| | | | | Hello from Dallas, where I spent some time with Mark Cuban this afternoon. Is he running for prez? He says he doesn't know yet. I also had some face-time with Bob Bakish... He stayed mum when I asked about Viacom-CBS... | | | President Trump. Robert Mueller. When will the two men speak? The WashPost reported Tuesday evening that Mueller is "seeking to question President Trump in the coming weeks about his decisions to oust national security adviser Michael Flynn and FBI Director James B. Comey." CNN's sources "cautioned against presuming the President would sit down with Mueller in the next few weeks, saying there is much to be negotiated still..." | | If/when Trump testifies, "it will be a defining moment of the Trump presidency," Jeffrey Toobin said on "The Situation Room." He said Trump testimony "will be as dramatic a confrontation" as President Bill Clinton's testimony before Ken Starr.
Toobin's view: "I have thought from the beginning that the issues surrounding obstruction of justice, the firing of James Comey, were going to be the heart of the investigation..." | | Is this storyline coming to a head? These are just a few of the headlines on CNN.com right now:
-- "New FBI chief threatened to quit after being pressured to remove staffers, source says"
-- "Mueller wants to talk to Trump about Comey and Flynn firings"
-- "Washington Post: Trump asked acting FBI director whom he voted for"
-- "Exclusive: New signs Gates may be negotiating with Mueller's team" | | ...And here's what the pro-Trump media is talking about | | The "counter-narrative" is supported by GOP senators and Fox News hosts...
-- "Republican senator calls FBI officials' texts 'jaw-dropping'"
-- "Source: Trump inclined to allow Nunes memo to be released"
-- "White House: Trump hasn't fired Mueller in part because of how the press would react" | | -- Politico's Matthew Nussbaum: "Think about all the 'Don't look at Russian interference, look at X' we've had: the leaks! Uranium One! Unmasking! Who paid for the dossier! FBI text messages! A MEMO!"
-- CNN's David Axelrod: "What is clear is that this POTUS believes that the FBI and DOJ are wholly-owned subsidiaries of Trump, there to protect his interests, not the country's. He's dangerously wrong..."
-- The Daily Beast's Justin Miller: "It's really important we recognize this moment for what it is: The president is trying to turn federal law enforcement into a shield for himself and a sword against his opponents..." | | AT&T wants Congress to pass a net neutrality law | | The midnight ET embargo was just lifted on this news. David Goldman reports: "In a full-page ad appearing in multiple U.S. newspapers on Wednesday, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said his company has suffered from regulatory whiplash."
He is calling on Congress to pass a federal net neutrality law: "It is time for Congress to end the debate once and for all, by writing new laws that govern the internet and protect consumers..." | | More bonuses at more media companies | | AT&T started this on the day the tax bill was passed, and it continued with a two-fer on Tuesday: "Disney announced that it will give 125,000 employees a $1,000 cash bonus, thanks to the new tax law," Danielle Wiener-Bronner reports. "Plus, Disney plans to invest $50 million in a new program that will help cover tuition costs for hourly employees." And Verizon is "giving 50 shares of restricted stock, or a cash equivalent, to full-time employees who aren't executives." It looks like a cash equivalent of $2,650+... Details here...
--> A reminder from the CNN story: This tax law "is the greatest gift to corporate America in decades. It's far better for investors than it is for employees," says Ian Winer, head of equities at Wedbush Securities... | | NFL Championships see a slight ratings dip, but... | | | Frank Pallotta emails: I'm going to put it out there. Is an 8% drop from last year really THAT big of deal when you're roping in more than 40 million viewers? That's what people have to ask when it comes to the NFL. My feeling? No, it's not. The NFL is not immune to TV industry changes, but it's still really the only thing in the marketplace that can nab these kinds of ratings... As shown by both the NFC and AFC Championships on Sunday... Details here... | | -- Fox Sports and ESPN are wiling to share Alex Rodriguez: He will be a "Sunday Night Baseball" commentator during the regular season, then work for Fox Sports during the postseason... (Yahoo)
-- Another day, another setback for the Fox-Sky deal. Jethro Mullen has the latest here... (CNN)
-- CJR editor Kyle Pope's latest: "It's time to rethink how we cover Trump..." (CJR)
-- Josh Dawsey, who recently jumped from Politico to WashPost, is now doubling as a CNN political analyst... | | Weinstein Co. sale talks reach a new phase | | "The bid from a group led by Maria Contreras-Sweet has entered into exclusive negotiations" to buy The Weinstein Company's assets, Deadline's Mike Fleming Jr. reported Thursday.
