Brian Lesser Readies a New Salvo in Big Media’s Data Wars

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorViewers who tune in tonight to see the TV industry’s Emmy Awards no doubt expect to encounter celebrities like Jimmy Kimmel, Mindy Kaling, Anthony Anderson and Sterling K. Brown.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorWalt Disney plans to open one of its two Florida water parks in March, according to its Walt Disney World web site.Both Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon have been closed since last Spring, but the company offered details recently suggesting that one of the pair would open on March 7 of next year.“We may adjust our proposed reopening date, and if that happens, we will let Guests know what to expect in a future update,” the company said on the site, in a posting

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorThe third hour of ABC’s “Good Morning America,” initially created as a showcase for softer stuff, is formally taking on a harder edge.T.J. Holmes will join Amy Robach as a co-anchor on the early-afternoon program, which since March has been giving viewers news about the coronavirus pandemic, the looming election, breaking stories of national import and human-interest features, along with medical information and analysis from Dr.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorCNN is planning a town-hall event with Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden tonight that is so complex and ornate viewers may mistake it for something entirely different.“It’s going to be like ‘American Graffiti,” says Mark Preston, CNN’s vice president of political and special event programming, in an interview.So-called “town halls” have grown in popularity among the nation’s TV-news outlets in recent years, part of a bid to inject the voices of average

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorFox News Media expects to cut less than 3% of its overall staff as the unit, the financial engine of parent Fox Corporation, works to make its operations more efficient after a period of expansion.“As Fox News Media has evolved into a streamlined multi-platform organization, we are realigning several functions and restructuring various divisions in order to position all of our businesses for ongoing success,” the company said in a statement Wednesday.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorCNN has a new way to get its documentary series heard.Sirius XM plans to launch CNN Originals, a new channel that spotlights the growing number of non-fiction series that appear on both CNN and its sibling network HLN. Starting September 18, programs including Anthony Bourdain’s “Parts Unknown,” “United Shades of America with W.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorJames Corden last night offered a new twist on late-night logistics: While his band and some crew held forth in the studio, the host revealed that he is likely to appear on set via videoconferencing software for the next little while.“I know you’re thinking, ‘Where am I right now?'” Corden said from a screen perched at the “Late Late Show” set where he typically holds forth.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorThe NFL’s two big TV services are back with satellite-distributor Dish just in time for the football league’s next season to kick off.NFL Network and NFL RedZone went dark on Dish in mid-June after the two sides failed to come to terms on a new contract.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorMSNBC’s weekend viewers can bid farewell to many prime-time repeats of Rachel Maddow and Chris Hayes.The NBCUniversal-owned cable-news outlet will on September 19 launch two new programs for weekend evenings, and add another anchor to its weekend afternoon coverage. Alicia Menendez, who joined the network in late 2019, will debut “American Voices” on Saturdays and Sundays between 6 p.m.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorMegyn Kelly isn’t on a mainstream news outlet at present, but that isn’t going to keep her from broadcasting.The former NBC News and Fox News Channel anchor confirmed Thursday what many media-industry observers have long suspected: She’s going the independent route.Kelly will launch Devil May Care Media, a production company that will back podcasts and other shows built around the latest news, current events, legal and cultural issues.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorSeveral traditional media companies saw stock prices dip amid a market sell-off Friday that appeared to be driven by sharp drops by technology stocks.Discovery Communications and Fox Corporation appeared to be two of the few outliers in Friday trading, with their shares up slightly even as the broader Dow Jones Industrial Average was off more than 445 points, or 1.5% and the Nasdaq fell more than 280 points, or 2.48%.The downturn comes after days of rallying

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorFox News’ Chris Wallace, NBC News’ Kirsten Welker, and C-SPAN’s Steve Scully will each moderate one of three Presidential Debates leading up to the 2020 election, taking center stage in seminal events in the campaign to win the White House later this year.The non-profit Commission on Presidential Debates said Wednesday that the three debates would each be 90 minutes long, as would a separate vice-presidential debate moderated by Susan Page of USA Today.More to

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorMSNBC dishes up dozens of short news segments to its viewers over the course of a single day. Now the network may have a chance to go long.The cable-news outlet will air “The Way I See It,” a documentary about former White House photographer Pete Souza (above, pictured), on Friday, October 9 at 10 p.m.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorDebt-laden AT&T is considering a possible sale of the digital-advertising assets it assembled as it prepared to acquire the former Time Warner for around $85 billion in 2018, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal, a sign of diminishing ambitions in that particular arena.AT&T in 2017 launched a separate unit devoted to assembling data, analytics and advertising opportunities, mainly using consumer information from its massive DirecTV

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorDavid Ushery, a veteran of WNBC who has worked as an anchor on the station’s news programs for years, has been given a new role – co-anchoring at 4 p.m. and the economically critical 11 p.m.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorAs the U.S. opening date for “Tenet” nears, Warner Brothers is dipping back into the time-honored practice of running ads for the film on TV.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorThe media and sports worlds remained on tenterhooks Thursday after the NBA, WNBA and MLB suspended a handful of important games last night in the wake of players protesting the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin.The remarkable decisions halted a critical NBA playoffs game between the Milwaukee Bucks and Orlando Magic as well as two other games, and there has been speculation emanating that players may well decide to scrap the rest of an already

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorMadison Avenue has for decades trotted out a dizzying array of marketing avatars to talk to consumers. Mr.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorPresident Donald Trump will take questions from voters live – and ABC News will be there to show his instant reaction.The Walt Disney-owned news unit plans to air a live “town hall” with President Trump and undecided voters on Tuesday, September 15, at 9 p.m. – just seven weeks before Election Day.  The event will be televised by ABC and streamed by ABC News Live, and is the latest in a recent series of big “gets” by the news operation.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorFootball fans are about to get a bird’s-eye view of gridiron proceedings when they tune in to NBC.The network plans to offer stunning overhead shots thanks to the use of a C360 camera that will be stationed on the bottom of the event’s SkyCam and can provide zoom-in shots of specific players as well as wide looks of plays along the sidelines or views of players on the line of scrimmage.