NBCU Adds New Science to Art of Launching TV Shows Like ‘Night Court,’ ‘Quantum Leap’

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor CNN on Wednesday broadcast one of the most controversial news events of the year, a runaway town hall interview with former President Donald Trump, and advertisers like Subaru and Fidelity Investments went along for the ride. There are new questions about whether all of Madison Avenue will do so in the future. The nation’s big TV-news outlets are about to enter what should be a healthy cycle. The closer the U.S. gets to a presidential election, the more audiences tend to watch. CNN, for example, has indicated it expects to telecast more primetime town halls with candidates (last week’s lured nearly 3.31 million viewers), while Fox News Channel is expected to broadcast the Republican Party’s first primary debate in August.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor NBCUniversal shook up its ad-sales executive suite with just days to go before the company is slated to present its next slate of programing to advertisers. Linda Yaccarino, the company’s longtime chairman of advertising and partnerships, is leaving the company.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Linda Yaccarino, a hard-charging veteran of TV’s ad-sales wars, is in talks to become the next chief executive of Twitter, according to a person familiar with the matter. Yaccarino, who spent a good chunk of her career at WarnerMedia’s TV operations before joining NBCUniversal last decade, supervises the Comcast-owned company’s ad-sales efforts across the globe, with Peacock and NBC among the assets she helps fortify with revenue. In recent years, she has spearheaded initiatives to generate new cash flows through e-commerce, and worked to redefine the way the TV industry measures its audiences for advertisers in hopes of giving more credibility to the way Madison Avenue pays for people who watch their favorite programs via streaming video.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor ABC News is betting on a new duo to keep shining daylight at “GMA3.” Eva Pilgrim and DeMarco Morgan will officially take over as co-anchors of the program, a news-and-lifestyle hour in the early afternoon that is seen as an extension of the Disney network’s flagship “Good Morning America.” They will join Dr. Jen Ashton. Meanwhile, Gio Benitez has been assigned to the team at the weekend version of “GMA.” Staffers at ABC News were informed of the decision Thursday morning by Kim Godwin, president of the division. “I know these programs – and our viewers at home – will be well-served by all of their collective talents,” said Godwin in a memo.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Netflix is backing away from the live-in-New-York showcase it planned to hold for advertisers during the industry’s annual week of “upfront” presentations for advertisers, a move that threatens to put a damper on the company’s first big public attempt to woo advertisers to its service. The streaming giant is scrapping the event it planned to hold at its own Paris Theater in New York, slated for May 17, and informed advertisers of the switch Wednesday evening. The decision was previously reported by Adweek. Netflix’ decision takes place amid a massive writers strike that is likely to keep many of the actors, comedians and showrunners who might regularly attend away from the glitzy affairs held by most of the networks each year as part of the upfront, the annual attempt by U.S. media companies to sell the bulk of their commercial inventory attached to their next cycle of programming.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Mick Mulvaney, the former Director of the Office of Management and Budget acting White House Chief of Staff during the Trump administration, has been named a contributor to NewsNation, the upstart cable-news service operated by Nexstar Media. Mulvaney, who has left a contributor role at CBS News, is expected to take up his new duties immediately, appearing on the new politics-roundtable program “The Hill” at 5 p.m. Tuesday. “Mick’s enormous experience in the political sector will make him an incredible resource to viewers,” said Michael Corn, president of news at NewsNation, in a statement. “We are excited to welcome him to our growing powerhouse team of political analysts, especially as we enter another important election season.”

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Hadley Gamble, a CNBC reporter who ended up as part of the headlines involving the business-news outlet’s corporate parent and the ouster of its most recent CEO, is departing the company herself. “CNBC today announced that Hadley Gamble, Anchor and Senior International Correspondent, is leaving the company,” the network said in a statement. “Gamble has been a distinguished journalist for more than a decade for CNBC, undertaking highly visible and challenging assignments, and developing deep expertise in the Middle East and beyond. Her initiative and drive have secured valuable interviews with several world political leaders. We wish her every success in her future endeavors.”

