Brian Steinberg-Senior Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

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.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor The Super Bowl isn’t the only big football property that will be crammed full of advertising. Amazon’s Prime Video has sold out all the commercial inventory attached to its new “Black Friday” game, the first event the NFL has earmarked for the day after Thanksgiving and the start of the holiday-shopping season, according to Danielle Carney, head of NFL ad-sales for the company. Amazon has also sold out of ad inventory in the “Thursday Night Football” games slated for November 16 and November 30, she says, in part because the company has tried to sell broader ad packages that connect an ad message across a broader swath of content.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor In the midst of a great debate about the future of the U.S. news business, the British are coming. Katty Kay, the veteran BBC newscaster, is set to launch a new deep-dive interview program that will take her away — not permanently — from her usual role covering U.S.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor CBS’ news-and-stations division will launch a new unit to examine misinformation and so-called “deepfakes,” or false videos that can often be generated via artificial intelligence. The new unit, called “CBS News Confirmed,” will be led by Claudia Milne, senior vice president for CBS News and Stations and head of standards and practices, along with Ross Dagan, executive vice president and head of news operations and Ttransformation for CBS News and Stations.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Before being linked to CBS‘ new late-night series “After Midnight,” Taylor Tomlinson had little connection to the world of broadcast TV and the ebbs and flow of nocturnal programming. She is best known as an up-and-coming comic who has found success with stand-up specials on Netflix and video clips on TikTok. So how did a comedian known for her digital presence land a spot in the linear media world? Executives at CBS have been hunting for months for someone to take over the network’s 12:30 a.m.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Paramount Global saw a third-quarter profit hike thanks to new revenue from its streaming and film operations even as its largest business, linear TV, grappled with flat distribution revenue and a downturn in advertising dollars. The New York owner of CBS, the Paramount movie studio and the Nickelodeon cable network said revenue rose 3% during the period, largely due to a 38% increase in its streaming business and a 14% hike from its film division, which benefitted from the latest releases in the “Mission Impossible” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” franchises.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor CBS has scored a Super Bowl touchdown in November. The Paramount Global-backed network is “virtually sold out” of all its Super Bowl advertising inventory, according to a company spokesperson, completing a process that often isn’t completed until the final hours before the game kicks off in February.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Sports wasn’t enough to help Fox Corp. get to its goals. The owner of Fox News Channel and the Fox broadcast network said profit fell in its first fiscal quarter as robust results generated by its showing of the FIFA Women’s World Cup were offset by declines in its cable operations, where subscribers and advertising revenue fell.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor David Corvo, the guiding force behind hundreds of hours of NBC’s signature “Dateline” newsmagazine, will step away from the role at the end of 2023, bringing to a close a TV-news career that has spanned four decades. Corvo has been with “Dateline” in some capacity since joining NBC News in 1995 as a vice president responsible for primetime news programming.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Walmart is still trying to make “fetch” happen. The giant retailer hopes to draw new attention to its Black Friday offerings by getting a jump on advertising around the annual holiday-shopping event. To call attention to new offers and low prices, Walmart will unveil a series of commercials featuring members of the cast of the 2004 movie “Mean Girls” reprising their roles — except now they are adults.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Netflix is ready to use “The Crown,” “Squid Game” and other signature series to take ad dollars from rival streamers. The company says it will start to offer so-called “title sponsorships” to advertisers ready to align with the new reality series “Squid Game: The Challenge” and the final season of “The Crown” as part of its bid to accelerate the utility of its ad-supported tier.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Lester Holt may be turning up more frequently in David Muir‘s rear-view mirror. During Muir’s tenure at “World News Tonight,” the ABC program has done something most TV programs cannot do in the streaming era: Add new linear viewers. Yet in recent weeks one of the evening-news program’s competitors has nibbled at its lead in a crucial audience category.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Kirk McDonald, a veteran ad executive who has served as the face of WPP‘s large GroupM media buying consortium to U.S. advertisers, is leaving the company as it once again sets about to refashion its executive ranks. McDonald, who joined GroupM in 2020 after a stint at the ad-tech unit known as Xandr, is set to leave at the end of 2023, the WPP unit confirmed Monday.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Christine Romans, a veteran financial journalist who had been with CNN for more than two decades, has joined NBC News. In her new role, Romans will be charged with “reporting across all platforms of NBC News, including writing for digital and on MSNBC,” according to a memo issued Monday by Catherine Kim, senior vice president editorial for NBC News.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Nielsen appears to be trying to move forward with a new audience-measurement technology that many TV networks think still isn’t ready for primetime. The measurement giant in September backed off an effort to incorporate first-party data from Amazon in its study of the audience for the company’s streamcast of “Thursday Night Football.” The move would have marked a first step toward utilizing inputs from the companies Nielsen measures as it produces its widely used tabulation of national viewership, and many TV executives denounced the plan.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Comcast swung to a profit in the third quarter even as the media giant navigated new challenges presented by two different Hollywood talent strikes and shifts in demand for the connectivity services that are at the heart of the company’s financials. The Philadelphia owner of NBCUniversal posted net income of $4 billion, or 98 cents per share in the third quarter, compared with a loss of $4.6 billion, or $1.05 cents per share, a year earlier. Earnings came to $1.08 when adjusted for one-time items.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Warner Bros. Discovery will overhaul the executive structure of its global consumer products and franchises division, the unit that oversees the management of its intellectual property as well as DC Comics. Pam Lifford, president of the group, is stepping down to focus on a family member’s healthcare needs, the company said Wednesday, and Bruce Campbell, Warner’s chief revenue and strategy officer, who has oversight of the division, will have new direct reports.