Brian Steinberg-Senior Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Martha Stewart didn’t talk to CNN for a new original documentary series the news outlet has produced about her. But she’s still the star of the show. “The Many Lives of Martha Stewart” is a four-part series produced by CNN Studios, a division devoted to longer-form and enterprise programming in the wake of a strategic decision made in 2022 to scale back big ambitions to compete in the documentary arena.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Mike Tirico will have an unusual new partner for NBCUniversal’s looming coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympics. Rapper and actor Snoop Dogg will be on hand during the event to provide regular reports for NBC”s primetime Olympics program, starting July 26 of next year on both the broadcast network and the Peacock streaming hub. Snoop Dogg is slated to offer his unique take on what’s happening at the athletic extravaganza and will be seen exploring landmarks as well as holding forth with various competitors.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor When the Buffalo Bills square off against the Los Angeles Chargers on Saturday via a game streamed on NBC’s Peacock, they will, for at least a period of time, do so without one of their most supportive fans: Madison Avenue. Peacock plans to stream the game’s fourth quarter without commercials, essentially sacrificing 12 minutes, or 40% of a game’s standard ad load, that would normally have been used to spotlight promotional messages for beer, gadgets and cars, among other products. Viewers won’t see the act as taking away anything.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor This isn’t a red-carpet film debut or a charity event, but celebrities are still turning out for it. When the Israeli mobile-games company Playtika launches a new series of ad campaigns on the day after Christmas, it will do so with some famous names in tow. Jason Alexander will pitch World Series of Poker in a series of commercials, and Sarah Jessica Parker will play a city girl who gets to enjoy the country life thanks to Solitaire Grand Harvest.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi are taking their show to the NBA. The two WNBA stalwarts will host their first NBA game together on ESPN, bringing back a programming concept that has proven popular during the network’s coverage of the NCAA women’s final four tournament. “The Bird & Taurasi Show,” seen six times over the course of 2022 and 2023, has gained notice for the duo’s rapport and rogue energy.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Kal Penn hopes the second time’s the charm. The actor last week completed his second turn behind the desk of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” which has been seeking a successor to host Trevor Noah for the better part of a year, a process that was delayed by the recent Hollywood labor strikes. Penn joins comedians Sarah Silverman and Leslie Jones as well as Charlamagne Tha God as hosts who were invited to take one more crack at the assignment after doing a previous one.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor The quest for a new way to measure TV audiences has taken years of tests, dozens of efforts to sample upstart technologies and hours of debates among big media companies, Madison Avenue buying firms and blue-chip advertisers. At present, no one seems to have devised a perfect solution. So Byron Allen decided to try.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Stanley Tucci has found a new recipe for the popular docuseries exploring Italian cuisine he once whipped up for CNN. The actor has struck a production deal with Disney’s National Geographic that calls for a new ten-part docuseries, “Tucci – The Heart of Italy,” to appear on the Nat Geo cable network. Tucci will explore the cuisine and culture in ten different regions of Italy.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor MLB Network‘s “Prime 9” countdown show is returning to the schedule. The program, which has been off the programming list since 2015, is set to return on Monday, December 11, with noted sportscaster Bob Costas as the host. During the show, MLB Network offers the “nine best” in a wide array of different categories, including the nine best players at each on-field position in the sport.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor The audience for NewsNation‘s Wednesday-night Republican primary debate was one of the smallest and the biggest. Nearly 1.6 million tuned in to the Nexstar-backed upstart cable-news outlet to watch two former Republican governors, one current one and one outlier tangle for attention and donors in a debate moderated by Elizabeth Vargas, Megyn Kelly and Eliana Johnson, with more than 2.5 million choosing to watch a simulcast on the CW broadcast network, a corporate sibling.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Disney wants to get into the Brittney Griner business. The inspirational WNBA All-Star, who was arrested and held in Russia in 2022 and sentenced to nine years in prison, will give Disney the exclusive rights to share her story via a documentary feature from ESPN Films, the development of a scripted series through ABC Signature and an exclusive interview with ABC News anchor Robin Roberts.