Fox News Will Launch Dan Bongino, Trey Gowdy in New Weekend Programs

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.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorDiscovery’s CEO feels a combination of WarnerMedia and his company will create a new media company that is “uniquely competitive with Netflix and Disney,” and articulated the need to have a global footprint in the future in order to compete in the entertainment industry’s streaming wars.Discovery last week stuck a pact with AT&T to take over WarnerMedia operations in a deal that executives hope will pass regulatory muster by mid 2022.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorJeff Zucker, chairman of news and sports at WarnerMedia, held a company town hall on Tuesday in which he addressed the recent Chris Cuomo-CNN controversy and answered questions regarding return-to-office plans.Zucker suggested CNN staffers who were vaccinated and wished to return to the outlet’s New York offices would likely be able to do so starting in June, according to a person familiar with the event.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorThe nation’s big media companies are on a new mission: finding ways to unite thousands of individual binge-watchers into a cohesive mass audience.Madison Avenue is eager to chase consumers moving from TV to new streaming hubs like Paramount Plus, Peacock and HBO Max. But when advertisers do, they find a much different set of viewing patterns than they do on the old familiar screen.

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 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 EditorIt’s just the latest salvo in TV’s never-ending morning-news wars: CBS’ Gayle King is about to stroll into territory long dominated by ABC’s Robin Roberts.Starting this fall, “CBS This Morning” will hold forth from a new studio in New York’s Times Square.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorCNN is trying to stay out of anchor Chris Cuomo’s latest family affair.CNN said it had no plans to discipline its top primetime anchor, despite the fact that he provided counsel and aid during staff meetings to his brother, Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York, while he was in the midst of fending off sexual harassment accusations.A report Thursday in The Washington Post revealed that Cuomo, who anchors CNN’s 9 p.m.

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 EditorDiscovery brought a vision to advertisers this year that it will be hard to duplicate in sessions to come.The owner of the TLC, Food Network and HGTV cable outlets spent Wednesday morning explaining how its networks, focused largely on reality and documentary programming, could stand through even conditions spurred by the coronavirus pandemic.

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.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorFox News Channel has defied its many critics for a quarter century, surviving shocking internal scandals and weathering myriad controversies with its primetime hosts to become a profit-generating juggernaut for Rupert Murdoch. But there is no question that its traditional linear revenue base is shrinking, which is why Fox Corp.

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 EditorIn the space of just a few weeks, a group of Madison Avenue heavyweights — with names like General Motors, Interpublic Group and WPP — has made public guarantees of ad money for some of the industry’s smaller media outlets, all owned by Black entrepreneurs. Getting these companies to talk about ad spending in public is an amazing feat.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorJimmy Fallon, host of “The Tonight Show,” and NBCU are expanding their programming together under a new development deal.“The Kids Tonight Show,” a late-night program hosted by young people, is among the projects being developed under a new pact struck between NBCUniversal and Fallon’s production outlet, Electric Hot Dog.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorAfter devoting constant chatter to the 2020 election and the coronavirus pandemic, Fox News wants to make sure to talk about other subjects, including sports and weather.During an upfront presentation to ad buyers and clients Tuesday, executives from Fox News Media told Madison Avenue they intended to expand programming beyond the news of the day.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorAMC Networks said first quarter profit rose even as it navigated declines in revenue and operating income in the midst of a challenging environment.The New York owner of the AMC, IFC and Sundance cable networks said net income came to $87 million, or $2.02 per share, compared with $68.7 million, or $1.22 per share in the year-earlier period.