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Comcast announced a plan Wednesday to spin off most of its cable television networks into a separate publicly traded company. The new company will include the USA Network, CNBC, MSNBC, Oxygen, E!, SYFY and the Golf Channel. Comcast will retain key NBCUniversal assets, including the NBC broadcast network, NBC News, NBC Sports, the streaming service Peacock, and the cable channel Bravo. The move comes as the traditional cable television bundle faces stiff economic headwinds, most notably the rise of cord-cutting and the shift to streaming alternatives. Matt Strauss will become chairman of the NBCUniversal Media Group.

Persons: Mike Cavanagh, ” Cavanagh, “, Cavanagh, Mark Lazarus, Anand Kini, Dan Ives, ”, ” Rich Greenfield, ” Greenfield, Cesar Conde, Conde “, ” Donna Langley, Peacock, Matt Strauss, Mark Woodbury Organizations: Comcast, USA Network, CNBC, MSNBC, SYFY, Golf Channel, NBC, NBC News, NBC Sports, Bravo, Wall Street Journal, Wedbush Securities, LightShed Partners, Wednesday, NBCUniversal, Group, Telemundo, NBCUniversal Entertainment, Studios, NBCUniversal Media, Universal, General Electric, Netflix, Amazon Prime Locations: NBCUniversal

☆ Comcast to spin off its cable channels, including MSNBC and CNBC, into separate company
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-19 | by ( Brian Stelter | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —Comcast is planning to spin off most of its cable television networks, including MSNBC and CNBC, into a separate publicly traded company, according to executives with knowledge of the plan. The spinoff is expected to be formally announced on Wednesday. The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the impending announcement on Tuesday evening, said the involved channels also include USA, Oxygen, E!, Syfy and Golf Channel. While observers may view the spinoff as an attempt to shed cable channels that are losing value in the streaming age, the channels still contribute strong profits to Comcast’s bottom line. Wall Street analysts are predicting further consolidation of major media companies in the years ahead.

Persons: Mark Lazarus, Mike Cavanaugh, Craig Moffett, MoffettNathanson, ” Organizations: New, New York CNN, Comcast, MSNBC, CNBC, Street, Syfy, Golf, Bravo, NBC, NBC Sports, NBCUniversal Media, Wall Street, NBCUniversal News Locations: New York, USA

☆ Does Trump really want his VP to have the final debate word this election?
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-21 | by ( Brian Stelter | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —Does Donald Trump really want his running mate, JD Vance, to have the final debating word this fall? The only remaining agreed-to debate of this presidential election season is the October 1 face-off between the vice presidential nominees, Vance and Tim Walz. CBS is hosting the VP debate and allowing other networks to simulcast the matchup, just as CNN did in June and ABC did earlier this month. The Harris campaign signaled that it would be interested, but only after the VP debate. The first two presidential debates this year were indisputably valuable to the tens of millions of voters who tuned in.

Persons: New York CNN —, Donald Trump, JD Vance, Trump, Kamala Harris, Vance, Tim Walz, Walz, Joe Biden, Harris, Biden, Jen O’Malley Dillon, “ Trump, Larry Sabato, ” Organizations: New, New York CNN, CNN, CBS, ABC, Biden, Trump, NBC, Center, Politics, University of Virginia Locations: New York, Atlanta

☆ Paramount to lay off 15% of staff amid brutal period in media
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-08 | by ( Liam Reilly | Jon Passantino | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —Paramount Global, the storied media conglomerate, announced Thursday it will lay off 15% of its US staff and write down $6 billion in value of its cable television networks as it prepares to merge with Skydance Media. Discovery, the parent company of CNN, TNT, HGTV and other cable networks, posted a $9.1 billion write down on its television business. “And this impairment acknowledges this.”The recent turbulence in the media business extends well beyond the traditional television industry, affecting digital news outlets and print publications. As profits in the television business have eroded away, Paramount has been hit particularly hard. Paramount said its streaming service Paramount+ posted a $26 million profit after losing $424 million during the same period last year and said it expects subscriber growth in the second half of the year.

