Brian Steinberg-Senior Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor The Media Rating Council has granted accreditation to audience-measurement technology backed by iSpot, one of a handful of start-up companies that have been vying for months to compete more directly with Nielsen. The MRC, an independent industry organization that scrutinizes various measurement methodologies, has accredited iSpot technology that identifies, verifies and tracks national TV ad occurrences across 187 linear and broadcast networks. The system was first introduced in 2012.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Comedy Central is going back to square one in its efforts to find a new host for “The Daily Show.” The Paramount Global cable network is considering a wider array of candidates to take the reins of the program from previous emcee Trevor Noah, according to people familiar with the matter, after having previously identified Hasan Minhaj as a leading possibility. The decision appears to come in the wake of a recent report in The New Yorker in which some of the supposedly autobiographical stories that Minhaj has used in his routines were found to be embellished. Comedy Central declined to comment, as did WME, the talent agency that represents Minhaj.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus expects to step down from his post in April of 2024, and will be replaced by David Berson, the unit of the president. McManus will wind up a tenure that had him overseeing some of the most prized sports properties in TV, as well as CBS News for a brief period.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Kasie Hunt left a fast-track career at NBC News in 2021 to dip her toes into digital waters at CNN. Two years later, she’s just starting to find out whether she might sink or swim. On Wednesday, Hunt will launch “State of the Race,” a new hour-long weekday show for CNN’s international service focused on U.S.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Deborah Roberts is taking up co-anchor duties at ABC News’ “20/20,” the latest in a line of distinguished anchors that includes Barbra Walters, Hugh Downs, Diane Sawyer, Connie Chung and Elizabeth Vargas who have led the long-running newsmagazine. Roberts is no stranger to the series’ rhythms. She has been contributing to it for 28 years, ever since she joined ABC News in 1995, recruited by Barbara Walters.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor At Fox Business Network — for one night, at least — it’s all a lot more than the economy. When the cable outlet televises a Republican primary debate on September 27, many of the strategies it used the last time it did so are going out the window. Gone are moderators Neil Cavuto and Maria Bartiromo, who have experience with such events.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Viewers who tuned in to watch repeats of “Yellowstone” on CBS Sunday night got something they might not have expected — two commercials telling them to watch the show somewhere else. CBS sold national ad time during the program to rival NBCUniversal, which ran a spot highlighting the availability of the Western-themed drama series on its Peacock streaming hub. “Peacock has all episodes of ‘Yellowstone,’” the commercial says via graphics that appear over scenes from the program.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Krishan Bhatia, a key architect of NBCUniversal’s recent forays into new kinds of advertising revenue, is leaving the company, and has informed his direct reports of his decision to exit at the end of 2023. Bhatia helped develop new revenue systems and infrastructure at NBCUniversal’s ad-sales unit, which for a time was very vocal about its efforts to strike e-commerce and data partnerships with advertisers.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Rick Cordella is taking the field for NBC Sports. The executive, who has been enmeshed in developing streaming products for NBCUniversal, has been named president of NBC Sports at a moment when many media companies are working on new models that will make big-ticket TV sports properties available to consumers who have fewer ties to traditional screens.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Viewers of landmark series on Amazon Prime Video like “The Boys” or “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” will soon be offered something never made available on the service before: TV commercials. Amazon Prime Video, one of the last mainstream streaming services to eschew the injection of regular commercial breaks into its movies and shows, plans to start letting them run early next year.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor A major transition at the top of a big company typically spells significant change. Just ask anyone who has worked for CNN while parent company WarnerMedia passed along to AT&T and then the new Warner Bros. Discovery.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor The nation’s TV networks are picking their own measurement team. The U.S. Joint Industry Committee, a group backed by Fox, NBCUniversal, Paramount, TelevisaUnivision, and Warner Bros.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Warner Bros. Discovery aims to make all of the sporting events it has developed over the years for cable crowds available to streamers at the same time — so long as they are willing to pay extra for the privilege. The media giant, which enjoys lucrative rights deals with the NBA, Major League Baseball, the NHL and the NCAA “March Madness” tournament, wants to use those properties to bring eyeballs to Max, its streaming service.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: A prominent TV reporter walks into a bar… A handful of the news anchors at MSNBC (yes, there are some left!) recently held a dinner to welcome Ana Cabrera, the former CNN journalist, to the network, where she has taken the reins of its 10 a.m. hour. Chris Jansing and Katy Tur, familiar faces to MSNBC viewers, were holding court, but Andrea Mitchell, a legendary Washington correspondent who has anchored an early afternoon show on MSNBC since 2008, was missing, due to making an appearance at Henry Kissinger’s 100th birthday.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Dan Abrams, one of the founding anchors in NewsNation’s primetime lineup, aims to continue his work at the Nexstar Media-backed outlet. Abrams and NewsNation reached a “multi-year” pact that will extend his work there, where he hosts “Dan Abrams Live” at 9 p.m.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor People have been able to hear Gia Peppers talk about big issues for years. Now they’ll be able to see her when she does. Peppers issues-focused podcast “More Than That with Gia Peppers” is expanding to video this year, with a four-episode limited run on the Revolt cable network that debuts Tuesday evening.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor It’s easy to envision Robin Roberts sitting down for an in-depth interview with a hard-to-nab celebrity or landing a “get” with an inspirational newsmaker. How about Robin Roberts helping to solve a mystery ripped from the headlines? Such a notion is a distinct possibility thanks to a new ABC News Studios production unit that Roberts will lead.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Bill Maher has decided to stop the clock on the return of “Real Time.” The comedian, who last week vowed to put his topical HBO program back into production, now says he will delay it for a while longer. “My decision to return to work was made when it seemed nothing was happening and there was no end in sight to this strike,” he said via social media.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor “Monday Night Football” was for many years a staple of ABC’s Monday-night line-up before it moved to ESPN in 2006. This fall, it will be so again. ABC will air ten more “MNF” games than previously expected this season, simulcasting then with Disney TV sibling ESPN in a move that will help the broadcast network as the industry grapples with ongoing strikes by WGA and SAG-AFTRA.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor NBC News may trump its rivals when it comes to interviewing a certain former Commander-in-Chief. David Muir, Lesley Stahl, John Dickerson, Chris Wallace, Bill O’Reilly, Kaitlan Collins and Jim Acosta have all tried their hand at interviewing Donald Trump; lobbing questions at him; or moderating a debate or event in which his participation was key. Some have drawn blood and others have been bloodied (and some others left agog as Trump walked out unexpectedly).

