| | | | | This is one of the busiest media news days in recent memory. So we'll try to catch you up on everything, starting here... | | | During his last event of the day on Wednesday, Donald Trump vocalized what his advisors are telling him: "We've got to be nice and cool, nice and cool, right? Stay on point, Donald, stay on point. No sidetracks, Donald. Nice and easy, niiiiiiiice..." | | And yet... Trump is ending his campaign the same way he began it, by badgering individual journalists. Per Dylan Byers, Trump once again singled out NBC's Katy Tur by name during a rally earlier in the day, reigniting concerns about reporters' safety at Trump rallies. After he called Tur out, "now this guy behind me is just endlessly taunting her," Yahoo's Holly Bailey tweeted. Journalists rallied around Tur on Twitter, writing supportive tweets with the hashtag #ImWithTur, which was trending by dinnertime.
When asked about the issue by Wolf Blitzer, Kellyanne Conway said the campaign had encouraged its supporters "to be civil." Read Dylan's full story... | | Both Clinton and Trump bought last-minute ad time during Game 7 -- the single greatest gathering of eyeballs between now and Election Day. Trump is expected to have three spots, and Clinton is expected to have four -- well, three, but one is a 60-second spot, so it basically counts as two. The NRA, which has endorsed Trump, also has an ad. Here's my story all about it...
-- $$$$$: The market price for an ad during Game 7 exceeds $500,000, but the campaigns are paying less. That is because broadcasters are legally required to give candidates the "lowest unit rate" for ad time... | | | How many people will tune in? | | | Fox expects Game 7 to be the network's most-watched MLB game in 15 years. Experts are predicting a ballpark audience of about 30 million viewers. What do you think? | | | TWO big shows: Game 7 and the CMA's | | | Game 7 on Fox and the CMAs (with Beyonce performing!) on ABC. So what about the other broadcasters? Brian Lowry emails: TV scheduling is no longer a zero-sum game thanks to DVRs, but when you see a runaway train coming at you, it's probably best to get out of the way. Hence NBC's decision to sub in reruns Wednesday night... | | The settlement paperwork was filed at lunchtime. Hulk Hogan is getting $31 million in cash. Shiva Ayyadurai, who's suing Gawker over a separate story, is settling for $750,000. Ashley Terrill, $500,000.
Nick Denton said he expected to prevail on appeal, but an "all-out legal war" with Peter Thiel "would have cost too much, and hurt too many people, and there was no end in sight." So the settlements allow us "all to move on, and focus on activities more productive than endless litigation." Wonder what Denton has in store next... | | | Denton says Hogan's retirement will be "comfortable" | | | Tom Kludt emails: In the end, Hulk Hogan is walking away with a much larger settlement than most would have expected before the trial -- back before Thiel's involvement in the case was confirmed. A couple days after Thiel pitied him as a mere "single-digit millionaire" with no access to the legal system, the former pro wrestler has inched up to eight-figure territory. But the ordeal has still been costly for Hogan, even if it was underwritten by Thiel. Hogan was banished by the WWE last year when leaked court documents revealed conversations in which he made racist remarks. The two-week trial brought some of the most intimate details of his personal life into national focus. This hasn't exactly been a pleasant process for Hogan. Then again, $31 million buys a lot of access... | | | There are lots and lots of legal bills to pay. The remainder of the $$$ Univision paid for Gawker Media will be divvied up between Denton and other investors. About 70 former Gawker staffers with equity in the defunct company will share in about $8 million under the bankruptcy wind-down plan... | | | WSJ trims paper -- and trims staff | | I've been getting text messages from WSJ staffers referring to the "sinking ship." Dylan Byers explains why: The WSJ has started laying off staff and will significantly trim down its print edition as it grapples with ad revenue declines. The downsized Journal, which will debut November 14, will combine some sections and reduce others, resulting in less coverage of arts, culture and local news. "Highlights," well really lowlights, from EIC Gerard Baker's memo to staff:
-- "All newspapers face structural challenges and we must move to create a print edition that can stand on a sound financial footing for the foreseeable future while our digital horizons continue to expand..."