Persons: David Ellison’s SkyDance, Chris McCarthy, “, ”, David Zaslav, Axios, Jim VandeHei Organizations: New, New York CNN, Paramount Global, Skydance Media, Paramount, Warner Bros, CNN, TNT, HGTV, Broadcasting, Cable, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, MTV, Discovery, HBO, Max Locations: New York

“This outage is historic in scale,” Mikko Hypponen, a research specialist at the software company WithSecure and a cybercrime adviser to Europol, told DealBook. It issued a software update that is causing Microsoft systems, including its Azure cloud service, to crash or not function properly. Long queues of airline passengers could be seen at airports around the world, with some resorting to manual check-in. In France, the television networks TF1 and Canal+ told the public on X that they could not go on the air on Friday morning. The incident points to how reliant the global economy is on a handful of major tech companies to run vital infrastructure.

Persons: ” Mikko Hypponen, Europol, DealBook, George Kurtz, CrowdStrike, ” Organizations: Microsoft, United, Delta, Airlines, Air France, KLM, Japan Airlines, TF1, Sky Locations: Europe, Asia, France

☆ TV networks prepare letter to Biden and Trump campaigns urging them to commit to 2024 election debates
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-09 | by ( Hadas Gold | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Five of the major US television networks have banded together to draft a letter urging President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump to commit to participating in televised debates ahead of the 2024 election. Frank Fahrenkopf, co-chair for the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates, told CNN he has not yet seen the letter. Biden has not publicly committed to debating Trump, although he has not ruled it out. Trump has posted on social media that he will debate “anytime, anywhere anyplace” despite the Republican National Committee voting unanimously in 2022 to withdraw from the Commission on Presidential Debates. “If there is one thing Americans can agree on during this polarized time, it is that the stakes of this election are exceptionally high,” the TV networks stated in the letter.

Persons: Joe Biden, Donald Trump, “, Frank Fahrenkopf, Biden, Trump, ” Biden, Trump’s, ” Organizations: CNN, NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox News, The New York Times, Republican National, Republican Party, Trump

☆ Some fans are calling 'Where Is Wendy Williams?' documentary 'exploitative' and hard to watch
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Olivia Singh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The documentary was initially conceptualized as a way to follow Williams' career comebackWendy Williams in the documentary "Where Is Wendy Williams?" AdvertisementAs Williams' erratic behavior intensified, the doc's focus shifted to her family's concernKevin Hunter Jr. in "Where Is Wendy Williams?" Producers said they wouldn't have filmed Williams if they were aware of her dementia diagnosisWendy Williams in the documentary "Where Is Wendy Williams?" Wendy Williams in the documentary "Where Is Wendy Williams?" Williams is now at an undisclosed medical facilityWendy Williams in the documentary "Where Is Wendy Williams?"

Persons: —, Wendy Williams, Watchers, Wendy Wiliams, Williams, Sabrina Morrissey, Mark Ford, Ford, Kevin Hunter Jr, Will Selby, Shawn Zanotti, Tommy Williams, Tommy Williams Jr, Wanda Finnie, Alex Finnie, Travis Finnie, Producers, Aramide Tinubu, Wendy, Today.com, Hunter, I've, Wanda, Alex Organizations: Service, Business, TMZ, Hollywood Reporter, E Television Networks, Lifetime, Variety Locations: New York, Williams ' New York

☆ Oscars predictions: ‘Oppenheimer’ seems to be the movie awards voters have been waiting for
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-26 | by ( Brian Lowry | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

A woman poses for a selfie in New York to celebrate the "Barbie" movie on Friday, July 21. Hannah Beier/The Washington Post/Getty Images Cierra Fraser and Joslin Farley pose outside of a theater in Los Angeles on Saturday. Stephanie Keith/Getty Images North America/Getty Images Barbie fan Shannon Douglas poses for a photo Saturday in Somerdale, New Jersey. Hannah Beier/The Washington Post/Getty Images A group of friends gather outside a movie theater in Los Angeles on Friday. Jenna Schoenefeld/The Washington Post/Getty Images A Barbie fan attends a movie showing in New York on Friday.

