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Thursday, September 14, 2023

NBC News and Salem in talks for third GOP debate, Nielsen names its new boss, Alex Jones increases his personal spending while stiffing Sandy Hook families, Google offers a look at its antitrust defense strategy, TikTok partners with Billboard, X/Twitter announces a new head of brand sales, the AMPTP and WGA say they'll meet again next week, Hulu introduces a top 15 list, and so much more. But first, the A1.

THE A1

Anxiety at ABC

AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images/Getty Images

Alarm bells are going off at ABC News.

The Disney-owned newsroom was jolted on Thursday after a report suggested that the outlet could soon be expelled from the Magic Kingdom. Bloomberg's Christopher Palmeri and Thomas Buckley reported that Disney has "held exploratory talks" about selling ABC to Nexstar Media Group. The duo also reported that media mogul Byron Allen has also spoken with Disney about a possible deal.

In conversations with more than half-dozen people inside and around ABC News that I spoke to Thursday evening, it was made clear that a feeling of dread and trepidation is washing over the outlet as they face the unknown.

"Everyone is freaking the f**k out," one ABC News staffer bluntly told me about the state of affairs inside the network.

"It's all anyone at work is talking about," added another.

Indeed, mergers and acquisitions always inspire feelings of anxiousness as staffers wonder what a new corporate parent might mean for them. Will a new parent move to install its own leadership? Cut costs? Make other changes?

With Nexstar already owning NewsNation, the little-watched cable news channel that embraces bothsidesism and was happy to host a town hall with notorious anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. earlier this year, what would that mean for the future of ABC News and its editorial direction? Would Nexstar move to meld the two and supercharge its cable news operation with the more robust resources of ABC News?

Staffers that I spoke to, who acknowledged that a divorce with Disney seemed inevitable after Bob Iger's infamous comments earlier this summer that the television asset "may not be core" to the company, were apprehensive about how quickly a potential sale appeared to be progressing.

The ABC News'ers suggested that they are frustrated that they remain in the dark about the future of their company. Instead of hearing directly from Disney leadership, they're instead reading in the press about what the House of Mouse plans to potentially do with the company.

That might soon change. I'm told that Iger — likely recognizing the frustration radiating out of the news division — is expected to make a visit to his ABC News troops next week in New York City. But, for obvious reasons, he is likely limited on what he can say about the future of the outlet.

Whether a deal to offload ABC and Disney's linear stations is ultimately in the cards remains to be seen. A deal with Nexstar, the nation's largest owner of television stations and majority owner of The CW network, could also come with some regulatory complications, potentially forcing some stations to be divested. A potential deal would also raise questions for ESPN and Disney's simulcast of sporting events on the broad terrestrial network.

Nexstar declined to comment on Thursday when I reached out. And Bloomberg described the talks as "preliminary."

Iger has also talked up the importance of ABC News — as recently as July, when he tried to clean up his mess after speaking to CNBC at Sun Valley. "I'm ridiculously passionate about news," Iger told senior company leaders. "It's important to this company. We need to figure out how it makes the transition into streaming. And I happen to believe we will endure. It's too good, it's too important, and it's really fun."

Disney, for its part, poured cold water Thursday evening on any notion that a deal has been inked "at this time." But the statement issued by the media giant once again affirmed that it is "open to considering a variety of strategic options for our linear businesses." That's a big hint of what's to come.

As one television executive put it, "Once, they were Iger's jewel in the crown. Their $20 million+ anchors were trotted out for board meetings and glitzy dinners in NYC. Now, they're on the chopping block."

But, the executive added, "Iger is unsentimental and cold-blooded. He will do what is best and necessary for Disney. He will not hesitate to cut off well-paid anchor friends, cast out beloved networks, or sell the jewels in the crown."

——— BELOW THE FOLD ———

CNN Photo Illustration/Morry Gash/AP

The Heat in Miami: Details are emerging about the third Republican presidential primary debate. The face-off will take place November in Miami — and, perhaps more importantly, outside the Fox News bubble. NBC News and Salem Media are the media entities in talks to host the melee, people familiar with the matter tell me and my colleagues Kristen Holmes and Eric Bradner. Read our full story here.

