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UPDATED with Lachlan Murdoch comments. Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch said his father, Rupert, “is very much involved and will be for years to come” despite stepping down from his chairman role in September.

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 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 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.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Tubi, Fox Corp.’s ad-supported video-streaming service, has turned to OpenAI’s ChatGPT artificial-intelligence agent to suggest new TV shows and movies to watch — although the feature is really just a form of natural-language search. Tubi’s Rabbit AI is powered by ChatGPT-4.

More news on the Murdoch front as the Fox Corp. proxy filed today shows Rupert with a 24% pay increase in fiscal 2023 to $22.9 million from $18.9 million. It’s his last full year as chairman of the board as succession planning kicks in.

The news that Rupert Murdoch was stepping down as chairman of Fox Corp. and News Corp. quickly triggered talk of his legacy, overshadowing one aspect of his announcement: Whether it comes to politics or to his companies’ media properties, he’s not going away.

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.

Tatiana Siegel At a posh party held at a downtown Manhattan brownstone on Wednesday night, notable journalists like Carl Bernstein and the New York Times’ op-ed columnist Michelle Goldberg converged to toast Michael Wolff’s upcoming book, “The Fall: The End of Fox News and the Murdoch Dynasty.” The timing couldn’t have been more apt given that the author foretold what would happen hours later with Rupert Murdoch’s surprise announcement that he was stepping down from the head of Fox Corp. and News Corp. “It is unsustainable,” Wolff said of the Murdoch era that relied on the Donald Trump ratings juggernaut.

Rupert Murdoch, the 92-year-old Australian media magnate whose creation of Fox News made him a force in American politics, is stepping down as leader of both Fox’s parent company and his News Corp. media holdings.

Rupert Murdoch, whose sheer force of will allowed him to build a media empire that influenced the course of national politics in the U.S., U.K. and Australia, will step down as the titular head of the companies he controls, Fox Corp. and News Corp.– a move that could raise new questions about the fates of both assets.

Rupert Murdoch is stepping down.

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.

A group of New York City pension funds, along with others from the state of Oregon, have sued Fox Corp. and its officers and directors for “consciously disregarding defamation risk.” Fox News 2020 election coverage promoted “political narratives without regard for whether the underlying factual assertions were true or based on sources worthy of credit,” opening the company to litigation.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Fox Corp.’s Fox Sports is turning to generative artificial-intelligence to help its staffers more rapidly generate content from millions of hours of its archived games footage. The sports programmer inked an expanded collaboration with Google Cloud to use the internet giant’s generative AI technology.

Viet Dinh, a key strategic and business leader at Fox Corp. and a longtime consiglieri in the Murdoch empire, is leaving his executive post in the wake of the Fox News settlement with Dominion Voting Systems.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Viet Dinh, the influential general counsel of Fox Corp. who is believed to have played a significant role in the company’s failed legal strategy against a massive defamation suit filed against it by Dominion Voting Systems, is leaving his role at the media conglomerate at the end of the year.

Fox Corp. revenue stayed flat in the quarter ending June 30 compared with the year-earlier period, but it matched Wall Street analysts’ consensus estimate as earnings beat expectations.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Fox Corp. relied more heavily on its ability to drive revenue from the transmission of the Fox broadcast network and its Fox stations, as it grappled with downturns in advertising during its fiscal fourth quarter. The owner of Fox News, Fox Sports and the Fox broadcast network said it generated profit of $375 million, or 74 cents per share, compared with $306 million, or 55 per share in the year-earlier period.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Fox Corp.’s Tubi, its free, ad-supported streaming TV service, has pounced on two high-profile Fantasia titles, led by “Where the Devil Roams,” the Adams family’s follow-up to “Hellbender,” Rotten Tomatoes No. 1 movie on its Top 10 of best-rated horror films of 2022, just besting Eskil Vogt’s “The Innocents.” Estimating that it reaches 64 million monthly active users, Tubi also pounced on doc feature “Satan Wants You,” which world premiered at March’s SXSW.

