Rupert Murdoch is spotted at the RNC near Tucker Carlson, MSNBC staffers express fury at NBC brass, Warner Bros. Discovery prepares to match Amazon's NBA deal, Donald Trump shows his love for the New York Post, FX cleans up on Emmy nominations day, the Russo Brothers talk with Marvel about directing the next two "Avengers" films, and so much more. But first, the A1. |
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| CNN Photo Illustration/Matt Rourke/AP |
America's eyes are finally fixated on the 2024 election.
After months of tuning out what had been a fairly predictable and uneventful race between the two party incumbents, recent earthshaking events have upended the state of politics, adding an unexpected wrinkle to the storyline and prompting audiences to turn their attention to the high stakes showdown between Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
In other words: the 2024 drought appears to be over as Americans show renewed interest in a race that has suddenly been thrown into upheaval.
In recent weeks, tens of millions of people, thirsty for information, have turned to news organizations for coverage of the consequential CNN presidential debate and its aftermath, the attempted assassination of Trump, and the Republican National Convention.
The CNN debate averaged 51 million viewers, networks averaged about 19 million viewers after Trump was shot, and the first night of the RNC averaged 18 million viewers. On digital platforms, numbers have also traveled upward, with the major events sending spikes of traffic to news organizations. To be clear, the television ratings and interest generated by the twists and turns of the 2024 election have not been historic by any means. Viewership is relatively in line with years' past, if not a bit lower. But the startling news cycle has, unquestionably, breathed life into what had been a sleepy race, offering jolts to the system. Last week, as the news cycle took yet another abrupt turn, the cable news networks topped both primetime and total day viewership across cable, posting double-digit percentage increases over last month.
Prior to the presidential debate, which set off alarm bells over Biden's acuity and stamina, audience levels had hovered at lows, with most of the country opting against investing their time following incremental updates on a race that many had already made up their minds about. But with Biden's 2024 future now in serious doubt, and Trump having just survived an attempt on his life, Americans are standing to attention, eager to learn what comes next.
That offers a glimmer of good news for the media industry, which usually enjoys surges in audience levels and advertising revenue during major election seasons. And it is especially welcome this year, with media organizations struggling amid a difficult business environment. |
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CNN Photo Illustration/Donie O'Sullivan |
The Mingling Murdoch: It's not every day that Rupert Murdoch is spotted milling around and mingling in public. But the right-wing media mogul spent his day at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday doing just that. Our colleague, Donie O'Sullivan, even came across the 93-year-old Fox News boss by happenstance, snapping the photo you see above. Unfortunately, we have yet to bump into Murdoch ourselves, though rest assured: We do have plenty questions, if we see him! |
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- Awkward! Tucker Carlson and Rupert Murdoch found themselves in the same room Wednesday in Milwaukee at the RNC, per a photo that Jake Sherman snapped. (Mediaite)
- The night before, Carlson surprised Fox News staffers by accompanying Donald Trump Jr. to a "Hannity" hit and showing up in the right-wing network's green room. (NOTUS)
- Carlson "seems to be having the time of his life at the RNC," Ben Terris and Jeremy Barr write. (WaPo)
- Switching gears: J.D. Vance has benefited throughout his career from the gullibility of the mainstream media," argues Noah Berlatsky. (Public Notice)
- Vance in 2021 described right-wing extremist Alex Jones as a truth teller: He "is a better source of information than Rachel Maddow, the MSNBC gal." (MMFA)
- Candace Owens said a Sikh prayer at the RNC is "not emblematic of America" and "not something that patriots are rallying behind." (MMFA)
- "Vance has benefited throughout his career from the gullibility of the mainstream media," argues Noah Berlatsky. (Public Notice)
- Viewership for the RNC fell to ~15 million viewers on night two. (Deadline)
- On night three of the RNC, CNN and Fox News continued airing misleading and lie-filled speeches in their entirety, often with little-to-no on-air pushback. Over on MSNBC, the network opted not to carry many of the speeches, instead prioritizing countering the falsehoods being promoted.
