Disney TV Reshuffle: Dana Walden Makes First Big Moves as John Landgraf, Simran Sethi Expand Duties

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Warner Bros. Discovery is giving a league of would-be providers of TV-audience measurement its own appraisal. After tapping Comscore, iSpot.TV and VideoAmp last year to help build a new suite of technologies that will help count viewers across linear, digital and connected television, the big entertainment company is paring down its provider list. Comscore and VideoAmp will serve as partners during Warner Bros. Discovery’s efforts during the industry’s next “upfront” sales session. “Our methodology was quite rigorous,” says Andrea Zapata, the company’s executive vice president and head of ad sales research, measurement and insights, in an interview.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Pablo Torre is about to become a creature of two worlds. The veteran ESPN writer and on-air personality is leaving the Disney sports-media giant — and he’s staying, too. Torre is joining Meadowlark Media, the content company founded by former ESPN chief John Skipper and the sports commentator Dan Le Batard. And yet, Torre is expected to remain a regular contributor to “Around The Horn” and “Pardon The Interruption,” two of the mainstay programs on the ESPN daytime schedule. “They are looking to build another show directly out of ‘The Dan LeBatard Show,’ which is a monster,” Torre says of Meadowlark in an interview. Torre envisions a digital program with audio and video components that will allow him to “tell original stories, do a bit of journalism and figure out how to make that show a home that can fit all of the things I aspire to do creatively.” Torre will also contribute to Meadowlark’s unscripted efforts.

Returned Disney CEO Bob Iger acknowledged that fans had a right to be irked as theme park ticket prices crept higher under the previous regime, and said it wasn’t the best way to manage the brand.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Everything seems like it’s going great at Fox Corporation, except for the fact that everything seems like it isn’t. While speaking at an investor conference Thursday, Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch praised his family’s decision to sell off a large swath of cable and studio assets to Walt Disney Co. in 2019, a move that left Fox significantly smaller and focused largely on live TV, mainly news and sports. He even brought up a reference to the 1979 comedy “Monty Python’s Life of Brian,” in which a small combatant unencumbered with armor or muscle is able to survive a colosseum fight after his larger opponent suffers a heart attack. “We are the little guy,” said Murdoch. “We are going to be the one that survives.”

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor GroupM, the large WPP-owned media-investment agency, wants advertisers to do more when it comes to supporting diverse media. After calling for advertisers to put between 2% and 5% of their annual media spend into multicultural media venues, the media buyer hopes clients will now invest the upper end of that range. “As the largest media investment company in the world, we have a responsibility to accelerate growth through the next era of media,” said Kirk McDonald, CEO, GroupM North America, in a statement. “That means making our industry more inclusive and equitable for all publishers. As well as, sharing brands’ products and services with audiences that are representative of the changing face of America in service of growing their businesses.” Under GroupM’s effort, marketers would ensure the money is invested across Black, Hispanic, AAPI and LGBTQ+ owned and/or focused media.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large The Walt Disney Co. is once again leaning heavily into synergy across its divisions as it aims to bolster awareness and tune-in for Sunday night’s 95thOscars. That includes pop-up events at Disney parks and resorts; special program marathons on Disney-owned networks including FX, Freeform and Nat Geo; and Oscar-branded programming on ESPN, ABC News and ABC-owned stations. That includes everything from an Oscars-themed chocolate brownie milkshake at the Disney California Adventure eatery known as “Schmoozies,” to a binge of “The Simpsons” episodes featuring Oscar-winning guest stars, Hollywood and movie homages and more on FXX.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Someone has to handle the truth. In the 1992 legal drama, “A Few Good Men,” a senior military commander played by Jack Nicholson is asked over and over if he ordered a “code red,” or an off-the-books dictate that sent underlings scurrying to do something they probably should not have done. Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch and many of the top executives and anchors at Fox News Channel may feel like they are stuck in a reboot of that film. In a remarkable series of depositions that have been made available from much-scrutinized litigation between voting-technology company Dominion Voting Systems and Fox Corporation, top officers at Fox and its most lucrative subsidiary, Fox News Media, are grilled over whether they have direct responsibility for stories, talent and reporting that airs on Fox News Channel or Fox Business Network. In many instances, the executives say they do not.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor The CW is hoping advertisers will take another swing at its unorthodox new golf tournament if it offers some different ways of doing transactions that involve it. The network, recently brought under control of Nexstar Media Group, will work with iSpot.TV, one of a handful of new providers of audience-measurement technologies, to measure the effectiveness of commercials attached to linear and digital broadcasts of tournaments backed by LIV Golf, the upstart league financed by Saudi Arabia. CW is to air 14 global LIV Golf League live events in 2023 and will stream the events live on its app. Weekend tournaments will air live on Saturdays and Sundays on the linear network, and stream online Fridays.

Indian streaming platform Disney+ Hotstar has confirmed that it will no longer carry HBO content from March 31, in a move that was reported by Deadline last month. 