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Advertisers have eyed the Disney+ streaming hub as a place where they might tuck a promotional message alongside the binge-watch of a Marvel series, or, potentially “Phineas & Ferb.” Soon, however, Madison Avenue may have some other opportunities to consider. Disney is mulling the launch of shopping and gaming experiences on the streaming outlet, with which advertisers could get involved, according to Rita Ferro, president of Disney Advertising Sales. “The world of advertising experiences on AVOD is an important place to be involved in,” Ferro tells Variety, hinting that a new presentation Disney has slated for Las Vegas on Jan.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Starting next year, major marketers such as Geico or General Mills could find themselves running commercials alongside popular Amazon programs like “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” or “Jack Ryan” that were previously untouched by advertising.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Desi Lydic, who has gained notice during her recent tenure as one of the correspondents at Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” has signed with Artists First, the talent-management firm known for its stable of comic actors. Lydic joined “The Daily Show” as a correspondent in September 2015, just as Trevor Noah started his tenure as host.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Even a personality as well-known as Dr. Phil McGraw needs a little faith to get by when it comes to launching a new TV venture.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Telemundo has a new leader after its current chairman, Beau Ferrari was made a strategic advisor to the executive who has oversight for both news and Spanish-language programming at parent company NBCUniversal. Luis Fernandez, who retired from Telemundo in 2021, will return to the large NBCU unit. Meanwhile, Ferrari was named an advisor to Cesar Conde, the chairman of NBCUniversal News Group.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis and the rest of the Republican field of presidential candidates aren’t the only ones who have something riding on the GOP’s next primary debate. The event will be telecast Wednesday between 8 and 10 p.m. eastern from the University of Alabama by the upstart cable-news outlet NewsNation, and has the potential to affect more than just votes and donations.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor ESPN is, for at least one week this season, really doubling down on “Monday Night Football.” The Walt Disney-backed sports-media outlet plans to simulcast two different Monday-night games on December 11, its latest gridiron maneuver that has already seen the football-TV mainstay air on both ESPN and ABC for the bulk of the regular season in a bid to fill schedules during the recent Hollywood labor strikes. A Monday-night game between the Green Bay Packers and the New York Giants will kick off December 11 at 8:15 p.m. eastern, anchored by Troy Aikman and Joe Buck, with Lisa Salters on the sidelines.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Linda Rene once proved instrumental in weaving blue-chip advertisers like Anheuser-Busch and General Motors into a fledgling CBS reality competition called “Survivor.” Two decades later, she is planning to get off the island. Rene, an advertising-sales veteran who has worked at CBS for more than four decades, helped expand an industry practice known as product placement and was pivotal in crafting new deals that not only had advertisers providing vehicles and beverages as set dressing, but weaving their products into a show in ways that made them as prominent as some of the cast members.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor As the special-effects makeup chief for “Saturday Night Live,” Louie Zakarian often has interesting demands put on his time. He once transformed Kate McKinnon into an offbeat mermaid.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor MSNBC is shaking up its weekend schedule as CNN’s Saturday and Sunday offerings continue to provide competition. The NBCUniversal cable-news outlet plans to a launch a new panel show, “The Weekend,” co-moderated by Alicia Menendez, Symone Sanders-Townsend and Michael Steele that will air Saturdays and Sundays from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor NASCAR joined the various sports leagues racing into the future by striking a new rights deal with Amazon‘s Prime Video that will put the auto sports organizer into the world of streaming. Amazon’s Prime Video will split a group of ten races with Warner Bros.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Kal Penn and Charlamagne Tha God will each take another stab behind the desk of Comedy Central‘s venerable “Daily Show” as the Paramount Global network keeps looking for a new permanent host. Charlamagne Tha God will lead the show during the week of December 4 while Penn will orchestrate things during the week of December 11, Comedy Central said Tuesday. The network has been conducting a protracted search for new talent since earlier this year, in a bid to replace the previous master of ceremonies, Trevor Noah.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Florida Governor Ron DeSantis squaring off against California Governor Gavin Newsom in a debate moderated by Sean Hannity? Sounds like an opportunity for another round of cable-news professional wrestling. The host hopes to keep the figure-four leg locks and piledrivers to a minimum. “It’s not going to be PBS.