Persons: CNN — “ Barbie ”, “ Oppenheimer ”, Christopher Nolan’s, “ Oppenheimer, “ Barbie ”, Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan, Cillian Murphy, ”, “, Stephanie Keith, Britney Stewart, Hannah Beier, Cierra Fraser, Joslin Farley, Jenna Schoenefeld, Maria Plascencea, Daniella Galvan, Plascencea, Daniella, Dania Maxwell, Shannon Douglas, Jasmine Vaughn Perrett, Barbie, Perrett, Sophie Davidoff, Ayan Babayeva, Mia Ilyaich, Ayan, Reece Adineh, James Cameron Organizations: CNN, Screen Actors Guild, Producers Guild of America, Academy, Golden Globes, of America, Academy and Universal Pictures, Academy of Motion Picture Arts, Sciences, CNN The Academy, ABC, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Getty, North Locations: New York, Somerdale , New Jersey, Los Angeles, North America, Iran

☆ Wendy Williams documentary will still air this weekend after legal guardian files lawsuit against Lifetime’s parent company
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-23 | by ( Elizabeth | Wagmeister | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

“Lifetime appeared in court today, and the documentary ‘Where Is Wendy Williams?’ will air this weekend, as planned,” a spokesperson for the network told CNN Friday. The legal guardian for Williams had filed suit against Lifetime’s parent company A&E Television Networks on Thursday in a New York State court, the source told CNN. The four-part docuseries, “Where is Wendy Williams?” provides a painfully candid depiction of Williams’ life as she struggles with health issues and alcohol abuse. A representative for Williams’ care team declined to comment on the documentary and would not confirm whether the care team is working in connection with the guardianship. Mark Ford, an executive producer on the documentary project, told CNN that nothing was filmed without Williams’ or her manager’s approval.

Persons: Wendy Williams, “, ”, Williams, Sabrina Morrissey, Wendy Williams Hunter, Morrissey, Mark Ford, ” Ford, Ford, Alex Finnie, “ We’ve, ” Finnie, Earl Gibson, Finnie, Wendy Organizations: CNN, E Television Networks, New York State, Lifetime, BET, Producers Locations: New York, Wells

☆ William Friedkin, Director of ‘French Connection’ and ‘Exorcist,’ Dies at 87
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-07 | by ( William Grimes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Both parents were Jews who had left Ukraine early in the century with their families to escape the tsarist pogroms. His mother, who was known as Rae, was an operating room nurse; his father worked a variety of low-paying jobs. After graduating from Senn High School on Chicago’s North Side in 1953, Mr. Friedkin took a job in the mailroom of the local television station WGN. Within a few years he had worked his way up to director, turning out hundreds of shows, from “Bozo’s Circus” to live performances of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, as well as documentaries. His documentary work coincided with the advent of portable cameras, a decisive influence on his style.

Persons: Friedkin, ” Peter Biskind, “, ” William Friedkin, Billy, Louis, Rachel, Green, Rae, ”, Gene Siskel, Paul Crump, David Wolper Organizations: Riders, Raging Bulls, ‘ Star, ‘ Raiders, Senn High, WGN, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Chicago Tribune, Jail, San Francisco Film Locations: Chicago, Ukraine, Cook, Los Angeles

Appearing on five television networks Sunday morning, a lawyer for former President Donald J. Trump argued that his actions in the effort to overturn the 2020 election fell short of crimes and were merely “aspirational.”The remarks from his lawyer, John F. Lauro, came as Mr. Trump was blanketing his social media platform, Truth Social, with posts suggesting that his legal team was going to seek the recusal of Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, the federal judge overseeing the case, and try to move his trial out of Washington. With his client facing charges carrying decades in prison after a federal grand jury indicted Mr. Trump for his role in trying to overturn the election, his third criminal case this year, Mr. Lauro appeared in interviews on CNN, ABC, Fox, NBC and CBS. He endeavored to defend Mr. Trump, including against evidence that, as president, he pressured his vice president, Mike Pence, to reject legitimate votes for Joseph R. Biden Jr. in favor of false electors pledged to Mr. Trump. “What President Trump didn’t do is direct Vice President Pence to do anything,” Mr. Lauro said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “He asked him in an aspirational way.”