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Seven of the biggest media-buying agencies on Madison Avenue and Roku have joined a media-industry effort that aims to count TV audiences in new ways. Dentsu, WPP’s GroupM, Horizon Media, Interpublic Group’s IPG Mediabrands, Omnicom Group’s Omnicom Media Group, Publicis Media and RPA have all lent counsel to the U.S. Joint Industry Committee, a consortium formed in January led by Fox, NBCUniversal, Paramount, TelevisaUnivision, and Warner Bros. Discovery and their Open AP joint venture that hopes to vet and certify a dizzying array of audience-measurement technologies that have come to market in recent months.  Along with Roku, Hallmark Media and the industry group Video Advertising Bureau, the companies have issued a new set of minimum requirements for acceptance of several new measurement technologies that TV networks would like to implement more quickly.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie both returned to their duties on NBC’s “Today” after dealing with personal challenges that kept both anchors off air for several days. Kotb, who had been off the program for abouttwo weeks, told viewers Monday that her youngest daughter had been in intensive care in the hospital for an undisclosed illness, but had recently returned home. Guthrie had to leave the program abruptly last week after discovering she had a new coronavirus infection. The two anchors addressed their absences early in the program, during the broadcast’s opening minutes. The departure of the show’s regular co-anchors came after “Today’ defeated ABC rival “Good Morning America” in the critical advertiser-favored demographic — people between 25 and 54 — for the first time in five weeks. “Today” and “GMA” are locked in an eternal battle for dominance among A.M. audiences ,but “Today,” which once dominated its rival in the advertiser demo, has been trying to parry against an incursion by “GMA” in the category.

Rebel Wilson is opening up about meeting Meghan Markle and Prince Harry for the first time, and it wasn’t exactly great.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor David Westin, the Bloomberg TV anchor, will focus more intently on duties tied to “Wall Street Week” as the network focuses more intently on breaking-news coverage throughout the market day. Westin will host the weekly show, which has ties to the PBS original hosted by Louis Rukeyser, while anchoring daily “Wall Street Week” segments tied to the program. The daily segments will feature a rotating panel of influential voices and thought leaders. He will leave his duties on “Balance of Power,” which will shift to 5 p.m. weekdays rather than noon, and move to Washington, D.C. from New York. “Balance” will be co-anchored by Annemarie Hordern and Joe Mathieu. Executives expect the retooled show to include more original reporting and roundtable discussions.

Netflix has greenlighted an untitled comedy series created and executive produced by Erin Foster, starring and executive produced by Kristen Bell and executive produced by Steven Levitan. It comes from 20th Television where sisters Erin and Sara Foster have a pod deal and Levitan is under an overall deal.

will continue to oversee networks and ABC Owned Television Stations, and will add research, labor relations and TV business operations to her purview. Disney Television Studios will remain under Eric Schrier, who will expand his responsibilities to include our global original television strategy, working closely with our talented regional leaders.Read Walden’s full memo to staff below: Dear Colleagues, Since the announcement of Disney Entertainment, I’ve spent time thinking about how to organize my team in a way that will enable me to focus on my newly expanded role, in partnership with Alan.

Disney Entertainment co-chairman Dana Walden is among the business executives named to the President’s Export Council, which advises Joe Biden on international trade.

Dana Walden is setting out her stall and it includes more responsibilities for John Landgraf and Simran Sethi.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Fox Corp. sought to tamp down furor around a series of implicating quotes and texts culled from corporate executives and Fox News anchors, in the newest filing, part of a closely watched defamation lawsuit from voting-technology firm Dominion Voting Systems. Fox Corp. and Fox News Channel made the case in two filings in the Superior Court in Delaware that many of the colorful utterances from Fox News stars such as Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity and even some from Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch were beyond the scope of Dominion’s case, and urged the court to reject the company’s call for a summary judgement, or a ruling in Dominon’s favor that would negate the need for a trial. Dominion is suing Fox for $1.6 billion in damages it alleges it is owed after Fox News made false claims about the Dominion’s actions and influence on the 2020 election. It is the second legal proceeding made against Fox News for its coverage of the aftermath of the 2020 race for the White House. Smartmatic, a voting technology company, has filed a massive $2.7 billion suit against Fox News. At issue in the suits, are allegations that Fox News falsely claimed the companies had rigged the election, repeated items about the matter and refused to engage in efforts to set the record straight. The 2020 election was not fixed and its results were certified by multiple legal processes.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor CNN hopes it’s finally hit upon a way to solve a long-vexing puzzle: What should it be airing at 9 p.m.? The solution requires the network to fit together many pieces. Starting this week, the Warner Bros. Discovery-backed news outlet will fill the hour with a range of different special reports, all under the rubric of “CNN Primetime.” Future 9 p.m. hours could include one-on-one interviews with newsmakers; town halls that put government officials in direct contact with the people affected by policy decisions; and other programs that feature surprising “gets” and scoops. The programming gambit backs away from the tried-and-true practice of relying on a single anchor or opinion host in the time slot, home to Sean Hannity, Alex Wagner and Rachel Maddow, and banks instead on creative ways of analyzing the news cycle.

Jeremy Allen White is a winner!