A person with knowledge of the talks confirmed this to me. The person said most of the deal points are 👍🏼, and at this point, the final details are being worked out. Here's the plan: Contreras-Sweet will acquire the studio's employees, projects and assets... But then she'll be forming a new company with a new name... So she's not buying the stained Weinstein Co. per se... | | What's Tronc going to do with its DC bureau? | | The publisher is in talks with Axios "to syndicate its coverage in the Los Angeles Times," the WSJ's Ben Mullin scooped on Tuesday. "The deal could expand to include other Tronc properties, which include papers such as the Baltimore Sun and Chicago Tribune..."
-- More: "For Axios, the partnership would provide more visibility in Hollywood. Axios is said to be interested in raising its profile in Los Angeles..." | | Michigan man arrested after caller threatens to kill CNN employees | | "Fake news. I'm coming to gun you all down." A Michigan man is under arrest for allegedly calling CNN several times and threatening to kill employees. Threats directed at newsrooms are unfortunately quite common, but this was particularly violent and specific. The suspect also disparaged African Americans and Jewish people during his threatening calls. (It's worth noting: A few months ago he called a local mosque and made derogatory comments about Muslims, according to police.)
CNN's Darran Simon has the full story here...
--> TVNewser published Jeff Zucker's Tuesday A.M. memo to staff: "Sadly, this is part of the reality we live in, as members of the media. I want to assure you that at every level of this company, nothing is more important than your safety. While you know we don't talk publicly about security measures, let me assure you that we have addressed this situation..." | | -- Always a useful refresher: "Here's who owns everything in Big Media today" (Recode)
-- Digiday's Brian Morrissey tweeted: "Facebook reps are telling smaller marketers to get their followers mark them as "see first" in the news feed settings. Good luck, good night..." (Digiday)
-- Speaking of FB: Alex Kantrowitz got ahold of Facebook's "news survey" designed to measure trustworthiness. It's just two questions... See below... (BuzzFeed) | | New "CBS Evening News" EP | | | The "CBS Evening News" has a new anchor, Jeff Glor, and now a new exec producer, Mosheh Oinounou. Steve Capus is stepping down after four years as the show's EP. The change takes effect on Feb. 5... Capus may or may not stay with CBS in another role... | | Oprah's next "60 Minutes" story? | | | Her first piece was a focus group with Michigan voters who were deeply divided by the election outcome. It aired in September. According to MLive, she "returned to Grand Rapids over the weekend" to meet with the same voters, who have "remained in contact and found common ground." A participant said Winfrey's "potential candidacy didn't come up during the gathering..." | | Winfrey tops Trump in this poll... | | | Oprah Winfrey would beat President Trump 51% to 42% in a one-on-one contest, according to a new CNN poll that tried out several hypothetical 2020 matchups. Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders fared better than Winfrey. This poll comes with lots of caveats, as CNN's Ryan Struyk explained here.... | | | For the record, part three | | | -- Ann Curry has a non-disclosure agreement... So she whispered something to Stephen Colbert instead of saying it outright... (TVNewser)
-- Twitter COO Anthony Noto is the new CEO of SoFi... (NYT)
-- Google is starting to sell audiobooks on the Google Play Store... "No subscription is required, and audiobooks can be purchased individually..." (CNN Tech)
-- Apple's HomePod speaker will hit stores on Feb. 9... (CNN Tech) | | Verizon pours cold water on M&A chatter | | Via Deadline: Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam on Tuesday's Q4 earnings call: "There is nothing going on right now with us considering a large media play." He said that "being a great partner" (with the NFL and NBA for instance), "monetizing through advertising and being independent" is the best path forward for the time being....
--> More: McAdam said "there certainly is a lot of interest here" -- from who, I wonder? -- "which frankly we ignore..." | | "Andreessen Horowitz's secret weapon" | | | I missed this story the other day -- but it's a fascinating read about one of "the most skilled spin masters in Silicon Valley," Margit Wennmachers of Andreessen Horowitz, who now has to craft a "revamped image of the techie of the future, one that embraces the great responsibility that arrives with newfound great power." Read Jessi Hempel's story in Wired here... Hat tip to Jason Hirschhorn.... | | | Via Lisa Respers France: Here's the complete list of Oscar nominees. Sandra Gonzalez wrote about the significance of Greta Gerwig's "Lady Bird" nomination... And what this day meant to Jordan Peele... Plus, Chloe Melas captured the best reactions here... | | Brian Lowry emails: Consider this your annual reminder that the term "snub" -- which implies a conscious act -- is misused, due mostly to laziness and web-friendly headlines, in the context of award-show nominations. The truth is there are hundreds of movies each year, and only so many Academy Award slots. Moreover, this year produced nine best-picture nominees, compared to five director bids, meaning four of the people who oversaw Oscar-nominated films were going to be overlooked. It's too bad not everyone can be invited to the party, and a given that these events can never please everybody. But is it really a "snub" if Steven Spielberg, to cite one high-profile example, wound up finishing sixth, seventh or eighth in the balloting? Hardly.