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Time for a different sort of commercial break. Any subscriber to the ad-supported version of Hulu is bound to encounter the usual assortment of TV commercials that regularly interrupt a binge-watch of anything from “Only Murders in the Building” to “NYPD Blue.” Sometimes, a different sort of pitch pops up. This one only surfaces when users stop the action on their own to take a call, grab a snack or hit the bathroom.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Live from somewhere near New York, it’s yet another recap of an original broadcast of “Saturday Night Live.” The venerable late-night NBC series, now just two episodes into its 49th season, kicked off the show with a satirical look at the Republican Party. “SNL” skewered Rep. Jim Jordan’s efforts to win the battle for U.S.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Pedro Pascal returned to “SNL,” Saturday night, making a surprise cameo during host Bad Bunny‘s opening monologue. The actor, who hosted an episode last season, served as a translator of sorts, while Bad Bunny boasted of all the things he enjoyed doing in Spanish.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Live from somewhere near New York, it’s yet another recap of an original broadcast of “Saturday Night Live.” The venerable late-night NBC series, now just two episodes into its 49th season, kicked off the show with a satirical look at the Republican Party. “SNL” skewered Rep.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor In a real-time reminder of the dangers of covering international conflict, CNN anchor Sara Sidner was reporting live from the West Bank city of Ramallah when a man accosted her on-air to voice criticism of the network’s coverage of the Israel-Hamas War. “You are genocide supporters. You are not welcome here, genocide supporters,” said a man who came up to Sidner while she was in the middle of reporting on air.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Robin Roberts, George Stephanopoulos and Michael Strahan will soon have to greet ABC’s morning viewers from a decidedly different locale. As part of a larger move by Walt Disney Co., all of the company’s New York properties are slated to move in 2025 to a building in downtown New York in a neighborhood known as Hudson Square. That will include some programs already ensconced in well known studios, such as “GMA” and “Live with Kelly and Mark.” The move won’t isn’t scheduled to take place for some time, but staffers are already coming to grips with how it might affect the program’s standing in TV’s non-stop morning-news wars.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor During the recently ended writers strike, many people who worked on the staffs of TV’s late-night shows wished things would get back to normal. Roy Wood Jr. was surprised to find that he was not one of them.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor NBCUniversal filed an individual request for a video feed to be provided of former President Donald Trump‘s election conspiracy case, which has been scheduled to start on March 4 of next year. NBCU did so even though a coalition of major news organizations filed a request earlier this month for televised proceedings.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Most contests in the 2024 Summer Olympics set for Paris, France, won’t start until next summer. NBC has been running one race for months.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Like other streamers, Netflix seems eager to get into live sports. But it isn’t quite ready to start paying the massive rights fees that such activity usually requires. So, the streaming giant intends to launch a “Netflix Cup,” a golf tournament that will pit race-car drivers from its popular Formula 1 documentary series “Drive to Survive” against golfers from a similar effort called “Full Swing.” Both sides will tee up in a match play tournament at Wynn Golf Club on the Las Vegas Strip.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor The NBA hopes to get fans to spend longer periods of time with their favorite sport by using its mobile app to fill in the gaps between game watching. Fans will have the ability to add multiple team and player tabs to their app main screen, giving them access to a greater array of breaking news, trending topics, vertical video highlights and updates related to their favorite teams and players.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Brian Doherty, a veteran of the CW‘s ad-sales department who was instrumental in developing ties between Madison Avenue and series such as “Arrow” and “Gossip Girl,” is leaving — the latest in a parade of TV sales veterans to exit as the industry consolidates and new owners take control of various properties. Doherty, who has been with the CW or its predecessor, the WB, since 1999, had been serving as executive vice president of multi-platform advertising sales, reporting to Todd Braverman, recently a senior executive at Warner Bros. Discovery’s cable networks, who is now head of national ad sales for CW.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Paula Reid, has been named CNN‘s chief legal affairs correspondent, a vote of confidence in the reporter who joined the Warner Bros. Discovery-backed outlet in 2021. Reid has been highly visible on CNN in recent months, covering federal and state investigations into former President Trump as well as a Special Counsel probe into President Biden’s handling of classified documents during his time as vice president.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Trey Yingst’s home has become his office. Yingst, a foreign correspondent who calls Israel his home when he isn’t traveling the globe for Fox News Channel, was in his apartment a little over a week ago when he got word of horrible things happening near the country’s border with Gaza. Many people would likely move away from that area but it’s Yingst’s job to move toward such hot spots.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Sarah Silverman and Leslie Jones will each get another crack at guest-hosting Comedy Central‘s “Daily Show” as the network continues a protracted search for a replacement for Trevor Noah behind the desk of the venerable late-night mainstay. Executives at the network intend to put the program back into production starting Monday, October 16, and will continue to rely on guests as they have since Noah departed late last year. Like other late-night shows, “Daily” has been dark for weeks, owing to the Hollywood writers’ strike.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Like many U.S. journalists trying to get to Israel to cover reaction to attacks in the country by terrorists, Chris Cuomo faced a difficult journey. But that’s his problem, he says, not one for his viewers.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Lester Holt joined NBC News’ efforts to cover terrorist attacks in Israel by flying first to London, then Amman. The journey took hours, and it’s unclear when it all will truly end. “I think this will be a long TV deployment,” says the “NBC Nightly News” anchor of coverage of terrorists’ moves against the country.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Advertisers considering new ways to measure video audiences may finally be getting a yardstick that can actually do the job. For years, individual TV companies have been testing a number of would-be competitors to Nielsen. each offering a bespoke brew of measurement technologies that marketers and media agencies can test as they see fit.