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March Madness TV Ads Nearly Sold Out

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March Madness TV Ads Nearly Sold Out

March Madness isn’t just a bonanza for basketball fans. It’s also a fun time for television advertising executives, because the NCAA Tournament is “virtually sold out”.

Warner Bros. Discovery Executive Vice President of Advertising Sales Jon Diament reports that the company “significantly surpassed the previous year” with its advertising efforts.

Meanwhile, Executive Vice President of CBS Sports Sales John Bogusz claimed the network saw increases as well, noting that 30-second commercials in the NCAA Championship Game were sold for more than $2 million.

“You’ve probably heard about headwinds in the advertising community and spending being a little softer. That is not the case in the sports marketplace,” Bogusz said. “[It] continues to hold up extremely well in this economic environment, and that holds true for the NCAA tournament.”

A report from AdWeek’s Mollie Cahillane claimed every corporate partner from the 2022 tournament is returning, excluding Geico. However, Dick’s Sporting Goods replaced the insurance provider, keeping the corporate sponsorship total at 17.

Cahillane also noted that while other major sporting event advertising had been affected by the collapse of the cryptocurrency market, the NCAA Tournament did not see any advertising from those companies in 2022.

NPR Taps Michel Martin as New Morning Edition Host

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NPR Taps Michel Martin as New Morning Edition Host

NPR is adding veteran journalist Michel Martin as its new host of Morning Edition.

Beginning Monday, March 27th, the longtime weekend host will shift to anchoring the network’s morning program that was previously hosted by Rachel Martin before her February exit.

Michel Martin joined NPR in 2006, and is the current host of the weekend edition of All Things Considered, and the podcast Consider This. She also previously hosted Tell Me More, which aired on NPR stations from 2007 through 2014.

Martin told 19thnews.org that she is concerned about the media landscape, and jumped at the opportunity to move to the morning show.

“I think a lot of us are worried right now. A lot of people seem to have decided that they only want to hear what they already agree with, so now we’re not in the business of creating knowledge or sharing knowledge but just reinforcing opinions that already exist,” Martin said. 

“I feel very strongly that the one and only way you can break through that is to be useful, to be compassionate and be consistent, to let people understand that you’re going to do your job as best you can, day in and day out. Hopefully, that will let them then trust you when you tell them something they don’t want to hear and give them reason to believe you.”

Before joining NPR, Martin covered politics and the White House for The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and ABC News.

Morning Edition is currently hosted by Leila Fadel, Steve Inskeep, and A Martinez.

Hugh Douglas: 2005 Fight With Terrell Owens Started With Angelo Cataldi

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Angelo Cataldi is to blame for the infamous 2005 fight in the Philadelphia Eagles locker room according to Hugh Douglas. Well, sort of.

A caller asked Douglas, who recently took over as co-host of the new midday show at 94 WIP, what he remembers about that incident. The former Eagles linebacker remembers it clearly, including the fact that Owens blamed him for things that former 94 WIP morning man Angelo Cataldi was saying.

“It started here at WIP, and it started with Angelo Cataldi,” Douglas said on Wednesday’s show. “The controversy started, because that’s when I started first doing radio. I’m sitting on the Morning Show. Angelo is going in on Terrell Owens…talking about he’s a bad person, yadda, yadda, yadda. So I’m sitting there and I’m not saying a whole lot. I don’t have an opinion, but Angelo is being Angelo and somebody tells Terrell that I am on the radio talking bad about him.”

Douglas said he left the studio that day and went to the Eagles practice facility. There, Terrell Owens was waiting for him and demanding answers about what he had been told.

“I’m like, ‘Dude, I didn’t say anything about you,'” Douglas explained. “So long story short, we get into a little bit of a scuffle, which nobody hit anybody. And then all of the sudden, the story comes out that we were in there fighting and whatever, but it didn’t happen like that.”

During his playing days, Hugh Douglas made time for Angelo Cataldi and 94 WIP. He served as an Eagles ambassador to the station and was a regular contributor to the morning show.

