NBC News Keeps Chasing Conservatives With Controversial Talent Moves

Jamie Oliver has shared his go-to recipe for spaghetti carbonara - and it contains one 'controversial' ingredient

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor As Amazon ramps up its efforts to woo ad dollars that once were earmarked for traditional TV, it is also luring ad executives who tried to capture that money for TV networks. Krishan Bhatia, previously a senior executive at NBCUniversal who ran the business aspects of the company’s ad-sales division, is joining Amazon as vice president of global video advertising for Amazon Ads. He will be charged with leading a global sales seeking to monetize Amazon’s growing video operations tied to sports, Freevee, Twitch and Prime Video.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Richard Leibner, a celebrated talent agent who represented some of the best-known anchors in TV news, first at a firm he helped build and then for UTA, died Tuesday after a battle with cancer. He was 85 years old. In his time, Leibner served as an agent and adviser to Dan Rather, Mike Wallace, Ed Bradley, Morley Safer, Bob Simon, Steve Kroft, Bill Whitaker, Diane Sawyer, Chuck Scarborough, Paula Zahn, Brian Stelter and Fareed Zakaria, among others.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor CBS News is ready to launch a new salvo in TV’s streaming wars. With many of its rivals bolstering their streaming offerings in recent months, CBS News plans to broaden its efforts by debuting a new signature “whip-around” live-streamed program, “CBS News 24/7” that will rely on journalists both from the national news outlet as well as from CBS local stations — and serve as the new name of the broadband outlet.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor CBS is forecasting that viewer interest in the ins and outs of national weather is about to gain new wind. Wendy Fisher, a longtime senior executive at ABC News who ran its newsgathering operations, has been named to lead a newly formed national weather-news operation that will work with both national and local news programs across CBS’ news-and-stations unit. “This is a significant team effort, as Weather coverage plays a role in virtually every program produced by CBS News and Stations,” said Adrienne Roark, president of content development and integration for the Paramount Global division, in a memo sent to staffers Monday.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Does the sports world have room for April Action after weeks of March Madness? Fox aims to answer the question in 2025 when it launched a new post-season college-basketball tournament in tandem with large sports and music promote AEG Worldwide. The College Basketball Crown will rely on 16 teams drawn largely from the Big Ten, Big 12 and Big East conferences, with the possibility of other participants.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Add “Call Her Daddy” podcast host Alex Cooper to the list of non-traditional commentators taking part in NBCUniversal’s activities around the 2024 Paris Olympics. Cooper will lead “Watch with Alex Cooper,” a series of interactive watch parties that will stream on NBCU’s Peacock during Olympics activity.

Harry Smith is moving on. After 12 years at NBC News, veteran correspondent Smith is leaving the network and will begin teaching at his alma mater this fall.

Major renewal and cancellation news has been announced at NBC in 2024!

NBC News has cut ties with former RNC chair Ronna McDaniel, just days after she was announced as a paid analyst for the network. There had been a growing internal backlash at the division over her hire.

Ronna McDaniel is out at NBC News.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor CAA, the agency that helped broker the recent deal that brought former Republican National Committee chief Ronna McDaniel to NBC News as a political analyst, has parted ways with her, according to a person familiar with the matter, as she wrangles with the media outlet over appropriate terms for an exit. McDaniel has been advised to seek an attorney to represent her, this person said. A representative for CAA did not respond immediately to a query seeking comment.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Former Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel has only appeared once on NBC News programming in her new capacity as a political news contributor, and already, senior executives are gathering to conduct a review. Top executives from NBC News were expected to meet Tuesday to hash out the growing controversy around her recent hire, according to two people familiar with the matter, in a bid to stop a growing insurrection by the NBCUniversal unit’s editorial staff.

Fletcher has denied having any involvement with the controversial group MMS (Modern Mystery School).In a post on X/Twitter yesterday (March 25), the New Jersey singer – full name Cari Elise Fletcher – wrote: “I am no longer involved with MMS.“I was listed on the website because I took a few introductory classes followed by a one week course out of curiosity. Further insight into the organization did not resonate with me in any way.”She added: “I do not support, subscribe or condone any mission or rhetoric that is anti- LGBTQ+ in any form, spiritually, politically or otherwise.”You can see the statement in the post below.pic.twitter.com/UnafxAYFTD— FLETCHER (@findingfletcher) March 25, 2024Fletcher joined Modern Mystery School?!? #fletcher #mileycyrus #shawnmendes #modernmysteryschool @No Culty Vibes @No Culty Vibes @No Culty Vibes ♬ original sound – No Culty Vibes Replying to @Mir_el26 okayyy Fletcher’s not in a cult.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor A long line of MSNBC‘s most popular anchors spent Monday calling out the network’s corporate sibling, NBC News, for its hire of former Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel in a stunning display of internal rifts laid bare on the TV screen. The hire of McDaniel as a contributor is “inexplicable,” Rachel Maddow said on MSNBC Monday night as part of a half-hour commercial-free monologue that painted the former politico as one in a line of fascists and would-be usurpers who have tried to take over America’s political process.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Ronna McDaniel was supposed to be the new star contributor at NBC News. Now her position there is looking increasingly untenable. NBC News hired the former Republican National Committee chief last week, betting that her recent access to the Trump campaign and Republican politicians would make her a valuable analyst as the 2024 election cycle intensified.

MSNBC‘s Morning Joe co-anchors Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski called on NBC News to reconsider its decision to hire former Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel as a paid contributor.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Chuck Todd left moderating duties at “Meet The Press” behind several months ago, but he isn’t through with the show yet. During a surprising appearance on Sunday’s broadcast of the program on NBC, Todd took issue with a decision to hire former Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel as an NBC News contributor, then put her on “Meet The Press” for an interview with current moderator Kristen Welker, who had booked McDaniel prior to the hiring becoming known.

NBC News is facing an internal and external backlash over its hiring of former Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel as a paid contributor, with critics blasting the decision given her past support of Donald Trump’s unfounded election claims.

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