Even with that disclaimer, this year's nominations successfully spread the wealth, recognizing enough new and diverse players -- in front of and behind the camera, including movies like "Get Out" and "The Shape of Water," hardly traditional best-picture contenders -- to provide little about which to reasonably gripe. As the LAT's Kenneth Turan observed, the academy's diversity push has made Oscar prognosticating more difficult, rendering the voting mix "even more volatile and unpredictable than usual." Still, he did identify one trend -- namely, the movies that fared best "adroitly threaded the needle between modern and traditional..." | | Frank Pallotta emails: "Wonder Woman" was completely shut out of Oscars nods this morning. Zero noms. Zip. Not even technical awards that normally go to big blockbusters! And yes, I'm a bit upset. I'm not saying that the film should have been nominated for Best Picture, but a film that made $821 million, holds a 92% review score, stood as a symbol for millions, and sent shockwaves through Hollywood deserves some sort of representation on Hollywood's biggest night.
And before you say that "Wonder Woman" was not deserving of at least *ONE* Oscar nod, let me stop you right there and say… "The Boss Baby" 1 nomination, "Wonder Woman" 0 nominations. Case closed! | | Frank Pallotta adds: If you missed out on any of the Best Picture nominees, AMC announced that it will play all nine films starting January 29, including must-see-in-a-theater films like "Get Out" and "Dunkirk." So get out and see these great films (I'm looking at you, Brian Stelter).
--> Brian's reply: I loved both of those films. But Frank will be disappointed to learn that I saw "Boss Baby," but NOT "Wonder Woman!" | | The Chuck Lorre connection | | | Brian Lowry emails: USA Today's Gary Levin found a common thread in this year's best-supporting actress field: Working for sitcom kingpin Chuck Lorre... | | A sneak peek at Kurtz's book | | Hadas Gold emails: 'Tis the season for books about Trump's first year. The next one up is Fox News host Howard Kurtz's book "Media Madness: Donald Trump, the Press, and the War over the Truth."
The book hits next Tuesday. Some excerpts are starting to make the rounds, but we discovered that the book had been accidentally uploaded to Google Books where large chunks were available for reading. (It's since been taken down.) In the book, Kurtz is very critical of the media, saying the press is "falling into the president's trap" as Trump stakes his presidency on "destroying the credibility of the news media..." | | More from Gold: Some key bits from "Media Madness" excerpts made waves on Twitter on Tuesday, especially one about NYT national political reporter Jonathan Martin. According to Kurtz, an RNC staff member called Martin during the campaign and Martin allegedly yelled at the staffer for being a "racist and a fascist."
"Donald Trump is racist and a fascist, we all know it, and you are complicit," Martin is quoted as saying. "By supporting him, you're all culpable." The staffer called Martin again months later, which according to Kurtz, prompted another tirade from Martin. This time, the exchange led to an angry phone call from then-RNC comms director Sean Spicer to a Times editor to complain.
Martin denied calling the staffer or Trump "racist and fascist," saying, "Does that sound like me? More to that point, do those sound like real-life lines any human being in the news business would use?" (No, it does not sound like him.)
Kurtz and the publisher Regnery are standing by the story, claiming they gave Martin "multiple opportunities to respond" and saying he declined to comment, though the book does not note Martin declined to comment.
Martin, though, says Kurtz "paraphrased a vague, preposterous-sounding quote" and that Kurtz could not tell him to whom he made the comments but that he'd follow up. Martin said Kurtz did not follow up, though the publisher and Kurtz differ as to whether and how Martin was given adequate opportunity to respond. Read more... | | | Gold adds: Another fun detail from the book -- Kurtz said that during one interview for Kurtz's show "Media Buzz," Trump was directing the production team, moving around the lighting. At one point he said that the shot looked "orange..." | | Netflix, Amazon, Hulu ads on TV | | | "It's a move tantamount to a homeowner letting termites come into a house and gnaw at its innards." That's Brian Steinberg describing TV networks that are "ceding valuable ad time to new competitors who use the commercial breaks to tell viewers, essentially, to use their remotes to watch something interesting on one of their services." NBC wouldn't sell ad time to CBS, would it? But Steinberg says that's essentially what the broadcasters are doing... Here's his full story... | | "This Is Us" reveals how Jack died | | | Email brian.stelter@turner.com... I love the feedback, corrections, suggestions, and tips. Thank you! | | | Get Reliable Sources, a comprehensive summary of the most important media news, delivered to your inbox every afternoon. | | | | | |
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