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Monday, April 29, 2024

President Joe Biden critiques the media landscape, Business Insider Editor-In-Chief Nicholas Carlson reportedly prepares for an exit, ESPN nabs Jason Kelce for "Monday Night Football," OAN retracts a bogus story on Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels, the NFL renews its deal with Elon Musk's X, "Challengers" tops the box office, Taylor Swift secures the top 14 slots on Billboard's Hot 100, and more. But first, the A1.

THE A1

Pushed From Paramount

CNN Photo Illustration/Ian West/PA Images/Getty Images

Bob Bakish's time atop Paramount Global is up.

The veteran media executive, who has led the company since Shari Redstone reunited Viacom and CBS Corporation under one roof in 2019, was shown the door on Monday — a seismic move that sent reverberations through the media conglomerate during an already uncertain time, with the company's board engaged in merger talks with David Ellison's Skydance Media.

"The Board and I thank Bob for his many contributions over his long career, including in the formation of the combined company as well as his successful efforts to rebuild the great culture Paramount has long been known for," Redstone said in a short statement. "We wish him all the best."

Bakish, for his part, sent a memo to staffers, writing "the opportunity to lead this incredible company has been an unexpected but most welcome gift, and the greatest honor of my professional life."

"I will be here to support through the transition, and rooting for all of you, your success and happiness, far beyond," Bakish added.

In place of Bakish will be an "Office of the CEO," comprised of a triumvirate of experienced hands: Brian Robbins, chief executive of Paramount Pictures; Chris McCarthy, chief executive of Showtime and MTV Entertainment Studios; and George Cheeks, chief executive of CBS.

The seasoned trio of executives, whom I'm told have all known each other personally and professionally for more than a decade, will now work to stable the ship. In a note to employees, they acknowledged the announcement contained "a lot of news to digest" and promised to "be in touch over the days ahead with more updates, including a town hall."

That said, it is evident that Redstone and the board view this as an interim leadership solution until a deal with Skydance can be struck, approved, and ultimately completed. But whether all that happens after what has been nothing short of a chaotic period that could finally end the heiress's reign over the family empire remains to be seen.

Bakish, I'm told, had voiced skepticism over the Skydance deal that Redstone has pursued, contributing to their deteriorating in relationship in recent months. Meanwhile, Redstone and other board members took issue with Bakish's strategic decisions, including not offloading the premium cable channel Showtime and/or striking a deal to sell BET.

Of course, the critical view of Bakish comes as Paramount, with its heavy reliance on the cable television business, has found it increasingly difficult to maintain its footing as Americans briskly cut the cord in favor of more enticing streaming services. While Bakish led the launch of the company's own streamer, Paramount+, attracting more than 71 million subscribers, it has not yet turned a profit. And Wall Street has taken notice, with shares of Paramount plunging nearly 50% over the last year.

While legacy media companies have struggled immensely in recent years, Paramount, with its vast portfolio of cable outlets including Nickelodeon, MTV, and Comedy Central, has been greatly exposed to shifting consumer habits. Now it will be up to Redstone and the Paramount board to put the company in a competitive enough position to be viable in the future.

Supporters of the Skydance deal hope that the merger will be the solution. Skydance, which made its "best and final" offer to Paramount on Sunday, has promised to invest heavily in a combined company, infusing at least $3 billion in cash to pay down debt and purchase stock, I'm told. The latest offer from Skydance would also see the company purchase a swath of Paramount shares at a premium price.

The sweetened offer aims to placate shareholders who have expressed significant concern with the deal. Those shareholders have argued the deal would primarily benefit Redstone and they have encouraged Paramount's board to evaluate other options.

Now, pressure is on the Paramount board to make a decision. And with Bakish out of the picture, Shari and the Redstone family appear poised to finally relinquish control over the sprawling entertainment business they have controlled for decades.

BOB GETS BOUNCED

"In an industry known for celebrity CEOs and larger-than-life moguls, Bakish was the anti-mogul, a veteran executive who was more at home talking about streaming strategy and ad budgets than sitting in on Hollywood script pitches—and who seemed unconcerned with being a famous titan of show business," Jessica Toonkel, Amol Sharma, and Joe Flint observed. (WSJ)
"Bakish has long had a reputation for being popular at Paramount due to his more collaborative leadership style that empowered his executives and was open to new ideas," Alex Weprin and Georg Szalai reported (THR)
"For years, [Redstone] saw [Bakish] as a loyal lieutenant who could navigate the treacherous entertainment industry with the financial dexterity of the management consultant he once was," Benjamin Mullin and Lauren Hirsch noted. (NYT)
Shares in Paramount ended Monday up nearly 3%.
After-the-bell earnings report: "The company posted mixed results for the first quarter, beating on earnings but missing on revenue," Lillian Rizzo reported. (CNBC)
The company's call with investors was notably short, lasting short of nine minutes and with no questions being taken.

