Wednesday, November 16, 2022

Next week this time, you'll be preparing to devour Thanksgiving turkey. In the meantime, scroll down for Trump's announcement ratings, The WSJ's anti-Trump editorial, Nancy Dubuc's memo to Vice staffers, Elon Musk's ultimatum to Twitter employees, Disney's 2022 milestone, and more. But first, the A1.

THE A1

NewsHour's 'Next Chapter'

CNN Photo Illustration/Mike Morgan/PBS/AP

"PBS NewsHour" is ready to turn the page.

The iconic nightly news program announced Wednesday that legendary anchor and managing editor Judy Woodruff will sign off from the anchor desk on Friday, December 30. Woodruff, 75, will pivot to a two-year project aimed at understanding polarization in America and how it can be remedied.

Taking Woodruff's place at the anchor desk will be Amna Nawaz and Geoff Bennett, PBS officially announced (you'll remember that we, along with others, reported this back in May). The move marks a generational shift at the show and is a reflection of a younger, more diverse country it aims to cover. Bennett, 42, is Black and Nawaz, 43, is the first-generation American daughter of Pakistani parents.

In a joint interview on Wednesday, Bennett told me he's "honored," "grateful," and "excited" to launch the show's "next chapter." Nawaz said, "The enormity of the moment is not lost on us when you look at the history and legacy of this place."

The duo stressed that the central elements of "NewsHour" will remain in place. So don't expect any seismic changes. The show, after all, has built up a loyal audience over its many decades on air and a sudden shift in programming strategy could alienate viewers. As Bennett explained, he and Nawaz want to simply "build on the foundation that exists."

"The core of what we do will not change at all. But, yeah, we do bring different backgrounds to the desk," Bennett said, noting that both he and Nawaz are also parents to young children.

"We have come to this role with different journeys," Nawaz added.

But while significant structural changes shouldn't be expected on the show, "NewsHour" viewers will still see a different program with the anchors bringing their own distinctive styles. And, simply by the function of having two anchors, they will, as Nawaz put it, be able to "go out into the field and get closer to the story." One anchor can remain at the desk while another is deployed to the field.

"NewsHour" is also working to modernize how it delivers the news to reach younger, more mobile-centric audiences. The show has launched a TikTok channel and attracts about a million YouTube viewers each day. On TikTok, the show recently started hosting live discussions with PBS reporters and outside experts. "We're excited to expand how we interact with our live audience on the platform," a spokesperson for the program told me.

"'NewsHour' is so much bigger than just an hour of television," Nawaz told me, adding that younger viewers interact with the show in totally different ways.

"Any time I am on a college campus, they say they follow us on Instagram or see our stuff through a TikTok update," she said. "We are putting our content out in so many ways and meeting viewers where they are."

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CNN Photo Illustration/Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

Tuning In To Trump: Nearly 9 million viewers watched Trump announce his re-election bid on cable Tuesday night, according to Nielsen data, with the speech proving to be a ratings draw across the board for the networks that took it live. The right-wing Fox News (obviously) won the lion's share of the audience, drawing 5.1 million total viewers and 929K in the key demo during the 9pm hour. CNN, which carried about 25 minutes of the announcement before cutting out, averaged 2.4 million total viewers and 656K in the key demo. The other main right-wing cable channel, Newsmax, which carried the speech in full, saw its audience spike to 1.1 million viewers with 195K in the demo. Meanwhile, the progressive MSNBC, which did not carry the speech, averaged 1.8 million viewers and 217K in the demo.

THE SIDEBAR

Coming up: Mike Pence is set to appear with Jake Tapper at 9pm for a CNN town hall. (CNN)
Rupert Murdoch's New York Post "brutally trolled" Trump after his 2024 announcement, Chris Cillizza writes. (CNN)
The WSJ, another Murdoch broadsheet, continued blasting Trump. The editorial board blasted election lies in a piece and noted that "candidates who took the Trump line on 2020 won fewer votes than a GOP state treasurer." Ouch! (WSJ)
"One interesting aspect of the timing of Fox News's breaking away from the speech is that Trump had already gone over the expected duration of his comments," Philip Bump notes. (WaPo)
Matt Gertz broke down "how news outlets handled Trump's 2020 coup attempt in their reports on his 2024 run." (MMFA)

THE BUSINESS

CNN Photo Illustration/Mario Tama/Getty Images

In the Vice: It looks like more cuts are in the works at Vice Media. CEO Nancy Dubuc emailed staffers on Wednesday, disclosing that executives are looking to "reduce our cost structure by up to 15%." Dubuc said that would translate to "some open positions being frozen, reductions in operating and administrative costs, T&E and infrastructure, and margin review of our production expenses." The note comes after The Daily Beast reported the company laid off about a dozen staffers last week. The NYT's Benjamin Mullin posted Dubuc's full memo.

