| | | | | Oliver Darcy here, in on this busy Friday night for Brian Stelter, who tells me he has deleted the Twitter app from his phone in his attempt to un 🔌 from the news for a few days while he vacations in Miami... | | The Games have been declared OPEN | | | On Friday morning (Eastern time), South Korean President Moon Jae-In officially declared the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Games open. That said, the Opening Ceremony wasn't actually broadcast on NBC until this evening. (It was possible to stream it in real-time on the Internet or through an app.) The festivities didn't disappoint. While the Opening Ceremony can be slow at points, there is always something exciting about watching the spectacle and seeing Team USA 🇺🇸 make its entrance. If you missed it, we have a great photo gallery on CNN here... | | Katie Couric returns to NBC to co-host the Olympics | | Ahiza Garcia emails: Katie Couric is back at the Olympics. She co-hosted the Opening Ceremony with first-time host Mike Tirico. This was her fourth time doing the gig. She found out she'd be hosting in mid-January so hadn't had as much time as Tirico to prep. Luckily, she told CNNMoney, she's a "quick study."
>> Couric also addressed concerns about whether the U.S. political climate might affect the Games: "There's this geopolitical backdrop in terms of what's happening the world, what's happening internationally," Couric said. "But I feel that this is one instance when domestic politics are really gonna take a back seat." Read the full story from Garcia and Julia Horowitz here... | | | Garcia emails another item: NBC will make TV history with its broadcast of the Winter Olympics -- less than a week after airing Super Bowl LII. A U.S. broadcaster has never had to transition between these two huge events so quickly. In fact, only one other broadcaster has ever put on the Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics in the same year. CBS did it back in 1992. But it had two weeks between events. NBC has 2,500 people on the ground in Pyeongchang and will air more than 2,400 hours of coverage. | | If the numbers from the pre-opening night of NBC's coverage of the Games are any indicator, the peacock network has cause to worry. 15.9 million viewers tuned in to NBC primetime to watch, down 20% from the Sochi Olympics. In the coveted 18-49 demo, things got worse, with NBC down 37% from Sochi. However, our in-house experts Frank Pallotta and Brian Lowry offer some caution when examining these numbers...
>> Pallotta emails: The Sochi Olympics had no simultaneous live streaming and no competing Olympics coverage on Cable. We'll see what the opening ceremony (the true kick off of the games) brings in tonight.
>> Lowry emails: Winter Games Reality Check. While it's understandable that people would leap to compare preview-night ratings for the Winter Olympics to 2014, it's worth remembering that four years is an Ice Age-like amount of time given the current pace of the TV business and the continuing fragmentation of audience. As a result, it will likely take several days -- starting with tonight's opening ceremony -- to sort out what this year's trend lines are. | | Fox News pulls column slamming focus on 'darker, gayer' Olympics | | Amid mounting criticism on Friday, Fox News removed an inflammatory op-ed written by John Moody, an executive vice president and executive editor at the network. A Fox News spokesperson told media outlets that the piece of online commentary did "not reflect the views or values" of the company. My full story here...
If you're just getting caught up: Moody had skewered the U.S. Olympic Committee in a Wednesday column for boasting about this year's diverse team, writing that he believed the committee would like to change the Olympic motto to "darker, gayer, different." | | | >> Aside from the extremely short statement issued by a spokesperson, Fox News refused to answer questions we sent their direction. I've reached out to a network spokesperson multiple times since Thursday night and never heard back. Moody also didn't return inquiries seeking comment. | | >> Given Fox News' statement, was Moody unfamiliar with the views and values of the network? It certainly would be odd to have a senior member of a company, one who is supposed to set an example for more junior staff, not have a firm grasp of the company ethos...
>> Will Moody face any disciplinary action? At the time of this writing, that remains unclear.
>> Did Moody act alone? Or was the commentary approved by a Fox News editor? It seems unlikely the piece wasn't reviewed by anyone else. If it was seen by an editor, will that person also face any disciplinary action? | | Trump administration chaos leads to flood of scoops | | I've been trying to keep track of the chaos in the Trump administration as I wrote this newsletter tonight, and it's admittedly quite difficult. Throughout the day, various news organizations have been churning out scoops about the infighting and resignations. I hope I didn't miss anybody in this list. Honestly, I'm not sure...