——— BELOW THE FOLD ———

CNN Photo Illustration/Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

Poking the Press: President Joe Biden is not hiding his displeasure with the news environment that he finds himself in. Over the last week, Biden has thrown several jabs at the press and the broader media ecosystem, taking issue with how American politics are portrayed as he faces a tough election rematch with Donald Trump. During an appearance on the "Smartless" podcast, which was published Monday, Biden relayed concerns over "disinformation," saying that it has become "really hard to communicate even today when you do accomplish some improbable things." Meanwhile, in remarks to Howard Stern on Friday, Biden was far more pointed toward the Fourth Estate. Biden complained that "there are no editors anymore" and expressed alarm that some journalists are "worried about attacking him [Trump], worried about taking him on." And at the White House Correspondents' Dinner over the weekend, Biden said the press is "more important than ever" and urged newsrooms to "focus on what's actually at stake" and "move past the horserace numbers and the gotcha moments and the distractions."

🔎 Zooming in: The criticism from Biden reflects the frustration the White House and his campaign have been voicing for many months. In the eyes of the Biden camp, the press has become overly fixated on issues related to him that pale in comparison to the five-alarm fire burning over at Trump HQ. As we've previously noted in this newsletter, in many cases, Biden and his campaign do indeed have valid complaints. Whether it is a smart political strategy to make a habit of critiquing the press, however, is another matter entirely.

THE INDUSTRY

CNN Photo Illustration/Lukas Schulze/Sportsfile for Collision/Getty Images

Axed By Axel?: The top editor at Business Insider might need a new job soon. Semafor's Max Tani reported that Nicholas Carlson, who has led the outlet since 2017, is expected to depart his post as editor-in-chief later this summer. The news comes in the wake of Business Insider facing backlash from Axel leadership over its handling of a story detailing plagiarism allegations against Neri Oxman, the wife of billionaire Bill Ackman. Asked on Monday for comment on Tani's report, Carlson would only tell me, "I'm still EIC." Carlson then referred me to a a spokesperson for Business Insider. The spokesperson said Carlson "has built an award-winning newsroom, and he is tremendously valued by Business Insider." A spokesperson for Axel declined to comment.

Attracting News Advertisers: A rare panel of news executives gathered on Monday at the IAB NewFronts in New York to emphasize the importance of advertising with news brands. The group was made up of CNN's Mark Thompson, NBCU's Cesar Conde, NPR's Katherine Maher, The NYT's Meredith Kopit Levien, and the BBC's Deborah Turness. "When there is all that disinformation, there is information you can trust, and our branding, and what our brands stand for, and the potential of being associated with our brands, is a strong, good thing," Thompson said, imploring marketers to align with responsible news outlets. Turness warned, "Our greatest competitor is news avoidance."

THE FOURTH ESTATE

Is the press focusing too much on the Israel-Hamas war campus protests? Lorraine Ali argued that the "blanket coverage of the uprising by students is so omnipresent, it's overshadowed news from the very war they're protesting." (LAT)
"As pro-Palestinian protests sweep campuses, student journalists are rushing to the big story," Hadas Gold and Liam Reilly reported. (CNN)
More than 50 journalism professors signed a letter to The NYT publisher A.G. Sulzberger and top editor Joe Kahn, calling for a third-party review of the outlet's "Screams Without Words" story about sexual assault during the October 7 attack. The NYT said the story met its standards. (WaPo)
"Out of laziness or fear, some media think small with the big type," wrote Mark Jacob, in a piece about "why headlines matter" and how "news outlets fail at them." (Stop the Presses)
Lucia Moses reported that trouble is brewing at The WSJ, "where Editor-In-Chief Emma Tucker faces falling morale and the union edges toward a strike." (Business Insider)
Condé Nast's union threatened to walk off the job ahead of the Met Gala as it battles management over a contract and layoffs. (The Wrap)
Axel Springer and Microsoft announced "an expanded, multifaceted partnership across advertising, A.I., content and cloud computing." (Axel)
Meanwhile, the FT struck an agreement with OpenAI. (FT)
Dan Rather returned to CBS News after signing off as "CBS Evening News" anchor nearly 20 years ago: "Without apology or explanation, I miss CBS. I've missed it since the day I left there." (CBS News)
Benjamin Hart sat down with Jim VandeHei, who discussed how newsrooms can evolve to resist being decimated by A.I. and which news models he believes can survive the future: "It would be very hard for anyone to build a mass-media, multibillion-dollar company in this environment based on the known knowns right now. This is the age of niche." (NY Mag)
ICYMI: Poppy Harlow announced she will depart CNN after nearly two decades at the network. (CNN)
Another White House Correspondents' Dinner weekend has come and gone! It was great to see everyone down in Washington. Mediaite has a readout of what went down on the party circuit. (Mediaite)
Charlotte Klein noted the WHCD festivities were "accompanied by stark reminders of war and the stakes of November's election." (Vanity Fair)