THE INDUSTRY

THE MARKET

Disney anticipates it will fall short of its 215-million-to-245-million-subscriber target for Disney+, Thomas Buckley and Lucas Shaw report, citing sources. (Bloomberg)
Benjamin Mullin posits that a new television bundle is emerging. (NYT)
Mark Woodbury, the chief executive of Universal Destinations & Experiences, shared details concerning NBCU's planned Universal Epic Universe theme park. (THR)
"Can the CW survive without superheroes and teen soaps?" Jennifer Maas asks. (Variety)

THE FOURTH ESTATE

"This is the honor of a lifetime": Kristen Welker talks to Gary Levin about taking over as moderator of "Meet the Press." (USA Today)
Bob Boilen is parting ways with NPR after 35 years. (Pitchfork)

MEDIA MOVES

Roblox added Jason Kilar to its board. (Variety)
Nielsen tapped Karthik Rao as its next chief executive. (WSJ)
AMC Networks promoted Georgia Juvelis to chief operating officer. (The Wrap)
Dow Jones appointed Ashok Sinha as senior vice president and head of communications. (Dow Jones)
The NYT named Anthony DiClemente senior vice president for investor relations and promoted Ken Plutnicki to senior staff editor. (NYT/NYT)
Full Fact hired long-time BBC correspondent Chris Morris as its chief executive. (Press Gazette)
The FT named Jamie Smyth as U.S. energy editor. (FT)
Fox News named Lawrence Jones a permanent "Fox & Friends" co-host. (Fox News)
Mother Jones hired Jamilah King as its editorial director. (Mother Jones)

THE INFO WARS

CNN Photo Illustration/Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images

Keeping Up With Jones: When will Alex Jones pay the families of Sandy Hook victims, whom he owes $1.5 billion to? The right-wing conspiracy theorist has yet to offer them a penny, according to recent court filings, but he has increased his own personal spending. "In July alone, Jones spent $93,180 — excluding legal and professional fees — including $15,184 on payments to his wife Erika Wulff Jones, $7,900 on housekeeping, $6,338 on meals and entertainment, and a separate $3,388 on groceries," CNN's Liam Reilly reported Thursday, citing a court filing. And it wasn't just July. "His May and June bills were equally hefty, with Jones spending $63,925 and $85,114, respectively, again without taking stock of legal and professional fees," Reilly reported. Reilly has all the details here.

IN THE BATTLEFIELD

While CNN and MSNBC covered the Hunter Biden indictment in prime time, the right-wing network Fox News offered considerably more coverage, with its anti-Biden hosts treating the news as if it represented one of the most consequential scandals in the history of American politics.
Fox News is promoting a Bret Baier interview set to air next week with Saudi Arabia's Mohammed bin Salman, aka MBS. The network described the interview as pre-taped and "no holds-barred." (Mediaite)
Elon Musk is set to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after generating backlash for his repeated attempts to smear the Anti-Defamation League, Elizabeth Dwoskin and Will Oremus report. (WaPo)
On the anniversary of 9/11, Rumble — an official partner of the second GOP debate — pushed videos espousing conspiracy theories about the attacks under the "Editor Picks" banner, Alex Kaplan reports. (MMFA)
"The Trump book bubble is back," Charlotte Klein reports. (Vanity Fair)

THE VALLEY

CNN Photo Illustration/Annegret Hilse/Reuters

Google's Defense: The Internet antitrust trial of our time is starting to take shape. Google on Thursday offered a glimpse at what will likely make up the core of its defense: that users prefer to use its search product over others, such as Microsoft's Bing. The Silicon Valley titan attempted to demonstrate this in court by "showing users happily stick with its search engine when pre-installed on their devices and quickly switch from Bing or others they like less," Reuters' Diane Bartz reported. Of course, the U.S. government has a very different point of view. Bartz has more here.

