| | | | | Exec summary: CBS is lowballing Viacom, "Roseanne" is back for week two, Martin Sorrell is under investigation, Wendy Williams is interviewing Cynthia Nixon, and more... | | Shots fired at YouTube HQ | | "There are no words to describe how horrible it was to have an active shooter @YouTube today," CEO Susan Wojcicki said via Twitter Tuesday evening. She expressed thanks to law enforcement and the first responders. For the latest on the shooting, check CNN.com...
--> One of the big Q's: What was the shooter's relationship to YouTube? The deceased suspect's name is Nasim Najafi Aghdam, according to CNN and other outlets. She apparently left a lot of digital fingerprints, so I think we'll know more in the morning... | | Let's face it -- YouTube is one of the most famous workplaces in the country. Maybe the world. That's partly this tragedy received so much coverage on Tuesday.
"We are incredibly tight knit community, within YouTube, where it feels like a family. Today, it feels like the entire community of YouTube, and all the employees were victims of this crime," YouTube head of comms Chris Dale said. "Our hearts go out to those who suffered in this particular attack, and our prayers are with them and their families." | | Mueller planning to issue several reports "in stages" | | The day began with this CNN report about how Robert Mueller was authorized by the DOJ to investigate alleged Paul Manafort collusion with Russian government...
And it ended with this WashPost scoop. As of last month, the Post said, POTUS was a "subject" of Robert Mueller's criminal investigation, not a "target;" Mueller was actively seeking a presidential interview; and he "told Trump's lawyers that he is preparing a report about the president's actions while in office and potential obstruction of justice." When the story landed at 8:02pm, all the cable newsers rejiggered their rundowns. Fox just mentioned it briefly in the 8pm hour -- emphasizing the "not a target" part -- while CNN and MSNBC went into more detail... | | | --> "It's a big deal to be under criminal investigation by the FBI," Jeffrey Toobin said on CNN. While "this has been implicit in what the Mueller investigation has been doing," this confirmation "that the president is under criminal investigation, I mean, that's a pretty profound thing..." | | Abuse of presidential power? | | | Trump smacked Amazon again on Tuesday. Many observers have concluded that his anti-Amazon statements are, at least in part, a form of punishment for the WashPost's aggressive coverage, given the two companies have Jeff Bezos in common. By all accounts Bezos treats Amazon and the Post as separate businesses -- but Trump seems to think otherwise... | | Post calls this "preposterous" | | | Post CEO Fred Ryan issued a new statement on Tuesday. "The Washington Post operates with complete independence in making all news and editorial decisions. We alone decide what to publish," he said. "It is preposterous and disingenuous to suggest that The Post is used to advance Jeff's other commercial interests." Here's my full story... | | | MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace tweets: "So here's how this can work sometimes -- having worked in a WH under investigation -- the WashPost could have had a call in to the White House for comment on news that Trump is a subject. That news might have angered Trump. Now, re-evaluate the market-moving attacks on Amazon..." | | | IT'S NOT JUST THE POST... | | "SICK:" Trump sharpens his anti-media attacks | | POTUS is making it clearer than ever: There are some media outlets he approves of. There are other outlets he despises. In Trumpworld, Fox is good, CNN is bad. Sinclair is good, NBC is bad. The New York Post is good, The Washington Post is bad. "Roseanne" is good, "SNL" is bad. Rasmussen is good, other pollsters are bad. See what I mean? Trump wants his supporters to know the difference and watch accordingly... On Tuesday he used the word "sick" to describe non-Fox networks...
WHY IT MATTERS: This may have the effect of insulating his base from inconvenient facts, like the Mueller probe. It definitely has the effect of inflaming tensions. This is the subject of my latest column for CNNMoney... | | | "At one level Trump just hates being criticized and is 'fighting back.' At another he knows a foil is good for ratings. But, consciously or not, he's also tried relentlessly to co-opt or destroy any source of authority other than his own," AFP White House correspondent Andrew Beatty wrote on Twitter Tuesday morning... | | How the EPA chief tried to avoid tough Q's | | | Scott Pruitt held an event with "limited press access" on Tuesday, CNN's Clare Foran writes. What that means: The EPA "attempted to allow television camera access to Fox News without informing the other four networks: CNN, ABC, NBC and CBS." But the pool system worked. "Fox alerted the networks and a pool was established allowing networks equal access to the event..." | | "We consider it crucial to our future that we not become an opposition-news organization. We do not see ourselves, and we do not wish to be seen, as partisan media..."