-- "The new paper will maintain and strengthen our core news coverage -- the finest reporting on business, finance and economics -- but in a sharper, more concise, more coherent and more easily navigable form..." | | | The end of "Greater New York?" | | | More from Dylan: As part of the downsizing, WSJ's Greater New York section, which launched in 2010, will be folded into the main section of the paper... At noon, the Journal held a meeting with reporters from GNY and told them that their positions will be cut, though they will be eligible to reapply for new positions... | | | Part of a much larger trend... | | The WSJ is just part of a bigger, bleaker story. Print advertising is eroding faster than digital is expanding. This was demonstrated by the NYT's earnings on Wednesday morning -- the paper reported a 19% decline in print ad revenue, bringing total revenue down by 8%. Jonathan Martin tweeted: "Folks: subscribe to a paper. Democracy demands it."
CJR boss Kyle Pope called it "a wretched day, a wretched week, for anyone whose paycheck depends on print advertising…" Nieman's Joshua Benton totaled the damage this way: "NYT print advertising down 19% in Q3. Gannett down 15%. Postmedia down 21%. McClatchy down 17%."
Meanwhile, a Trump aide texted me one of Trump's favorite words about the NYT: "Failing." | | | DOJ files suit against DirecTV | | | Chris Isidore reports: The DOJ filed suit against DirecTV and its owner AT&T on Wednesday, charging that it colluded with cable companies in L.A. to ensure that none of them would broadcast Dodgers baseball games in the area. Here's what the suit is all about. AT&T says DirecTV's decisions were made legally -- and before AT&T took over the satellite TV provider. "We look forward to presenting these facts in court..." | | | Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes, reporting stronger-than-expected Q3 earnings on Wednesday, reiterated that the company expects AT&T's acquisition to clear regulatory hurdles by the end of 2017. That said, CNNMoney's Paul La Monica notes that TWX's stock, "trading around $88 a share, is still well below the $107.50 per share that AT&T has offered for the company. The discrepancy between the stock price and what AT&T has proposed to pay is a sign investors fear regulators may not approve the deal." Today TWX fell closer to $87... | | | Time Warner boosts outlook for the full year | | | La Monica's earnings recap: "Strong results from Time Warner's cable networks and movie studio drove the gains... Adjusted operating profit rose 12% to $2.1 billion, or $1.83 a share. Wall Street was expecting earnings of $1.37 a share... The company also boosted its outlook for the full year..." | | | What CNN and Fox have in common right now... | | | Ad revenue gains at CNN and Fox News lifted the Q3 earnings of Time Warner and 21st Century Fox respectively. Both companies cited huge interest in election coverage. Fox's earnings came out after the closing bell... They were mostly in line with Wall Street expectations... | | | Murdoch pooh-poohs "scale for scale's sake" | | | Via Variety's Brent Lang: On an earnings call, James Murdoch "said he felt no pressure to get bigger in response to the Time Warner deal. 'Scale for scale's sake is not something that we think should be pursued,' he said..." | | | "No real change in strategy" at Fox News | | Worth noting: Early in Q3, Roger Ailes resigned... But Fox News didn't seem to miss a beat, financially speaking... Murdoch said "the channel is just as strong as it's ever been." And: "There's no real change in strategy..."
-- Related: Fox has been enjoying a ratings surge ever since James Comey's surprise letter last Friday. As MSNBC's Chris Matthews said Wednesday night on "Hardball," "Republicans are all giddy about this. They're all giddy about this..." | | -- "Facebook's incredible ad sales machine is slowing down," CNNMoney's Seth Fiegerman reports, but the company still has an incredible story to tell. Its Q3 earnings demonstrate that FB "has added the equivalent of Twitter's entire user base in one year..." (CNNMoney)
-- The latest survey by Ipsos finds that CNN is the "global leader in news amongst affluent audiences..." (CNN)
-- Mila Kunis writes about sexism in the film industry... In an open letter on her husband Ashton Kutcher's web site... (A Plus) | | | Three reads about Brazile | | | No Rolling Stone verdict yet | | CNNMoney writer Julia Horowitz emails: On Wednesday evening jurors headed home after one day of deliberations in Nicole Eramo's defamation case against Rolling Stone... Remember, she's seeking $7.5 million from the mag, Wenner Media and reporter Sabrina Rubin Erdely... The key here: Journalists and readers were stunned to learn Erdely never spoke to the men identified as Jackie's attackers in the discredited "Rape on Campus" article... But because a judge ruled that Eramo is a public figure, the jury of 10 needs to determine the magazine acted with "actual malice" -- making statements it knew were false, or showing reckless disregard. That's a high bar...