Fox Corp. and Flutter Entertainment are shuttering sports betting platform Fox Bet in a phased closure between July 31 and August 31.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Two of the nation’s biggest purveyors of primetime television are relying more heavily on other kinds of video inventory to fuel their advertising flows for 2023 and 202r, Fox Corp. and Paramount Global are both near the end of their processes in TV’s annual “upfront” ad sales market, and both expect to see some volume gains in specific areas of their portfolio.

CBS and Fox weighed in on their upfronts today, following NBC last week. CBS has closed its 2024 selling season up “low-to-mid single digits” in dollar commitments. Fox Corp. showed gains in news and is looking at a fall slate of sports, animated and unsripted content.

Mike Biard, a 23-year veteran of Fox Corp., has been appointed president and chief operating officer of Nexstar, the No. 1 owner of local TV stations in the U.S. and the parent of The CW and NewsNation.

Ellise Shafer During Jesse Watters’ first show in Tucker Carlson’s coveted 8 p.m. slot on Fox News, his mom called in with some sage advice, telling the host: “Do not tumble into any conspiracy rabbit holes.” As the show came to an end, Watters took a call from his Democrat mom, who said: “I have enjoyed the show. I want to say congratulations, honeybun, we are so proud of you and your accomplishments, and you’ve worked so hard. Now, let’s aim to have you keep your job.” Carlson, the most-watched primetime host on Fox News, had been known to stoke conspiracy theories, especially in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election and the Jan. 6 insurrection. In April, it was announced that Carlson had exited Fox News just days after parent company Fox Corp. agreed to pay $787.5 million in a settlement to Dominion Voting Systems in a defamation case in which they were accused of questioning the company’s role in the outcome of the election. Carlson was expected to testify should the case have continued. In late June, it was announced that Watters, who previously had his show at 7 p.m., would take over Carlson’s time slot.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Anjali Sud is taking over as CEO of Tubi, Fox Corp.’s free, ad-supported streaming TV service, after she stepped down as chief exec of video-hosting platform Vimeo. Sud will officially start as Tubi’s CEO on Sept. 1, 2023, succeeding founder Farhad Massoudi. Sud reports to Paul Cheesbrough, CEO of Tubi Media Group, which Fox formed this spring to house its digital businesses including Tubi (acquired in 2020) and Blockchain Creative Labs. Sud spent nine years at New York-based Vimeo, originally serving as VP of global marketing before assuming oversight of the creator business unit and getting promoted to CEO in 2017. Under Sud, Vimeo has undertaken employee layoffs and made other cost-cutting moves to improve its financial profile.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor A former Arizona man who claims he had to flee his home after former Fox News host Tucker Carlson deliberately and falsely portrayed him as an undercover FBI agent who launched the January 6, 2020 attacks on the U.S. Capitol, has sued the cable-news outlet for defamation. It is the latest suit from a series of parties who allege Fox News deliberately and with malice broadcast incorrect and damaging accounts about them. Fox Corp., the outlet’s parent, recently paid out $787.5 million to voting-technology firm Dominion Voting Systems over allegations that Fox News deliberately implicated the company in false allegations about the security of the 2020 presidential election, and paid $12 million to a former Fox News producer who alleged she had been hectored into providing false testimony in that matter.

“Trump is the only person… who is saying: ‘Wait a second. You know, why are we supporting an endless war in Ukraine?’”“All I can say at… pic.twitter.com/dTEbQvD27k“I’m struck by his foreign policy views,” Carlson said. “Trump is the only person with stature in the Republican Party really who’s saying, ‘Wait a second, why are we supporting an endless war in Ukraine?’”Carlson went on to say that aside from the fate of Trump’s pursuit to presidency, he’s “grateful that Trump is using his platform to voice his concern about the war. Nevertheless, Carlson did share that he is aware of the ongoing Republican primary and its two lead contenders Trump and Ron DeSantis.

