ESPN Assigns Content Duties to Senior Executives After Schell Departure

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorAn unlikely guest turned up amid the dozens of Broadway actors, “Today” hosts and other celebrities who regularly take part in NBC’s annual broadcast of “Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.”In a two-minute ad from Comcast, actor Steve Carell took a turn at playing Santa Claus, part of an emerging tradition that has the Philadelphia cable-and-entertainment giant hoping to capture attention during the annual event, telecast on the network it owns.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorAnother media outlet is getting ready to vie for fans of sentimental stories in the industry’s massive holiday-programming wars.Fox Nation, the streaming-video hub that is part of Fox News Media, will launch its first holiday movie, “Christmas in the Rockies,” later this week, part of a new holiday salvo that is expected to include two other projects, “Christmas on the Range” and “Christmas on the Coast.” “Rockies” will be available on Fox Nation starting

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorThe sight of President Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, throwing off conspiracy theories and hair dye yesterday in TV’s once-humdrum daytime hours, would not too long ago have proven to be catnip that no TV-news outlet could resist. Yesterday, many of them did.Few if any of the nation’s TV-news outlets aired live Thursday’s press conference from the legal team spearheading the president’s efforts to overturn the election.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorBig advertisers have created an army of animated product ambassadors over the decades to help sell web services, insurance and suntan lotion. Toucan Sam, Tony the Tiger and Mr.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorGolf’s next big TV event will only feature one professional golfer on the green.On the day after Thanksgiving, WarnerMedia’s TNT will feature the latest iteration of “The Match,” a celebrity-golf showdown that pits big-name athletes and sports figures against each other in a telecast that nods to charity and owes as much to spectacle as it does to competition.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorGood grief! Charlie Brown’s famous “Peanuts” holiday specials, once available in broad fashion each year via ABC and CBS, are now caught up in some of the complexities of the streaming era.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorCaptify, a specialist in consumer search data, named Brendan Condon, a former senior executive for the ad-sales unit of Comcast’s cable division, as its global chief revenue officer, a sign that the company sees opportunity as the media industry starts to focus more heavily on how consumers utilize video delivered by broadband.Condon is charged with driving new growth opportunities for Captify, which delivers real-time consumer insights based on data from

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorCBS News will launch a four-part investigative series this evening across two of its best-known programs and it has nothing to do with President Trump, the coronavirus pandemic, or the results of the 2020 election.Norah O’Donnell spent a year and a half looking into how the U.S.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorAl Roker will be back on “Today” for the holidays.The morning-show veteran will return to the NBC A.M. franchise next week following a break for surgery to remedy a diagnosis of prostate cancer.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorLibby Geist, a veteran ESPN executive who has been with the sports-media giant since 2008, will leave the company early next year, the latest in a series of prominent content executives to announce their departure from the Disney-owned outlet.Geist is ESPN’s vice president and executive producer of ESPN Films and original content.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorNewsmax may be focused on conservative audiences, but it has very liberal views of where its business can go in the future as an independent news operation.The top executive of the news outlet said the company intends to move forward on its own, and noted Newsmax has little desire to turn the network, which has seen its ratings pop since the presidential election, into a TV outlet focused largely on a forum for a post-White House Donald Trump.“Newsmax would never

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorFox News Channel will try its hand at sports this weekend when it presents a one-hour special led by veteran sportscaster Jim Gray.During the program, “Talking to GOATs with Jim Gray,” the sports journalist and “Fox & Friends” co-host Brian Kilmeade will talk about Gray’s more than 40 years in sports and present some of his interviews with sports giants like Tom Brady (pictured, above), Mike Tyson and Julius Erving.Fox News has in recent months placed some

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorFox News veteran Geraldo Rivera said via Twitter Friday that President Trump will in the end leave the White House if states certify a victory for Joe Biden, but wants to continue to fight.Rivera said he had a conversation with Trump Friday, which he described as a “heartfelt phone call” with a “friend.”“He seemed like a heavyweight champion who is behind in points leading into the final round, but determined to fight on, knowing all the refs have scored the

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorThe New York sports world has another morning option to consider.MSG Networks is launching a new weekday morning program, “MSG A.M.,” led by Monica McNutt and Kazeen Famuyide. The program will air on the regional sports network Monday through Friday at 8 a.m.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorJohn Mulaney spent several years writing for “Saturday Night Live” when Seth Meyers was a cast member. Now he will spend some time writing for Meyers’ late-night program.Mulaney has joined NBC’s “Late Night,” which Meyers hosts, as a staff writer, according to a post on Twitter from Mike Shoemaker, the show’s executive producer.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorWhen you’re fighting a legion of undead, you need reliable weapons, a plucky attitude, and — this week, at least — a bottle of Mountain Dew.The citrusy PepsiCo soda will this Sunday appear in a new episode  of AMC’s “The Walking Dead: World Beyond,” and not only on screen. Characters will mention the beverage by name in scripted dialogue.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorCable news outlets focused on nothing last week but the presidential election. On Fox News Channel, however, Bill Hemmer found a few seconds to peer into the future.“The thing about our industry, Dana, and you know it very well: When there is information, when there is data, when the story is changing, you can run on adrenaline for a long time,” he said to anchor Dana Perino during hours spent on air.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorThe end of Madison Avenue’s Grey Global is being displayed in black and white.British advertising giant WPP said it would combine the large advertising agency with the digital-marketing company AKQA, the latest in efforts by CEO Mark Read to streamline the company as more consumers adopt mobile and digital technologies and spend more time with non-traditional media.The new AKQA Group  will employ 6,000 people in more than 50 countries, and work for clients

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorKen Dilanian, an NBC News correspondent, shook up the morning routine at MSNBC on Tuesday when he uttered profanity instead of relaying news to anchor Craig Melvin as expected.Dilanian appeared not to realize he was about to go on the air live, and instead of responding to Melvin’s introduction, let loose with two curse words one isn’t supposed to say during a TV news segment.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorNielsen, the king of media measurement, intends to extend its yardstick a little further.The data company, whose tabulation of TV audiences forms the bedrock of negotiations for billons of dollars of advertising each year, intends to add viewership data from DirecTV and Dish set-top boxes and Vizio smart TV’s into its national currency – a maneuver that could play a significant part in helping the industry track millions of views of streaming-video content  and