Weekly Recap of Broadcast & Cable News Media, Sports Media, & Streaming Media
LEAD STORY
News Networks Revamp Their Lineups
With the Biden administration ready to take charge in the next few days news networks are reworking their anchor and correspondent assignments. Fox News, CNN, and CBS News this week announced new roles for some of their high profile talent. Networks typically rework their talent assignments, especially those based in Washington, D.C, every four years rewarding those who excelled during the campaign and election periods.
Fox News announced a new weekday anchor schedule that they hope will stem viewer erosion as some of its loyal viewers have migrated to more conservative networks like Newsmax and OANN.
The biggest change is the addition of another hour of opinionated programming to its evening lineup — the newsy 7 pm ET slot, which was anchored by Martha MacCollum, will be replaced by an opinionated show with a permanent host to be announced later at a later date.
MacCollum will be moved to the 3 pm ET slot taking over from Bill Hemmer who is moving back to mornings where he will be paired with Dana Perino from 9 am to 11 am ET on America’s Newsroom. Fox News says that moving MacCollum to the afternoon slot should not be viewed as a demotion, but everything about that move smells like one.
Other changes include Harris Faulkner moving to the 11 am ET hour with a new show named The Faulkner Focus. She will continue to be part of the noon show Outnumbered. Sandra Smith will be joined by John Roberts, who leaves the White House beat, to anchor from 1-3 pm ET. The new show will be named America Reports.
These Fox News changes take effect on January 18.
At CNN, they announced some new assignments for its D.C.-based anchors and correspondents with the big one being Jake Tapper gaining an hour, while Wolf Blitzer loses an hour. Tapper’s The Lead will now air from 4-6 pm ET and Blitzer’s The Situation Room will be from 6-7 pm ET.
The network said that Tapper will be CNN’s lead anchor for all Washington events and Blitzer will be a principal anchor for major breaking news events.
CNN also announced that Abby Phillip will take over from John King on Sunday mornings anchoring Inside Politics Sunday from 8-9 am ET. Dana Bash has been named co-anchor of State of the Union and will anchor the show two Sundays a month with Tapper anchoring the other two. The show will also be renamed State of the Union with Jake Tapper and Dana Bash.
These changes take effect on January 24th.
Jim Acosta moves on from the White House and becomes an anchor and chief domestic correspondent for CNN. While Pamela Brown becomes the anchor of CNN Newsroom on Saturdays and Sundays from 6-9 pm ET, beginning January 23rd.
On the correspondent front, CNN named Kaitlan Collins chief White House correspondent while Phil Mattingly becomes senior White House correspondent. They will also be joined by Arlette Saenz, Jeremy Diamond, John Harwood, MJ Lee, Kate Bennett, Kevin Liptak, and Jasmine Wright.
Jeff Zeleny has been named chief national affairs correspondent and will also cover the first year of the Biden White House. Joe Johns remains senior Washington correspondent, as does Sunlen Serfaty and Suzanne Malveaux.
Meanwhile, Manu Raju has been named CNN’s chief congressional correspondent. He will be joined by correspondents Jessica Dean, Lauren Fox, Ryan Nobles, and Daniella Diaz.
Over at CBS News, Nancy Cordes becomes chief White House correspondent while Ed O’Keefe and Weijia Jiang become senior White House correspondents. Replacing Cordes at Capitol Hill will be Nikole Killion and Kris Van Cleave assuming the role of CBS News congressional correspondents.
Paula Reid, who was based at the White House, will now report out of the Washington bureau, Ben Tracy becomes senior national and environmental correspondent leaving the transportation beat, which will be taken over by Errol Barnett.