Fox may have forked over $787 million to avoid going to trial in Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit over false 2020 election claims, but the Rupert Murdoch-owned company is far from free of the fallout.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Fox News agreed to pay $12 million to Abby Grossberg, a former producer for Tucker Carlson and Maria Bartiromo, who alleged the Fox Corp.-backed outlet had coerced her into providing false testimony in a deposition related to a recent defamation suit levied by Dominion Voting Systems as well as operating a hostile and discriminatory workplace. In her suit, filed in the Southern District of the State of New York earlier this year, Grossberg alleged she was harassed and forced to give inaccurate information in the Dominion matter, which Fox agreed to settle for $787.5 million in April. Parisis G. Filippatos, an attorney for Grossberg, did not respond immediately to a query seeking comment. “We are pleased that we have been able to resolve this matter without further litigation,” Fox News said in a statement.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Jesse Watters, the wisecracking conservative who got his start with man-on-the-street interview segments for Fox News opinion host Bill O’Reilly’s 8 p.m. program, is about to enjoy a homecoming of sorts. Watters will take over Fox News’ 8 p.m. hour, assuming a role previously assigned to Tucker Carlson. The move is part of a broad overhaul of Fox News’ primetime schedule that takes place in the wake of Carlson’s sudden ouster and a subsequent decline in viewership at the Fox Corp.-backed outlet. Watters had previously led Fox News’ 7 p.m. show. Fox News will also move Greg Gutfeld into the primetime block, giving him the 10 p.m. hour, while the current occupant, the conservative firebrand Laura Ingraham. takes up the reins of the early-evening 7 p.m. hour. Sean Hannity will keep his perch at 9 p.m., a slot he has held since 2017. Trace Gallagher’s late-night news program, “Fox News @ Night,” will follow Gutfeld at 11 p.m., an hour earlier than its previous midnight slot.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Fox is granting new status to one of its veteran research chiefs. Michael Mulvihill will take on the role of president of insights and analytics at Fox Corp., expanding his purview from Fox Sports, where he had held forth for years, to Fox Entertainment and the Tubi streaming-video hub. Mulvihill will continue to report to Mark Silverman, president and COO of Fox Sports, while additionally now reporting into the leadership of Fox Entertainment and Tubi. He will not have oversight over any functions at Fox News Media, “Mike has been an unbelievable asset to the FOX Sports team, providing unmatched insightful analysis, and helping us grow our business to new heights,” said Silverman. “We are thrilled to see Mike expand his portfolio and bring his unique talents to our Fox Entertainment Group and Tubi.”

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor The upfront presentation that looks most like traditional TV came from a company that likes to tell investors, advertisers and consumers how it’s leapfrogging that entire business. Netflix on Wednesday showed dozens of scripted series and movies that could support advertising — if only Madison Avenue would take a chance and bet on its nascent efforts to sell commercials. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Chris Hemsworth and Julia Roberts were only some of the actors whose efforts could be tied to advertising. Counterparts like NBCUniversal and Fox Corp. were hard-pressed to do the same earlier this week. “We are just getting started,” said Peter Naylor, vice president of global advertising sales at Netflix.

Tatiana Siegel The mystery surrounding Tucker Carlson’s ouster from the airwaves at Fox News — and his future plans in media — are coming into sharper focus. On April 26, Carlson spoke by phone with one of Fox Corp.’s eight board members, who told the host that his recent benching was a condition of Fox News’ settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the conversation. The unnamed board member told Carlson that the condition does not appear in any of the settlement’s documents, and instead was a verbal agreement. If Fox didn’t comply, the settlement was off, Carlson was told. Dominion had plenty of leverage given that the $787.5 million deal to settle Dominion’s defamation suit against the network wouldn’t officially close until late-May.

Fox News is facing another defamation lawsuit, this time from the former executive director of a Department of Homeland Security division tasked with monitoring the threat of disinformation.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor In an era when gargantuan media conglomerates hope to tempt advertisers into buying tons of commercials across many networks, streaming outlets and digital sites, Marianne Gambelli has come to appreciate the art of staying small. The executive, president of ad sales for Fox Corp., says in an interview that she believes the company will stand apart in the TV industry’s looming “upfront” sales session by not pressing potential sponsors to snap up commercial inventory in multiple venues. Want to buy an ad in a Fox Sunday NFL broadcast without having to load up on commercial avails at Tubi? Gambelli says staffers are willing to accomodate.