ON THE FIELD

ESPN has nabbed Jason Kelce for its "Monday Night Football" pregame show, Andrew Marchand reports. (The Athletic)
ICYMI: The NBA and Amazon Prime Video "have the framework of a deal that will make the streaming service one of the main homes for the league's games," Marchand reported. (The Athletic)
Matt Ryan is replacing Phil Simms and Boomer Esiason as the new quarterback analyst on CBS' "The NFL Today" (LAT)
ESPN unveiled the agenda for its 2024 espnW Summit NYC. (ESPN)

TINSELTOWN TALK

A survey found that roughly one-third of Peacock users are still using the platform for free. (Variety)
Meanwhile, Peacock plans to raise the price tag on its Premium and Premium Plus tiers — to $7.99 and $13.99, respectively — ahead of the Paris Olympics. (The Wrap)
Screen International and The Ankler will team up to put out a daily newsletter during the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. (The Ankler)

MEDIA MOVES

Sony Pictures Entertainment promoted Tahra Grant to chief communications officer. (THR)
First in Reliable | The Verge hired Kylie Robison as senior reporter, where she'll work closely with the publication's policy and tech teams to provide coverage of A.I.'s movers and shakers. "Kylie's infectious energy and ability to break news made her a must-read for us at The Verge," said Nilay Patel, The Verge's top editor. "She's a perfect fit for our newsroom and the right reporter for one of the most exciting beats in tech."
First in Reliable | Semafor added Claire Cameron, formerly of The Messenger, as deputy editor.
WIRED hired Tim Marchman as director of science, politics, and security. (POLITICO)
The WSJ promoted Aruna Viswanatha to Washington enterprise editor; promoted Bowdeya Tweh to Chicago bureau chief; hired Tshepo Mokoena as an audience strategist; named Megan Douglass deputy social strategy editor; named Jacob O'Hara social video producer; and made Daniel Bach audio producer. (TBN/TBN)

THE INFO WARS

CNN Photo Illustration/Go Nakamura/Reuters

One Apologetic Network: The far-right outlet OAN is once again grappling with the repercussions for pushing lies and conspiracy theories. OAN on Monday retracted a story and issued a public apology after falsely claiming Michael Cohen was the one who had an affair with adult film actress Stormy Daniels, and then extorted Donald Trump for the money. "OAN apologizes to Mr. Cohen for any harm the publication may have caused him," the apology from OAN said, adding that the outlet had taken the claims "down from all sites and [is] removing it from all social media." CNN's Marshall Cohen has all the details here.

🔎 Zooming in: "The speed at which OAN settled the Cohen dispute – just four weeks after the story was published – speaks to the potential peril that the small network could face from additional defamation lawsuits," Cohen wrote. "Cohen hired veteran attorney Justin Nelson after OAN published the story last month. Nelson is best known for representing Dominion Voting Systems in its blockbuster defamation case against Fox News, which ended with a historic $787 million settlement last year."

IN THE BATTLEFIELD

More legal action against right-wing media on the horizon? Hunter Biden's lawyers sent a letter to Fox News demanding the right-wing outlet remove sexually explicit photos of him from its platforms, Holmes Lybrand and Dana Bash report. Lawyers for Hunter Biden said they "anticipate" filing a lawsuit against Fox News. (CNN)
Leave it to the Daily Wire's Michael Knowles to defend Kristi Noem confessing to killing her 14-month-old puppy: She "didn't do anything wrong," he argued. (MMFA)
Nancy Pelosi bizarrely accused Katy Tur of being "an apologist for Trump." Tur quipped back, "I don't think anybody can accuse me of that." (Mediaite)
Heading to the political conventions this year? "The Daily Show" will be there as well, Comedy Central announced Monday. It's unclear how involved Jon Stewart will be, however. (Variety)
Jerry Seinfeld told David Remnick that the "extreme left" and "PC crap" is hurting comedy. (Variety)
Far-right influencers played up Seinfeld's remarks to attack their political opponents. (Rolling Stone)

