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 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.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Max fans who don’t relish the idea of coughing up $9.99 per month more to access the Warner Bros. Discovery-owned streamer’s upcoming live sports tier might not realize that they’ve been making out like bandits with seemingly “free” sports content on other platforms for years, according to WBD global streaming chief JB Perrette.

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.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Oliver Anthony has made his first serious step toward getting off the DIY train after instantly vaulting to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 without without a label or agent. UTA announced Thursday that it had signed the Virginia-based upstart for global representation in all areas.

Warner Bros Discovery has confirmed it plans a major expansion of its Leavesden studio lot, with the UK location set to become the epicenter of DC Studios production.

After years of talk — mostly by the previous corporate regime — a live sports streaming tier is finally coming to Max.

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.

Naman Ramachandran Warner Bros. Discovery executive VP and general manager for Germany, Switzerland and Austria Hannes Heyelmann has stepped down from his role. In an internal memo to staff seen by Variety, Gerhard Zeiler, WBD’s international president, wrote: “When we launched the newly merged Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. Discovery CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels echoed recent sentiments from Netflix and other major TV and film producers, saying the industry must resolve the ongoing strikes and “get back to work.”

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor The two Hollywood strikes that have ground TV and film productions to a standstill are bad for business — and Warner Bros. Discovery is working diligently to resolve them as quickly as possible, according to CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels. “It’s an unfortunate situation… We have to get back to work,” Wiedenfels said, speaking Thursday at the Bank of America Media, Communications and Entertainment Conference.

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.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Bill Maher will soon be operating by some “New Rules” — and not just the ones he makes up in the signature segment of his HBO program. The comedian and commentator plans to re-start production of “Real Time” on HBO without writers, the first of TV’s phalanx of late-night hosts to try and do so despite the continuing Hollywood strikes by the WGA and SAG-AFTRA. “Real Time is coming back, unfortunately, sans writers or writing.” Maher said on social media Wednesday night.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor While Madison Avenue seems focused on shiny new technologies, iHeartMedia is encouraging advertisers to get back to basics. Research conducted by Morning Consult and Advertiser Perceptions on behalf of the audio-media giant and podcaster Pushkin Media found a growing disparity between what marketers think top consumer priorities are and the things to which consumers are actually gravitating.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor The popular sitcom “Modern Family” is picking up some new real estate — while keeping its other homes. Warner Bros. Discovery’s TBS cable network will start showing a three-hour block of the landmark comedy, which ran on ABC for 11 seasons between 2009 and 2020.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor NPR veteran Lakshmi Singh has signed with CAA for representation.; Singh, who has been with NPR for 23 years and has one of the public-broadcasting service’s most familiar voices, anchors midday coverage for NPR Newscasts, some of the most-heard content produced by the news outlet. Her work has drawn recognition from Women of Color in Communications for “contributions to the field, mentorship to other women in communications and broad impact on the promotion of ethnic diversity in journalism”, as well as the Asian American/Asian Research Institute and the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center.

Would Abby Lee Miller end her feud with former student and co-star Maddie Ziegler? She is giving fans an answer once and for all.