ViacomCBS Gives New International Duties to Chris McCarthy, Brian Robbins, George Cheeks

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorAmazon founder Jeff Bezos and three other passengers successfully reached the lower regions of space in New Shepard, a re-usable craft developed by the entrepreneur’s Blue Origin aerospace company, a new step in efforts to commercialize space flight and open potential trips to the cosmos to a broader array of visitors.Bezos was joined in his quest by his brother, Mark Bezos; Wally Funk, an 82-year-old who previously took part in NASA’s Mercury program, but was

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorViacomCBS and Charter Communications, one of the nation’s biggest cable distributors, have struck a new multi-year distribution agreement that calls for licensing ViacomCBS’ suite of streaming services as part of the deal.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorMika Brzezinski, Nicolle Wallace and Jonathan Capehart are among the MSNBC anchors taking on new programming duties — but not on MSNBC.MSNBC will expand its streaming-video channel, renamed “The Choice From MSNBC,” by adding several hours of new daily programming to the entity, and developing new shows.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorESPN plans to drill deeper into issues of diversity and inclusion, going as far as to examine the exit interviews of recently departed employees, in the wake of a dispute that has engulfed two of the network’s basketball reporters, the chairman of the Disney-backed outlet told staffers in a memo.“Change takes time, and I ask for your partnership on this journey,” ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro said to employees in the memo, which was circulated last week.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorBowen Yang became the first featured player on “Saturday Night Live” to get an Emmy nomination Tuesday, securing a berth in the outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series category. It almost didn’t happen.Yang originally considered nominating an episode in which he appeared in many sketches across the course of an evening.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorESPN’s Stephen A.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorJedediah Bila has moved from the weekend edition of “Fox & Friends” to a collecting letters to her son, citing a desire to help people find common ground through simple conversations.Bila, who also did a stint as a co-host on ABC’s “The View,” has a new book, “Dear Hartley,” billed as a collection of 52 letters to her son that address “everything from character and empathy to parenting and friendship, from education and family to fitness and food.” The book is

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorDisney will raise the monthly and annual fees for ESPN Plus, one of three different subscription-based streaming services it operates in the U.S., in a maneuver that signals how much the media industry is starting to depend on those direct-to-consumer outlets for new revenue.Starting on Aug. 13, the price of an ESPN Plus subscription will rise to $6.99 a month and $69.99 a year, up from $5.99 a month and $59.99 per year.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorESPN struck a new 12-year deal with All-England Lawn Tennis Club that expands the company’s ability to show the iconic Wimbledon tennis championships to sports fans who may be gravitating to forms of video other than traditional TV.The new pact, which begins with the 2024 Championships and extends through 2035, calls for more matches to be shown on both ESPN’s Disney sibling ABC, as well as on ESPN Plus, its subscription broadband service.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorJoanne LaMarca, the spirited executive producer behind the fourth hour of NBC’s “Today” morning franchise, plans to step down from the role later in August.In a memo issued to staffers on Thursday, Libby Leist, a senior vice president at NBC News who oversees “Today,” said LaMarca was eager to spend more time with family, and had initially taken the job in 2019 with the intention to stay for a year.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorExecutives at Fox News Channel believe one of the core elements behind the durability of the network’s late-afternoon panel program, “The Five,” is the connection between founding panelists Dana Perino and Greg Gutfeld.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorCreating a new Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream flavor is the central challenge of a new series set to debut on Food Network as well as the streaming outlet Discovery Plus.“Ben & Jerry’s: Clash of the Cones” debuts Monday, August 16 at 9 p.m. eastern on both outlets.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorPublicis Media said it would launch a “multi-year” effort aimed at getting advertisers to invest more regularly in media outlets that cater to people from a broader range of cultures and background, part of a growing effort by Madison Avenue to rectify years of focusing mainly on mainstream media as vehicles for the majority of clients’ advertising.Publicis, the media-buying arm of Publicis Groupe of France, said it had launched the Once & For All Coalition, a

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorESPN had to devise a new game plan for the NBA Finals.The Disney-owned sports-media giant said it would move its veteran basketball reporter Rachel Nichols off sideline duties for the NBA Finals, slated to be broadcast tonight on ABC and feature the Milwaukee Bucks taking on the Phoenix Suns, and utilize Malika Andrews instead as it grapples with new scrutiny over how it handled a bizarre leak of Nichols on video appearing to disparage last year’s decision to use

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish in early June predicted this year’s upfront ad-sales session would be “off the hook” for his company, and, in general, the media industry.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorMegyn Kelly’s time on Fox News and NBC came to an end some time ago, but she continues to find ways to stay in the game.The former TV anchor, best known for her tenure on the Fox News Channel primetime schedule and a chaotic period at NBC News, will launch a new weekday talk program on satellite-radio broadcaster SiriusXM, starting Sept. 7.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorRachel Nichols typically uses the opening moments of the ESPN basketball program, “The Jump,” to talk about the latest news in the NBA. On Monday, she used it to address a growing story that has her at the center.In July of last year, Nichols was caught on video speaking to representatives of LeBron James about ESPN’s decision to have Maria Taylor host “NBA Countdown” during 2020’s NBA Finals.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorWarnerMedia said it posted a solid upfront, but, like its rivals this year, offered little evidence of whether it had notched volume gains in a market where advertisers were forced to capitulate to significant hikes in the rates they pay to reach large groups of viewers.In a statement, the AT&T-owned company said it had completed “the most successful Upfront marketplace in the company’s history,” in terms of securing advance ad commitments.