Fox News Expands Menu to Steel Itself for Cord-Cutting’s Bite

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorAt least three of the nation’s big media companies are writing deals in an upfront ad-sales market that is moving more rapidly than in years past.Disney, NBCUniversal and Fox have all begun to sell advance advertising commitments as part of TV’s annual upfront market, according to five people familiar with the pace of negotiations.

May ratings are in and Fox News beat its cable news competition in total-day viewership and primetime viewership in both total average viewers and viewers in the key demo, according to Nielsen Media Research data. CNN lost half of its key demo viewership year over year, but maintained its year-to-date lead in the demo.

Donna Brazile has joined ABC News as a contributor, after a stint as a regular for Fox News.

Donna Brazile, former interim head of the Democratic National Convention, has exited Fox News for a contributor role at ABC News, an individual with knowledge of the deal told TheWrap.Brazile served as interim DNC chairwoman in 2012 and from 2016 to 2017. She’s had a wide-ranging career in television throughout her time as a political operative.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorDonna Brazile, the former chair of the Democratic National Committee and a veteran political operator, has joined ABC News as a contributor, a move that is likely to limit her appearances on Fox News Channel, where she has been appearing regularly since March of 2019.Brazile made a recent appeared on ABC News’ “This Week,” identified as a contributor, and a spokesperson for the Walt Disney unit confirmed she had joined its roster in previous weeks.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorWho will Greg Gutfeld yell at now?Juan Williams, the resident liberal member of the popular Fox News panel show, “The Five,” is leaving the program for which he has worked since 2011.“COVID taught me a lot of lessons. As the show goes back to the New York studio, I’ll be staying in DC.

Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy continued his efforts to make news Wednesday, only to meet his match in Principal Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who took the podium this afternoon at the daily White House press briefing.Doocy’s own network has spent most of the past 15 months minimizing the dangerous coronavirus, spreading false and mis-information on COVID-19, on social distancing protocols, on mask-wearing, on hydroxychloroquine, on vaccines, and on other aspects of the deadly

Fox Nation, the subscription streaming service launched by Fox News, will start to make available the network’s primetime lineup of Tucker Carlson Tonight, Hannity and The Ingraham Angle, with the first episodes posted on June 2.

Fox News announced Tuesday that its top-rated primetime lineup will stream next day on its subscription Fox Nation platform beginning June 2.Branded “Fox News Primetime All the Time,” the new initiative will give subscribers a chance to check out whatever Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham had to say on previous episodes, with each night’s episode dropping on the service the day after it airs.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorFox News Channel said it would make its lineup of primetime opinion programs available on its Fox Nation streaming-video service just one day after they air on cable, a significant distribution element that underscores the allure of streaming for the entire media sector.Starting Wednesday, June 2, episodes of “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” “Hannity” and “The Ingraham Angle” will all be made available the day after they air for on-demand viewing.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorRachel Campos-Duffy, a commentator who is also known from her time on MTV’s “Real World” series, was named a co-host at “Fox & Friends Weekend,” replacing Jedediah Blia. She is slated to start on June 12.Placing Campos-Duffy in the role means Fox News has a more stalwart conservative on the program than her predecessor.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorCNN is parting ways with contributor Rick Santorum, the former Republican Senator and presidential candidate who has come under fire in recent days for remarks he made last month about Native American culture.Speaking to an audience last month at an event organized by Young America’s Foundation, Santorum suggested Native American people had little influence on U.S. culture.

Jedediah Bila, the weekend anchor co-host of Fox & Friends Weekend at Fox News, is leaving those duties.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorJedediah Bila, a popular anchor who billed herself as holding libertarian perspectives and who was once a co-host at ABC’s “The View,” is leaving the weekend edition of “Fox & Friends,” the anchor and network announced Friday.“We have mutually and amicably parted ways with Jedediah Bila and wish her all the best,” Fox News said in a statement.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorFox Weather unveiled its senior executive structure ahead of a launch of its ad-supported streaming service devoted to all things meteorological in the third quarter of 2021.The leadership team will include: David Clark, senior vice president and head of programming; Steve Baron.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorFox News filed a motion Tuesday to dismiss a massive $1.6 billion lawsuit from by voting-technology firm Dominion Voting Systems, citing concerns about freedom of speech and introducing a new development to the closely-watched case.In the motion, Fox News said Dominion failed to identify “any actionable defamation” by Fox News and did not stipulate facts that Fox News presented the items Dominion challenges “with actual malice.”“The freedoms of speech and press

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorIn decades past, the networks’ sports departments were usually given just a sliver of the overall time in any upfront presentation. In 2021, Fox Sports is stepping out on its own.The Fox Corp.

was removed this week as chair of the House Republican Conference for taking a public stand against Trump over his lies about a “stolen” election, claims which have galvanized his supporters as well as members of the GOP.Cheney, who voted to impeach Trump for his role in the Jan 6.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorABC News will expand its recent “Soul of a Nation” series with two primetime specials designed to commemorate the first anniversary of George Floyd’s death and Juneteenth.“After Floyd: The Year that Shook the World – A Soul of a Nation Special,” will air Tuesday, May 25 from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m., and will attempt to chronicle the events around Floyd’s death and consider how the nation moves forward from it.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorFox News Channel, which has been reworking large parts of its programming schedule in the aftermath of the 2020 election, said it would launch new weekend programs hosted by conservative firebrand Dan Bongino and former South Carolina Congressman Trey Gowdy.Gowdy will host a 7 p.m. program on Sundays while Bongino will lead a 10 p.m.