TOO MANY TABS

The Supreme Court temporarily blocked an order that limited the Biden administration's ability to fight controversial social media posts. (AP)
Linda Yaccarino announced several new hires at X/Twitter, including Brett Weitz as head of content, talent, and brand sales. (Variety)
But X/Twitter "is unlikely" to win back some major advertisers "before the holiday season," Aisha Counts reports. (Bloomberg)
Elon Musk "almost tapped" Persicope co-founder Kayvon Beykpour to run Twitter, Kaya Yurieff reports, citing Walter Isaacson's biography on the billionaire. (The Info)
Taiwan hit back at Musk for claiming it is "part of China." (CNN)
Meta "can't dodge controversy on Threads forever" after restricting searches on terms like "Covid," Dave Lee writes. (Bloomberg)
TikTok has partnered with Billboard to track its most popular songs. (The Verge)
Craig Newmark — of Craigslist and CUNY Journalism fame — gave $3 million to help fund Common Sense Media, an A.I. and education initiative. (CNBC)

CURTAIN CALL

CNN Photo Illustration/Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

A Step in the Write Direction: Is the third restart of talks the charm? The AMPTP said Thursday that it will meet with the WGA, after a request from the writers. "On Wednesday, September 13, the WGA reached out to the AMPTP and asked for a meeting to move negotiations forward," the AMPTP said in a statement. "We have agreed and are working to schedule a meeting next week. Every member company of the AMPTP is committed and eager to reach a fair deal, and to working together with the WGA to end the strike." The WGA confirmed the two parties are working on hammering out a time to meet, but didn't comment further.

► Reminder: If there is any hope of shows launching a mini season come January, a deal must be made within the next couple of weeks, or that possibility goes out the window. This means that even if the WGA were to strike a deal soon after, some writers could still remain out of work, given there would be no production to resume as the chance for a season would be gone.

HOLLYWOOD HELL

WGA West boss Meredith Stiehm spoke to Jake Tapper about how talk shows are returning amid the strikes. "There's definitely some anger" that Bill Maher is going back to work, given he is a WGA member, Stiehm said. (CNN)
The WGA called out Maher, describing the move as "disappointing" and saying the host that, as a WGA member, he's obligated to follow the strike's rules. (TheWrap)
Studios are also considering focusing on SAG-AFTRA as a strategy to potentially make progress in ending the dual strikes, Jeremy Foster reports. (TheWrap)
The co-head writer for "The Drew Barrymore Show" told Laura Bradley that "it's not too late" for Barrymore to "stand in solidarity with us," adding that "we're standing with all of labor and all of the unions across the world, because that is how it works." (Daily Beast)

OFF STAGE

Hulu is introducing "Top 15 Today," which echoes other streamers' most-watched lists, but deploys a slightly different algorithm. (Vulture)
The man accused of stalking Drew Barrymore, along with several others, was arrested for entering an off-limits dressing room at New York Fashion Week, yelling that he wanted to marry Emma Watson. (AP)
Tearin' Up My Heart: *NSync is putting out their first new track in 20 years. Titled "Better Place," the song was made for the animated film "Trolls Band Together" and officially drops on Sept. 29. (Pitchfork)
Thirty Seconds to Mars, the rock band featuring Jared and Shannon Leto, will release several new album, titled, "It's the End of the World But It's a Beautiful Day." (AP)
Megan Thee Stallion joins the cast of "Big Mouth" as a guest star for the show's seventh season, its first teaser trailer shows. (YouTube)
Donald Glover announced that "Lando," which was supposed to be a Disney+ TV series following Lando Calrissian, will actually be a movie — though studios have yet to confirm. (TheWrap)
Alan Moore, the writer behind "Watchmen" and "V for Vendetta" no longer accepts royalties from DC Comics for film and TV adaptions of his works, and has instead asked that the company send the checks to Black Lives Matter. (Variety)
Netflix released the first trailer for Wes Anderson's short film "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar." (YouTube)
Sky released the first trailer for its documentary, "House of Kardashian." (YouTube)
Warner Bros. Pictures released the trailer for "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom." (YouTube)
Paramount released the official trailer for the "Frasier" reboot. (YouTube)
Disney+ released the trailer for "Goosebumps," starring Justin Long. (YouTube)

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. You can follow us on Instagram and Threads. We will see you back in your inbox next week.