Brian Steinberg-Senior Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Even Dr. Phil is getting in on TV’s frenzied battle for sports rights. The daytime mainstay has long been known for doling out common-sense advice without any bull.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Cynthia McFadden, the TV-news veteran whose career has taken her from co-anchoring ABC News‘ “Nightline” to a senior perch on NBC News‘ investigations team, is stepping away from broadcast journalism. “It is hard to leave a job you love but this is the right time — I have a list of things I have often said I wanted to do ‘someday’. Well, someday is now, while I am still raring to go — and playing with a relatively full deck,” McFadden said in a note to colleagues Friday.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Netflix may be a new-tech company, but it approached advertisers Wednesday with old-school TV talk: The company aims to make dozens of shows and movies that people like to watch and talk about. During an upfront presentation, executives from the streaming giant showcased a msssuve pipeline of content that included two Christmas Day games from the NFL, a year of WWE matches and a new movie that features the return of Cameron Diaz, who will come-star with Jamie Foxx in “Back in Action.” “At a time when the competition is pulling back, we are investing,” said Bela Bajaria, the company’s chief content officer.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor The television industry’s annual “upfront” is usually a place where advertisers get to preview new series and specials, not blockbuster movies, so NBC raised eyebrows Monday when one of the first previews it showed to an audience at Radio City Music Hall was of the coming Universal film “Wicked.” NBCUniversal, chief content officer Donna Langley told the crowd, was “excited to build up our story legacy across film, TV and streaming.” Movies and premium cable series from HBO and Showtime used to be something traditional TV advertisers got their hands on only after they had made their way through theaters and pay-TV windows. Now, as a batch of this year’s upfront showcases reveal, they are increasingly being dangled before Madison Avenue as a major reason to support TV companies.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor The turmoil in TV and advertising has been reflected in a high level of turnover among top TV ad sales executives, so media buyers will be doing business with a number of new faces in this year’s upfront advertising sales market. Madison Avenue’s growing reliance on streaming video has given rise to a new array of top sales honchos. Jeff Collins is leading Fox Corp.’s efforts this year following the retirement of sales stalwart Marianne Gambelli.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor After nearly 35 years with CNN, longtime Washington bureau chief Sam Feist has been named CEO of C-SPAN. Feist will remain at CNN through June and take the reins of C-SPAN later in the summer, succeeding co-CEOs Rob Kennedy and Susan Swain. Founded in 1979 by a group of cable operators, C-SPAN is devoted to televising the activity in the chambers of the U.S.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor NBC is increasingly throwing the ball to the NFL. The Comcast-backed media conglomerate said Monday that it had purchased the rights to broadcast an extra NFL game on Saturday, December 21, presumably adding a bigger audience to the last shopping weekend before Christmas. NBC already has the rights to broadcast a game on December 22 as part of its “Sunday Night Football” lineup.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Amazon Prime Video isn’t waiting for the start of next week’s “upfront” to draw attention to women’s sports. The streaming giant said it has struck a sponsorship deal with AT&T that will have the telecommunications perennial serve as the lead sponsor for 21 WNBA games shown on Prime Video, and the presenting sponsor of the halftime show that airs during the service’s National Women’s Soccer League matches.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Mark Marshall has been given a lot of time to prepare for NBC Universal’s annual presentation to advertisers. Last year, he only had 72 hours.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor NBC is adding a new event to its coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympics: Steve Kornacki in front of his big board. Kornacki, who is known for his deft on-the-fly analysis of political campaigns and races, will turn his focus for a short period of time to athletic competition in Paris as part of a cadre of NBC News journalists who will present some coverage of the extravaganza, Willie Geist, Sam Brock, Gadi Schwartz and Anne Thompson will also participate, with Kornacki offering analysis from the U.S., and his colleagues on the ground in France. The Opening Ceremony of the Paris Olympics is Friday, July 26 on NBC, Peacock, and Telemundo.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Fox Corp. said it swung to a profit in its fiscal third quarter despite slumps in advertising revenue, largely due to the absence of charges associated with a massive legal setback tied to Fox News Channel and a boost in affiliate fees.