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Jorge Ramos, the Univision star anchor who has become as defined by his clashes with the Trump administration as he has by his coverage of major world events, has become the latest of the Spanish-language network’s top anchors to take issue with an interview broadcast by the news division earlier this month with the former President. The November 9 interview with Trump, Ramos said in the newest edition of his weekly column, “put in doubt the independence of our news department, and created discomfort and uncertainty within the newsroom.” Univision has for years burnished a reputation for holding top U.S. politicians to account — Trump particularly, following remarks made at the beginning of his campaign for the 2016 election in which he said immigrants from Mexico were drug dealers, criminals and rapists.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Megan Thee Stallion joins a parade of celebrities helping NBCUniversal to tout its looming coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympics. In a promo that debuted during NBC’s annual telecast of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the three-time Grammy-winning recording artist performs at the Palace of Versailles, the site of the equestrian competition at the next athletic extravaganza.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor The top executive of Spanish-language media giant TelevisaUnivision defended the company’s recent decision to interview former President Donald Trump in a non-confrontational manner and suggested the media conglomerate was shifting some of its long-held political attitudes “We made a decision to adopt a strategy that is different than what some other major networks are using, which has been labeled as partisan,” said Wade Davis, CEO of the company and one of its financail architects, in a statement. Davis, a former Viacom CFO, purchased a majority stake in Univision in 2020, then merged it with Mexican TV provider Televisa in 2022. “Univision’s news strategy is one that is non-partisan and objective, and we serve our audience by being welcoming of competing issues, ideas, candidates and parties.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Can “King Charles” rule in the heady, competitive world of cable news? CNN will soon find out. The new weekly one-hour program will debut Wednesday, November 29, at 10 p.m., and will be co-anchored by the unlikely duo of Gayle King, who still has her long-running day job at rival CBS News, and Charles Barkley, the outspoken sportscaster who remains a key element in the NBA coverage provided by CNN’s parent, Warner Bros. Discovery.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor If movie and TV studios get nervous about advertising, so should everyone else. Advertisers loathe controversy, and often “pull” or “yank” their commercials from individual pieces of content that generate it.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Some innovators try to devise a gadget that changes the world. Others hope to solve a global social ill. Sarah Sherman is eager to bring fake vomit on “Saturday Night Live” into the modern age.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Disney has joined a growing list of blue-chip advertisers who are pulling advertising and promotions from the social-media outlet X in the wake of a recent antisemitic remark posted by the venue’s owner, Elon Musk. A Lionsgate spokesperson said Friday that the entertainment company “has suspended advertising on X because of Elon Musk’s recent antisemitic tweet.” The move comes as Lionsgate is marketing the release of “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes,” the latest film in its “Hunger Games” franchise.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor León Krauze, one of the most prominent anchors at Univision‘s news division, has left the network in the wake of a controversial interview with former President Donald Trump that took place last week and has spurred concerns among journalists at the company that the Spanish-language media giant is no longer challenging Republican politicians. Krauze, who spent a significant chunk of his career anchoring Univision’s KMEX weeknight news program, became co-anchor of the the company’s national late-night news program “Noticiero Univision Edición Nocturna” in January of 2022.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor The newest surprise at Fox’s “Masked Singer” isn’t tied to an appearance by a mysterious celebrity. On Wednesday night, the popular reality-competition program will bring an advertiser into its format for the first time since launching in 2019.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Before CNN, CBS News or ABC News can snare one of the series of Republican primary debates taking place in the run-up to the 2024 presidential election, another news outlet will have its turn. NewsNation, the upstart cable-news property launched by Nexstar Media in March of 2021, will team up with SiriusXM Radio and the conservative political outlet Washington Free Beacon on December 6 to broadcast the event, the fourth backed by the Republican National Committee following debates telecast by Fox News Media networks and NBC News.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor In an unexpected Madison Avenue shake-up, NBCUniversal has poached Alison Levin, a senior advertising executive at Roku, who will take on one of the media giant’s most senior sales roles. Levin, who was named a president of NBCU’s ad-sales unit, will report to Mark Marshall, global chairman.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Warner Bros. Discovery narrowed its third-quarter loss as the media giant, grappling with billions of dollars in debt as a result of the 2022 merger that created it, saw the box-office success of “Barbie” offset by a 12% decline in advertising at its portfolio of TV networks. The owner of CNN, the Warner Bros.