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Tuesday, September 26, 2023

Hello from Laguna Niguel, where the Code Conference has kicked off! The writers strike is officially over at 12.01am PT, CNN gears up to launch CNN Max, New York Public Radio announces layoffs, Google turns 25, Threads struggles to catch X, Taylor Swift's "Eras" concert film goes global, and so much more. But first, the A1.

THE A1

One Year Later

It's been one year since we relaunched this publication — and what a seismic, industry-defining year it has been for media.

A constant drumbeat of titanic headlines has repeatedly catapulted media and technology to the front of the public consciousness. Elon Musk took over Twitter and vandalized the one-time invaluable digital town square. Fox News settled its election lies-related lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems for a historic $787.5 million. Chris Licht was fired as CNN boss after a tumultuous year at the helm of the network. Hollywood was gripped by a writers' and actors' strike that left most of the entertainment industry paralyzed. And so much more.

It would be difficult to fully list the number of tectonic events that have commanded attention in the past 12 months (widespread media and tech layoffs, Bob Iger's return to Disney, ChatGPT's sudden rise, ABC/ESPN uncertainty, the "Barbenheimer" phenomenon, Tucker Carlson's firing, the Alex Jones trial, Kanye West's implosion, etc.) as the landscape speedily shifts beneath our feet. The media industry continues to convulse during this period of rapid change and unprecedented disruption.

Last year, as we took the baton from our first-class mentor and colleague Brian Stelter, we promised you, the reader, that we would cover the industry with an unflinching eye, reporting the news and providing analysis without fear or favor — even when those stories are sitting in our very own backyard. One year later, we hope you feel that we have kept true to our word.

As long as we are seated in this post, you have our word that we will cover the important issues with clear eyes, using plain language. Sometimes it will be uncomfortable. Sometimes it might offend. But it will always be honest.

We believe that directly confronting matters head-on is a worthy pursuit. Dodging issues and playing coy does not serve the audience — particularly at a time when insidious, undemocratic forces are exploiting some facets of media by waging information wars to embolden themselves and seize power.

We hope that you agree — and that you'll stick with us and remain at our side as we head down a path into the unknown. We'll also try to have some fun along the journey.

Thank you for reading and cheers to the time together ahead.

——— BELOW THE FOLD ———

CNN Photo Illustration/Matthew Rodier/Sipa USA

No More Writer's Block: It's official! The writers' strike, which nearly reached 150 days, will come to an end at 12.01am PT on Wednesday. The WGA West's Board, WGAE Council, and negotiating committee met on Tuesday and unanimously voted to recommend the agreement reached on Sunday. That means that the deal will head to the WGA West membership for official ratification. In the meantime, the WGA West Board and WGAE Council voted to lift the restraining order, meaning writers can get immediately back to work as the ratification process plays out. The WGA published the terms of its contract here, as well as a much shorter and helpful summary. There is a lot in the agreement, including groundbreaking terms on A.I., that will surely be dissected in the days and weeks to come.

HOLLYWOOD HELL

Kim Masters and Lesley Goldberg have the juicy story taking you "inside the room" of the WGA-AMPTP negotiations: "From the Chris Keyser-Bob Iger call that brought them back to the table to the ask that almost derailed the deal, a play-by-play of the final negotiations." (THR)
"There's a nagging question for Hollywood that lingers beyond Sunday night's celebratory mood following the tentative deal to end the writers' strike," Ryan Faughnder writes. "Did this really have to take 146 days?" (LAT)
Hollywood "is never going back to normal," Mary McNamara writes. (LAT)
"How will the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures put on its star-studded fund-raiser this year, amid the polarizing strike?" Robin Pogrebin asks. "Very carefully." (NYT)
Looking ahead: SAG-AFTRA and the studios "could meet within days," Anthony D'Alessandro and Dominic Patten report. (Deadline)

THE INDUSTRY

CNN Photo Illustration/CNN

CNN to the Max: CNN is gearing up for its second big streamer launch. The news network, which shuttered CNN+ when Warner Bros. Discovery took over as its parent (the standalone streamer didn't fit into its streaming strategy), is set to put CNN Max online in the early hours of Wednesday morning. "Tomorrow is an exciting day for CNN," CNN's four person executive team — made up of Amy Entelis, Virginia Moseley, Eric Sherling, and David Leavy — told me in a joint statement. "Our next big leap forward as a company. So many people worked really hard to get us here across the organization, and after 43 years we are still growing, building and innovating. There will be a lot to learn, and this is a key moment for CNN — our journalism and reporting is world class and now more people will have access to what we do best going forward." I'm told the full schedule will be released on Wednesday as well.