(TVNewser, The Daily Beast, CNN Press Room, TVNewser)
RECAP
Shawna Thompson Named Executive Producer of CBS This Morning
CBS has finally found an executive producer for its morning show CBS This Morning. Shawna Thompson, who will assume this role beginning February 1, takes over from interim EPs Jon Tower and Claudia Milne who filled in after Dianna Miller’s sudden departure. Thomas is an Emmy award-winning producer who was most recently at Quibi where she was a content development executive working on short-form news programming from CBS News, NBC News, and BBC News. Thomas will be in charge of steering Gayle King, Anthony Mason, and Tony Dokouplil through the intense morning news show battles. CBS This Morning, which focuses more on hard news, still languishes in third place behind Good Morning America and the Today Show. (TVNewser)
Fox News’ Susan Scott Is Feeling The Heat
Since Election Night all has not been good at Fox News — the network has seen a steady decline in viewers due to reasons such as its early call of Arizona for Joe Biden, which has put its CEO, Susan Scott, in an uncomfortable position. Fox Corp head Rupert Murdoch has taken more of an active role at the network which has led to speculation that Scott and Fox News president Jay Wallace’s days at the network are numbered. Scott has been running things since the late Roger Ailes was forced out in 2016 and took the network to new heights. She has also been accused of staying silent while Ailes’ sexual misdeeds took place and has been unable to corral its primetime stars. (The Daily Beast)
CNN’s Post Election Surge May Be Jeff Zucker’s Swan Song
There has been rampant speculation that Jeff Zucker’s time at CNN might be coming to an end and if it does then the success CNN has been experiencing the past few months would have him leaving on a high note. Zucker who has not been too happy with some of the changes made by WarnerMedia’s CEO Jason Kilar may exit the network after the busy news period. CNN has been at the top of the 25-54 ratings demo for 61 straight days, something it has not done in 21 years. The network had its highest ratings ever during the Capitol insurrection on January 6, was the most-watched network during Donald Trump’s second impeachment, and looks to benefit again this Wednesday covering the inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Zucker is beloved at CNN and his departure may rattle an organization that’s finally finding its groove. (Variety)
QUICK RECAP
Inauguration 2020: ABC News coverage to be led by George Stephanopoulos, David Muir, Robin Robers, Michael Strahan, and Linsey Davis. (ABC News Public Relations)
Inauguration 2020: NBC News coverage to be led by Lester Holt, Savannah Guthrie, Chuck Todd, and Andria Mitchell. (NBC News Press)
Inauguration 2020: CBS News coverage to be led by Norah O’Donnell beginning at 9 am ET. (ViacomCBS Press Express)
Inauguration 2020: MSNBC coverage to be led by Rachael Maddow, Brian Williams, Nicole Wallace, and Joy Reid. (NBC News Press)
Inauguration 2020: Fox News coverage will be led by Brett Baier and Martha MacCallum starting at 11 am ET. (Fox News)
Inauguration 2020: Fox Broadcast coverage to be led by Harris Faulkner starting at 11 am ET. (Fox News)
Inauguration 2020: Shep Smith to lead coverage on CNBC starting at 11 am ET. (CNBC)
Inauguration 2020: Soledad O'Brien and Mark Lamont Hill to lead coverage for BET. (ViacomCBS Press Express)
Inauguration 2020: Broadcast nets, as well as CNN and MSNBC, will air a 90-minute inauguration special hosted by Tom Hanks. (Politico)
NBC News shuffles its executive ranks. (TVNewser)
CNN Airport will be shut down on March 31. (Los Angeles Times)
Peter Doocy named Fox News White House correspondent. (Paul Farhi/Twitter)
Former WarnerMedia executive Donna Speciale named Univision Ad chief. (MediaPost)
Vegas Tenold is joining Vice News as a producer and correspondent. (Vegas Tenold/Twitter)
Janice Johnston named executive producer of ABC News’ magazine show 20/20. (ABC News Public Relations)
Fox Nation to be led by Fox News marketing chief Jason Klarman. (MediaPost)
Chief political analyst David Dowd is leaving ABC News. (TVNewser)
ESPN’s vice president of Talent Rob Savinelli is leaving the network. (Andrew Marchand/Twitter)
Univision to launch ad-supported streaming service PrendeTV. (Axios)
NFL Wild Card Playoffs ratings below expectations. (Sports Media Watch)
Peacock launches a new weekly series from NBC News hosted by Gadi Schwartz. (TVNewser)
Netflix showcases its movie slate - to show a new movie every week. (Quartz)
Amazon Prime is trying to get the rights to Italy’s Serie A football league. (Bloomberg)
CNN wins impeachment day ratings. (CNN Press Room)
NBCU’s Peacock reaches 52 million users, aims for $2 billion in revenue by 2024. (MediaPost)
Hulu gets its first exclusively produced news show from ABC News. (TVNewser)
Disney’s CEO Bob Chapek joins ESPN virtual town hall. (ESPN Press Room)
Speed skating streaming coverage moving from NBC Gold to Peacock Premium. (NBC Sports Group Press Box)
Netflix is still going strong even without The Office. (AdWeek)
Fox News remains silent in dealing with its talent incendiary rhetoric days after Capitol riots. (NPR)
FuboTV buys sports betting company Victory. (MediaPost)
NBCUniversal to start up Tokyo Olympics Ad Sales. (Variety)
Former ESPNer Jemel Hill looking to partner with Bob LeBatard and John Skipper. (Sports Business Journal)
NFL looking to have more games on networks like Nickelodeon after a successful playoff showing. (ABC News)
Fox News held a presentation to reassure advertisers. (Daily Beast)
Discrimination lawsuit filed against Turner Sports, WarnerMedia by Casey Stern. (Awful Announcing)
Former ESPN anchor Trey Wingo will be calling golf for PGA Tour Live. (Golf Week)
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