Last month, Cataldi retired from radio after 33 years at 94 WIP. Joe DeCamara and Jon Ritchie moved from middays into mornings. The station’s new midday show is made up of former nighttime host Joe Giglio and Douglas, who returned to Philadelphia after hosting the morning show at 92.9 The Game in Atlanta.

WWE Meets With State Regulators To Legalize Betting On Scripted Matches

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WWE Meets With State Regulators To Legalize Betting On Scripted Matches

Would you place a bet on an event with a pre-determined outcome? The WWE thinks you will. That is why the company is exploring what its options are for making it legal for fans to bet on its scripted matches.

Alex Sherman of CNBC reports that WWE bosses have discussed the possibility with regulators in Michigan and Colorado. The steps that professional wrestling would have to take are significant, but so are the implications if regulators approve betting on scripted matches.

Sherman writes that the WWE is already working with Ernst and Young to secure the scripted results of its matches. The company wants to show regulators that it can keep the results from leaking to the public before shows air.

Ernst and Young is the accounting firm trusted with keeping the results of Oscar voting secret. That event has already been approved for bettors. The Academy Awards will be on cards at several sportsbooks including FanDuel and DraftKings before the trophies are handed out on March 12.

If gambling on WWE matches became legal, it could cause some big changes in television. On the gambling front, it could open the door for bettors to lay money down on the results of other scripted events. Sherman cites the deaths of major characters on television shows as an example.

As for writers, they would have to lock in stories months in advance. The WWE points out that this would be a change to the way their shows are written. It would ensure that line movement does not change the scripted outcome.

Vince McMahon is actively searching for a buyer for the WWE. He and board members are set to begin meeting with potential buyers next month. McMahon’s asking price is reportedly near $9 billion. The ability to generate significant gambling revenue would almost certainly help push bids closer to that number.

Howie Carr: The Best TV Pundits Are Former Newspaper Writers

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Howie Carr: The Best TV Pundits Are Former Newspaper Writers

Fox News host Tucker Carlson has taken shots from many over the last few weeks, but conservative radio host Howie Carr isn’t one of them.

Carlson has been criticized for his encapsulation of the January 6th Insurrection after recieving 40,000 hours of security camera footage from inside the Capitol from Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). The Fox News host said rioters were “sightseers” and that the demonstration was largely “peaceful chaos”.

During The Howie Carr Show Wednesday, Carr called Carlson a good journalist, but added that the best television news pundits often come from a newspaper background.

“Tucker Carlson — he’s trying to be a good journalist. He comes out of print. I’ve said this before — Rupert Murdoch used to tell us that,” Carr said. “We need people to come out of print, because they’re the people who know how to get the facts, how to push a story, how to make it readable, or watchable, or viewable.

“There’s something to that. However, Tucker is a good journalist. He really is a journalist in addition to being an anchor and a TV editor. But they’re attacking him, and it’s so over the top.”

Carr later added he believed that the 40,000 hours of security camera footage from the January 6th Insurrection should be given to all media outlets, and not just Carlson, saying “It’s all government footage. Technically, we the people own that footage. It’s our cameras in our building, what’s the problem with us seeing it?”

Steven Crowder Taking Show to Rumble

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Steven Crowder Taking Show to Rumble

Political commentator Steven Crowder has announced he will join video platform Rumble for his popular show.

“We’re betting on ourselves and hedging our bets because Rumble actually supports what we do. There’s gonna be some headaches,” Crowder joked. “Not everyone’s gonna thrilled with this. YouTube’s gonna be pissed.”

The agreement between Crowder and Rumble ends a very public search for a new home for the conservative host. Crowder publicly clashed with The Daily Wire over it’s offer to him.

“I believe many of those in the right-leaning media are actually at odds with what’s best for you — the viewer, the customer — and more importantly the country,” Crowder said, without naming the digital outlet co-founded by Ben Shapiro and Jeremy Boreing.

In response, Boreing posted a nearly hourlong video to YouTube refuting some of the claims made by Crowder.

“Steven’s been my friend for 10 years. I think he’s maybe the most talented person working in the conservative media space,” Boreing said. “He’s one of the top entertainers in the country, politics notwithstanding. I find it really tragic that we’re having this kind of conversation.”

