see gains in local TV ratings. (Sports Business Journal)
ESPN's NBA Countdown crew returns for a new season. (ESPN Press Room)
CNN journalists apologize for entering the Thai daycare center crime scene. (Forbes)
Correction: In Issue 101, we misspelled the quarterback's last name for the Miami Dolphins. His name is Tua Tagovailoa. The last name was corrected in the website version of the newsletter, but the email version still had the incorrect last name.
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A MarkHenry Media LLC publication - Issue #103 - 2022