Morning Media Newsfeed: RNC Debates Announced | Oppenheim Returns to Today
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MSNBC Left Out of GOP Debate Mix (Politico)
The Republican National Committee announced Friday that it will sanction at least nine presidential primary debates, starting this August in Ohio and continuing through March 2016, with the potential to add three more. TVNewser The early debates will be on cable news, while the later debates will go to the broadcast networks. MSNBC has not been chosen for any debate. In the 2012 cycle, MSNBC carried a GOP debate on Sept. 7, 2011 at the Ronald Reagan Library moderated by NBC’s Brian Williams. More than 5.4 million viewers tuned in to MSNBC that night. FishbowlDC Fox News will carry two, CNN will carry two, and CNBC, FBN, CBS, ABC, and NBC/Telemundo will each carry one. HuffPost Univision, the most-watched Spanish-language network, didn’t make the cut. How Republicans engage with Univision this election cycle is being closely watched given that the network reaches 96 percent of Hispanic households, a key demographic for either party hoping to win the White House. Politico / Dylan Byers on Media Bloomberg Television was not given the rights to a single primary debate in 2016. In the 2012 primary season, Bloomberg Television hosted a Republican primary debate at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., which was moderated by Charlie Rose.
NBC News to Bring Back Noah Oppenheim to Head Today (LA Times)
NBC News is turning to a name from the past to help lead Today into the future. Noah Oppenheim, a senior producer of the morning program from 2005-2008 when it was No. 1 in the ratings, is returning as the top executive in charge of the entire editorial operation. TVNewser Oppenheim left NBC in 2008, heading West to join entertainment production company Reveille, which later merged with Shine America. HuffPost Previously, Oppenheim worked on MSNBC’s Hardball With Chris Matthews. He has since written for both TV and film, penning screenplays for movies such as 2014’s The Maze Runner. CNN Money Don Nash will remain the executive producer, reporting to Oppenheim. Oppenheim is succeeding Jamie Horowitz, a longtime ESPN producer who was put in charge of Today in September, but very publicly fired two months later. With Horowitz — an outsider — in charge of the morning show, there were rampant rumors about his plans for shakeups to the cast. Objections from Matt Lauer and the other co-hosts played a role in Horowitz’s abrupt exit from NBC. The message sent by Oppenheim’s hiring is “after Horowitz, no more surprises,” one long-time Today staffer said.
Fox News Apologizes for Labeling Parts of Paris ‘No Go Zones’ (TVNewser)
Saturday morning, Fox & Friends co-host Anna Kooiman apologized for a segment two weekends ago about so-called “no go zones” in France. According to Fox News guest Nolan Peterson, who appeared on both Fox & Friends and on Jeanine Pirro‘s show, certain areas of Paris reminded him of Afghanistan and Iraq. Politico / Dylan Byers on Media On the Jan. 10 edition of Justice With Judge Jeannie, terrorism analyst Steve Emerson described the “zones” as “places where the governments, like France, Britain, Sweden, Germany don’t exercise any sovereignty… zones where Sharia courts are set up, where Muslim density is very intense, where police don’t go in.” Mediaite “Over the course of this last week we have made some regrettable errors on air regarding the Muslim population in Europe — particularly with regard to England and France,” anchor Julie Banderas said during Saturday night’s newscast. And later, Pirro made another apology, saying that she should have challenged Emerson’s views and pointing out that he was factually incorrect. Mashable Fox News apologized four times on-air Saturday for the factual error. Emerson, who is the founder of a non-profit research group called the Investigative Project on Terrorism, also apologized on Twitter on Jan. 11.
Jim Clancy Leaves CNN After 34 Years (TVNewser)
CNN confirms long-time correspondent Jim Clancy has left the network after nearly 34 years. Clancy made the announcement to colleagues in an email, calling CNN “one of the greatest news organizations in the world” and “a family to my own family.” Mediaite His departure comes just one week after he engaged in a heated Twitter debate over the terror attacks on Charlie Hebdo. “The cartoons NEVER mocked the Prophet. They mocked how the COWARDS tried to distort his word. Pay attention,” Clancy tweeted on the day of the Paris attacks. Subsequently, he accused Israel and Zionist propaganda of being partially responsible for the attacks. NYT Clancy’s Twitter account has since been deleted. Clancy, who anchored the global news show The Brief, had worked at CNN for more than 30 years, covering the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Rwandan genocide and the Iraq wars, according to a biography that has since has been deleted from CNN’s website.
New Charlie Hebdo Editor Critical of News Organizations That Won’t Show New Cover (TVNewser)
Gerard Biard, the new chief editor of Charlie Hebdo, went on Meet The Press Sunday morning and blasted news organizations in “democratic countries” who have chosen not to show the most recent issue, which again includes a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad. Mashable Muslims gathered after Friday prayers, in cities from Algiers to Karachi, to protest against the latest edition of Charlie Hebdo. They denounced the depiction of Prophet Muhammad, who is holding a sign that reads “Je suis Charlie,” on the satirical magazine’s cover. The demonstrations followed the attack on Charlie Hebdo’s Paris office two weeks ago, which left 12 dead. Some Muslims view depictions of Muhammad as an insult to Islam. HuffPost / AP Muslim anger flared over the caricature, with four people reported killed and dozens injured at a protest Friday in the West African country of Niger, and violent clashes between demonstrators and police in Pakistan, Jordan and Algeria.