>> Things were kicked off by CNN's very own Kaitlan Collins and Kevin Liptak who reported that Trump had grown frustrated with Hope Hicks over her role in the Rob Porter sandal.
>> The NYT's Katie Benner reported that Rachel Brand, the No. 3 at the Justice Department -- and next in line behind Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who is overseeing the Russia investigation -- planned to step down after just nine months.
>> ABC's Jonathan Karl, Cecila Vega, and John Stantucci reported that Chief of Staff John Kelly had expressed a willingness to resign over the White House's handling of the Porter scandal.
>> CNN's Jeremy Diamond reported Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Carroll is expected to leave the White House to become drug czar.
>> WaPo's Elise Viebeck reported that David Sorenson, a White House speechwriter, resigned Friday amid domestic abuse allegations, making him the second official to step down in last 48 hours over such allegations. | | Bannon slam's 'anti-patriarchy movement' in new edition of 'Devil's Bargain' | | | Penguin Press has moved up from July the release of the paperback edition of Josh Green's "Devil's Bargain" -- it now comes out Tuesday -- and it includes some colorful commentary from Steve Bannon. In a copy of a new preface I reviewed, Bannon slams what he calls the "anti-patriarchy movement" -- that is, the movement against sexual harassment and assault that grew during the post-Weinstein reckoning -- saying he believes it will "undo ten thousand years of recorded history." Bannon also goes after The Rock and reveals why he is afraid of Oprah. Read my full story here... | | Sunday's 'Reliable' guest list... | | | I'll be joining Frank Sesno, who will be in hosting for the vacationing Brian Stelter. Also look for Olivia Nuzzi, April Ryan, Lynn Sweet, Bethany Mandel, Rep. Eric Swalwell, Ken Doctor and Hadas Gold... See you Sunday at 11 a.m. ET... | | -- Joe Pompeo in Vanity Fair: "At Meredith, as a Culture Meld Ensues, Time Inc.'s Jewels Are on the Block..."
-- Mediaite's Justin Baragona has a look at Sara Carter, who he dubs "Hannity's go-to reporter on the real Russia scandal..."
-- The Wrap's Tony Maglio and Jennifer Maas report on Jen Salke being set to replace Roy Price as head of Amazon Studios...
-- Must-read from James Risen in The Intercept on how the US secretly negotiated with Russians to buy stolen NSA material...
-- Risen's report was followed by NYT's Matthew Rosenberg who offered more info on how US spies paid a Russian peddling Trump secrets...
-- The Observer's John Bonazzo reports on how Newseum "Power Shift" programs will "tackle sexual misconduct in media..."
-- Nicole Sperling in Vanity Fair on producing the Oscars in 2018: "Producing the Academy Awards is a minefield any year, but more so now in the #MeToo and #TimesUp moment..." | | Newsweek editors blast exec in leaked audio | | Max Tani capped off his first week at The Daily Beast by scoring a recording of what he described as an "ugly meeting" between the company's interim chief content officer, Johnathan Davis, and editors. At which point, according to Tani, deputy breaking news editor Jason Silverstein confronted Davis, saying, "What you're doing is bulls--t. You don't understand journalism."
>> At another point in the meeting, according to Tani, one editor asked if Newsweek's reporting on internal matters "did more damage" to the company than the fact it was raided by law enforcement and accused of ad fraud in a BuzzFeed News story, among other recent issues. "Yes," Davis answered, according to Tani. Read the full story here... | | | Staffers at Newsweek 'horrified' by decision to reinstate executive | | | Hadas Gold wrote about Newsweek, after an investigation, reinstating Chief Content Officer Dayan Candappa, the executive who was placed on leave following a BuzzFeed report he had left a previous job at Reuters due to sexual harassment allegations. Newsroom sources told Gold that some staffers were "shocked" and "horrified" by the company's decision. Read Gold's full piece here... | | Fox News giving InfoWars a run for its money | | Another day, another conspiracy theory floated to millions of viewers on Fox News. On Friday afternoon, Fox News contributor Rachel Campos-Duffy -- yes, married to Congressman Sean Duffy -- questioned why Marco Rubio was "covering for" Mark Warner. (The previous day, Fox News had hyped a story that portrayed leaked Warner messages as damning and Rubio defended him by tweeting a dismissal of the report.)