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Tucker Carlson is out at 8 p.m. on Fox News Channel, and the network hopes that a host of blue-chip advertisers that for years avoided his controversial hour will soon come back in. Since Carlson’s stunning exit last month, a timeslot that has been shunned by many Madison Avenue stalwarts seems as if it is being embraced. Procter & Gamble, one of the nation’s largest and most influential advertisers, has been running ads in “Fox News Tonight,” the network’s new 8 p.m. program, for female-skewing products like Venus razor blades by Gillette and Secret underarm deodorant. Also showing up in commercial breaks: Novo Nordisk’s trendy medication Ozempic, and Scotts Miracle-Gro.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Getting to Carnegie Hall requires, as the old joke goes, practice, practice practice. Walking away, it would seem, is significantly easier. Paramount Global, a media company that has over the past decades come to emblematize the entertainment industry’s annual “upfront” sales session in no small part because of its presentations at the New York landmark, this year surprised many by walking away from holding one. Chances are the company won’t be returning in the near future. “We are not going to go back to the old way of doing things,” says John Halley, Paramount’s president of advertising, in an interview.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor How much should it cost to end media scrutiny on the internal workings of a news organization? Fox Corp. thinks an outlay of $787.5 million ought to be sufficient. In a letter filed Wednesday with the Superior Court of the State of Delaware, an attorney for Fox Corp. sought to keep redactions intact in documents supporting the case, and pressed a judge to keep media organizations from being able to examine the evidence further. “Fox agreed to settle this case to buy peace and bring an end to the media spectacle that the case had become,” says Katherine L. Mowery, an attorney representing Fox Corp. in its bid to quell further releases pertaining to its recent defamation settlement agreement with ballot-technology firm Dominion Voting Corp.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor NBC, Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers intend to pay staffers of the network’s “Tonight” and “Late Night” shows three weeks’ of wages while the programs are sidelined due to the writers strike, according to two people familiar with the matter. NBC plans to pay two weeks of salary to staffers while each late-night host will pay a third week out of their own pockets, according to these people. Healthcare for the shows’ employees will be paid through September. Staffers were informed Wednesday morning during production calls, these people say, with Fallon and Meyers taking part personally to discuss the matter with his staff. The hosts typically do not participate in those early-day meetings.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor You’ll have to wait a while for the next original “Live, from New York!” “Saturday Night Live” will not produce any new episodes for the next while, owing to the writers’ strike called for by the WGA. The show’s next scheduled episode, slated for Saturday night and hosted by former cast member Pete Davidson with musical guest Lil Uzi Vert, will not take place, according to NBC. With a work stoppage in place, it’s quite possible that fans will not have any more new episodes of “SNL” in its 48th season. The show usually goes on its summer hiatus after May. “‘SNL’ will air repeats until further notice starting Saturday, May 6,” NBC said.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor TV’s late-night shows are going to bed early for the foreseeable future. ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” CBS’ “The Late Show,” and NBC’s “Tonight” and “Late Night” are all going on’ hiatus as a result of the start of the Hollywood writers’ strike — and the shows could be off the air for at least a few weeks. In place of new programs, NBC, CBS and ABC will air repeats of those shows. HBO will also cease live production of “Real Time with Bill Maher” and “This Week Tonight” with John Oliver. Immediate word on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” and NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” was not available. Writers play an integral role in TV’s late-night schedule, bashing out multiple jokes, one-liners and sketches each day that play off current events and trending popular culture. The contract between the Writers’ Guild of American an the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents about 350 TV and film production companies, ended on May 1.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Fox’s 2022 broadcast of Super Bowl LVII has a new score. Nielsen has added audience to the overall total of the February 13, 2022 broadcast, and the new viewership makes the game the industry’s most-watched TV event. According to a revamped Nielsen report, 115.1 million viewers tuned in to watch the Big Game across Fox, Fox Deportes, and various streaming services. Nielsen had previously reported that the broadcast was seen by an estimated 113.06 million viewers. “There were two separate issues, each of them accounting for an additional 1 million viewers,” explains Mike Mulvihill, executive vice p and head of strategy and analytics for Fox Sports.