DirecTV, Which Plans to Drop OAN, Is Picking Up Fox Nation

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorThere’s a new regular Joe calling baseball games on Fox.Joe Davis, a veteran sportscaster who has been known on the West Coast for calling Los Angeles Dodger games and as a Fox Sports regular, will take over as the lead play-by-play announcer for Fox Sports’ Major League Baseball coverage. He succeeds Joe Buck, the longtime Fox baseball and football announcer who has moved to ESPN to work on “Monday Night Football.” Davis will join John Smoltz in the network’s lead baseball booth.“If you had asked me when I was 10 what I wanted to do when I grew up, I would’ve told you ‘Call the World Series.’ So when I say this is a dream-come-true, I really mean it,” said Davis, in a statement.  Davis and Smoltz, along with reporters Tom Verducci and Ken Rosenthal, are expected to call Fox’s coverage of the 2022 MLB All-Star Game, MLB at Field of Dreams Game and the MLB post-season Postseason, including its 25th Fall Classic.

The wild story of how Black Panther leader Huey P. Newton was able to elude a nationwide manhunt and escape to Cuba while being pursued into exile by the FBI is being turned into a TV series for Apple.

UPDATE, Wednesday, 1:49 PM PT: Kelsey Grammer has signed on to headline another series in the Fox News Media wheelhouse.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorAMC Networks has some big TV events to sell in the months ahead, but the company realizes advertisers who might like to be associated with those programs will want new kinds of advertising around them.This next cycle of programming will bring with it TV events like the final episodes of “Better Call Saul’ and “The Walking Dead” that ought to command high prices in TV’s next “upfront” market, along with the debut of a show based on Anne Rice’s popular “Interview with the Vampire,” but without digital opportunities around them, marketers may not engage fully, suggests Kim Kelleher, AMC Networks’ president of commercial revenue and partnerships.“We are seeing an increased appetite for digital inventory, and we have spent a lot of time working to break down the walls between digital and linear,” she says in an interview. “Those are table stakes now.” While AMC is one of the sector’s smaller players, it has unveiled some eye-opening initiatives in recent months, including the launches of a handful of so-called FAST, or free, ad-supported streaming channels and a commitment to sell addressable ad inventory in each linear hour of original programs on its AMC and We TV cable networks.The company is poised to expand its efforts.

“Kelsey Grammer’s Historic Battles for America” has a premiere date on Fox Nation.The show, which finds Grammer looking at eight battles that left their mark on America, will debut May 1, Fox Nation president Jason Klarman announced Wednesday.“I am excited this show will provide the opportunity to share a historical look into some of the most important battles fought through American history, to remember those who fought them, and how they shaped our country,” Grammer said in a statement.The “Frasier” star’s new eight-part series will find him looking at battles from the American Revolution, Texas Revolution, Civil War and American Indian Wars. He’ll be “revealing the strategies that led to victory or defeat, the emotions, and inner workings of those who fought it, the decisions that led to battle along with the long-term consequences that resonate long after the conflict’s end,” per a logline from the streaming network.The show will open by examining three American Revolutionary War battles: the Battle of Bunker Hill, the Battle of Brooklyn, and the Battle of Yorktown.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorStreaming-video outlet Fox Nation will launch “Kelsey Grammer’s Historic Battles for America,” a multi-part documentary series that takes viewers inside eight key U.S. battles led by the popular star of series like “Frasier” and “Cheers.”During the series, Grammer will examine the strategies and inner workings of such landmark skirmishes as the Battle of Bunker Hill during the American Revolution, the fight for the Alamo and the First Battle of Bull Run during the Civil War.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorTori Spelling’s next TV series will take her from the luxurious streets of Beverly Hills to the digital pathways forged by smart televisions.Best known for her stints on various editions of “Beverly Hills 90210,” Spelling will lead a new streaming series that features her showing off tips for cooking and entertaining. “@Home with Tori” features Spelling offering tips and tricks for cooking, baking, and entertaining as she prepares dishes from locally sourced foods.

EXCLUSIVE: Steven Dorff (Old Henry), John McEnroe (Ocean’s Eight), Gina Gershon (Emily the Criminal) and Luka Sabbat (Grown-is) have signed on to star alongside Vito Schnabel in the dark comedy The Trainer, which Tony Kaye (American History X) is directing from a script by Schnabel and Jeff Solomon.

Nathan Henry and Declan Doyle rekindled their romance while filming the current series of Celebrity Ex On The Beach, before making things official after leaving the villa.The reality TV couple's relationship appears to be going from strength-to-strength as they open up exclusively to OK! VIPs about house hunting and even getting married. Although things are going swimmingly between them, things in their lives haven't always been that easy as Declan opens up on his battle with alcohol and Nathan shares the horrific homophobic abuse he's been subject to.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorFox News Channel named Caitlyn Jenner, a reality star, former Olympian and one time California gubernatorial candidate as a contributor.“Caitlyn’s story is an inspiration to us all.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorEveryone’s talking about this week’s furor at the Oscars — even the hosts at Fox News Channel’s “The Five.”On Monday afternoon, regulars Greg Gutfeld, Dana Perino, Jesse Watters and Jeanine Pirro held forth with guest Piers Morgan — the British journalist and TV host who has demonstrated a proclivity for getting into celebrity feuds — sitting in a chair typically reserved for someone with more liberal political views. In the show’s opening segment, however, politics went out the window.

Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly’s wedding is going to be everything you expect it to be. A source near to the couple, who got engaged earlier this year in Puerto Rico, says that wedding planning is officially underway.Megan Fox laughs as she is called MGK’s wife at NBA gameMachine Gun Kelly says he and his ‘wife’ Megan Fox moved out because their house was hauntedA post shared by Megan Fox (@meganfox)The source, who has a connection to Fox, spoke to E! News and explained that the couple is taking it slow and enjoying their engagement. “Megan and MGK are not in a huge rush to tie the knot, but have been starting to engage in the planning process,“ they said.

Nathan Aké’s summer plans could present Manchester City and Pep Guardiola with a major issue in the transfer window if he decides to move on in search of regular first-team football.

Newtown’s Bedford Square is set to become Pride Square.The Inner West Council in NSW is seeking to permanently rename the public square outside Newtown Town Hall in time for WorldPride 2023.Inner West Councillor Mat Howard put forward the amendment which passed unanimously.Howard believes that Bedford Square is an ideal location as it is centrally located just adjacent to Newtown Station and is “right in the middle of businesses that are LGBTQ and/or LGBTQ friendly.”Howard continued, “I know when I first moved to Sydney, Newtown was the first place I came to looking for connection and support. I hope future generations of young LGBTQ+ people will do the same, see Pride Square at the heart of the suburb, and know that this is a community where they can be safe, be valued, and thrive.”Pride Square and the recently announced Rainbow Crossing would join the Rainbow Crossing in Summer Hill.It passed unanimously at the March 8 Council Meeting.  The Newtown Rainbow Crossing and Pride Square would be the fulfilment of a campaign aspiration by Howard.Prior to the 2021 Inner West Council Elections, he told Star Observer,  “I’m committed to delivering an Inner West Pride Centre, creating a rainbow crossing in Newtown, and making sure Council marks IDAHOBIT, Transgender Day of Visibility and Transgender Day of Remembrance.

HARTFORD, Conn. -- Infowars host Alex Jones failed to show up and testify under oath at a deposition Wednesday in a lawsuit filed by relatives of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, leading the families' lawyer to call for Jones' arrest if he doesn't appear again Thursday.Jones, whose attorney said he missed the deposition because of an appointment for undisclosed medical conditions, was scheduled to testify Wednesday and Thursday in Austin, Texas, where Infowars is based, in connection with the relatives’ defamation lawsuit against him for saying the 2012 school massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, was a hoax.Connecticut Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis found Jones liable for damages in November.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorFox Corporation wants Madison Avenue to understand that Fox News doesn’t always mean hard-news content.As the company’s biggest generator of operating profit expands into weather news and lifestyle shows, its ad-tech division is offering new tools aimed at helping advertisers find the exact types of digital content they want to support. Fox Corp.

The Duck Dynasty clan is spreading its wings again. Jase and Jep Robertson, the sons of patriarch Phil Robertson, will star in Duck Family Treasure for FOX Nation this June.

last week Amazon closed its deal to acquire MGM and placed MGM’s film group chairman Michael De Luca as part of an interim leadership structure reporting to Amazon Studios and Prime Video SVP Mike Hopkins. “Bones and All” is a story of first love between Maren, a young woman learning how to survive on the margins of society, and Lee, an intense and disenfranchised drifter, as they meet and join together for a thousand-mile odyssey which takes them through the back roads, hidden passages, and trap doors of Ronald Reagan’s America.

This is the damning footage showing a gun-toting thug hanging from the window of a BMW as a petty rival gang feud spilled out onto the street. An innocent member of the public was caught up in the mindless violence - narrowly escaping with their life as a bullet hit their car.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorESPN spent last year building up Peyton and Eli Manning as the curators of a loose, bar-talk like show meant as an alternative to its traditional “Monday Night Football.” Now the Disney-backed sports giant is focusing on the main event.ESPN has signed the two main figures behind Fox Sports’ football presentations, Troy Aikman and Joe Buck, in a bid to strengthen the main “MNF” booth. The deal, which has been anticipated for several days, will put one of sports’ most-watched game-day figures at the helm of ESPN’s signature offering.“When you have the opportunity to bring in the iconic, longest-running NFL broadcasting duo, you take it, especially at a time when we are on the cusp of a new era in our expanding relationship with the NFL,” said Jimmy Pitaro, chairman, ESPN and sports content for Disney, in a statement.  “The NFL continues to ascend, and we now have more games than ever before, providing additional opportunities for Joe, Troy and our deep roster of commentators.” Signing the pair, who have worked together for two decades and called  called six Super Bowls — only the legendary team of Pat Summerall and John Madden has called more — illustrates the new pressures facing some of the most traditional broadcasters of sports.