| | | | Shari's play: pushing CBS and Viacom to reunite | | And so it begins: The Redstones officially want their two companies, Viacom and CBS, to reunite.
National Amusements is about to send a letter to the boards of Viacom and CBS "asking them to consider a merger," a person familiar with the matter told me Wednesday afternoon. Reuters first reported the news. The WSJ says the letter will arrive before the market opens on Thursday. But the message has obviously already arrived.
WSJ's Keach Hagey and Joe Flint frame it this way: "Shari Redstone is moving to undo the last big strategic move of her ailing father, Sumner Redstone." (Reminder: Viacom and CBS split in 2006.) Michael Nathanson is the first person quoted in their story: "We never thought they should ever be separated." | | So what happens when two of the biggest media companies in the world reunite?
Will Les Moonves get what he wants? More from Hagey and Flint: "People close to Viacom and CBS think Mr. Moonves won't be sold on a deal unless CBS is valued at a premium to Viacom and he has the same level of autonomy he currently enjoys at CBS. His contract allows him to leave if the composition of the board changes..." | | | Vanity Fair's Trump/Kardashian screw-up | | A misstep by Vanity Fair: It published a story on Wednesday night saying Donald Trump "just went there" -- that he just said Kim Kardashian had "gotten a bit large." The item implied Trump made the "body shaming" remark earlier in the day. But it actually happened back in 2013 on HLN's former show "Showbiz Tonight."
How did this error happen? VF isn't saying. The site initially fixed the story and attached a correction at the very bottom. Now the correction is at the top of the story, but the damage has already been done... | | What the Clinton campaign is doing to make Alicia Machado a household name | | It started at the debate. Now, "with the Clinton campaign's help," Alicia Machado is on "a publicity blitz," NYT's Amy Chozick and Michael Grynbaum write. She's been "referred to on TV more than 6,023 times and mentioned on Twitter nearly 200,000 times," partly due to interviews on ABC, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, Univision, and Telemundo. Here's the behind the scenes story...
-- What I'm wondering: If Clinton introduced Machado's story during the first debate, who/what is she saving for the third/final debate? | | | Trump falsely claims Google is "suppressing the bad news about Hillary" | | Trump continues to claim that he won all the post-debate "polls," even though that's not true. (I'll have more on this at CNNMoney on Thursday.) Meantime, on "The O'Reilly Factor" and at at rally in Wisconsin on Wednesday, he peddled another falsehood, a conspiracy theory about Google.
"Google's search engine was suppressing the bad news about Hillary Clinton," he claimed. CNNPolitics' Jeremy Diamond points out that "Trump's remarks Wednesday night came two weeks after Sputnik News, a Russian government-controlled news agency, published a report claiming that Google search results are biased in Clinton's favor. Conservative news outlets, including Breitbart News, whose chairman became Trump's campaign CEO last month, linked to the report." CNNMoney's David Goldman wrote the definitive debunking of this theory back in June... Read it here... | | | Speaking of conspiracies.... | | | There's a new one making the rounds that says Lester Holt somehow "broke the rules" by wearing an earpiece during the debate. Snopes is using one of my stories to explain why he was wearing an earpiece... | | | Leaks, leaks and more leaks | | | Sign of trouble inside Trumpworld? Lots and lots of leaks... And then more leaks to counter the leaks... | | | Meet your new Trump on "SNL" | | | Alec Baldwin (not Darrell Hammond!) will play Trump on "SNL" at least until the election, a source confirmed to Frank Pallotta Wednesday. NBC released a promo touting Baldwin and Kate McKinnon prepping for a debate parody... | | | Affidavit from Tantaros therapist says she described Ailes harassment in 2014 | | THR's Eriq Gardner: "Andrea Tantaros is urging a New York judge to keep her sexual harassment lawsuit against Fox News in open court with new papers that include an affidavit from her therapist about counseling that occurred as early as 2014 as well as an email from a reporter." More: "Judd Burstein, Tantaros' lawyer, argues in papers that his client's 'prior consistent statements to her therapist' supports that she's telling the truth and not an opportunist."
Variety's Brian Steinberg: Burstein is also saying that Tantaros "turned down a settlement offer in the 'seven figures' and would continue to press her case..." | | -- Peter Kafka reports: "YouTube just hired music legend Lyor Cohen to make peace with the labels..." (Recode)
-- Third Q #'s: "All three major cable news networks saw growth over the previous Q3 in 2015" thanks to the conventions and election coverage. Fox News #1 overall; Fox Business right on CNBC's heels... (Mediaite)
-- A disturbing read in Denver's alt weekly paper: "Can the Denver Post Survive Its Hedge-Fund Owners?" (Westword)
-- The latest on HulkVsGawk: "Lawyers representing Hulk Hogan and other Gawker Media creditors have asked a bankruptcy judge to authorize a probe into transactions conducted by the online-media company before its bankruptcy filing in June..." (WSJ)
-- I missed this yesterday: Andy Lack told Erik Wemple that Brian Williams's credibility problems are "ancient history to me..." (WashPost) | | Sandra Gonzalez emails:
Sad news sending shockwaves through TV: "NCIS" showrunner Gary Glasberg died in his sleep Wednesday morning. In a time when showrunners get almost as much ink as stars, he was a recognizable figure among the show's fans -- and well liked among those who cover and have covered his show. He'll be very missed. Read more about Glasberg here... | | More from Sandra: Agnes Nixon, a woman who brought years of drama to daytime TV as the creator of "All My Children" and "One Life to Live," has died. She was 93. Bob Iger called her a TV pioneer: "Agnes' impact on daytime television and pop culture is undeniable."