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Donald Trump and CNN have in recent years seemed to go together as well as Coca-Cola and mayonnaise, which is to say not at all. Now the two entities are teaming up for a town-hall program to be broadcast next week. Kaitlan Collins, the former Washington correspondent turned morning anchor who was often called out by Trump during rallies and press scrums, will moderate a live CNN Town Hall with the former president on May 10 from St. Anselm College in New Hampshire. Trump, who has declared his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, will take questions from an audience of New Hampshire Republicans and undeclared voters who say they intend to vote in the New Hampshire Republican presidential primary.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Tucker Carlson hasn’t left Fox Corporation quite yet. The company’s Fox News Media unit has hours and hours of various specials and original programming the controversial anchor developed for the subscription-based streaming service Fox Nation, and doesn’t appear poised to take any of that content down. The Carlson-created options currently available on the service are manifold. There is a program called “Let Them Eat Bugs!” that examines how “global leaders, movie stars and social media influencers are making a concerted push to force bugs into your diet, whether you like it or not.” A “Tucker Carlson Originals Christmas Special” is available for those interested. And Carlson’s last broadcast on Fox News Channel — from Friday, April 21 — is ready to for binge-viewing. There are also classic Carlson interviews to be found in “Tucker Carlson Tonight: The Vault.”

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor It’s an idea that would make any news executive salivate. What if MSNBC revived CNN’s old “Crossfire” show, enlisting Tucker Carlson from the right and Don Lemon from the left? Such a concept would normally be unthinkable. Tucker Carlson is known for his work on Fox News. Don Lemon has long held forth for CNN. It has been that way for years. Until, as of earlier this week, it wasn’t. Within the space of 90 minutes on April 24, Carlson was ousted from Fox News Channel and Lemon was pushed from CNN. Both were stalwart personalities for their networks. Both were valued for their ability to spark conversation, debate, pushback and even furor. For years, that has been the cable-news coin of the realm. As the economics of TV shift, however, it is becoming clearer that media executives may have less patience for TV-news pot-stirrers.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Tucker Carlson will no longer be able to carry on his self-generated battle against lying, pomposity, smugness, and groupthink at Fox News Channel. Carlson, Fox News Channel’s most-watched primetime host, will leave the network in an abrupt and surprise exit, leaving the network without a fill-in for one of its most popular hours and with dozens of questions hanging over it as it grapples with pressures resulting from a $787 million settlement it will have to pay to Dominion Voting Systems “Fox News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways,” the company said in a statement Monday. “We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor.” A spokeswoman for Fox News declined to elaborate.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor TV news can help a dozen soundbites from politicians go viral on any day. One recent social-media uproar stirred by CBS News came not from flagship programs like “CBS Mornings” or “CBS Evening News,” but from “Red & Blue,” a program available only through streaming. On a recent Wednesday, CBS News political correspondent Caitlin Huey-Burns nabbed an interview with Senator Tim Scott, the Republican presidential hopeful, and made sure to ask him his stance on federal limits on when women might be able to terminate a pregnancy. Scott gave all kinds of answers, but none of them directly answered her questions. The exchange made news — even though it debuted first in a place where, in another era, it might have gotten lost.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor After steering NBCUniversal through a global pandemic and a roiling stock market, Jeff Shell in January thought he had some good news for investors: Better times were just around the corner. “I’m pretty confident that we have a lot of growth ahead in NBCUniversal,” he told Wall Street analysts during a recent conference call. He called for new activity at the company’s amusement parks after a long fallow period caused by the COVID pandemic, as well as a boost to paying subscribers at the company’s Peacock streaming hub. Now a different executive will be charged with finding out whether Shell’s projections will come to pass.