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Mar 06

Morning Media Newsfeed: Samantha Bee Heads to TBS | NYT Staffs Media Desk

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Samantha Bee Exits The Daily Show to Host TBS Series (THR / The Live Feed)
Samantha Bee is expanding her relationship with TBS. Days after the Turner-owned network picked up the scripted family vacation comedy series she exec produces with husband Jason Jones, the Daily Show correspondent has landed her own series at TBS. Deadline The new show, which is in the early stages of development, is being planned as a platform for Bee “to apply her smart and satirical point of view to current and relevant issues,” TBS said, but did not specific if it would air in primetime or, more likely, in late-night. In addition to hosting, Bee will serve as executive producer on the show, along with Jones; it would be produced by TBS. Variety Bee is expected to continue to appear on The Daily Show through the start of production on the TBS vacation series, and then contribute occasional pieces as her new program goes through development. Should the new series launch on air, she would presumably leave the Comedy Central program entirely. Mashable Following Jon Stewart’s announcement of his Daily Show departure back in February, Bee was considered a frontrunner for the big chair. Capital New York Stewart will leave the program later this year. With Bee and Jones out of the picture, the number of in-house candidates has dwindled. John Oliver, considered a favorite for the job after filling in for Stewart in 2013, left to host his own topical show on HBO, Last Week Tonight. HBO, as it happens, is a sister network to TBS.

NYT Shuffles Media Desk (FishbowlNY)
The New York Times has made several changes to its media desk in the wake of buyouts and David Carr’s death. Politico / Dylan Byers on Media Bill Brink has been promoted to media editor. Brink, who has served as deputy media editor since 2011, will now oversee all media coverage. He will report to Dean Murphy, the business editor, and the former media editor Peter Lattman, who was promoted to deputy business editor in October. Connor Ennis, the Business Day weekend editor, will become his deputy. HuffPost Styles reporter John Koblin heads to the television beat, assuming a key industry perch recently vacated by veteran writer Bill Carter, who took a buyout. Koblin, who joined the Times in 2013, had previously covered media for Deadspin, WWD and The New York Observer. Capital New York Filling the hole created by longtime advertising columnist Stuart Elliott, who took a buyout, is Sydney Ember, an up-and-comer within the Times’ DealBook section who now “will help us make sense of the profound and complex changes in the advertising business, from the rise of ad tech to the dramatic shift of marketers’ ad dollars to mobile and social,” according to a Thursday staff memo from Murphy and Lattman.

Kathleen Matthews Likely to Run for Chris Van Hollen’s Seat (Politico)
Kathleen Matthews, Marriott International’s executive vice president and chief global communications and public affairs officer, and wife of MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, is planning to run for the seat of Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). TVNewser Chris isn’t the only Matthews with a TV news background, as Kathleen spent 25 years as a local news anchor at ABC’s Washington, D.C. affiliate WJLA. She “retired” from news in 2006 to join Marriott. TVSpy Van Hollen is looking to replace retiring senator Barbara Mikulski in 2016. Politico, which is owned by Robert Allbritton of the Allbritton family, which once owned WJLA, says Matthews has been interviewing political consultants.

Fox Business Network Inks Trish Regan (TVNewser)
Fox Business Network has signed Bloomberg’s Trish Regan as an anchor and markets reporter. Her first day on FBN will be April 6. In addition to her role at FBN, Regan will also provide financial commentary across Fox News Channel programs and on FoxBusiness.com. Business Insider Regan was previously anchor of Bloomberg TV’s Street Smart. She came to Bloomberg from CNBC. Variety She has also worked as a financial correspondent for the CBS Evening News and an anchor at CBS affiliate KPIX. Regan spent time working in the emerging debt markets group at Goldman Sachs and at hedge fund DE Shaw while pursuing a degree in American history at Columbia University. She is a member of The Council on Foreign Relations and the author of Joint Ventures: Inside America’s Almost Legal Marijuana Industry.

Matt Seiler Leaving CEO Role at IPG Mediabrands (Ad Age)
IPG Mediabrands’ Matt Seiler is stepping down from his post as global CEO at the company, Interpublic confirmed on Thursday, marking the latest in a series of senior leadership changes at Interpublic Group’s powerful media agency network. AgencySpy Seiler will be succeeded by Henry Tajer, currently global chief operating officer at IPG Mediabrands, who will relocate from Sydney to New York for the position. WSJ / CMO Today Seiler, who had held the global CEO role since January 2011, will remain Mediabrands’ chairman through the end of the year. He previously served as global CEO of UM and also had senior roles at Omnicom agencies. Interpublic last month reported 5.5 percent organic revenue growth for the year. Adweek IPG CEO Michael Roth credited Seiler with embracing innovation generally and specifically, automated ad buying and pay-for-performance contracts with marketers. It’s not clear where Seiler will land after his wind down as chairman.