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor “Fox & Friends” will need a longer curvy couch. Lawrence Jones has been named a co-host of the Fox News Channel flagship morning program, in a move that brings the number of on-air personnel to four on weekdays and nods to a growing need at the cable outlet for more diversity on its schedule. Jones will start September 18.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Nielsen named Karthik Rao its new chief executive, replacing his predecessor David Kenny, who has steered the measurement giant through an era of tumult and strained relationships with top clients like the TV networks. Kenny will stay on as the company’s executive chair.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Bill Maher will soon be operating by some “New Rules” — and not just the ones he makes up in the signature segment of his HBO program. The comedian and commentator plans to re-start production of “Real Time” on HBO without writers, the first of TV’s phalanx of late-night hosts to try and do so despite the continuing Hollywood strikes by the WGA and SAG-AFTRA. “Real Time is coming back, unfortunately, sans writers or writing.” Maher said on social media Wednesday night.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor While Madison Avenue seems focused on shiny new technologies, iHeartMedia is encouraging advertisers to get back to basics. Research conducted by Morning Consult and Advertiser Perceptions on behalf of the audio-media giant and podcaster Pushkin Media found a growing disparity between what marketers think top consumer priorities are and the things to which consumers are actually gravitating.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor The popular sitcom “Modern Family” is picking up some new real estate — while keeping its other homes. Warner Bros. Discovery’s TBS cable network will start showing a three-hour block of the landmark comedy, which ran on ABC for 11 seasons between 2009 and 2020.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor NPR veteran Lakshmi Singh has signed with CAA for representation.; Singh, who has been with NPR for 23 years and has one of the public-broadcasting service’s most familiar voices, anchors midday coverage for NPR Newscasts, some of the most-heard content produced by the news outlet. Her work has drawn recognition from Women of Color in Communications for “contributions to the field, mentorship to other women in communications and broad impact on the promotion of ethnic diversity in journalism”, as well as the Asian American/Asian Research Institute and the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor After working for Walt Disney Co. for decades, Woody, Buzz Lightyear and their “Toy Story” friends have been given new jobs by the large entertainment conglomerate. Characters from the popular animated Pixar films will in October take part in the latest in a series of experiments aimed at getting young kids to watch live sports.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Disney and Charter have decided to let ESPN sports take the field on traditional cable after all. The two media giants, battling for the past week over a renewal for carriage of Disney’s various cable networks on Charter’s major-market cable systems, have come to new terms, according to the companies.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Nielsen is putting a new media yardstick out of arm’s reach, for the time being. Nielsen backed off a plan to incorporate first-party data from Amazon in its study of the audience for the company’s streamcast of “Thursday Night Football.” a move that was opposed by TV networks, putting to rest — at least for the moment — the idea that the measurement giant might utilize inputs from the companies it examines in its national viewership methodology.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Fox News opinion host Mark Levin is getting a bigger perch on the network’s weekend schedule. Fox News said it plans to expand his program, “Life, Liberty & Levin” so that it will air at 8 p.m.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Jen Psaki is stretching beyond her weekend shift at MSNBC. The former Biden White House Press Secretary turned Sunday commentator is expanding her purview at the NBCUniversal-backed cable outlet. She will begin anchoring MSNBC’s 8 p.m.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor When Megyn Kelly launched a new podcast via her own production company in 2020, she feared it would have an audience of only two: her husband and her therapist. Three years later, her worries appear to have been unfounded. In a sign of how her listenership has grown, she is extending a multi-year deal she has in place for the program to run first on SiriusXM — which has raised her visibility — that will keep her broadcasting “The Megyn Kelly Show” live on the company’s Triumph channel live between noon and 2 p.m.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Gambling is often full of risk, but it may also be the surest bet stressed executives in the frenzied media business these days can make. Disney earlier this month became the latest of the traditional media conglomerates to hook upwith purveyors of sports wagering. Under terms of a deal struck with Penn Entertainment, Disney’s ESPN stands to receive $2 billion in cash and warrants over10 years from the gambling purveyor.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Streaming fans may associate NBC’s Peacock with original shows like “Poker Face” or a place to watch “Saturday Night Live” when one lacks a cable subscription. But the hub’s backers would like people to consider it along with live sports ranging from Premier League soccer to IndyCar racing.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor The battle between Charter Communications and Walt Disney, spurred due to cord-cutting, is now getting very tangled. Charter suggested last week that it might be ready to cut Disney networks from its programming lineup after the two companies reached an impasse in talks to extend their carriage contract Now Disney is hinting to Charter subscribers that they might want to cut their connection with the large cable distributor.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Cable giant Charter Communications and content titan Disney are squabbling over about $2 billion in programming costs, but the price of their battle for the media industry overall could be exponentially higher. Disney on Thursday yanked its popular TV networks, which include ESPN, ABC and Disney Channel, from Charter’s Spectrum cable service, which reaches nearly 15 million homes, including many in big markets like New York City and Los Angeles.