THE VALLEY

CNN Photo Ilustration/Twitter/X

Punting the Xtremism: The NFL seems to have no problem with the toxic environment that has become the new norm on X. The Elon Musk-led platform on Monday announced it had struck a multi-year deal with the league to renew its exclusive content partnership. The renewal comes after the NFL, under intense pressure last year, expressed "concerns" over Musk's unhinged behavior on the platform. Since taking over, Musk has launched ugly attacks on critics, smeared news organizations, promoted dangerous misinformation, and shared reprehensible conspiracy theories to his 181 million followers. Musk last year chased away a large swath of advertisers when he endorsed an antisemitic post, only expressing regret for it after X's business had suffered significant blowback.

🔎 Zooming in: Musk continues to engage in behavior that would typically subject those who work in corporate America to termination and face exile from polite society. But the news media has largely stopped reporting on Musk's shameful antics. Similarly to Trump, Musk floods the zone with shocking displays of irresponsibility and immaturity, desensitizing newsrooms — and the public — to his outlandish behavior. That helps Musk avoid facing consequences, though it does not excuse companies like the NFL from turning a blind eye to it.

TOO MANY TABS

"America has lost the plot with TikTok," Albert Fox Cahn argues, contending that "Congress is bungling tech regulation yet again." (The Atlantic)
Lauren Feiner reports on how TikTok "now faces two big hurdles: the U.S. judicial system and the Chinese government." (The Verge)
Strong quarterly earnings from Big Tech indicates the digital advertising space is finally on the up and up, Ashley Capoot reports. (CNBC)
Threads has launched its rumored bonus program for some creators, Ivan Mehta reports. (TechCrunch)
The Oversight Board, which reviews Meta's policies and recommends action, is readying for layoffs, Naomi Nix reports. (WaPo)
The E.U. is probing Meta over concerns the company hasn't acted sufficiently to protect upcoming elections or crack down on foreign disinformation across its platforms. (CNN)

CURTAIN CALL

CNN Photo Illustration/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures

Challenge Accepted: The adult-themed, racy "Challengers" flick starring Zendaya nabbed the top spot at the box office over the weekend. The R-rated film raked in $15 million for its first place finish, with women making up 58% of ticket buyers. "We're obviously very, very happy with the number," Amazon Studios/MGM boss Kevin Wilson said in a statement. The film is also sure to be a major hit on Prime Video, where it will ultimately land after its theatrical run. The AP's Lindsey Bahr has more here.

► Meanwhile, "Dune: Part Two" crossed the $700 million mark at the global box office and "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire" roared past the $500 million mark.

OFF STAGE

Taylor Swift's "Tortured Poets Department" is a smash hit, debuting at No. 1 with 2.61 million equivalent albums sold, her career-best in first-week sales. (CNN)
"Swift's vinyl take alone is an eye-popping high-water mark in the format's long-bubbling revival," Ben Sisario noted. "As recently as 2006, only about 900,000 LPs were sold in the United States in an entire year. By embracing the format and releasing collectible editions, Swift nearly equaled that sum herself in a single week." (NYT)
It's not just album sales. Tracks from "Tortured Poets" are dominating all Top 14 slots on Billboard's Hot 100. (Rolling Stone)
Given the album's success, I wrote about how "Tortured Poets" cannot be devoured at the speed of TikTok and takes some time to truly appreciate. At first, I wasn't blown away by the 120-minute double album. But after spending more time with it, I believe it to be one of Swift's best! (CNN)
Switching gears: Ellen DeGeneres performed a stand-up show in Los Angeles after avoiding public attention for two years following toxic-workplace allegations. (Vanity Fair)
"Fallout" is breaking records on Prime Video with more than 65 million viewers. (The Wrap)
Disney released the trailer for "Mufasa: The Lion King." (YouTube)
Jeff Bridges will return to the "Tron" franchise for its next installment, "Ares." (Deadline)
The "Avengers: Endgame" directors told Emily Murray they do not believe in superhero fatigue and blamed Marvel's current problems partly on the "generational divide" over how media is consumed. (Games Radar)
CBS canceled "NCIS: Hawai'i" after three seasons. (THR)
HBO said it will make all season one episodes of John Oliver's "Last Week Tonight" available on YouTube and plans to add seasons two through eight shortly. (Deadline)

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. You can follow us on Instagram, Threads, and LinkedIn. We will see you back in your inbox tomorrow.

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