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Dale Earnhardt Jr. is changing vehicles. The legendary racer will leave NBC Sports’ NASCAR team, where he has held forth as a color commentator since 2018, in favor of lending his expertise to both Warner Bros.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Audiences may not be the only thing about TV that continues to shrink. Advertisers are expected to once again press for “rollbacks,” or declines in the rates they pay for reaching streaming and TV viewers, in early “upfront” talks with TV networks, according to five media buying executives and other people familiar with these annual discussions in which U.S. media companies try to sell the bulk of their commercial inventory ahead of their next cycle of programming.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Disney doesn’t think it’s going to foul in its drive to score a new pact with the NBA. Speaking to investors Tuesday, Disney CEO Bob Iger said the company was “optimistic or confident” that Disney would renew its agreement with the basketball league that would keep a sizable package of its games on ESPN and other Disney properties. Disney has also served as home to the NBA Finals, which typically air on the ABC broadcast network.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Amazon wants to break down the barriers between watching TV and driving to the mall. The streaming giant on Tuesday unveiled a new suite of interactive ad formats it is making available for sponsors of its Prime Video subscription-video service.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Kim Godwin hoped to build ABC News‘ future by cutting out some of its past. Tasked, ostensibly, with shaking up a culture of the Disney-backed news organization that pit anchors against one another and led to claims of intolerable behavior behind the scenes, Godwin was supposed to revamp a storied journalism hub without losing any of the impetus that spurred employees to make shows such as “World News Tonight” and “Good Morning America” the most-watched in their category.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Dan Abrams is taking a deeper gulp of liquor media. The media entrepreneur, who has built businesses such as the TV-news-obsessed Mediaite and the Law & Crime network, which was recently sold to the creator-fueled media company Jellysmack, is acquiring two specialized event businesses tied to liquor tasting in a bid to grow Bottle Raiders, a collection of sites that offer reviews of whiskey, tequila, gin and rum.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Kim Godwin, the ABC News president who was the first Black woman to run a broadcast network news operation, is leaving the Disney unit amid increasing concern about the way she was managing the home of shows like “Good Morning America” and “World News Tonight.” Godwin told staffers in a memo Sunday that she planned to “retire from broadcast journalism.” Her command had come under increasing scrutiny since a restructuring of ABC News and Disney’s ABC stations had her reporting directly to Debra OConnell, a Disney business veteran who is seen as a valued operator at the company. OConnell will lead ABC News for the foreseeable future, she told employees Sunday evening.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Cardi B is joining the parade of celebrities starting to talk about the Olympics for NBCUniversal. The rapper appears in a 90-second promo Saturday evening during NBC’s telecast of the Kentucky Derby, meeting up; with sprinter and Olympic hopeful Sha’Carri Richardson that spotlights the next Summer Olympics, slated to begin July 26. NBCU and its corporate parent, Comcast, hold rights to broadcast the athletic extravaganza in the U.S.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Paramount Global said it would bake a new suite of data into all ad deals “at no additional cost” that examines whether a commercial spurred a consumer to take a particular action, a measure known as “attribution” that is gaining new sway on Madison Avenue as marketers struggle to determine the effectiveness of their paid media pitches. Paramount said it would offer data from both Mastercard and EDO, a start-up founded in part by actor Ed Norton, that will help clients examine “outcomes,” such as a visit to a marketer’s web site or showroom, or a consumer search for a product being advertised.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Rob Marciano, a longtime meteorologist at ABC News known for his appearances on weekend broadcasts of :”Good Morning America,” has left the network, according to a person familiar with the matter. ABC News declined to make executives available for comment.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor These days, it’s never too early to start talking about the Super Bowl. Fox Corp’s 2025 broadcast of Super Bowl LIX is nearly a year away, slated to air Feb. 9 from New Orleans.