-- More: Via the LATimes, here are reactions from the daytime TV community... | | | In defense of newspaper endorsements | | | Why bother with newspaper editorial board endorsements of candidates? Margaret Sullivan answers: "If the right factors come together, editorials really can influence voters' decisions." One factor is unexpectedness; red state papers endorsing Clinton are certainly unexpected. Also: "Publishing them is the right thing to do." Here's her full column... | | | Arizona Republic receiving death threats | | | Related: Per the NBC station in Phoenix, "the Arizona Republic says it has received death threats and countless subscription cancellations over its endorsement of Hillary Clinton -- the first time in the paper's 126 year history it has ever supported a Democrat for president..." | | | NYT review of book about Hitler doubles as case against Trump | | Dylan Byers emails: Michiko Kakutani, grand dame of the New York Times Book Review, has gone after Trump with a review of a new Hitler biography that draws unmistakable parallels between the rise of the German Fuhrer and the rise of Trump. In it, Michi -- as she is known among friends and colleagues -- writes of Hitler as an "egomaniac" who "rose to power through demagoguery, showmanship and nativist appeals to the masses," and of a nation where millions naively embraced "his doctrine of hatred."
Though she never mentioned Trump by name, the true subject of her review was clear: "The beauty of this @michikokakutani review is that it doesn't make the obvious point because it doesn't need to," Carlos Lozada tweeted. "Arguably the most compelling case made against Trump by anyone yet," tweeted Edward-Isaac Dovere. Read Dylan's full story here...
-- More: Dean Baquet emails Dylan: "It was a great review of a big and obviously important book..." | | | CNN publishing a book about the election | | | "Surprise!" CNN SVP Ed O'Keefe writes on Twitter: "For almost two years, CNN has had a team at work on a book documenting this incredible election -- it's called 'Unprecedented.'" It's up on Amazon now... It'll be published in digital form within 24 hours of the election, and in print in December. Thomas Lake writing, Jodi Enda editing. Other CNNers are contributing campaign trail stories and insights. I'm writing an essay about the media's role... | | "I've surrendered to my natural instincts, and to how I actually feel on a daily basis."
--Stephen Colbert telling Dave Itzkoff about his evolution as "Late Show" host... | | | What will the FCC decide? | | | The FCC's proposed rules "to let pay-TV subscribers free themselves from set-top boxes may be in jeopardy," USA Today's Mike Snider reports. The commissioners will vote on Thursday... The measure would "require pay-TV providers make free apps available to let subscribers watch programming on other devices without the need of a set-top box..." Details here... | | Richard Deitsch has the scoop: ESPN execs "are exploring moving Mike Greenberg — one half of the long-running Mike & Mike radio show on ESPN Radio — into a new role as the lead host of a TV show that would air between 6–10 a.m on ESPN... Such a move would put an end to end to Greenberg's on-air partnership with Mike Golic, which began in October 1998."
Deitsch notes that "no decision is final yet." But the mornings are a challenge for ESPN right now... The network needs to "reengineer its morning 'SportsCenter' show..." | | | Reviewing "Marvel's Luke Cage" | | | Brian Lowry emails: Cheo Hodari Coker and I started at the Los Angeles Times the same week. Twenty years later, he's producing his first series as a showrunner, "Marvel's Luke Cage," and I'm reviewing it. So at least one of us made good... | | | Woody Allen's disappointing Amazon series | | Here's Lowry's other review of the day:
"'I'm not sure where to begin,' Woody Allen said of the idea of doing TV when Amazon announced he would create his first series for the service. What he ended up producing -- 'Crisis in Six Scenes,' a tired comedy that feels entirely phoned in, as if pieced together from snippets of Allen's old movies -- shows just how true that was..." | | -- Rick Perry was eliminated from "Dancing With the Stars" Tuesday night, but he said "I'll be back..." (Dallas Morning News)
-- Per Lisa France: You can thank the success of Jon Favreau's "Jungle Book" for the fact that a "Lion King" live action remake is coming... (CNN)
-- Also via Lisa: Entertainment Tonight scored a big exclusive with photos they say show a very pregnant Janet Jackson... (CNN)
-- Chloe Melas sits down with Andrea Bocelli... (CNN) | | Tell us what you think... | | | What do you like about this newsletter? What do you dislike? Send your feedback to reliablesources@cnn.com. We appreciate every email. We'll be back tomorrow... | | | Get Reliable Sources, a comprehensive summary of the most important media news, delivered to your inbox every afternoon. | | | | | |
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