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Thursday, August 24, 2023

Donald Trump becomes first former president with a mugshot, Fox News scores healthy ratings for the first GOP debate, Ben Shapiro shreds Tucker Carlson's Trump sit-down as "propaganda," Threads rolls out its desktop interface, "Barbie" surpasses "Mario" at the U.S. box office, and "Dune" gets delayed amid the Hollywood strikes. But first, the A1.

THE A1

Charting CNN's Course

CNN Photo Illustration/Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

CNN's future is coming into greater focus.

The news network, which has endured a tumultuous 20-month period marked by a number of seismic internal events, is taking its first steps after regaining its footing following the divorce with former chief executive Chris Licht.

Last week, CNN announced a sweeping overhaul of its lineup, establishing its all-important prime time roster while also making several other key programming moves. And on Thursday, the outlet announced the launch of CNN Max, a new service that represents the beginning of a streaming future for the channel following the abrupt shuttering of the nascent CNN+.

Meanwhile, behind the scenes, there continues to be an active search for the next leader of CNN, following Licht's dismissal. Mark Thompson, the former chief executive at The New York Times and director general BBC, has been in discussions with Warner Bros. Discovery leadership for the top job, among several other contenders, a person familiar with the matter told me.

The appointment of an executive such as Thompson, a veteran with a strong reputation for being focused intently on digital, could help further push CNN beyond the traditional business of linear television, which is contracting at a much faster pace than many industry observers previously predicted.

What happens next is up in the air. Most of the major changes announced in the programming overhaul have yet to be implemented; the beta version of CNN Max doesn't launch until next month; and a new leader for CNN has not yet been named (obviously) and would take months to get up to speed, make decisions, and be evaluated.

Drafting a blueprint for success is only the first step in what promises to be a journey down a path made up of uncertain, arduous terrain. Execution, no matter how brilliant the plan, will not be easy — particularly when involving this many chess pieces on a big stage amid a larger chaotic media landscape.

That said, there is at least the feeling inside CNN that the network is moving forward after being frozen in place and in need of a course correction. After many months, CNN finally has cemented a prime time lineup. And while CNN Max might not be the luxurious streaming lifeboat that CNN+ might have been, it is a lifeboat — and some form of a vessel is better than none at all.

The big uncertainty is who CNN's next leader might be and how quickly they could be installed. Given the wide latitude the current interim leadership team has been given to reconfigure the network's programming, among other things, there was a strong sense internally that The Quad (as they're referred to by staffers) would be in place for some time, perhaps even through the 2024 presidential election.

That notion was ruptured this week, amid reports about the hunt for a new singular leader. The internal sentiment, which I've gathered through conversations with staffers over the last 24 hours, could best be described as mixed feelings in the wake of an ugly breakup.

On one hand, there is respect for Thompson and what he has achieved in his career. And the appointment of a new CNN chief suggests that WBD is in fact committed to CNN, seemingly putting to bed rumors about the network being sold at some time in the near future.

On the other hand, the notion a new leader might soon be appointed has given way to some anxiety — not necessarily over Thompson in particular, but about the larger possibility that the organization may soon have to grapple with another major executive shakeup. Staffers I've spoken to, all of whom range widely in jobs and seniority, feel that it might just be a little too soon to get back into the dating pool.

Ultimately, however, that decision isn't CNN's to make — and yet another executive shakeup could indeed be on the horizon for staffers.

——— BELOW THE FOLD ———

CNN Photo Illustration/Fulton County Sheriff's Office

The Mugshot Moment: Will this be the most famous mugshot in history? It is hard to imagine how it will not achieve that status. On his fourth and likely final arraignment (at least for now), Trump became the first former president to have a mugshot taken. "45TH PRESIDENT, INMATE NO. P01135809, BECOMES FIRST WITH MUG SHOT," one CNN banner read, marking the historic moment. CNN showed the banner first, followed by MSNBC, and then Fox News.

► 👀 Trump later used the moment to post his first tweet (are we still calling it that?) on X in more than two years, posting the mugshot on the platform.

