President Joe Biden sits down with CNN's Erin Burnett, Warner Bros. Discovery and Disney announce they will sell their streamers via a bundle, The NYT discloses it has already spent $1 million on its OpenAI fight, Kristi Noem cancels media appearances as her book tour goes down in flames, House Republicans hold NPR hearing, Apple's latest ad draws blowback, Andy Cohen addresses 'Housewives' allegations, 'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' earns rave reviews, and so much more. But first, the A1. |
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CNN Photo Illustration/Getty Images |
Rupert Murdoch might not be flexing for the cameras, but he did just quietly demonstrate the power he still wields inside the Republican Party.
The right-wing media mogul's empire — which includes Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, and the New York Post — not-so-subtly backed Mike Johnson as Marjorie Taylor Greene waged an all-out assault against the House Speaker over his decision to pass an aid package for Ukraine. Murdoch's powerful collection of outlets not only voiced support for Johnson, but leveled scathing attacks on Greene, with the Post even going as far as to blast her as "MOSCOW MARJORIE" on its cover.
But Murdoch was an anomaly, to a large degree, in the right-wing media universe. While his collection of outlets supported Johnson, the hardline faction of MAGA Media spent weeks assailing him. These outlets and personalities — including Tucker Carlson, Steve Bannon, Charlie Kirk, Breitbart, The Gateway Pundit, and others — portrayed Johnson to their audiences as a squishy Republican who had betrayed the conservative movement and was instead doing the bidding of the Democratic Party.
The barrage of missiles fired squarely at Johnson, however, failed to deliver a fatal blow against the House Speaker on Wednesday, with the House swiftly voting to kill her resolution to oust Johnson from his leadership post. The end to the embarrassing debacle came after she failed to win over the support of Donald Trump and other GOP allies, coupled with the fact that Democrats provided support for Johnson. On Fox News, the vote was treated with such dismissal that it notably did not break into its regularly scheduled episode of "The Five" to cut to the House chamber as CNN and MSNBC did.
The episode, however, was instructive when examining the centers of power within the GOP, underscoring the enormous influence that Murdoch still wields over the party. While Murdoch's power has waned in recent years, his empire continues to serve as the source of gravity in the right-wing media universe. Without Murdoch Media joining the chorus and denouncing Johnson, Greene's efforts failed to gain enough momentum to actually jeopardize Johnson's leadership.
The course of events could have played out far differently if Murdoch had chosen to go the other direction. If Murdoch allowed or instructed Fox News to pour gasoline on the Johnson criticism, the speaker would have had a far larger fire on his hands. Instead of it being confined to Carlson's unhinged vlogs and Bannon's podcast rants, it would have spread to the mainstream swath of the GOP and likely put his leadership in serious peril. Further, if Fox News had played up the attacks, it would have incentivized other Republicans to join in on the efforts.
Most importantly, it could have very well affected how Trump ultimately chose to respond to the situation. Instead of voicing support for Johnson, it is not difficult to see a world in which Trump, influenced by Fox News, turned on the House speaker and gave the green light for other Republicans to do the same.
But none of that ever happened. Instead, Murdoch — invisibly — helped Johnson escape what could have been a dire situation. The 93-year-old billionaire was arguably Johnson's most important, yet least-talked about, ally.
After all, elsewhere in right-wing media, Johnson was portrayed as a turncoat. And without Murdoch Media acting as an effective Iron Dome around Johnson, preventing the ugly attacks from penetrating inside the heart of the GOP, he would have almost certainly faced a serious threat to his power. |
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Biden Goes 'Outfront': Having faced intense criticism in recent weeks for dodging the traditional news media, President Joe Biden on Wednesday sat down with CNN's Erin Burnett for a wide-ranging interview. Notably, Biden used the interview to deliver a warning to Israel: If the country launches a major invasion of Rafah, the U.S. will no longer supply weapons. Biden also made news on a number of other topics, saying that he is only following Donald Trump's hush-money trial "on the evening news." CNN's Zachary Wolf has has all the key lines here. |
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CNN Photo Illustration/Hulu/Disney+/Max |
Back to the Bundle: It is finally happening. Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery on Wednesday announced a new partnership, saying that they will offer their streaming platforms (Max, Disney+, and Hulu) to consumers as a bundle. It's unclear how much the bundle will cost, but the companies said that it will be available via both ad-supported and ad-free plans. The combined offering will be available starting this summer, though an exact date was not given. CNN's Brian Lowry and Liam Reilly have more here. 🔎 Zooming in: The move, years into the costly streaming wars, comes as the legacy entertainment companies, which need far more scale to compete with Netflix, realize that they will never get there on their own. It is also effectively the first step in re-creating the traditional cable bundle, just via streaming. Expect more companies to join forces in the future. |