Boreing confirmed the company offered Crowder a 4-year, $50 million contract, with a two-year option for an additional $25 million. However, the contract had stipulations about how often Crowder could pre-record his program, and also featured clauses that would strip him of earnings should he fail to meet show totals in a given year.

“I went into free agency, I looked over the offers, and I saw the claws come out,” Crowder said of the demands at the time. “I don’t just mean unreasonable demands for control, but what I would argue are immoral terms that actually punish conservative content creators on behalf of big tech.”

After the announcement of his agreement with Rumble was made public, the platform shared a photo of Crowder’s plaque commemorating hitting the 1 million YouTube subscriber mark placed prominently in a bathroom at the video platform’s headquarters. The plaque was riddled with bullet holes.

Former Fox News Contributor Questions Tucker Carlson’s Future

BNM Staff
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Former Fox News Contributor Questions Tucker Carlson’s Future

Tucker Carlson has been at the front and center of the discussion in news media circles in recent weeks, and a former Fox News contributor has added fuel to that fire.

Jonah Goldberg — who departed Fox News in 2021 after the network aired Carlson’s Patriot Purge documentary on streaming service Fox Nation — appeared on Erin Burnett OutFront on CNN Wednesday and was asked about the recent messages uncovered by the Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit against Fox News that revealed Carlson privately told colleagues he “passionately” hated former President Donald Trump.

Goldberg shared he had never been told by Carlson that he hated the previous President, but did add that the Fox News host is “a lot smarter than a lot of the other people playing the same game Tucker is playing.”

When asked by Burnett about whether or not the messages threaten Carlson’s professional existence, Goldberg questioned what the primetime host’s future with the network.

“Well, you might think it would except he’s kind of spent the last week since the latest Dominion revelations, doubling and tripling down on the act. Maybe he knows something or has a theory of the case. Maybe he thinks he’s un-firable. Maybe he’s playing a stop-me-before-I-kill-again game with Rupert (Murdoch), trying to get himself fired so he can make himself a martyr.”

Goldberg’s comments come after previously stating that Fox News had “created a monster with their audience that they were then terrified of,” after some of the original messages detailing behind-the-scenes feelings of the network’s anchors and executives came to light.

Dan Abrams: Are The Inmates Running the Asylum at Fox News?

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Fox News has been under heavy scrutiny in recent weeks for a variety of reasons, and NewsNation host Dan Abrams is the latest to question the developments.

As part of its evidence gathering in its defamation lawsuit against the network, Dominion Voting Systems uncovered text messages revealing Fox News hosts and executives privately disavowed the stances of then-President Trump’s legal team surrounding the 2020 Presidential election.

However, the hosts — namely Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, and Laura Ingraham — publicly welcomed Trump’s lawyers to their programs to air the arguments the hosts privately disagreed with.

Monday, Carlson aired a portion of the more than 40,000 hours of security camera footage from the January 6th Insurrection at the Capitol he was given by Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), and alleged the footage “demolishes” what had previously been reported about the event.

Carlson claimed the rioters were not there to do any harm, calling them “sightseers”. That encapsulation was criticized by many, including Republican senators and even former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly.

During Dan Abrams Live Wednesday, the host played a portion of a package aired during Special Report with Bret Baier that essentially disavowed the claims from Carlson. After the report, Baier said “and to be clear, no one here at Fox News condones any of the violence that happened on January 6th”.

“That comment can’t be interpreted as anything other than a rebuke of Tucker Carlson, who has been claiming that the entire event was peaceful chaos,” Abrams said. “Kudos to Bret Baier for speaking up and making that report, but it makes you wonder what is going on over there.

“Airing differences of opinion are a good thing, but this isn’t two-sided. Fox News hosts deceived their audience — both then and now — and it makes you wonder whether the inmates are running the asylum in a way that never would have occurred if Roger Ailes was still in charge. The question though, now, is will there be a reckoning at Fox News? Will any changes come to the network?”

Abrams’ question on whether any changes will come to the network takes place after Drudge Report claimed Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott was not at risk of losing her position with the network. However, Senior Associate Dean for Leadership Studies at the Yale School of Management Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld — a leading media consultant and analyst — told CNN the network has a “duty to remove” Scott and other executives or face potential litigation from shareholders.

