Wednesday, January 4, 2023

You're past the halfway point for the week. Why C-SPAN's coverage of the House has more flare than normal, cable news plans special coverage of Pope Benedict's funeral, the "Monday Night Football" telecast drew record ratings following Damar Hamlin's collapse, Big Tech faces bigger cuts, and more. But first, the A1.

THE A1

Fox and the House

CNN Photo Illustration/Getty Images

It's Tucker Carlson versus Sean Hannity in the Republican Party.

The divisions inside the GOP, being laid bare on national television via the dramatic fight between Kevin McCarthy and a faction of rebels over the House speakership, mirror the rift that has been forming for some time in right-wing media and which is strikingly clear in Fox News primetime.

Some corners of the right-wing media universe, represented by the Carlsons of the world, revel in the chaos. Carlson has made that clear on his broadcasts this week, effectively cheering on the Never Kevin camp in the House and arguing that what we are seeing on television — a paralyzed GOP unable after six votes to elect a House speaker — is healthy.

"If you prefer democracy to oligarchy, if you prefer real debates about issues that actually matter, it's pretty refreshing to see it," Carlson said of the public infighting taking place in the House, which is set to go back into session at noon on Thursday.

Then there are the personalities and outlets that more closely align with Hannity, who has gone on record against the mutiny facing McCarthy and argued on the California congressman's behalf.

To be clear, Hannity hasn't outright bashed the Republicans staging the rebellion against McCarthy. He's mostly played polite. And he's tried downplaying the friction, insisting it's not a crisis. But Hannity has represented the wing of right-wing media — and the larger GOP — that would like to see Republicans unite and not be consumed by disorder.

"Should Republicans have worked this all out in private, long before yesterday? Yeah, absolutely. And behind the scenes I spoke to many of them, and I urged them to work it out," Hannity said Wednesday night. "They apparently did not listen to my advice."

After those comments, Hannity invited on Rep. Lauren Boebert for an interview which turned quite combative. The Fox News host repeatedly pressed the far-right congresswoman on what the rebel group plans to do, given that they are clearly a small minority of the GOP. Hannity at times noted that Boebert was evading and not answering his simple questions.

"I asked you a simple question congresswoman. I feel like I'm getting an answer from a liberal," an exasperated Hannity said toward the conclusion of the interview, in which Boebert repeatedly kept speaking over him.

Of course, while Hannity, McCarthy, and others might be frustrated with the rebels now, they all played roles in bolstering their power in recent years. Which is the irony that cuts straight to the heart of the matter.

Much like the Republican Party laid the groundwork over the years for the rise of Donald Trump, people like Hannity have laid the groundwork for the rise of people like Carlson. They've catered to their views, refused to call out their nonsense, and chosen to attack entities like the media instead of dealing with the own mess in their backyard.

Now they're reaping what they sowed: a party comprised of a growing number of erratic figures who don't mind — and even perhaps prefer — watching the world burn.

——— BELOW THE FOLD ———

CNN Photo Illustration/Olivier Douliery/AFP/Getty Images

Cameras in the Capitol: If you've been watching coverage of the unfolding drama taking place in the House, you've likely noticed that the camera shots are not the usual stale wide-pans that saturate C-SPAN on a day-to-day basis. Usually, the House forbids independent media coverage of proceedings, meaning that networks must rely on a government feed for coverage. But when there are special events taking place in the House, such as the election for speaker, independent coverage is allowed.

In this case, that translates to C-SPAN deploying multiple cameras of its own into the House chamber, giving the public a rare front row view of the high-stakes negotiations between lawmakers. "We are able to show Paul Gosar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sitting down and speaking to one another. We are able to show Matt Gaetz and Jim Jordan talking before the next votes," Ben O'Connell, C-SPAN's director of editorial operations, told me by phone. "We are able to show scrums of members migrate across the floor as negotiations go on. You don't see that during standard coverage."

O'Connell noted to me that C-SPAN would like to be able to do this far more often. "It would be great if we could provide this kind of coverage even during deliberations on major legislations or other times beyond the speaker election and more ceremonial functions of congress," he said. "We hope some day cameras are allowed in there far more frequently than they are now."

"I think it is really important for journalists to be behind the cameras rather than the government be behind the cameras," O'Connell added. "We, during a typical legislative day, have a government entity covering the government. And I think it would be invaluable to have journalists behind the camera instead."

Bidding Farewell to Benedict: Cable news will be live overnight, offering viewers special coverage of Pope Benedict XVI's funeral. CNN will carry coverage starting at 3am, anchored by Max Foster and Bianca Nobilo. On MSNBC, Chris Jansing will helm coverage starting at 3am. And on Fox News, coverage will begin at 2:30am, led by Trace Gallagher.

THE BUSINESS

CNN Photo Illustration/Dylan Buell/Getty Images

'MNF's' Record Audience: The "Monday Night Football" telecast in which Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest was the most-watched in ESPN's history, averaging 23.8 million viewers between 8:30 pm and 10:09 pm, according to Nielsen. The "MNF" broadcast surpassed the previous record set during a 2009 Packers-Vikings game. During game play on Monday, ESPN averaged 21.1 million viewers. That audience then grew to 23.9 million viewers between 9 pm to 10:15 pm when ESPN aired news coverage of Hamlin's collapse. An ESPN spokesperson noted to me that, given the special circumstances around Monday's game, it was not clear whether the ratings would be factored into the season average or used for historical purposes. CNN's Jennifer Korn and I have more here.