Persons: Donald J, Trump, John F, Lauro, Tanya S, Mr, Mike Pence, Joseph R, Biden, Pence, ” “, ” Organizations: Mr, CNN, ABC, Fox, NBC, CBS, Union Locations: Washington, “ State

☆ Streaming TV ad spend is expected to surge to $19 billion in 2023 — but it will 'cannibalize' traditional TV ad revenues, a Wells Fargo analyst says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Elizabeth Pham Janowski | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Streaming TV ad spend will rise to $19 billion next year, a Wells Fargo analyst said, compared to 4.3 billion in 2019. Discovery have already been hit by scatter market declines. Next year will see a huge shift in ad spend from traditional TV to streaming, according to a Wall Street analyst. Steven Cahall, a managing director and senior analyst at Wells Fargo, said at the ad industry conference Programmatic I/O that streaming TV ad spend will be $19 billion by 2023 and will make up over 20% of total TV spend, compared to 6% in 2019. Instead, over the next two years, Cahall said, the surging growth of streaming TV advertising is going to "cannibalize real dollars out of linear television."

☆ Trump ally Mike Lindell being investigated in connection with alleged Colorado election security breach
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON — Mike Lindell, the My Pillow Inc chief executive and ally to former President Donald Trump, is under U.S. federal investigation for identity theft and for conspiring to damage a protected computer connected to a suspected voting equipment security breach in Colorado. Investigations into election claimsThe FBI in August 2021 confirmed it had opened a criminal investigation into a suspected security breach of voting equipment in the western Colorado county of Mesa. The equipment at issue in the election security breach investigation were furnished by Dominion Voting Systems, which has sued Trump allies and conservative television networks over baseless claims the company’s products were used to rig the election against Trump. Peters, her deputy Belinda Knisley and former elections manager Sandra Brown were indicted on state criminal charges this year in connection with the election security breach. Peters, Knisley and Brown are all named as subjects in the Justice Department’s criminal investigation, according to the warrant, along with several others.

read moreLindell is the latest person to be swept into federal criminal investigations surrounding Trump and his allies over their failed efforts to overturn the 2020 election results based on false claims of voter fraud. INVESTIGATIONS INTO ELECTION CLAIMSThe FBI in August 2021 confirmed it had opened a criminal investigation into a suspected security breach of voting equipment in the western Colorado county of Mesa. The equipment at issue in the election security breach investigation were furnished by Dominion Voting Systems, which has sued Trump allies and conservative television networks over baseless claims the company's products were used to rig the election against Trump. Peters, her deputy Belinda Knisley and former elections manager Sandra Brown were indicted on state criminal charges this year in connection with the election security breach. Peters, Knisley and Brown are all named as subjects in the Justice Department's criminal investigation, according to the warrant, along with several others.

☆ How Rupert Murdoch’s Empire of Influence Remade the World
▼ + stars: | 2019-04-03 | by ( Jonathan Mahler | Jim Rutenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +61 min

Murdoch family, 1987: Lachlan, James, Anna and Rupert. The second season of HBO’s “Succession,” whose fictional media family, the Roys, bears a striking resemblance to the Murdochs, airs this summer. ‘A press dictatorship’To understand how the Murdoch empire works, it is essential to return to its origins. The bigger Murdoch’s empire became, the more power he had to clear away obstacles to further its expansion. Like his father, Lachlan considered the idea of meddling with such an important profit driver a form of madness.

