CNN and NBC Set to Battle for Future of Streaming News

NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt and Meet the Press moderator Kristen Welker will moderate the next Republican debate along with Hugh Hewitt, host on the Salem Radio Network.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Time for a different sort of commercial break. Any subscriber to the ad-supported version of Hulu is bound to encounter the usual assortment of TV commercials that regularly interrupt a binge-watch of anything from “Only Murders in the Building” to “NYPD Blue.” Sometimes, a different sort of pitch pops up. This one only surfaces when users stop the action on their own to take a call, grab a snack or hit the bathroom.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Live from somewhere near New York, it’s yet another recap of an original broadcast of “Saturday Night Live.” The venerable late-night NBC series, now just two episodes into its 49th season, kicked off the show with a satirical look at the Republican Party. “SNL” skewered Rep. Jim Jordan’s efforts to win the battle for U.S.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Pedro Pascal returned to “SNL,” Saturday night, making a surprise cameo during host Bad Bunny‘s opening monologue. The actor, who hosted an episode last season, served as a translator of sorts, while Bad Bunny boasted of all the things he enjoyed doing in Spanish.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Live from somewhere near New York, it’s yet another recap of an original broadcast of “Saturday Night Live.” The venerable late-night NBC series, now just two episodes into its 49th season, kicked off the show with a satirical look at the Republican Party. “SNL” skewered Rep.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor In a real-time reminder of the dangers of covering international conflict, CNN anchor Sara Sidner was reporting live from the West Bank city of Ramallah when a man accosted her on-air to voice criticism of the network’s coverage of the Israel-Hamas War. “You are genocide supporters. You are not welcome here, genocide supporters,” said a man who came up to Sidner while she was in the middle of reporting on air.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor During the recently ended writers strike, many people who worked on the staffs of TV’s late-night shows wished things would get back to normal. Roy Wood Jr. was surprised to find that he was not one of them.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor NBCUniversal filed an individual request for a video feed to be provided of former President Donald Trump‘s election conspiracy case, which has been scheduled to start on March 4 of next year. NBCU did so even though a coalition of major news organizations filed a request earlier this month for televised proceedings.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Most contests in the 2024 Summer Olympics set for Paris, France, won’t start until next summer. NBC has been running one race for months.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Paula Reid, has been named CNN‘s chief legal affairs correspondent, a vote of confidence in the reporter who joined the Warner Bros. Discovery-backed outlet in 2021. Reid has been highly visible on CNN in recent months, covering federal and state investigations into former President Trump as well as a Special Counsel probe into President Biden’s handling of classified documents during his time as vice president.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Trey Yingst’s home has become his office. Yingst, a foreign correspondent who calls Israel his home when he isn’t traveling the globe for Fox News Channel, was in his apartment a little over a week ago when he got word of horrible things happening near the country’s border with Gaza. Many people would likely move away from that area but it’s Yingst’s job to move toward such hot spots.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Like many U.S. journalists trying to get to Israel to cover reaction to attacks in the country by terrorists, Chris Cuomo faced a difficult journey. But that’s his problem, he says, not one for his viewers.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Lester Holt joined NBC News’ efforts to cover terrorist attacks in Israel by flying first to London, then Amman. The journey took hours, and it’s unclear when it all will truly end. “I think this will be a long TV deployment,” says the “NBC Nightly News” anchor of coverage of terrorists’ moves against the country.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor News correspondents are trained to keep their emotions in check, but sometimes a story comes along that makes such a feat all but impossible. Anderson Cooper, Richard Engel, Holly Wiliams, Trey Yingst, Matt Gutman and Clarissa Ward have been seen on camera in recent days trying to report on a horrific event that is emotionally draining: the invasion of Israel by Hamas militants, replete with violence, hostage-taking and explosive force. “I’ve seen many challenging things so far,” says Yingst, the Fox News correspondent who has been in Israel since Oct.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Roy Wood Jr., a longtime contributor to Comedy Central‘s “Daily Show,” will not return to the late-night program when it returns to production, the latest wrinkle to develop at the long-running show as executives continue to hunt for a successor to Trevor Noah. “I can’t come up with Plan B is while still working with Plan A,” the comedian told NPR, noting he doesn’t want to continue as one of the show’s cadre of correspondents while someone else is being considered for the top role. “The job of correspondent…it’s not really one where you can juggle multiple things.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor NBC is ready to open the 49th season of “Saturday Night Live,” pushed back just a week or two from when the series might normally launch in the fall. After being shut down in May by the Hollywood writers strike, “SNL” will return on October 14, marking the first of three consecutive weeks of original broadcasts, NBC said in an announcement Wednesday. Ice Spice will serve as musical guest.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor At least one of the big companies that distribute CNN via cable or satellite is unnerved by how closely the company’s new live-streaming service looks like its TV network. Big satellite distributor DirecTV has let executives at Warner Bros. Discovery know via letter that its executives believe the similarities between the two products violate the carriage contract between the two companies, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor On Sunday, Allstate is trading in its famous Mayhem character for chaos of a different sort. The big insurance company is testing a sponsorship of a new kind of sporting event that will feature some of Pixar’s best-known animated characters tackling a real-life NFL game. When the Jacksonville Jaguars play the Atlanta Falcons at 9:30 a.m.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor AMC Networks has joined the ranks of ad-supported streaming. The company said Thursday that it has begun rolling out an ad-supported version of its AMC+ service for broadband users, and will charge $4.99 per month for it, as opposed to the $8.99 per month it seeks for an ad-free tier.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large The 44th Annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards kicked off the first of two nights on Wednesday in New York, with CNN, Vice and the New York Times as among the big winners. CNN led the news portion of the Emmys, with ten wins — followed closely by Vice, with nine, and then the NYT with five.