OFF THE WIRE

How Kaitlan Collins broke the news of the mugshot on CNN: "We did just get this mugshot of the former president of the United States. We are going to show it to our audience now. This is a striking image, to see a former president of the United States who was just booked into the Fulton County Jail behind us. Questions remained even within his team whether or not this photo would actually exist. But there you see it."
How Rachel Maddow showed the photo on MSNBC: "I want to slow us down just for a moment. If you've been doing the dishes and walking around doing stuff, this is an important moment. This is a moment to pay attention. It's also not something you want to rush into without thinking about it. ... This is serious stuff. For the nation, for who we are as a country. We have never before had a mugshot of a United States president, current or former. But now we do. Here it is."
Meanwhile, on Fox News, Jesse Watters first did a segment about the death of the Obamas' chef having been ruled an accident before showing the photo. (X)
Earlier in the evening, Trump delivered remarks on the tarmac after his Georgia arraignment. CNN and MSNBC notably declined to take his comments live.
"Right-wing media spread many of the election lies highlighted in Trump's Georgia indictment," Zachary Pleat reports. (MMFA)
As you might expect, rhetoric in right-wing media was again supportive of Trump, portraying America's justice system as a nefarious force being wielded by Democrats to wrongly imprison the leading GOP candidate.

THE INDUSTRY

THE MARKET

"Amazon has had early talks with Disney about working on the streaming version of ESPN it is developing," Sahil Patel reports, writing that "such an arrangement could shore up ESPN's status as the biggest force in sports media." (The Info)
Scooter Braun is facing more trouble. Lydia Moynihan reports that the music executive is "on the outs" with his TQ Ventures partners. (NY Post)

THE FOURTH ESTATE

Journalism has "seen a substantial rise in philanthropic spending over the past 5 years," David Bauder reports, citing a new study. (AP)
Futuro Media, the Pulitzer Prize-winning non-profit media organization focused on covering Latino issues, underwent layoffs amid "months of economic uncertainty." (X)

MEDIA MOVES

Bilt Rewards named Sean Walsh, who previously served as the Daily Mail's chief brand officer and U.S. managing director, as its managing director for external relations. (PR Newswire)

THE INFO WARS

CNN Photo Illustration/Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

Rave Ratings for Republicans : The Fox News GOP debate averaged 12.8 million viewers, a larger than expected audience given the notable absence of frontrunner Donald Trump. The numbers were far short of the historic 24 million viewers who tuned into the first Republican debate in August 2015, in which Trump fiercely sparred with the large field of candidates, as well as co-moderator Megyn Kelly. But the audience for Wednesday night's debate was much higher than many television veterans had predicted, signaling that there is great interest in the GOP candidate field beyond Trump. Here's my story.

► It's likely that if Trump were to have appeared at the debate, the ratings would have been even higher. But it's not clear how much of a boost it would have given the viewership, particularly given that Trump's novelty has worn off over the years. His July town hall on Fox News hosted by Sean Hannity averaged only 2.9 million viewers.

► The Republican face-off also lifted the ratings of CNN and MSNBC, both of which programmed special post-debate coverage kicking off in the 11 p.m. ET hour. From 11 p.m. to 1 a.m., MSNBC averaged 2.1 million total viewers and 257,000 in the key demographic. CNN averaged 1.2 million total viewers and 281,000 in the key demographic.

► Trump, who tried to upstage the event by sitting down for an interview with the fired Fox News host Tucker Carlson, attempted to claim that the sit-down attracted more eyeballs than the debate. But Trump was citing video stats from X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, which does not provide reliable metrics and is not comparable to television ratings. For instance, X states that it will count a user view even if a video is seen for two seconds. As Fox insights and analytics chief Michael Mulvihill put it: "If we apply the twitter standard, in which 2 seconds constitutes a 'view' and the same person can be counted multiple times, last night's debate generated over 46 billion views, which seems pretty good for a planet of 8 billion people!"