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| - Addressing investors, Fox Corporation boss Lachlan Murdoch said that the joint sports streamer has 150 engineers working on building the product and that it is currently undergoing beta tests. (Deadline)
- Fox's stock ended the day up nearly 3% after a strong earnings report in which profit rose to $704 million. (THR)
- Dylan Byers reports on WBD's NBA conundrum, writing that David Zaslav's "failure to anticipate NBCU's interest in the NBA, or at least fully contemplate the ramifications of [Brian] Roberts tendering a market-making offer, has genuinely stunned the media executive class." (Puck)
- Speaking of WBD: Zaslav has "ordered his lieutenants to find additional opportunities for cost-cutting in order to hit financial targets for the next couple years," Lucas Shaw reports, citing sources on the eve of WBD's earnings report. Shaw also reports that WBD has "decided to raise subscription prices." (Bloomberg)
- And speaking of cost cutting: Brent Lang and Todd Spangler note that Hollywood's "spirit of cost-cutting wasn't widely embraced when it came to paying the executives who run these companies." (Variety)
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- It's hard to imagine Shari Redstone liking this! If Sony Pictures and Apollo Global Management get their hands on Paramount Global, they would move to sell off CBS and the company's cable channels, while merging the movie studio with Sony's existing businesses, Benjamin Mullin and Lauren Hirsch report. (NYT)
- If Sony walked away with Paramount, the company would be able to use new IP to create video games, Kaare Eriksen notes. (Variety)
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CNN Photo Illustration/Jeenah Moon/Reuters |
The NYT's Costly OpenAI Gambit: The Gray Lady has already spent vast resources taking on OpenAI in court. During its earnings report Wednesday, The NYT disclosed that it spent $1 million on its lawsuit against Microsoft and the A.I. giant. Instead of striking a licensing deal with OpenAI, the outlet filed a high-stakes lawsuit against the technology company in December. ► Speaking of The NYT's earnings report, the company's stock closed up 3% Wednesday after the newspaper reported adding 210,000 net digital-only subscribers. "2024 is off to a strong start, as our results reflect the power of our strategy to be the essential subscription for every curious person seeking to understand and engage with the world," chief executive Meredith Kopit Levien said in a statement. The Wrap's Natalie Korach and Emily Smith have more here. |
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- First in Reliable | Debra OConnell informed ABC News staffers that she will host a goodbye party for Kim Godwin, I'm told. It's another sign that Disney is trying to walk the ousted news chief out the door as gently as possible.
- Emma Tucker wants The WSJ's investigative team to publish more "on the news" pieces, Daniel Lippman reported. (POLITICO)
- Janice Min disclosed at the Milken Institute Global Conference that advertisements now make up 60% of The Ankler's revenue and that subscription revenue has grown a staggering 700% in 27 months. (Milken)
- Maggie Harrison Dupre published a deep-dive into AdVon Commerce, "the A.I.-powered content monster infecting the media industry." (Futurism)
- "A.I. is disrupting the local news industry," Mark Caro wrote. "Will it unlock growth or be an existential threat?" (Poynter)
- "Ukraine's investigative journalists are facing intimidation," Jamie Dettmer reported. (POLITICO)
- Important news for those of you who still play: The NYT is launching a playable Wordle archive. (The Verge)
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- CNN hired Isobel Yeung as an international correspondent based in London and Meena Duerson as a correspondent based in New York. (CNN/CNN)
- The NYT hired Erin Mershon as deputy media editor and re-hired Michal Leibowitz as a staff editor on politics and culture. (NYT/NYT)
- CBS News and Stations named Christina Capatides to lead its social media efforts. (The Wrap)
- Discord named Stephanie Hess its first chief communications officer. (Axios)
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CNN Photo Illustration/John Lamparski/Getty Images |
The Noem No-Show: The most disastrous book tour in recent memory appears to have come to an early end. CNN's Dana Bash told "Inside Politics" viewers that Kristi Noem had been booked as a Wednesday guest for weeks, but that she "abruptly canceled" the planned appearance the night before. Bash isn't alone. On Fox News, Greg Gutfeld said that Noem had also canceled a Tuesday night appearance on his show, apparently blaming "the weather." The cancelations come after Noem generated a well of negative press for admitting in her book that she once shot to death a supposedly untrainable puppy. That stunning and disturbing admission earned her healthy bipartisan scorn, which translated into tough grilling, both in mainstream and right-wing media. Mediaite's Zachary Leeman has more here. ► Related: Amazon said it "noticed unusual reviewing activity" on the page belonging to Noem's book as it was flooded with all sorts of reviews. The e-commerce giant has since made those reviews invisible, The Daily Beast's Dan Ladden-Hall reports. |
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- House Republicans on Wednesday held a hearing on "ideological bias at NPR." New chief executive Katherine Maher had been invited to attend, but declined, with NPR citing a prior scheduling commitment. NPR said it would work with Congress to find an alternative date for testimony.