Horowitz and contributor Lauren Jackson will be reporting from Charlottesville on Thursday... | | | Happy birthday to this newsletter! | | | My wife reminded me that Wednesday is the one-year anniversary of this "Reliable" newsletter. (She even lit a candle on a cupcake to celebrate -- thank you Jamie!) So happy anniversary, everybody... Whether you've been reading for 365 days or just one... Thank you for signing up and sticking with us... | | | Final countdown to Election Day | | | | An interview with Steve Bannon! Sorta | | Steve Bannon called into the satellite radio show he used to host, "Breitbart News Daily," and said the Trump movement represents a "sea change in American politics" and the "first inning" of the GOP's future.
Via The Hill, he also confirmed that he plans to return to Breitbart post-election: "My term of duty here ends on the evening of the 8th... I look forward to getting back and being part of this... It's something I miss a lot..." | | On the radio Wednesday afternoon, Sean Hannity apologized for spreading that fake news story on Tuesday. While on the topic, check out Ahiza Garcia and Justin Lear's new list of five ridiculous fake stories that reached millions of people...
-- "FAN FICTION." Matt Pearce nailed it with this tweet: "A lot of the election news circulating on Facebook right now is basically fan-fiction..." | | | On "OutFront" Wednesday night, Erin Burnett plugged her panelist Jeffrey Toobin's book about the 2000 recount. "We'll see if he has another bestseller coming out of this one," she said. As the panel chuckled, Toobin cracked a joke, "Bad for the world, good for me..." | | | I'll be joining Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota around 6:40am Thursday... Talking about how the candidates are avoiding news interviews in the final days of the campaign... | | | Brian Lowry reviews "The Crown" | | | Brian Lowry emails: Netflix's latest big bet, "The Crown," seems like a can't-miss commodity, chronicling the rise and reign of Queen Elizabeth, with Claire Foy as the Queen and John Lithgow as Winston Churchill. But as gorgeous as it is, the slow pace sort of makes it the opposite of binge-worthy. Read Brian's full review here... | | | Will moviegoers look past Mel Gibson's past? | | | More from Brian: Mel Gibson is getting solid reviews for his World War II drama "Hacksaw Ridge," which opens this week, but like Nate Parker and "The Birth of a Nation," he might not be the best advocate for his movie. Labeled a pariah in Hollywood circles for his use of anti-Semitic slurs, Gibson was treated mostly with kid gloves by Stephen Colbert on CBS' "The Late Show" on Tuesday, but the actor/director still came off as defensive and uncomfortable when the subject of his past arose... | | | Megan Thomas emails: For some election news counter-programming, my current binge watch obsession is Amazon's "Good Girls Revolt." It's based on Lynn Povich's memoir about the class action sexual discrimination lawsuit she and about 60 other women filed against Newsweek in 1970. The show is a fictional spin on Povich's story, but the issues it raises are as timely today as they were 40 years ago. Think "Mad Men" meets "Sex in the City" with a dash of Fox News scandal... | | -- Jon Stewart ripped into Trump at "Stand Up for Heroes" last night... Frank Pallotta has a recap here...
-- By Lisa France: Val Kilmer appreciates all the concern, but he says Michael Douglas got it wrong and he has "no cancer whatsoever..."
-- More from Lisa: Kim Kardashian West made a very brief return to social media this week... Leaving fans wanting more...
-- Bono has become the first man to make Glamour's Women of the Year list and some people are not digging it... | | | What do you like about this newsletter? What do you dislike? Send your feedback to reliablesources@cnn.com. We appreciate every email... And we'll be back tomorrow night... | | | Get Reliable Sources, a comprehensive summary of the most important media news, delivered to your inbox every afternoon. | | | | | |
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