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor The recent broadcast of Super Bowl LVIII boosted Paramount Global‘s first quarter of 2024, stabilizing advertising revenue at its TV operations, as the company’s streaming operations added more than 3 million subscribers and cut losses there by more than 40%. Overall, Paramount narrowed its first quarter operating losses while seeing a 6% uptick in revenue, due in large part to audience and advertiser interest in its Big Game presentation, which set a new viewing record.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor The three media companies planning to launch a much-scrutinized sports streamer later this year are set to give advertisers a sneak peek at the new outlet. Fox, Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery plan to use their new streaming joint-venture — the official name of the video hub has yet to be announced — to boost the impressions they have to sell to Madison Avenue during the industry’s annual “upfront” market, according to three people familiar with the matter.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Boomer Esiason and Phil Simms will exit CBS‘ long-running “The NFL Today” studio show as part of a revamp that brings former star quarterback Matt Ryan into the program’s line-up. When viewers next tune in to the show as the NFL season kicks off this fall, they will see Ryan paired with James Brown, Nate Burleson, Bill Cowher and JJ Watt.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Fox Corp. has slimmed down since it sold the bulk of its cable and studio assets to Walt Disney Co. in 2019, but its new head of ad sales is eager to take on bigger rivals.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Continued investment in streaming contributed to a first-quarter loss for Spanish-language media giant TelevisaUnivision, which is seeing the bulk of its growth come from its Mexican operations while U.S. revenue stays flat with year-earlier results. The company, which operates the Univision TV network, said operating expenses grew 16% during the first quarter, to $821 million, driven by continued investments in its ViX streaming service and the expansion of a third party ad-sales business in Mexico.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Comcast notched a small first quarter profit despite continued erosion in its core cable operations and a lack of new spending from advertisers at its NBCUniversal operations. The Philadelphia owner of NBC, USA and the Peacock streaming service said profit rose just 0.6% during the period, to $3.86 billion, or 97 cents a share, compared with $3.83 billion, or 91 cents a share in the year-earlier quarter. Revenue rose 1.2% to $30.06 billion.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Jo Ann Ross, the first woman to run a broadcast TV network’s ad-sales efforts and one of the last senior ad-sales executives in the TV industry to hold direct relationships with advertisers when primetime broadcast programs were seen as the primary venue for Madison Avenue’s dollars, is leaving the industry, stepping down from her role as chairman of Paramount Global‘s ad sales division at the end of April. Ross had already stepped back from day to day duties, ceding that role to John Halley, who was named president of ad sales for the company in 2022.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor CNN anchor Kate Bolduan got an interesting new job in 2022 when she was named the anchor of “5 Things,” a quick-hit open-the-day summary of top stories that was made available for streaming audiences. Two years later, she appears poised to get it again. Bolduan will lead a test run of “5 Things” starting Monday on CNN Max, the live-streamed news service available on Max, the streaming venue backed by corporate parent Warner Bros.

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 John Dahl, an ESPN veteran who helped produce the much-lauded Michael Jordan documentary “The Last Dance,” is getting into gear at NASCAR, where he will lead new efforts to connect to fans with content. Dahl has been named senior vice president of content, and will start in his new role on May 1.

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 E.W. Scripps hopes the recent surge of interest in Caitlin Clark and JuJu Watkins will serve it well in a different sort of match-up, the one that takes place every year between TV networks and advertisers. Scripps is highlighting recent rights deals that help its ION broadcast network serve up both a Friday-night WNBA showcase as well as Saturday-night doubleheaders from the National Women’s Soccer League.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor AMC Networks plans to offer ad-supported versions to all of its targeted streaming services by the end of the 2024-2025 upfront market, part of a broader bid to give advertisers a potential perch in nearly every video venue. AMC in late 2023 launched an ad-supported edition of its flagship AMC+ streaming venue, which comprises offerings from Shudder, Sundance Now and IFC Films Unlimited. Now, it wants to offer plans tied to those individual hubs, as well as other services, outside of an overarching AMC+ plan.