The Hill Names Neetzan Zimmerman Senior Director, Audience And Strategy (The Hill)
The Hill has named Neetzan Zimmerman as senior director, audience and strategy. FishbowlDC Effective immediately, Zimmerman will report to editor-in-chief Bob Cusack. Zimmerman, a former senior editor at Gawker, has been called “the most popular blogger working on the Web today” by The Wall Street Journal. He left Gawker in January of last year to become editor-in-chief of Whisper, an app that allows people to share secrets and make confessions anonymously. Capital New York The Hill has focused on growing its digital traffic, and reported 71.5 percent year-over-year growth in Web traffic, citing comScore, in the release announcing Zimmerman’s hire.
CBS Drops Basketball Analyst Greg Anthony After Arrest (TVNewser)
Greg Anthony was not part of CBS’ broadcast of the Michigan State-Maryland game Saturday afternoon, after the basketball analyst and former NBA player was arrested on solicitation charges. Anthony had been scheduled to announce the game until word of his arrest by District of Columbia police Friday evening on a misdemeanor charge punishable by up to 180 days in jail. Oregon Live / AP A CBS spokeswoman says “Greg Anthony will not be working again for CBS this season.” Turner Sports also suspended the TV commentator and says it “will have no further comment.”
Al Jazeera America Unveils ‘Grid Changes And Road Map’ (TVNewser)
Seventeen months after going on the air, Al Jazeera America is revamping its programming. The news comes via an email from AJAM CEO Ehab Al Shihabi sent to staffers Friday outlining “grid changes and road map for 2015.” Capital New York “We’ll start with a national news hour at 7 p.m., followed by a program with deeper dives and more investigation into specific issues at 8 p.m., and then an internationally focused hour at 9 p.m. with analysis of stories that impact the U.S.,” Al Shihabi wrote, adding that Fault Lines and America Tonight will run at 10 p.m., Real Money at 10:30 p.m., news at 11 p.m., and Inside Story at 11:30 p.m.
NFL, CBS Renew Deal for Thursday Night Football (WSJ)
The National Football League has renewed its deal with CBS Corp. for Thursday Night Football, the league and the network said Sunday. The agreement is for one season only, with the NFL having an option to continue with CBS for the 2016 season. Variety CBS will broadcast the first eight Thursday Night Football games, which will, as they were in 2014, be simulcast on NFL Network. In 2014, CBS was not able to broadcast eight consecutive weekly games, meaning the network gains slightly more continuity early in the TV season.
CNN’s Erin Burnett Adds Weekend OutFront on CNNI (TVNewser)
CNN’s Erin Burnett will expand her Erin Burnett OutFront duties to include a new half-hour program airing on CNN International. The show will air four times over the weekend, twice each on Saturdays and Sundays, and include new interviews and stories not previously aired on OutFront.
Bill O’Reilly Inks Deal for Legends & Lies Companion Book (GalleyCat)
Journalist and TV personality Bill O’Reilly has plans for a companion book to his “docu-style” series, Legends & Lies: Into The West. Henry Holt, an imprint at Macmillan, Inc., will publish it on April 7.
American Sniper Shatters Records With $90.2 Million Weekend (Variety)
American Sniper hit the bull’s-eye, earning an astonishing $90.2 million in its debut weekend in wide release. It is now on pace to upend records for the Martin Luther King holiday and for the month of January, pulling in roughly $105 million over the four-day period.
More View Trouble: The Talk Wins Viewership Battle for First Time (Deadline)
For the first time ever, rival The Talk beat The View in total viewers. In ratings for the week ending Jan. 11, the just over four-year-old CBS show created and co-hosted by Sara Gilbert, had an average of 2.95 million viewers. That’s a small but psychologically significant 2 percent jump over the 2.88 million ABC’s The View pulled over the same period.
Fox, Dish Network Ask Court to Pause Ad Skipping Case (Variety)
Fox and Dish Network are pausing their litigation over Dish’s AutoHop service, a service that allows subscribers to record primetime programs with commercials automatically deleted. Attorneys for Fox and Dish filed a joint stipulation asking U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee to stay the case on Thursday, citing the upcoming retransmission consent negotiations when Dish’s contract for Fox expires on Oct. 29. The stay will be in effect until Oct. 1.
Fox Confirms Best TV News: X-Files, Prison Break Could Be Coming Back (Mashable)
After the success it saw from resurrecting Jack Bauer and co. for another installment of 24, Fox is looking to bring back two more popular properties, the heads of Fox’s TV group confirmed Saturday.
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