- No, MSNBC's top hosts are not anchoring coverage on-site at the RNC, Michael Grynbaum reports. (NYT)
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CNN Photo Illustration/MSNBC |
Meltdown At MSNBC: Staffers at MSNBC are not so happy with NBC News Group. That's according to reports out Wednesday from The Wrap's Natalie Korach and The Daily Beast's Corbin Bolies, both of whom reported that, in the wake of the inexplicable benching of "Morning Joe," employees inside 30 Rock are vexed and alarmed by the decision making from the Cesar Conde-led company. "There's a level of disgust in the company I haven't seen before," one employee told Korach. Read Korach's report here, and Bolies' story here. |
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- Hong Kong-based reporter Selina Cheng was fired by The WSJ after being elected chair of the Hong Kong Journalists Association. (WaPo)
- Private equity group CVC Capital Partners is considering acquiring The Telegraph, Mark Sweney reported. (The Guardian)
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| - "NBA incumbent Warner Bros. Discovery plans to match Amazon's new basketball rights deal that's said to be in the $1.8 billion range," Jill Goldsmith reports. (Deadline)
- "The NBA is expected to argue Max is not equal to Amazon (which has a 200 million worldwide ad-supported reach compared to Max's approximate 100 million), likely leading to either an argument, a lawsuit, a cash settlement or, if WBD has its way, a fourth smaller package," Tom Friend reports. (SBJ)
- "The WNBA's next national media rights package has come into shape. The league is set to receive roughly $2.2 billion over the next 11 years in rights fees in its new deals — an average of $200 million a year — with an opening to earn more over that period," Mike Vorkunov reports. (The Athletic)
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- Polymarket, the predictions market, hired Nate Silver as an adviser as it builds out its forecasts around news events. (Axios)
- The Atlantic hired Boris Kachka as a senior books editor. (The Atlantic)
- The NYT upped Emma Goldberg to feature writer. (NYT)
- Correction: In the previous edition of this letter, we incorrectly said Pete Wells was parting ways with the NYT. Wells is stepping down from his role as restaurant critic and moving into another role. We apologize for the error.
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| CNN Photo Illustration/Rebecca Droke/AFP/Getty Images |
Not So Secret Disservice: In the wake of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, right-wing media figures and lawmakers have launched misogynistic attacks on the Secret Service, singling out female agents for blame in the security failure. "There should not be any women in the Secret Service. These are supposed to be the very best, and none of the very best at this job are women," far-right media personality Matt Walsh wrote. "There should not be any women in the Secret Service." While Fox's Laura Ingraham claimed women agents were too small to shield the president, others falsely blamed the security failure on DEI initiatives. Republican Sen. Ron Johnson blasted Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle in a WaPo interview, claiming she "was far more concerned about DEI than protecting, for example, President Trump." Associations that represent women in law enforcement slammed the attacks as "disingenuous at best and deeply dangerous at worst." CNN's Hadas Gold has more here. |
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- "The NY Post received more links than any other news outlet from former president Donald Trump, according to TheRighting's analysis of his June 2024 link activity," Howard Polskin reports. (Righting)
- Gavin Newsom called out Elon Musk after the right-wing media mogul endorsed former President Donald Trump, saying the X owner "bent the knee." (Business Insider)
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| CNN Photo Illustration/Google |
Searching for Gemini: We've noticed it anecdotally, but now there is some data to back it up: Google appears to be showing users less and less of its controversial A.I. Overview panel. Data from SEO company BrightEdge found that the percentage of queries in which Google showed users the feature dropped from 11% to 7% during the month of June. For its part, Google disputed the findings, saying they "do not reflect" what the company has seen. The Verge's Jay Peters has more here. |
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- "Apple's decision to strike a deal with Taboola is shocking and off-brand — so much so that I have started to question the company's long-term commitment to good customer experience, including its commitment to privacy," Om Malik wrote. (OM)
- The E.U. rejected ByteDance's bid to circumvent antitrust rules that deem the company an industry "gatekeeper." (Semafor)
- Meta "will withhold its next multimodal A.I. model — and future ones — from customers in the European Union because of what it says is a lack of clarity from regulators there," Ina Fried reported. (Axios)
- "Meta is opening a small pilot program that would allow a handful of [researchers] to access Instagram data for up to about six months in order to study the app's effect on the well-being of teens and young adults," Caroline Mimbs Nyce reported. (The Atlantic)
- The first day of Prime Day saw U.S. sales hit $7.2 billion. (Reuters)
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| CNN Photo Illustration/FX |
The Force of FX: Emmy voters sure seem to be fans of FX. The Disney-owned network had a stellar showing on Wednesday as the Emmy nominations were announced. "Shogun" nabbed a staggering 25 nominations and "The Bear" walked away with 23, a record for a comedy series. In total, FX received 93 nominations, behind only Netflix, which earned 107, and ahead of HBO/Max with 91. CNN's Lisa Respers France has more here. |
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- Lily Gladstone's nomination for supporting actress in a drama series category for Hulu's "Under the Bridge" makes her the first Indigenous actor to land an Emmy nomination in 17 years. (The Wrap)
- Christopher Lloyd's nomination for guest starring in the HBO's "Hacks" marks the actor's first for comedy in 41 years. (The Wrap)
- Sofía Vergara's nomination for her lead role in Netflix's limited series "Griselda" marks the first time a Latina actress has been nominated for a limited series since Anya Taylor-Joy's nomination for "The Queen's Gambit." (The Wrap)
- Selena Gomez's nomination marks her first acting nom. (Variety)
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| - 🚨 The Russo Brothers are in talks to direct the next two "Avengers" movies. (THR)
- Marvel released the track list for its much-anticipated "Deadpool & Wolverine." (THR)
- The creators of Amazon's hit show "Fallout" teased season two: "We barely scratched the surface of the world." (Deadline)
- Season two of the "Frasier" revival will premiere Sept. 19 on Paramount+. (Variety)
- Roy Wood Jr. is set to tape a stand-up special for Hulu. (Deadline)
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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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