Linsey Davis, Whit Johnson Will Anchor ABC’s Weekend ‘World News Tonight’

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorThis Saturday-morning news show is supposed to look like the ones that precede it Monday through Friday. It doesn’t.Co-anchor Jeff Glor isn’t wearing a tie and his colleagues, Michelle Miller and Dana Jacobson, often join him in a weekend outing that seems cut from different cloth than the weekday version to which it is tied.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorTucker Carlson will expand his content contributions for Fox News Media, agreeing to a new deal to create three video podcasts and some original specials for Fox Nation, the company’s subscription-based video service.Starting in April,  Carlson is expected to release at least three new video podcast episodes a week. They will feature interviews with newsmakers, as well as discussions of prominent issues in the news cycle.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorSavannah Guthrie’s next one-hour special won’t appear on any of NBC News’ best known properties, which include “Today” and “NBC Nightly News.”  And yet, it may be of more critical importance to the NBCUniversal-owned news organization than any in-depth report she’s presented in recent months.Guthrie will today kick off a week-long focus by NBC News on the mental health of young people during the pandemic, the first of what NBC News President Noah Oppenheim says

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorAttorneys for Fox News filed individual motions Thursday night to dismiss Smartmatic’s defamation lawsuit on behalf of Lou Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo and Jeanine Pirro, three anchors who have been named in the matter in which the voting technology company is seeking a whopping $2.7 billion.The three motions were filed by Kirkland & Ellis, the law firm representing Fox News in the matter.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorBloomberg News on Thursday began notifying a group of employees they were being terminated, according to three people familiar with the matter, the latest in an ongoing string of layoffs at media companies as they grapple with the economics of the  digital age.Some staffers were given the sense the company hoped to enact a restructuring among a group of veteran editors, according to one of these people, who noted that some employees affected had been with

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorThe ESPN executive who helped oversee landmark sports-journalism projects like “O.J.: Made in America” and “The Last Dance”  will team up with Peter Chernin to launch a new content studioConnor Schell was ESPN’s top content executive until he left the Disney sports-media giant at the end of 2020 in a bid to pursue new ventures.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorFox News Channel plans to fill its 11 p.m. weeknight hour with an “irreverent” late-night show from host Greg Gutfeld, the latest in a series of programming maneuvers the Fox Corporation-owned outlet has put into place in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election,The show currently airing at 11 p.m.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorFox News Media made a bid Monday to quash a massive $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit that has called into question segments delivered on at least three of its programs, saying the legal case presented by voting-technology firm Smartmatic is “meritless” and would “chill First Amendment activities.”Smartmatic, a maker of software that helps in elections,  has been the subject of disparaging commentary from a handful of conservative-news outlets.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorLou Dobbs’ program is off the schedule at Fox Business Network, and Larry Kudlow’s will soon be on.Fox Business Network will launch a new 4 p.m. program led by Kudlow on Tuesday, February 16, putting the former Trump economic adviser and CNBC personality on screen just as the stock markets close for the day.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorFox Business Network is poised to cancel Lou Dobbs’ long-running program, the latest in a series of programming changes taking place at Fox News Media, according to a report from the Los Angeles Times.A spokesperson for Fox News Media could not be reached for immediate comment.Dobbs is one of three Fox News personalities who has been sued along with the Fox Corporation unit by Smartmatic, the voting technology company that has levied a $2.7 billion defamation

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorSmartmatic, a maker of voting technology whose name has been the subject of disparaging commentary from a handful of conservative-news outlets, on Thursday said it had sued Fox News and three of its popular on-air personalities — Lou Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo and Jeanine Pirro — for more than $2.7 billion, citing efforts made on Fox News programs to disparage the company’s business.Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, two attorneys who had been working for President

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorLinsey Davis is helping to tie things together at ABC News.You might not see the string during one of her recent hours on the Disney unit’s ABC News Live. On Tuesday evening, Davis’ “ABC News Live Prime” took viewers to Russia to examine how the government was cracking down on citizen protests and spent time looking at Congress’ effort to devise pandemic relief and hold an impeachment trial.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorBarstool Sports, the rowdy sports-information empire with a knack for smack talk, is getting into longer-form programming.The company intends to launch “Coach Prime,” a documentary series that will follow Deion Sanders in his first season as head coach of the Jackson State Tigers, while calling attention to Historically Black College and Universities.

ABC News has named Linsey Davis and Whit Johnson the new weekend anchors for the network's flagship evening newscast, World News Tonight. Johnson will anchor on Saturdays, with Davis anchoring on Sundays.

Linsey Davis and Whit Johnson have been tapped to anchor the weekend broadcasts of ABC News’ World News Tonight, succeeding Tom Llamas.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorJames Goldston, the president of ABC News, will leave the Walt Disney-backed unit at the end of March, the latest in a recent series of changes among top national news executives.“It’s a really tough decision,” Goldston said in a memo to staffers.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorTom Llamas, the ABC News anchor who leads the unit’s weekend “World News Tonight” broadcast and is its chief national affairs correspondent, is jumping from the Disney operation to NBC News.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorLarry Kudlow, the former CNBC host turned Trump economic advisor, has found a new media job after his time at the White House — and it’s not with his former employer.Kudlow, who took on the unenviable job of predicting a quick V-shaped recovery for the nation in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic and also tried to make the case the contagion was contained before it took full root in the U.S,, will launch a new weekday program for Fox Business Network.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorFox News Channel held talks with Kayleigh McEnany, the former White House Press Secretary whose performance in the role earned sharp criticism, about a possible position at the cable-news outlet, according to a person familiar with the matter.Those conversations have yet to bear fruit.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorSix of the nation’s most prominent advertisers have signed on as early supporters of Univision’s new PrendeTV, a vote of confidence in the streaming service as the Spanish-language broadcaster moves forward in early days under new management.Clorox, Coca-Cola, Dunkin, Johnson & Johnson, Toyota and Walmart will serve as charter advertisers of the new service, Donna Speciale, the executive recently named president of advertising sales and marketing at Univision,