Layoffs Hit Viacom’s TV Land; Esquire, E! Consolidate Marketing Posts (Variety)
Layoffs were implemented at TV Land Thursday, a cost-cutting move that is part of the recent restructuring of the cable network management of parent Viacom Inc. It’s not immediately clear how many positions were eliminated at TV Land. The pink slips are part of a restructuring unveiled last month that winnowed Viacom’s cable holdings from three distinct groups to two, one for music and entertainment headed by Doug Herzog, the other for kids and family fare headed by Nickelodeon chief Cyma Zarghami. Deadline A pair of E! execs are exiting their posts as the cable net is merging its marketing team with Esquire. SVP of marketing solutions Tim Rosta and Leigh Anne Gardner, SVP of print, online design and on-air design, are heading out.

Katharine Viner Wins Staff Ballot for Guardian Editor (The Guardian)
Staff of the Guardian and Observer have voted in favor of Katharine Viner, the current editor-in-chief of Guardian U.S., in an indicative ballot on who should be the next editor-in-chief when Alan Rusbridger steps down after 20 years this summer. Politico / Dylan Byers on Media The vote means Viner must be on the short list of three candidates from which the owner of the newspapers, the Scott Trust, will pick the next editor. In second place was Emily Bell, director of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University and a former editor of the Guardian. Janine Gibson, editor-in-chief of theguardian.com and widely believed to be the first choice, was in a close third place.

Nightline, Tonight Show Claim February Sweep Victories (Deadline)
ABC Thursday morning boasted Nightline had won its first ever February sweep in its later timeslot in total viewers, clocking ABC’s largest overall February sweep crowd in the slot in eight years. It was, ABC noted, the late-night newsmag’s second consecutive win in overall audience and its third of the last four. Variety The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, boosted in part by a weeklong trip to Los Angeles, drew nearly as many young adults (1.451 million/1.14 rating) as the combined totals of ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live (808,000/0.64 rating) and CBS’ Late Show With David Letterman (668,000/0.53 rating), according to “live plus same-day” Nielsen estimates.

Harrison Ford Injured in Small Plane Crash (Variety)
Harrison Ford was hospitalized on Thursday after crash landing a plane in Venice, Calif. The 72-year-old actor crash landed on Penmar Golf Course after something apparently went wrong mechanically with the single-engine plane at around 2:25 p.m. TheWrap During a press conference, Patrick Butler, 11th district chief for the Los Angeles Fire Department, said that Ford — who Butler did not identify by name — was “initially rescued by some bystanders who were here on the golf course” and was transported to a local hospital “in fair to moderate condition.”

FNC’s Bob Beckel Takes Time Off The Five (TVNewser)
Fox News Channel’s Bob Beckel has been missing from The Five roundtable since Feb. 16. A FNC spokesperson said: “Bob is taking some time off from The Five to focus on health issues, including an ailing back.”

CBS Sponsors Newseum’s ‘Reporting Vietnam’ Exhibit in Honor of Bob Simon (TVNewser)
CBS has announced it will sponsor an exhibit at the Newseum, “Reporting Vietnam,” in honor of Bob Simon, the 60 Minutes correspondent killed in a car crash last month.

NY Post Launches Comedy Site (FishbowlNY)
The New York Post is gambling that this “smartphone” trend is going to stick with the launch of Internet Action Force, a comedy site with a mobile-friendly lean.

Sling TV’s Web-TV Service Attracts at Least 100,000 Sign-Ups in First Month (Re/code)
Sling TV, Dish Network’s Web-TV service, has been open to U.S. customers for just over a month. And so far, it seems like Sling has generated some attention: Sources say at least 100,000 people have signed up to check out the $20-a-month service.

Conan in Cuba Clocks 2 Million Viewers on Opening Night (Deadline)
An average of nearly 2 million people watched the premiere of Conan in Cuba on opening night. For comparison’s sake, 642,000 watched O’Brien’s late night show, Conan, one night earlier. TVNewser “Reporting” from a rooftop in Havana, O’Brien decided the life of a foreign correspondent isn’t all that difficult. “I’m now realizing Anderson Cooper has a very easy job,” O’Brien said, as he brought viewers moment-to-moment updates on the barking of a dog. “This is what they do on CNN.”

CNN Tests New Ways to Mix Ads With News (Variety)
Do ads belong in the ubiquitous news ticker that scrolls along during so many TV-news broadcasts? CNN is willing to find out. The Time Warner-owned cable news outlet is open to the idea of running an advertiser’s logo in its bottom-of-the-screen zipper, so long as the appearance is tailored appropriately, said Katrina Cukaj, executive vice president of CNN ad sales.