Damon Bruce and Ray Ratto Let Go As Part of 95.7 The Game Lineup Shuffle

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Damon Bruce and Ray Ratto Let Go As Part of 95.7 The Game Lineup Shuffle

95.7 The Game is making a big change to its weekday lineup. The San Francisco sports station is moving from four daily shows to three, and as a result, two veteran on-air talents are left on the outside looking in.

The two hosts left without a show are Damon Bruce and Ray Ratto. The two men had worked together in afternoons since September 2019. Bruce had been featured in PM drive on The Game even longer, joining the station originally in March 2014.

With Damon and Ratto out, The Game will move its midday team of Mark Willard and Dan Dibley to afternoons. Willard & Dibs are expected to move to 2p-6p starting Monday. Their exit from middays gives Matt Steinmetz and Daryle ‘The Guru’ Johnson an extra hour for their show. Steiny and Guru will expand their program to 10a-2p. The morning team of Bonta Hill and Joe Shasky will also add an hour, extending their program from 6a-10a.

The decision to shift from four shows to three is something Audacy has done in other markets. Whether the move was financially motivated or based on another factor is unclear.

What is strange is Damon and Ratto finished ahead of KNBR in the ratings in afternoon drive in the fall book. Willard and Dibs were the lone show on The Game to not win its head to head matchup for the quarter.

With the schedule change, Mark and Dan will now go head to head with KNBR’s Tom Tolbert and Adam Copeland. How they perform moving forward will be of great interest to many inside and outside of the company. Meanwhile, Bruce and Ratto will soon have a chance to consider new opportunities both locally and elsewhere.

Brian Stelter: Dominion Wants ‘To Make This Painful For Fox’

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On Wednesday, former CNN host, Brian Stelter, joined “The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz” to discuss Fox News’s recent controversies. The network faces a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems and criticism from pundits who view Tucker Carlson’s broadcast of previously unseen surveillance tapes from January 6th as journalistically unethical. 

Stelter, who penned a piece for Vanity Fair called “‘We’re All Embarrassed’: Inside Fox New as Dominion Revelations Rattle the Network”, shared that he has Fox News sources unhappy with recent news events, with some even considering the network’s content a danger to democracy.

Stelter went on to describe Fox News as three distinct parts: a large opinion operation with personalities such as “Fox & Friends,” Laura Ingraham, and Maria Bartiromo, a small news operation with real journalists who often get overshadowed by the opinion hosts, and finally, Tucker Carlson’s world, which Stelter views as separate from the rest of the opinion operation. Stelter shared that some journalists at the network believe that some of the opinion hosts are doing the network a disservice and that the three functioning parts of Fox News Channel dislike each other.

“Tucker Carlson is the biggest star, but he’s separate from the rest of the opinion operation. He does stuff nobody dares to do, like how he’s trying to whitewash the reality of the riot on January 6th.” 

Stelter also discussed the defamation lawsuit brought against Fox News by Dominion Voting Systems, stating that the big challenge in court will be determining whether the hosts’ commentary meets the defamation standard. Stelter named Lou Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo, and Sean Hannity as hosts whose names come up repeatedly in the case, along with Tucker Carlson, who was more careful on his show than some of the others.

Stelter concluded that he had recently interviewed many people inside Fox News for Vanity Fair and that there was a consensus that the defamation lawsuit would be settled before the trial begins in April.

“Many people believe that Fox has tried to settle, but Dominion doesn’t want to settle,” he said. “They want to make this painful for Fox; they want to go to court because they believe they have a strong case. If I had to guess right now, there would be some settlement because Fox does not want its biggest stars to testify in an open courtroom about all of this.” 

In a statement to Barrett News Media, a Fox News spokesperson said “Dominion and its private equity owners join a long line of public figures and corporations across the country that have long tried to silence the press and this lawsuit from Staple Street Capital-owned Dominion is nothing more than another flagrant attack on the First Amendment. Fox News will continue to fiercely protect the free press as a ruling in favor of Dominion would have grave consequences for journalism across this country.”

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