IN THE BATTLEFIELD

Ben Shapiro ripped Tucker Carlson, noting the fired Fox News host didn't ask Trump "anything remotely difficult" and describing the interview as a "propaganda 45-minute softball for Trump." (MMFA)
"Traditionally a chief gatekeeper for candidates in a Republican primary, Fox News had to stage its debate without the party's most important figure," Michael Grynbaum wrote. (NYT)
James Poniewozik: zinged Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum for how they handled the various Trump-related issues: "When a faction of members and supporters of a party try to overturn a democratic election, debate moderators need to recognize that that's a big issue for that party, whether the fans boo or not." (NYT)
"The moderators failed even when they were on to something," Erik Wemple pointed out. (WaPo)
Chris Christie told Poppy Harlow the stage "was completely out of control" and that he was "disappointed that the moderators didn't play a stronger hand in controlling what was going on." (The Hill)
Tevi Troy's POV: "Moderators have ruined presidential debates. Let's get rid of them." (WSJ)
Switching gears: "Shannon Bream, one of Fox News' top 'hard news' journalists, peddled a two-year-old hoax ... that school-age children are identifying as cats, thus forcing educators to give them special treatment and provide litter boxes," Justin Baragona reports. (Daily Beast)
🎙️ I joined Brian Stelter and Sarah Ellison for a discussion on how to best cover Fox News. As you might guess, I had some thoughts to share! (Vanity Fair)

THE VALLEY

CNN Photo Illustration/Meta

Threads' Desktop Debut: After teasing a desktop solution for months, Mark Zuckerberg and the Threads team finally came through for the masses on Thursday. The X/Twitter competitor launched its web-based portal for all users, after announcing it earlier this week that it was en route. The service is bare bones, a little slow, and far from perfect. That said, it does offer people the ability to quickly post from a web browser. Whether that is enough to boost engagement and bring it back down from its current lows, remains to be seen. 9to5Mac's Zac Hall has details here.

🔌 Follow us on Threads: @CNNReliableSources

TOO MANY TABS

Emily Baker-White reports on how a battle is playing out between Oracle and ByteDance, with the relationship between the two companies having "soured." (Forbes)
Meta will launch Code Llama, an A.I. platform capable of writing computer code. (Reuters)
OnlyFans paid Leonid Radvinsky, the company's owner, $338 million in dividends in FY 2022 amid profit boosts. (Bloomberg)
Apple announced an about-face, saying it now supports California's right-to-repair bill that would require companies to allow customers to fix their devices by offering parts. (CNBC)

CURTAIN CALL

CNN Photo Illustration/Warner Bros. Pictures/Illumination

Barbie's High Score: Barbie now has more coins than Mario — at least, in the U.S. The Greta Gerwig smash hit, which continues to perform well in theaters, leveled up past the "Super Mario Bros. Movie" at the domestic box office, having amassed $575.4 million versus $574.2 million. The next feat for the Warner Bros. Pictures film? Defeating Mario at the international box office — something that looks almost certain to happen in time. CNN's Jordan Valinsky has more here.

HOLLYWOOD HELL

"Dune: Part Two" has been delayed until 2024 because of the dual strikes in Hollywood. (THR)
Sharon Waxman goes "inside the latest showdown between studio CEOs and the writers guild." Waxman reports, "My insiders tell me that the last 10 days of negotiation haven't been fruitful." (The Wrap)
"I think that it's taken on a bigger scope": Fran Drescher tells Krysta Fauria and Andrew Dalton that the SAG-AFTRA strike is an "inflection point" in society, extending beyond Hollywood. (AP)
Fifth Season underwent layoffs, with the company citing the "impact on business operations" from the strikes, Selome Hailu reports. (Variety)

OFF STAGE

Kim Cattrall's Samantha Jones made her cameo during the finale of Max's "And Just Like That" season two. (LAT)
Drew Barrymore's alleged stalker, who rushed the stage while the actress was hosting an event, was arrested outside her house. (NY Post)
"The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar," Wes Anderson's short film about Roald Dahl, will premiere on Netflix on Sept. 27. (Pitchfork)
Ed Sheeran announced he will drop a second album, titled "Autumn Variations" on Sept. 29. (Variety)
The seventh season of "Rick and Morty" will hit Adult Swim on Oct. 15 — without Justin Roiland. (The Wrap)

Thank you for reading! This newsletter was edited by Jon Passantino and produced with the assistance of Liam Reilly. Have feedback? Send us an email here. We will see you back in your inbox next week.