► Earlier in the day, ESPN issued a statement standing by its reporting that the NFL had initially planned to resume Monday's game after Hamlin's collapse — which the league adamantly denies. "We reported what we were told in the moment and immediately updated fans as new information was learned," the network said in a statement. "This was an unprecedented, rapidly evolving circumstance." More in my story on that here.

IN THE INDUSTRY

First in Reliable | The Verge is launching a new paid newsletter with deputy editor Alex Heath. The newsletter, called "Command Line," will debut Thursday and be sent to inboxes once a week. Interested readers can subscribe here starting Thursday morning.
The ransomware attack targeting The Guardian "has hobbled the London-based news-organization's basic operations, shutting down everything from its office wifi to the tills in the staff canteen," Max Tani reports. (Semafor)
Vox Media is "formalizing" its ban on running advertisements from fossil fuel companies. (Marketing Brew)
The UK culture secretary has recommended that the government scrap its plan to privatize Channel 4, per a leaked letter. (Guardian)
In a statement to the Daily Mail, the lawyer representing the estranged wife of T.J. Holmes blasts the "GMA3" co-anchor for his "lack of discretion, respect, and sensitivity" on the matter. (Daily Mail)
Sirius XM has slowed podcast deals and Spotify has frozen its US budget for new podcasts, Ashley Carman and Lucas Shaw report in their story about the "great podcasting market correction." (Bloomberg)
News Corp. and Fox Corp. are betting on midtown Manhattan. The companies have signed 20-year renewals at their longtime headquarters on Avenue of the Americas. (Deadline)
What will Ari Emanuel do? Jill Goldsmith writes about how he faces a conundrum after UFC chief Dana White was seen striking his wife on camera. (Deadline)
UTA has acquired literary agency Fletcher & Company. (NYT)
Macquarie analyst Tim Nollen has downgraded multiple media companies over a slowing advertising market and issues with streaming probability. (THR)

MEDIA MOVES

CNN has announced former Rep. Adam Kinzinger is joining the network as a senior politics commentator. (CNN)
Ex-CNN Digital boss Andrew Morse has been named publisher of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. (AJC)
WaPo has named Chico Harlan as the newspaper's first global climate correspondent. (WaPo)
POLITICO has hired Erin Schumaker from Insider as a health reporter. (TalkingBizNews)
Amazon has restructured its third-party partnership efforts (MGM+, Freevee) under Andrew Bennett. (Deadline)

THE VALLEY

CNN Photo Illustration/Ina Fassbender/AFP/Getty Images

Anguish at Amazon: More cuts are hitting Amazon. The e-commerce giant's layoffs "will affect more than 17,000 employees," The WSJ's Dana Mattioli and Jessica Toonkel reported Wednesday. The company said in November it was making cut to its workforce, which The WSJ reported would impact about 10,000 staffers. "The rest of the cuts will bring the total number of layoffs to more than 17,000 and will be made over the coming weeks," Mattioli and Toonkel reported. Read their full story here.

TOO MANY TABS

✂️ Cuts, cuts, cuts: Vimeo said Wednesday that it will lay off about 11% of its workforce, citing deteriorating economic conditions. (TechCrunch)
Meta has been fined by European Union regulators $414 million over privacy violations. (Associated Press)
A rare win for TikTok: The South Dakota city of Rapid City has voted to kill a proposal to ban the app on city devices. (WSJ)
"It's difficult to overstate the degree to which the TikTok spying scandal has undermined the goodwill the company spent the past few years cultivating," Casey Newton writes. (The Verge)
The Supreme Court will hear two oral arguments in two Big Tech cases next month. (WaEx)

THE INFO WARS

Radicalism on Roku: A channel that promotes the deranged QAnon conspiracy theory is finding an audience at Roku, despite the platform's rules that would seemingly prohibit such content. That's according to a report from MMFA's Alex Kaplan, who noted the channel's adoration of QAnon is so clear that its logo features a rabbit jumping into a hole and its slogan appears to be "follow the white rabbit."

🤐 No comment: A Roku spokesperson had no response when we reached out about the matter on Wednesday.

IN THE BATTLEFIELD

Tucker Carlson claimed researchers had found "more than 1,500 total cardiac arrests" have occurred since Covid vaccines became available to the public. "But Carlson was citing a letter in which the authors' evidence was a dubious blog," Ali Swenson, David Klepper, and Sophia Tulp report. (Associated Press)

CURTAIN CALL

OFF STAGE

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson had privately lobbied Warner Bros. Discovery boss David Zaslav on a multiyear DC universe plan that would have culminated in a Black Adam vs. Superman showdown, Tatiana Siegel reports. (Variety)
$2B or not to be? "Avatar: The Way of Water" has washed past the $1 billion dollar mark at the international box office. It's on the cusp of passing the $1.5 billion mark at the global box office as it swims closer to $2 billion territory. (Deadline)
Iran has released actress Taraneh Alidoosti on bail. (CNN)
Disney has set the streaming data for "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever." If you're like me and never made it to the theater, you can (finally) catch the film on Disney+ February 1. (Deadline)
Benedict Cumberbatch is in talks to star in a Netflix limited series set in 1980s New York. (Variety)
Get ready to see Bryan Cranston as Walter White once more! The actor is reviving the look for a Super Bowl commercial. (THR)
Variety and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association will partner up to produce the digital pre-show for the Golden Globes. (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 around this time tomorrow.