"How deep is the deep state? Does it run through the Senate?" Campos-Duffy wondered aloud on "The Five." To his credit, co-host Greg Gutfeld pushed back against her assertion, but Campos-Duffy wasn't exactly buying it. She asked, "Why would a Republican member of this committee think it's okay for a Democrat to go and meet with Russians… without telling the committee? I think it's really weird." You can watch video of the clip via Mediaite... | | Cable news chyron of the day | | By Julia Waldow:
-- The NYT is bringing a personal touch to its Olympics coverage this year, thanks to in-app polling tools that track readers' preferences and help journalists transmit content curated to their interests... (Nieman Lab)
-- Video is now almost ubiquitous in the social media scene. But one medium -- podcasts -- is still struggling to adapt... (Digiday)
-- WashPost's Hamza Shaban explains "how public media could become a casualty of YouTube's war on propaganda..." (WashPost)
-- Amazon is set to compete with UPS and FedEx with its new delivery service, "Shipping with Amazon..." (WSJ)
-- Digital media is spurring job growth in the entertainment industry in Los Angeles and Orange counties, a new coalition-linked report finds... (LA Times) | | Will Trump attend the WHCD? | | | Lowry emails: Variety's Ted Johnson asks whether Trump -- having skipped last year's White House Correspondents' Dinner -- might attend this year. Among other things, the decision will likely help determine who winds up being the night's entertainment at what's already one of comedy's most thankless gigs... | | 'It's like we are living inside a parody' | | | I missed this 🔥🔥🔥 Chuck Todd clip from yesterday: "It's like we're living inside a parody -- 'What would happen if Donald Trump became president? Omarosa would probably work in the West Wing! And then she'd leave to go on 'Big Brother' to dish about Administration secrets! Ha!' ... Oh wait. That happened." Watch the four-minute monologue for yourself... | | Drudge keeps up the drumbeat for Ronan's new piece | | | The Drudge Report on Friday continued to fuel speculation about who Ronan Farrow has his eyes set on for his forthcoming New Yorker piece. I checked in again with a spokesperson for the magazine, but was told there would be no comment. Drudge is certainly right about one thing: The "guessing game" has consumed much of the media industry. I can't tell you how many messages I have received over the last 24 hours asking if I know who Farrow's piece will be about... | | Oops! Correction from last night's newsletter | | | Last night I wrote that Lester Holt's first broadcast from South Korea included an interview with VP Mike Pence. I got a little bit ahead of myself. That interview aired tonight. You can watch it here... | | This week's "Reliable" pod | | | From Julia Waldow's recap of Slate's Jacob Weisberg's appearance on the "Reliable" pod: "'Bad faith' actors who bend the truth have been around as long as the printing press. But these days, they are front and center in our choose-your-own-news environment. The phrase 'fake news' has come to mean many things, but Slate's Jacob Weisberg has a simple way of summing up 'bad faith' actors in today's media landscape." Read Waldow's full recap here... | | By Lisa France:
-- Kate Upton says opening up about sexual misconduct allegations gave her "a sense of relief."
-- "Breaking Bad" star Aaron Paul is a new dad and he and his daughter already have chemistry.
-- Kim Kardashian West is facing criticism for letting her four-year-old daughter take a topless photo of the reality star.
| | New shows launch amid Winter Games | | | Lowry emails: While other networks have generally delayed premieres until after the Olympics, premium cable is wading in. This Sunday, HBO will introduce "Here and Now" -- an intriguing if strange drama, starring Holly Hunter and Tim Robbins, from "Six Feet Under's" Alan Ball; while Showtime launches the new season of "Homeland" -- which, once prescient, appears to have been caught by current events -- along with Stephen Colbert's animated spoof "Our Cartoon President." | | | Email brian.stelter@turner.com... he loves the feedback, corrections, suggestions, and tips. But since he's taking some R&R, you can also email me: oliver.darcy@turner.com... Thank you... | | | Get Reliable Sources, a comprehensive summary of the most important media news, delivered to your inbox every afternoon. | | | | | |
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