ESPN Chief Weighs in on Maria Taylor-Rachel Nichols Dispute

Chad Michael Murray like you’ve never seen him before. After starring on TV faves like and, the 39-year-old actor is channeling one of America’s most infamous serial killers in.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorSportscaster Maria Taylor has moved into a new role at NBC Sports, where she made her first appearance Friday during the network’s Olympics coverage.

Two days after it was announced she was parting ways with ESPN, the network’s former NBA Finals pregame and halftime host made her debut on NBC, doing Olympics coverage, no less.

ESPN said Wednesday that it is parting ways NBA Countdown and NBA Finals host Maria Taylor after failing to come to terms on a contract extension. The news comes a day after what has turned out to be Taylor’s final assignment: covering the deciding Game 6 of the NBA Finals won by the Milwaukee Bucks.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorESPN and Maria Taylor, an up-and-coming on-air personality, have parted ways in the wake of an internal controversy that spilled into the public arena and drew new scrutiny of diversity policies at the Disney-owned sports-media giant.“There is no doubt we will miss Maria, but we remain determined to continue to build a deep and skilled talent roster that thoroughly reflects the athletes we cover and the fans we serve” said Jimmy Pitaro, ESPN’s chairman, in a

With Cannes winding down tonight—just one last movie in the festival’s official selection, by Gaspar Noe, was left to play—Bill Murray took to the stage at the Debussy theater with cellist Jan Vogler, pianist Vanessa Perez and violinist Mira Wang for a 25-minute concert of music following the premiere of Andrew Muscato’s doc New Worlds: The Cradle of Civilization.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorAn increasing amount of what ESPN does isn’t going to be seen on good ol’ ESPN.“Sunday Night Baseball” has been a mainstay of the Disney sports network since the show’s launch in 1990, but on August 8, the program will air on ESPN’s corporate cousin, ABC. When ESPN this fall launches its first NHL season coverage in a decade and a half, a good chunk of the games will be made available for viewing by ESPN digital subscribers on Hulu.

In a memo sent to ESPN employees on Friday, ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro addressed what he called “nuanced and complicated personnel matters” related to “recent events.” Those events revolve around leaked comments made by one of the the network’s highest-profile female hosts Rachel Nichols, who is white, and another of the network’s highest-profile female hosts Maria Taylor, who is Black.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorESPN’s Stephen A.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorDisney will raise the monthly and annual fees for ESPN Plus, one of three different subscription-based streaming services it operates in the U.S., in a maneuver that signals how much the media industry is starting to depend on those direct-to-consumer outlets for new revenue.Starting on Aug. 13, the price of an ESPN Plus subscription will rise to $6.99 a month and $69.99 a year, up from $5.99 a month and $59.99 per year.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorESPN struck a new 12-year deal with All-England Lawn Tennis Club that expands the company’s ability to show the iconic Wimbledon tennis championships to sports fans who may be gravitating to forms of video other than traditional TV.The new pact, which begins with the 2024 Championships and extends through 2035, calls for more matches to be shown on both ESPN’s Disney sibling ABC, as well as on ESPN Plus, its subscription broadband service.

Surprising reception! Chad Michael Murray has wonderful memories from his time on Gilmore Girls — but he didn’t expect fans to share the same sentiment about his bad boy role.

UPDATE, 8:45: ESPN anchor Maria Taylor has finally spoken out in the wake of the controversy surrounding remarks made about her by fellow employee Rachel Nichols.

New money, suit and tie — and a 32,000-square-foot estate.  The fairy tale mansion featured in Taylor Swift’s "Blank Space" music video — which has more than 2.8 million views on YouTube — is up for auction with a massive price cut.  Located in Glen Cove, New York, the residence is known as Winfield Hall and is complete with 56 rooms, space for 11 cars, 16 fireplaces, and even comes with an actual clock tower, according to Jam Press.  (Google Maps/Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP) Initially

said NABJ president Dorothy Tucker.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorPublicis Media said it would launch a “multi-year” effort aimed at getting advertisers to invest more regularly in media outlets that cater to people from a broader range of cultures and background, part of a growing effort by Madison Avenue to rectify years of focusing mainly on mainstream media as vehicles for the majority of clients’ advertising.Publicis, the media-buying arm of Publicis Groupe of France, said it had launched the Once & For All Coalition, a

Shortly before tip off of the first game of the 2021 NBA Finals, league commissioner addressed the media. Specifically, he addressed the turmoil at one of the league’s premiere TV partners, ESPN, surrounding hosts Rachel Nichols and Maria Taylor.

On the day of the start of the NBA Finals, ESPN’s premiere daily NBA show was missing from its schedule. Instead, according to the New York Post, viewers who tuned in at 3 p.m., ET on Tuesday found the two-man team of Jalen & Jacoby, who are usually The Jump‘s lead-in. A subsequent Jump schedule spot on ESPNH2 at 4 p.m., ET was replaced by the network’s Highly Questionable.

“Blank Space” music video — which has more than 2.8 million views on YouTube — is up for auction with a massive price cut. Initially asking $20 million, the 12-bedroom, 10-bathroom Long Island property is now asking for a starting bid of only $7 million. In 2015, Swift, now 31, won a MTV VMA award for Best Female Video for “Blank Space.”  In the video, Swift can be seen living in an opulent mansion and playing house with model Sean O’Pry.Located in Glen Cove, New York, the residence is known as

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorESPN had to devise a new game plan for the NBA Finals.The Disney-owned sports-media giant said it would move its veteran basketball reporter Rachel Nichols off sideline duties for the NBA Finals, slated to be broadcast tonight on ABC and feature the Milwaukee Bucks taking on the Phoenix Suns, and utilize Malika Andrews instead as it grapples with new scrutiny over how it handled a bizarre leak of Nichols on video appearing to disparage last year’s decision to use