Warner Bros. Discovery to Stream Live Sports on Max With Add-On Bleacher Report, Which Will Cost $9.99 in 2024

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Who’s doing it better — Kristen Welker or Jake Tapper? The two journalists, one the new moderator of NBC News’ “Meet The Press,” the other the anchor of the weekday “The Lead” and a co-anchor of “State of the Union” at CNN, aren’t typically pitted against one another. But there they were on a recent Thursday afternoon around 4:30 p.m., duking it out for the future of their medium. Welker was holding forth on “Meet the Press Now,” a show earmarked for streaming users on the broadband outlet NBC News Now.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor NBC is ready to open the 49th season of “Saturday Night Live,” pushed back just a week or two from when the series might normally launch in the fall. After being shut down in May by the Hollywood writers strike, “SNL” will return on October 14, marking the first of three consecutive weeks of original broadcasts, NBC said in an announcement Wednesday. Ice Spice will serve as musical guest.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor At least one of the big companies that distribute CNN via cable or satellite is unnerved by how closely the company’s new live-streaming service looks like its TV network. Big satellite distributor DirecTV has let executives at Warner Bros. Discovery know via letter that its executives believe the similarities between the two products violate the carriage contract between the two companies, according to a person familiar with the matter.

EXCLUSIVE: Rock icon Bob Geldof is collaborating on a stage musical about the global phenomenon that was Live Aid. The show, called Just For One Day, devised and directed by Luke Sheppard (& Juliet), will have its world premiere at the Old Vic Theatre in London early next year.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor On Sunday, Allstate is trading in its famous Mayhem character for chaos of a different sort. The big insurance company is testing a sponsorship of a new kind of sporting event that will feature some of Pixar’s best-known animated characters tackling a real-life NFL game. When the Jacksonville Jaguars play the Atlanta Falcons at 9:30 a.m.

Film extra Cristina Stanovici has detailed the severe injuries she suffered when she was hit by a speeding motorbike on the Glasgow set of the Batgirl movie.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor AMC Networks has joined the ranks of ad-supported streaming. The company said Thursday that it has begun rolling out an ad-supported version of its AMC+ service for broadband users, and will charge $4.99 per month for it, as opposed to the $8.99 per month it seeks for an ad-free tier.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony will be streamed live for the first time in November, as Disney+ has picked up rights to let viewers see the event as it happens, a marked change from the years in which music fans had to wait weeks to see an edited broadcast. The Disney+ livestream will go out coast-to-coast from Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on Nov. 3 at 8 p.m..

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Comedy Central’s “Daily Show” will return to the air on October 16, the latest of TV’s late-night shows to chart a reboot following a shut-down due to the Hollywood writers strike. While wee-hours rivals like “Tonight:” and “Late Show” are coming back on October 2 with their regular hosts, “Daily” will continue to rely on guests, as it has since Trevor Noah left the program last year.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Comedy Central is going back to square one in its efforts to find a new host for “The Daily Show.” The Paramount Global cable network is considering a wider array of candidates to take the reins of the program from previous emcee Trevor Noah, according to people familiar with the matter, after having previously identified Hasan Minhaj as a leading possibility. The decision appears to come in the wake of a recent report in The New Yorker in which some of the supposedly autobiographical stories that Minhaj has used in his routines were found to be embellished. Comedy Central declined to comment, as did WME, the talent agency that represents Minhaj.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus expects to step down from his post in April of 2024, and will be replaced by David Berson, the unit of the president. McManus will wind up a tenure that had him overseeing some of the most prized sports properties in TV, as well as CBS News for a brief period.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Kasie Hunt left a fast-track career at NBC News in 2021 to dip her toes into digital waters at CNN. Two years later, she’s just starting to find out whether she might sink or swim. On Wednesday, Hunt will launch “State of the Race,” a new hour-long weekday show for CNN’s international service focused on U.S.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor At Fox Business Network — for one night, at least — it’s all a lot more than the economy. When the cable outlet televises a Republican primary debate on September 27, many of the strategies it used the last time it did so are going out the window. Gone are moderators Neil Cavuto and Maria Bartiromo, who have experience with such events.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Rick Cordella is taking the field for NBC Sports. The executive, who has been enmeshed in developing streaming products for NBCUniversal, has been named president of NBC Sports at a moment when many media companies are working on new models that will make big-ticket TV sports properties available to consumers who have fewer ties to traditional screens.

United Talent Agency has landed a major new client in Oliver Anthony, the singer-songwriter behind the polarizing breakout country single “Rich Men North of Richmond,” which topped numerous charts after debuting on his YouTube channel in August. The first artist in history to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard charts without previously having a song on the charts, his deal is for exclusive worldwide representation in all areas.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: A prominent TV reporter walks into a bar… A handful of the news anchors at MSNBC (yes, there are some left!) recently held a dinner to welcome Ana Cabrera, the former CNN journalist, to the network, where she has taken the reins of its 10 a.m. hour. Chris Jansing and Katy Tur, familiar faces to MSNBC viewers, were holding court, but Andrea Mitchell, a legendary Washington correspondent who has anchored an early afternoon show on MSNBC since 2008, was missing, due to making an appearance at Henry Kissinger’s 100th birthday.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor People have been able to hear Gia Peppers talk about big issues for years. Now they’ll be able to see her when she does. Peppers issues-focused podcast “More Than That with Gia Peppers” is expanding to video this year, with a four-episode limited run on the Revolt cable network that debuts Tuesday evening.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor It’s easy to envision Robin Roberts sitting down for an in-depth interview with a hard-to-nab celebrity or landing a “get” with an inspirational newsmaker. How about Robin Roberts helping to solve a mystery ripped from the headlines? Such a notion is a distinct possibility thanks to a new ABC News Studios production unit that Roberts will lead.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor NBC News may trump its rivals when it comes to interviewing a certain former Commander-in-Chief. David Muir, Lesley Stahl, John Dickerson, Chris Wallace, Bill O’Reilly, Kaitlan Collins and Jim Acosta have all tried their hand at interviewing Donald Trump; lobbing questions at him; or moderating a debate or event in which his participation was key. Some have drawn blood and others have been bloodied (and some others left agog as Trump walked out unexpectedly).

Warner Bros. Discovery Germany boss Hannes Heyelmann has become the latest to exit from Gerhard Zeiler’s international team.