--NYT managing editor Joe Kahn to VF's Joe Pompeo... | | 50 years since MLK's death | | Wednesday is the 50th anniversary of the MLK assassination. Newsrooms are rolling out special features and retrospectives. Lester Holt will anchor "NBC Nightly News" from Memphis Wednesday night...
--> Oliver Darcy flagged this: Getty Images has published an album titled "The Last Photos: Remembering Martin Luther King Jr.'s Death," showing images of King's final speech and the events that follows his assassination... | | -- The things you can learn via FOIA: The FCC received "at least 162" indecency complaints about news coverage of Trump's "shithole countries" comment... Oh, and many of the complaints were about CNN, "which as a cable network does not fall under the FCC's indecency rules..." (Politico)
-- New on the Sinclair front: The company "requires employees to sign contracts forcing them to pay large penalties for quitting. Legal experts say those contracts may not be enforceable..." (Beast)
-- Facebook's PR chief Elliot Schrage is walking a "political tightrope" right now, Cory Weinberg writes... (The Information) | | CBS Corporation's first offer to acquire its sister company Viacom is below Viacom's current market valuation.
"CBS's proposal could be the beginning of a negotiation, if Viacom rebuffs the offer and pushes for better terms," WSJ's Joe Flint writes. "A spokesman for Viacom declined to comment."
CNN's Jill Disis confirmed that the bid is also predicated on CBS CEO Les Moonves leading the combined company. So what about Viacom CEO Bob Bakish? Controlling shareholder National Amusements "will have an issue with a deal that does not include Mr. Bakish in the management team," Flint says, citing a source... | | Sorrell under investigation | | Ad industry oracle Martin Sorrell, the veteran CEO of holding company WPP, is under investigation by a law firm hired by WPP's board.
The board "is looking into" whether Sorrell "misused company assets," the WSJ's Suzanne Vranica and Nick Kostov revealed Tuesday. "In addition, the board is also looking into allegations of improper personal behavior by Mr. Sorrell."
After the story hit, WPP confirmed that the investigation involves "personal misconduct." The company said "the allegations do not involve amounts which are material to WPP." It gave no further details... | | Spotify trading around $150 a share | | | Spotify is trading! The company opened at $165.90 a share on Tuesday... And settled at $149.01. "The unusual IPO process had analysts effectively throwing up their hands about what to expect after Spotify went public," CNN's Seth Fiegerman wrote... Read his full story here... | | Facebook finds hundreds more accounts run by Kremlin-linked troll group | | "Months after it removed hundreds of fake pages and accounts run by a Kremlin-linked troll group that were targeted at Americans, Facebook said on Tuesday it had removed almost 300 more pages and accounts run by the group, the vast majority targeted at Russian speakers," Donie O'Sullivan reports...
--> He adds via email: Some questions remain. FB removed the same group's accounts targeted at America months ago. Why did it take so long to find these ones? More to come on this... | | What's going on with Kurt Eichenwald? | | | Oliver Darcy emails: A Vanity Fair spokesperson says Kurt Eichenwald is no longer a contributing editor at the magazine. Why is this significant? Because Ben Shapiro called out Eichenwald on Tuesday. On Twitter and in emails, Eichenwald has been billing himself as a VF contributor, but it turns out his contract has expired... Details here... | | -- March ratings are in. Thank you, "Reliable Sources" viewers: You made the program #1 in its 11am time slot in the 25- to 54-year-old demo. "SOTU" at 12pm and "GPS" at 1pm also topped Fox and MSNBC in the demo...
-- More news from The Atlantic: New staff writer Hannah Giorgis will contribute to the outlet's "growing coverage of culture, including Hollywood, books, and music -- key areas of expanded focus this year..."
-- Wendy Williams' interview with Cynthia Nixon will air Wednesday morning... Variety has a preview here... | | AT&T questions credibility of key govt data point | | Tuesday's report from the courthouse: AT&T and Time Warner attorneys "questioned the method and motivation behind a consulting firm's research used as a key factor in the government's lawsuit," Hadas Gold and Tom Kludt write.