THE FOURTH ESTATE

Marty Baron published an excerpt of his forthcoming October book, "Collision of Power: Trump, Bezos, and THE WASHINGTON POST." (The Atlantic)
"I know this news is hard to hear": New York Public Radio will slash its staff by 12%, citing "macroeconomic factors." (NYT)
The LAT launched its Climate California section, an intersectional beat that covers, well, extreme climate in California. (LAT)
A.J. Katz breaks down the Nielsen Q3 cable news ratings. (TV Newser)
Katz also has a story on the evening news ratings. (TV Newser)
Punchbowl News has debuted a new website as it eyes $20 million in revenue, Sara Fischer reports. (Axios)

IN THE MARKET

Another from Fischer: "The world's biggest streaming companies are coming together to launch the industry's first unified coalition, the Streaming Innovation Alliance." (Axios)
Sean McManus will retire as CBS Sports chairman. (THR)

MEDIA MOVES

CNN named Kasie Hunt as host of "State of the Race," which will air on CNN International. (Variety)
ABC News named Deborah Roberts the co-anchor of "20/20." (Variety)
The NYT promoted Mark Getzfred, Andy Parsons, and Gillian Wong to news director and deputy Asia editors in Seoul, respectively. (NYT/NYT)
CBS Sports announced David Berson will take over as chairman following Sean McManus' retirement. (THR)
Deadline named Ellie Duque its president. (Deadline)

THE VALLEY

CNN Photo Illustration/Jerod Harris/Getty Images

Covering Code: Get ready for some tech and media headlines to emerge from southern California. Some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley are in Laguna Beach this week for Code Conference, including Casey Bloys, Byron Allen, Robert Kyncl, Mike Krieger, Jon Lovett, Peter Khafka, Whitney Wolfe Herd, and Linda Yaccarino. The annual Vox Media confab is being hosted this year by Nilay Patel, Julia Boorstin, and Casey Newton — all of whom take the helm from Kara Swisher. We are also around at the conference, so please do say hi!

TOO MANY TABS

🎂 Google turned 25 years old. (Google)
Google is pushing for "unprecedented" secrecy in the federal government's monopoly trial, arguing that "once commercially sensitive information is disclosed in open court, the resulting harm to the party's competitive standing cannot be undone." (NYT)
The federal government unveiled another major suit, this one against Amazon, accusing the company of being an illegal monopoly. (CNN)
Your friendly neighborhood Alexa: Amazon plans to use real user conversations with its bot to train the company's budding A.I. (NBC News)
The E.U. hit Elon Musk with a warning after X was found to have the highest rate of disinformation among social media platforms. (CNN)
And yet, stateside, tech companies are rolling back their divisions that curb misinformation ahead of 2024 polls, Anuj Chopra and Alex Pitman report. (AFP)
Meta's Threads is struggling to pull ahead of competitor X, according to an Insider Intelligence forecast. (CNBC)
Reddit will pay top contributors for popular posts. (TechCrunch)
Spotify will not ban A.I.-generated music. (BBC)

THE INFO WARS

IN THE BATTLEFIELD

"Television news networks largely ignored former President Donald Trump's suggestion that Gen. Mark Milley ... deserves to be executed," Harrison Ray reports. (MMFA)
Meanwhile, Trump attacked Fox News yet again. (Mediaite)
Michael Wolff defended "The Fall" amid scrutiny: "This is the story through my eyes. There will be other stories and other accounts and other books. What I tried to deliver is not the public story, not the story for public consumption, but the private story." (Mediaite)
"Are we in the last days of Fox News?" Nina Burleigh asks. (TNR)

CURTAIN CALL

CNN Photo Illustration/Kevin Winter/TAS23/Getty Images

The Story of Us: The world is about to fall in love with the "Eras Tour." AMC Theatres announced Tuesday that Taylor Swift's concert film, which it is distributing, will be released to a global audience, bringing the show to more than 100 countries across the world. The movie, which AMC is marketing as a "movie theater phenomenon," is certain to be a blockbuster after the sold out concert tour's record-breaking $1 billion haul. The only real question at this point is: Precisely how big will it be?

OFF STAGE

The NFL's Sunday broadcast saw a bump in viewership from women of all ages, likely due to Taylor Swift's attendance, which sparked immense chatter on social media. (THR)
The Golden Globe Awards is introducing two new categories for blockbuster films and stand-up comedy. (Variety)
Three former "Daily Show" staffers say comedian Hasan Minhaj's embellishment or fabrication of racist encounters should disqualify him from hosting the late-night talk show, Kayla Cobb and Sharon Knolle report. (TheWrap)
Shakira has, once again, been accused of tax evasion in Spain. She's denied such charges in the past. (BBC)
Pop sensation Bad Bunny revealed a new song, titled "Un Preview," which arrived with a music video. (YouTube)
The second episode of "Yellowstone," which aired on CBS Sunday night, averaged 5 million viewers on the network. (Variety)
"The Curse," starring unlikely duo Emma Stone and Nathan Fielder, will hit Paramount+ and Showtime on Nov. 10 and Showtime linear on Nov. 12. (The Wrap)
The official trailer for "May December," starring Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore, has dropped. (YouTube)
RIP: Actor David McCallum, known for his work on "NCIS" and "The Man From U.N.C.L.E.," has died at 90. (CNN)

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 tomorrow.