Persons: ‘, Rupert Murdoch, Murdoch, Jerry Hall, Lachlan’s, Lachlan, —, Hall, President Trump, Theresa May, Robert A, consummating, Rupert, Elisabeth, Anna, James, David Graves, Rex, Prudence, Murdoch’s, Patricia Booker, Anna Mann, jockeying, Murdoch didn’t, ” Murdoch, Ron Galella, ‘ I’ve, Graham, Jeff Bezos, William R, Hearst, George Hearst, Ochs, Sulzberger, Arnold Newman, HBO’s, Australia —, “, don’t, Trump, Rutger Bregman, Tucker Carlson, Carlson, — Murdoch, Dow Jones, Bancroft, ’, Keith Murdoch, Keith, Joseph Lyons, Tom Roberts’s, ” Lyons, ”, I’ll, ” Rupert Murdoch, Aubrey Hart, Roberts, ” Keith, Margaret Thatcher’s, Thatcher, revel, John Major, Neil Kinnock, Joseph Stalin, Britain’s, Roy Cohn —, Joseph McCarthy, Ronald Reagan’s, Roger Stone Jr, Murdoch weaponize, Reagan’s, Stone, Reagan, George H.W, Bush, L.A, Ted Turner, Roger Ailes, Nixon, George H.W . Bush, Time Warner, Rudolph W, Giuliani, Post —, Fox, Monica Lewinsky, ” David Frum, George W, Sumner, Peter Mathew, Fairfax, Chase Carey, Talib Kweli, Rawkus, Kathryn Hufschmid, Kathryn, ” Lachlan, Sarah O’Hare, Lachlan doesn’t, Chris Mitchell, — he’d, Wendi Murdoch, Wendi, Jules Stein, Leonardo DiCaprio, James warily, Ivanka Trump, Ivanka’s, Jared Kushner, Kushner, Ivanka, Wendi’s, Donald Trump, Ailes, Rudolph Giuliani’s, Corey Lewandowski, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Bret Baier’s, Baier, Stephen F, Hayes, ” Trump, Tell Hayes, Sean Hannity, Sinclair —, Doug Mills, Megyn Kelly, — “ You’ve, — Trump, Kelly, Charles Krauthammer, John Kasich, James’s, Hillary Clinton, Tony Blair, Hillary, Clinton, United States —, Paul Gigot, Obama, Al Drago, Anthony Hilton, Hilton, Rodrigo Duterte, Viktor Orban, europhiles, Rebekah Brooks, Andy Coulson, David Cameron, feckless, Leveson, Robinson, Mick Jagger, Margaret Thatcher, Nigel Farage, Evgeny Lebedev, Carlo Allegri, Murdoch lounging, What’s, lodestar, David Rhodes, Rhodes, Ben Rhodes, Kevin Hagen, he’d, Trump’s, Jeff Rovin, Satan, James Murdoch, Clint Spaulding, Patrick McMullan, James Stavridis Organizations: Northern, Fox News Channel, Sun, European Union —, Downing, Walt Disney Company, Century Fox, Disney, Getty, News Corp, Trust, Washington Post, Hearst Corporation, United, The New York Times, Arnold Newman Properties, Fox, White, Broadway, Fox News, Trump White, Street, Melbourne Herald, Weekly Times, ”, Eugenics Society of Victoria, Oxford, Murdoch, Fleet, The, British government’s, Sky Television, Britain’s “, Labor, Trump, Gov, Reagan’s, New, New York Post, The Boston Herald, CNN, Time, Republican, Post, Pew, Republicans, CBS, Viacom, British Sky Broadcasting, Australia spearfishing, Harvard, The Harvard, Rawkus Records, Princeton, Kawasaki, Hollywood, New York Observer, York mayoral, Fox & Friends, Trump International Golf Club, Gateway, America, New York Times, Clinton Climate Initiative, Labor Party centrist, Pacific Partnership, Tea Party, European Union, Freedom Party, Nazi, London, Press Association, Associated Press, Brexit Times, United Nations, Reuters, Photographers, CBS News, Democrat Locations: Macedonia, Southern, San Francisco, Los Angeles, California, United States, Britain, London, Australia, Australian, Sydney, Lachlan, Davos, New York, Dutch, Iraq, British, Gallipoli, Adelaide, White Australia, Luxembourg, York, George H.W ., Midtown Manhattan, Manhattan, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Indonesia, Oregon, Fiji, Murdoch, Cavan, Beverly Hills, L.A, Caribbean, earshot, West Palm, Des Moines, Iowa, Ohio, Clinton, Trump, Downing, Brussels, Europe, Philippines, Manila, Bangkok, Cannes, “, Trump’s, Scotland, Aberdeen, Ailes’s, Russian

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