CBS Closes Upfront, Fox Wrapping Amid Strikes & Soft Advertising Market

Viet Dinh, a key strategic and business leader at Fox Corp. and a longtime consiglieri in the Murdoch empire, is leaving his executive post in the wake of the Fox News settlement with Dominion Voting Systems.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Viet Dinh, the influential general counsel of Fox Corp. who is believed to have played a significant role in the company’s failed legal strategy against a massive defamation suit filed against it by Dominion Voting Systems, is leaving his role at the media conglomerate at the end of the year.

Fox Corp. revenue stayed flat in the quarter ending June 30 compared with the year-earlier period, but it matched Wall Street analysts’ consensus estimate as earnings beat expectations.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Fox Corp. relied more heavily on its ability to drive revenue from the transmission of the Fox broadcast network and its Fox stations, as it grappled with downturns in advertising during its fiscal fourth quarter. The owner of Fox News, Fox Sports and the Fox broadcast network said it generated profit of $375 million, or 74 cents per share, compared with $306 million, or 55 per share in the year-earlier period.

The U.S. Women’s Soccer team has crashed out of the 2023 World Cup following a dramatic penalty shoot-out loss against rivals Sweden.

Rebel Wilson had to get stitches on her face after sustaining an injury while filming her new movie Bride Hard in Savannah, Georgia.

The United States women’s national soccer coach Vlatko Andonovski responded to former player Carli Lloyd’s criticism after the team’s last game ended in a tie.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Fox Corp.’s Tubi, its free, ad-supported streaming TV service, has pounced on two high-profile Fantasia titles, led by “Where the Devil Roams,” the Adams family’s follow-up to “Hellbender,” Rotten Tomatoes No. 1 movie on its Top 10 of best-rated horror films of 2022, just besting Eskil Vogt’s “The Innocents.” Estimating that it reaches 64 million monthly active users, Tubi also pounced on doc feature “Satan Wants You,” which world premiered at March’s SXSW.

Fox Corp. and Flutter Entertainment are shuttering sports betting platform Fox Bet in a phased closure between July 31 and August 31.

Sarah Silverman called out actors who are still working on Indie projects instead of showing solidarity with WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikers.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Two of the nation’s biggest purveyors of primetime television are relying more heavily on other kinds of video inventory to fuel their advertising flows for 2023 and 202r, Fox Corp. and Paramount Global are both near the end of their processes in TV’s annual “upfront” ad sales market, and both expect to see some volume gains in specific areas of their portfolio.

Naman Ramachandran U.K. broadcaster ITV’s total external revenues declined 2% to £1.63 billion ($2.11 billion), according to half year financial results released on Thursday. The decline, which is due to a challenging advertising market, was offset by growth in ITV Studios and digital revenues.

Mike Biard, a 23-year veteran of Fox Corp., has been appointed president and chief operating officer of Nexstar, the No. 1 owner of local TV stations in the U.S. and the parent of The CW and NewsNation.

General Hospital and more soap opera writers “face a unique conflict” during the WGA strike as many are being replaced by temporary scribes to keep the genre alive.

The dual WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes aren’t stalling the 48th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, which announced the first 60 feature films in what’s expected to be a 200-plus-title schedule. Last year counted some 260 full-length films.

It was a major win for the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team as they made their debut at the 2023 Women’s World Cup and a record-breaking win for U.S. networks airing the championship.

Bethenny Frankel is calling for a reality TV union.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor In a milestone media moment for women’s sports, Fox Sports is about to deliver the most expansive coverage of a FIFA Women’s World Cup tournament in history – an investment driven by the success of the U.S. national team and its pursuit of an unprecedented third consecutive victory. From July 20 through Aug. 20, cabler Fox Sports 1 (FS1) and the Fox broadcast network will serve up more than 190 hours of live soccer programming from the tournament staged in Australia and New Zealand. The roster includes 64 matches, about half of which will air on Fox, the broadest platform for the games and for sponsors. All matches will stream live via the FS1 app. The quarterfinals, semifinals, third-place match and the big finish will all air live on Fox.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter NBC is making changes to its fall 2023 schedule, with the broadcaster also setting premiere dates for the upcoming season. The broadcaster had previously announced its fall schedule on May 12, just 10 days into the writers’ strike that largely shut down Hollywood productions. But with no end to that strike in sight and SAG-AFTRA now joining the writers on the picket lines, NBC is being forced to shake things up. Most notably, the network is no longer planning on its Wednesday night “One Chicago” block, nor will episodes of “Law & Order” and “Law & Order: SVU” air on Thursdays. Instead, NBC will air the season finale of “America’s Got Talent” on Wednesday, Sept. 27 and the People’s Choice Country Awards on Thursday, Sept. 28. The network will then air reruns of “One Chicago” shows at 8 p.m. on Wednesdays beginning Oct. 4 followed by new episodes of “Quantum Leap” and “Magnum P.I.” “Quantum Leap” had finished the majority of its second season prior to the writers’ strike, while “Magnum P.I.” will debut the second part of its fifth and final season after moving to NBC from CBS.

A Scots bar has closed its doors for good just days after its workers went on strike.