- The right-wing media attacks on Judge Juan Merchan continue to get darker. Right-wing talk-host Mark Levin, for example, used his national platform to openly speculate whether Merchan is a "pervert." (MMFA)
- Right-wing extremist and misogynist Andrew Tate was hit with a lawsuit via four U.K. women who alleged he raped and physically assaulted them, Emine Sinmaz reports. Tate has denied the charges. (Guardian)
- Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman's YouTube page "is a conspiracy theorists dream," William Bredderman reports. (Daily Beast)
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CNN Photo Illustration/Alex Brandon/AP |
Mnuchin's Algorithmic Ambition: Steve Mnuchin appears to still be quite interested in acquiring TikTok, should ByteDance lose to the U.S. in court as it challenges the recently passed divest-or-ban law. The former Treasury secretary revealed to Bloomberg that he has "actually spoken to a lot of tech companies on working about rebuilding this." Mnuchin said that he has derived from those conversations that the short-form video app's all-powerful recommendation algorithm, which would presumably not be sold by its Chinese parent company along with the platform, "could be rebuilt." Mnuchin added, "So my plan, if we were to purchase, it would be to rebuild the technology under US leadership, make sure that it's all disconnected from ByteDance going forward, and that it is very robust and secure." Bloomberg's Alex Barinka and David Westin have more. ► Relatedly, Peter Kafka wonders, "Where are the TikTok buyers?" |
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- "You can ban TikTok in America, but it is far too late to contain the habits it has unleashed": Kyle Chayka argues a TikTok ban "won't fix social media," noting that "there is already plenty of propaganda, misinformation, and international bot activity to be found on every other social platform, which will remain quite accessible to Americans in the face of any TikTok ban." (New Yorker)
- Chuck Schumer will outline his A.I. framework proposal in the coming weeks. (Reuters)
- OpenAI is "developing a feature for ChatGPT that can search the web and cite sources in its results," Rachel Metz reports, in a move that could give Google serious competition for the first time in decades. (Bloomberg)
- Meanwhile, Google boss Sundar Pichai spoke to Emily Chang about the company's near-term and long-term plans for A.I. Pichai said the company's Gemini image generator is currently being rebuilt "from the ground up" after it misfired when it first launched. (Bloomberg)
- While facing emerging competition, Pichai is also grappling with simmering tensions internally. Last week, he faced questions about a "decline in morale" at Google, which has been conducting layoffs and cutting costs, Jennifer Elias reports. (CNBC)
- The E.U. has asked Elon Musk's X to provide "more details" on its "content moderation activities and resources." (Reuters)
- What do you think of Apple's new "Crush!" advertisement? Julian Sancton writes that the "dystopian spot, which depicts the relentless destruction of instruments and artworks, marks a dark turn for the company, and begs the question: Will 2024 be like 1984?" (THR)
- The spot has generated blowback, with actor Hugh Grant saying it represents "the destruction of the human experience." (Deadline)
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CNN Photo Illustration/Charles Sykes/Bravo/Getty Images |
Cohen Gets Candid: Andy Cohen is speaking out. The Bravo personality addressed allegations of inappropriate behavior over the past few months from a handful of "Real Housewives" stars, disputing the claims in an interview published Wednesday with THR's Maer Roshan. Cohen, who also hosts the popular "Watch What Happens Live" show, described the accusations against him as "hurtful," but he said he has "no regrets about the way I've handled anything." Cohen has been accused by three "Housewives" of helping foster a toxic culture on the show, all of which he has denied. "I know what the truth is and I know how I've conducted myself, and I walk tall every day on that," Cohen told Roshan. He also pushed back against the notion that the reality series needed alcohol to fuel drama. "We don't need to gin up drama!" he exclaimed. "Have you seen Ramona Singer on a random Tuesday at 1 p.m.? Have you ever run into Lisa Rinna at noon? Lisa Rinna does not need a glass of rosé in order to tell you exactly how she is feeling." Read the interview here. |
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- Go Ape: The reviews for "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes" are out and overwhelmingly positive, with the latest entry into the Disney franchise boasting an 87% score on Rotten Tomatoes. (RT)
- Apple TV+ has become one of the best places to find sci-fi content, Andrew Webster writes. (The Verge)
- Peacock has picked up the new series that takes place inside "The Office" universe. (Variety)
- Netflix edited out Kim Kardashian's being booed during "The Greatest Roast of All Time: Tom Brady." (THR)
- "Spacey Unmasked" will stream via Max in the U.S. on May 13. (THR)
- Lady Gaga's HBO concert special, "Chromatica Ball," will premiere on Max on May 25. (Variety)
- Russell Crowe will star in the action flick "Bear Country." (Deadline)
- Cate Blanchett will star in "Alpha Gang." (Variety)
- North West joined the cast of Disney's "Lion King at the Hollywood Bowl." (Variety)
- Bradley Cooper is partnering with PBS to produce a documentary about family caregivers. (THR)
- Hulu released the trailer for the fifth season of "The Kardashians." (YouTube)
- Universal released its second trailer for "Twisters." (YouTube)
- RIP: Ian Gelder, best known for playing Kevan Lannister in "Game of Thrones," has died at 74. (NYT)
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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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