There was also testimony from Richard Warren, Turner's head of content distribution, who "defended Turner's arbitration offer." Click here for a complete recap of the day's developments...
🔌: Gold and I will be on CNN's "New Day" in the 8am hour on Wednesday... | | The March Madness championship game between Michigan and Villanova "saw significant declines in the ratings compared to last year," Variety's Joe Otterson reports. The game aired on Turner's TBS, TNT, and truTV networks and averaged 16.5 million viewers altogether, "down approximately 28% from 2017's 23 million when the game aired on CBS." Arguably this is not a surprise, given the move from broadcast to cable. Maybe the better comp is to 2016, when 17.8 million viewers watched the championship game on Turner's networks...
--> Here's another way to crunch the #'s: The tournament "averaged 9.684 million viewers for all 28 windows on CBS/TBS/TNT/TruTV, down 11% from last year," per SBJ's John Ourand... | | | For the record, part three | | | -- 21st Century Fox is offering to sell Sky News to Disney... Here's what it means... (CNNMoney)
-- "Cardi B will co-host 'The Tonight Show' with Jimmy Fallon next Monday night, the first time the show has ever had two people sharing hosting duties..." (NYT)
-- Erik Wemple's latest: "Backlash against Laura Ingraham points to fragility of Fox News opinion offerings" (WashPost) | | | Oliver Darcy emails: At his book party Monday evening, Geraldo Rivera told TheWrap's Jon Levine that he thought his colleague Laura Ingraham's comments about David Hogg last week were "terrible." In the interview, he also expressed worry the Fox News host might have an uncertain fate at the network after advertisers fled her show. A Fox News spokesperson responded by saying Rivera was "out of the loop on this issue and speaks for no one but himself." Soon after, as Mediaite noted, Rivera reversed himself on Twitter... | | Apple's morning show drama has a new showrunner | | "Apple is shuffling showrunners on its much-anticipated morning show drama starring Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon," Variety's Cynthia Littleton reports. "Drama veteran Kerry Ehrin ("Bates Motel") is expected to take the helm of the series, produced by the startup Media Res. Jay Carson had been on board as creator and showrunner, but he has parted ways with the project over creative differences. Apple is in the midst of closing an overall deal with Ehrin..."
--> Disclosure/reminder: I'm a paid consultant on this project. My 2013 book "Top of the Morning" is providing background material. | | How high will "Roseanne" rate? | | | Last week's premiere ratings tripled ABC's internal projections. The network always knew "Roseanne" would rate, but the show crushed expectations. So is there any way Tuesday's episode will top last week? Here's my curtain-raiser story... | | Big ratings come with big headaches | | Brian Lowry emails: ABC has spent a week basking in the big premiere ratings for "Roseanne," but as Disney CEO Bob Iger should know full well -- having lived through the first incarnation of the series while running ABC Entertainment -- working with Roseanne Barr can present its own unique set of challenges.
With the first series, that included an inordinately high turnover rate among her writers. Now, that includes her penchant for promoting conspiracy theories. >>> Read Lowry's full column here >>> | | "Don't Be Fooled, 'Roseanne' Is Really TV's Most Anti-Trump Show" | | | Lowry adds: ☝That's the headline on THR columnist Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's take on the show... He says the premiere subversively explored issues that "reflect the failures of the Trump administration" -- and his argument was notably endorsed by one of the producers, Whitney Cummings. She tweeted: "Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, you get it 🙏" | | Lowry reviews "The Last O.G." | | | Brian Lowry emails: Tracy Morgan's recovery from a devastating car accident is inspiring, but I nevertheless found him to be miscast in TBS' "The Last O.G.," a series that raised expectations with the involvement of talent coming off big movies: "Get Out" director Jordan Peele, who co-created the series; and "Girls Trip" standout Tiffany Haddish, who co-stars. Details here... | | | For the record, part four | | | By Lisa Respers France:
-- This might sound odd... But Lena Waithe says she wants to do a Mary Tyler Moore movie. Here's why...
-- Fans of Linkin Park can own a piece of the band's history and raise money for charity... Some of the the band's instruments are up for sale...
-- And last but not least: "Ace of Cakes" star Duff Goldman got engaged with a piece of twine... | | | Email brian.stelter@turner.com... the feedback helps us improve this newsletter every day... Thanks! | | | | | | |
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