The Makeover of CBS News
CBS News has been very busy this year, and a lot of what they have been working on is now starting to bear fruit. The network, which lags behind its rivals in morning and evening dayparts, has been switching things around in an effort to improve its standing.
The most significant change happened at the beginning of this month with their morning show CBS This Morning, which was rebranded to CBS Mornings, dropped Anthony Mason, added former NFL player Nate Burleson to the anchor mix, and moved their base to a new studio in Times Square.
Neeraj Khemlani and Wendy McMahon, the co-presidents of the news division, are emphasizing uniformity with these changes. According to Khemlani, CBS Mornings and CBS Saturday Morning will mirror the look and news style of their popular Sunday show CBS Sunday Morning.
In keeping with their uniformity theme CBS News, this week announced that their streaming service CBSN, which launched in 2014, will be going through a change as well. Later this year, the streaming service will be renamed to CBS News and they will move its studio to the former studio of CBS This Morning, which will undergo significant renovations (as seen above) to accommodate its latest tenant.
Khemlani believes that by operating as a unified unit CBS News will be able to have a choreography of coverage across their various platforms, that will include unparalleled and expansive on-the-ground reporting.
It will be interesting to see if this latest makeover attempt will resonate with the viewers they are seeking. Will more people start turn to the network for news programming and updates or will the network continue to be the most-watched only on Sundays?
(CBS News, NewscastStudio, Variety)
RECAP
Netflix Says No To Sports Except Formula 1
The success of the Formula 1: Drive to Survive docuseries on Netflix has caused the streaming service to think twice about whether it should dip its feet in live sports content. Netflix now says that if it were to acquire any live sports, it would think about acquiring Formula 1. The docuseries has been responsible for a 39% increase in popularity for the sport since 2019, and such numbers have made participating in live sports enticing for the streamer. Netflix CEO Ed Hastings says that for them to do live sports, it would require a level of exclusivity that sporting leagues don’t usually provide. (Front Office Sports)
Former ABC News Producer Accuses CNN’s Chris Cuomo Of Sexual Harassment
Shelly Ross, a former producer at ABC News wrote an opinion piece in the New York Times where she said that CNN anchor sexually harassed her while he was at ABC News. Ross said that at a colleague’s going away party Cuomo grabbed her buttock cheek inappropriately when greeting her. Ross and her husband immediately left the party, and soon after, she received an e-mail from Cuomo, who apologized for his actions. CNN has not responded to this latest revelation, but one can only assume that such situations are making the relationship between Cuomo and the network even more toxic. (New York Times)
NFL Announces Monday Night Game For Super Wild Card Weekend
This NFL season will be a season of firsts — it’s the first season to feature 17 regular games, it will also be the first season with an expanded playoffs structure, and it will be the first time there will be a Monday night game during the playoffs. The Wild Card Weekend will now be known as the Super Wild Card Weekend as it’s been expanded from four games to six. Two games will be played on Saturday, three games on Sunday, and one on Monday. Fox and ESPN/ABC will each air one game, while CBS and NBC will air two. What has not been determined yet is who will get to air the Monday night game. (Jeffrey Agrest/Twitter)
QUICK RECAP
NBC News names Meghan Rafferty executive producer of NBC Nightly News. (Deadline)
Malika Andrews named new host for ESPN’s NBA Today. (Washington Post)
Michael Strahan signs an extension with ABC News. (TVNewser)
NBC News announces new reporter hires. (Janelle Rodriguez/Twitter)
CNN Plus announces its management team. (Deadline)
AppleTV+ and these other streamers have less than 20 million subscribers. (CNBC)
NFL’s Sunday Ticket might be going to AppleTV Plus. (Engadget)
Viewers named HBO Max as the best streaming service. (The Streamable)
MyPillow will be back on Fox News after a brief standoff. (Wall Street Journal)
ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown to broadcast from Gillette Stadium this coming Sunday. (ESPN Press Room)
Disney Plus re-introduces a seven-day free trial as growth slows. (MediaPost)
Netflix, Hulu beat “video service providers fee” in Lancaster, California. (The Hollywood Reporter)
ESPN’s Adam Schefter is under fire for his gambling app investment with an NFL owner. (Tim O’Brien/Twitter)
Rudy Giuliani has been banned from Fox News. (Politico)
ESPN to celebrate 20 years of Pardon The Interruption. (Awful Announcing)
Disney will not investigate sexual assault investigation at ABC News. (Wall Street Journal)
Check out the studio for NBC News Now’s Top Story. (NewscastStudio)
Whoopi Goldberg to remain on ABC News’ The View for another four years. (The Hollywood Reporter)
MSNBC’s news shows move to a new studio. (NewscastStudio)
DAZN looking to acquire UK’s BT Sport to get the EPL. (Front Office Sports/Twitter)
Netflix buys the Roald Dahl Story Company. (The Hollywood Reporter)
Disney announces what it has in store for Disney Plus Day. (What’s On Disney Plus)
Discovery CEO believes the upcoming merger with WarnerMedia will result in a more extensive library than Netflix’s. (The Streamable)
Paramount Plus and Showtime are being offered as a bundled deal. (Alex Zalben/Twitter)
Fox Business overhauls its primetime lineup. (Variety)
NASCAR wants part of the streaming money in the next TV contract deal. (The Streamable)
Netflix is offering a free plan to woo Kenyan subscribers. (Reuters)
Al Michaels might move from NBC Sports’ SNF to Amazon’s TNF. (Front Office Sports/Twitter)
CNN employees to return to the office in 2022. (Oliver Darcy/Twitter)
Streaming services win big at the Emmys. (AdWeek)
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A MarkHenry Media LLC publication - Issue #64 - 2021