IN THE INDUSTRY

Paramount Global laid off dozens of workers in its ad sales group on Wednesday. (Deadline)
Outside Media, publisher of a portfolio of sports magazines, has laid off 12% of its staff. (AdWeek)
Mia Sato takes a look at BuzzFeed: The outlet "built a digital media empire in part by aggregating viral content from social media. A decade later, what's next?" (The Verge)
NPR is opening a Ukraine bureau in Kyiv. (NPR)
CNN "plans to sober up" its "boozy New Year's Eve coverage," Brian Steinberg reports. (Variety)

MEDIA MOVES

Progressive watchdog Media Matters has announced that David Brock has suddenly exited the organization; Angelo Carusone has been named chairman. (Twitter)
Laura Jarrett is leaving CNN for NBC News where she will cover the Justice Department and Supreme Court. (Deadline)
Fox News has extended its deal with right-wing bomb thrower Mark Levin. (AdWeek)
Kelly Kahl is exiting as CBS Entertainment president after 26 years; Thom Sherman is stepping down as senior executive vice president; and Amy Reisenbach is essentially replacing both of their roles. (Variety)
Tom Hamburger will retire after 48 years in journalism. (WaPo)

THE VALLEY

CNN Photo Illustration/Alex Wong/Getty Images

The FTX Blast Radius: It's not just Sam Bankman-Fried facing fallout over the spectacular implosion of FTX — the celebrities who promoted the crypto platform have also been caught in the blast radius. Case in point: On Wednesday, a proposed class action lawsuit was filed against SBF and stars who promoted the company, including Larry David, Tom Brady, and Stephen Curry. "Part of the scheme employed by the FTX Entities involved utilizing some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment — like these Defendants — to raise funds and drive American consumers to invest," the complaint noted. THR's Winston Cho has details here.

► Vox reporter Kelsey Piper interviewed SBF on Twitter via DM.

TOO MANY TABS

Elon Musk has given an ultimatum to his employees: Go "extremely hardcore" or take three months of severance and leave Twitter. (CNN)
"Journalists want to re-create Twitter on Mastodon. Mastodon is not into it," reports Mathew Ingram. (CJR)
In other Musk news: The billionaire testified Wednesday morning in the Tesla shareholder lawsuit. James Murdoch also testified. (CNN)
The Oversight Board on Wednesday said Meta should restore a post that compared Russian soldiers to Nazis. (WaPo)
This headline says it all: "As Meta and Twitter lay off thousands in Bay Area, TikTok plans to double staff." (The Info)

THE INFO WARS

CNN Photo Illustration/Ted Shaffrey/AP

Banned In The USA: Margaret Atwood and Roxane Gay are among more than a dozen authors calling on Missouri public schools to reverse "dangerous bans" on books that include prize winners and even The Children's Bible. The letter came the same day PEN America released findings that showed nearly 300 books have been banned in the schools since August in response to a new law criminalizing "explicit sexual material" for students. "Even amid an avalanche of book bans this fall, the removals in Missouri stand out," Jonathan Friedman, director of free expression and education programs, said in a statement. The Springfield News-Leader has more.

IN THE BATTLEFIELD

Xi Jinping was caught on camera chiding Justin Trudeau over leaks to the press: "Everything we've discussed has been leaked to the papers and that is not appropriate." (CNN)
At the G20, Russian diplomats "are fanning out in Bali to again push unsubstantiated claims that nations including the US are to blame for high global food prices, rather than their own invasion of Ukraine," Alberto Nardelli and Aine Quinn report. (Bloomberg)

CURTAIN CALL

CNN Photo Illustration/Donald Kravitz/Getty Images

Leno Undergoes Surgery: More details about Jay Leno's serious injuries were revealed on Wednesday. The comedian's physician, Dr. Peter Grossman, said Leno has undergone surgery for the burn injuries he sustained while working on a car and will undergo a second procedure later this week. Grossman said Leno had "pretty significant burns" to his face and hands. "His burns include his face, his hands, and his chest, the burns are fairly significant," Grossman said. CNN's Stella Chan has more here.

The Draw of Disney: The entertainment behemoth has done it again. Disney has soared past $3 billion at the 2022 global box office, courtesy of a strong showing from "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever." As Deadline's Nancy Tartaglione noted, it's the 14th time that Disney has crossed into such territory. And it comes after Disney ended 2021 with $2.9 billion at the box office.

OFF STAGE

Disney World is raising prices on December 8 and also introducing park-specific pricing on one-day tickets. (USA Today)
Kevin Spacey has been charged with seven more sexual offenses in the UK. (CNN)
Jon Stewart talks Dave Chappelle: "I don't believe that censorship and penalties are the way to end antisemitism or to gain understanding. I think it's the wrong way to approach it." (Deadline)
Howard Stern's no-holds-barred interview with Bruce Springsteen will air on HBO on November 27. (Variety)
Bad news for "Big Little Lies" fans: Zoe Kravitz says the show won't return for a third season. (TV Line)
Rebecca Rubin asks: "Is J.K. Rowling's 'Fantastic Beasts' franchise dead at Warner Bros?" (Variety)

Thank you for reading! This newsletter was edited by Jon Passantino. Have feedback? Send us an email here. We will be back in your inbox tomorrow.