Exec summary: Welcome to the weekend. Megyn Kelly's NBC exit is official, "True Detective" is back, CBS has a new deal with Nielsen... Plus, the "Colbert primary" is underway and Shep Smith is fact-checking his own network again...
We need answers
A New York Times headline for the history books: "FBI INVESTIGATED IF TRUMP WORKED FOR THE RUSSIANS." | | The web headline has a little bit more detail: "F.B.I. Opened Inquiry Into Whether Trump Was Secretly Working on Behalf of Russia."
The story hit around 8:15. CNN and MSNBC producers scrambled to cover it live. (Fox News producers, not so much.) Editors in newsrooms from D.C. to L.A. tried to figure out if they could match the reporting.
"In the days after President Trump fired James B. Comey as F.B.I. director, law enforcement officials became so concerned by the president's behavior that they began investigating whether he had been working on behalf of Russia against American interests," Adam Goldman, Michael S. Schmidt and Nicholas Fandos wrote, citing "former law enforcement officials and others familiar with the investigation."
Later in the evening, CNN confirmed that "counterintelligence agents were investigating why Trump was acting in ways that seemed to benefit Russia, according to a source familiar with the matter."
The backstory
According to Benjamin Wittes, the NYT had been working on this story for weeks. Wittes said that Michael Schmidt contacted him "shortly before the holidays."
Wittes wrote a blog post for Lawfare about why Schmidt called and what they discussed. The post is an absolute must-read. Wittes: "Observers of the Russia investigation have generally understood Special Counsel Robert Mueller's work as focusing on at least two separate tracks: collusion between the Russian government and the Trump campaign, on the one hand, and potential obstruction of justice by the president, on the other. But what if the obstruction was the collusion—or at least a part of it?"
The non-response
Sarah Sanders came out with a statement that said "this is absurd" and that "unlike President Obama," Trump "has actually been tough on Russia." When Don Lemon read the statement on CNN, Goldman said, "I'm not sure that response has anything to do with my reporting. The facts are what they are."
Top reactions
-- NBC's Ken Dilanian tweeted: "This always felt like a central question of the Mueller investigation. Kudos to the NYT for digging out how it got started. The big question now is how it will finish."
-- HuffPost's Sam Stein: "What this does likely mean is that sometime soon a reporter is going to straight up have to ask Trump: 'Are you a Russian asset?' And it will be a legit question.
-- Juliette Kayyem speaking on "CNN Tonight:" "How WOULD a president compromised by the Russians behave? Give me any moment in the last two years where Trump has behaved differently."
-- Fox's Mark Levin tweeted: "OUTRAGEOUS."
| | IN OTHER NEWS...
CBS and Nielsen strike a new deal
Eleven days after the old contract expired, the network and the ratings provider announced a new one on Friday evening. Variety's Brian Steinberg has some details here. I think we're going to see this keep happening as TV companies challenge Nielsen and look for alternative data suppliers...
Megyn Kelly and NBC say goodbye
Two years and one week after she joined NBC amid great fanfare, Megyn Kelly is "no longer an employee of NBC." That's what the network's statement said on Friday night, shortly after the necessary documents were signed and delivered.
NBC said the parties "have resolved their differences." That means, according to sources, she's out; she gets paid the remainder of her three-year $69 million contract; and she's bound by a nondisparagement clause, limiting what she can say about her time at NBC.
Who's hiring?
Kelly is not believed to be subject to any noncompete clause, which means that in theory she can join another network right away. But she doesn't currently have an agent, and there is no indication that she has another job lined up.
"You will definitely see me back on" TV, she told paparazzo on Thursday night... Here's what Tom Kludt and I wrote about the resolution...
Why NBC won't miss her
John Koblin and Michael Grynbaum's NYT story notes that in the time since Kelly "has been off the air, viewership totals for the hour have gone up 18%." Craig Melvin, Al Roker, Sheinelle Jones, and Dylan Dreyer are regular co-hosts of the 9 a.m. hour... And it's working...
2019 is proving the #MeToo fight is just beginning
"If 2018 was the year when women in Hollywood and their allies called for change, this year may be when we learn if companies and industries that claimed to support their words take actions to do so," Sandra Gonzalez and Brian Lowry write in this new CNN.com story.
Consider all of the names in the headlines this week: Kevin Spacey, R. Kelly, John Lasseter, Harvey Weinstein. Read on...
FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE
-- The longest partial shutdown in the history of the US government is still going on, with no end in sight... (CNN)
-- Tulsi Gabbard used an interview with CNN's Van Jones to confirm that she will be running for president in 2020. The interview will air on CNN Saturday evening... (CNN)
-- Speaking of 2020, former San Antonio mayor Julian Castro "is widely expected to officially enter" the contest on Saturday in Texas... (CNN)
-- David Nakamura tweeted: "Trump's mendacity on his promises that Mexico will pay for the wall illustrates how his routine application of falsehoods, exaggerations and lies in service of political combat has come back to burn him..." (WaPo)
-- Susan Glasser says "the frog is boiled." (The New Yorker)
"TV station backs off accusation that CNN played politics"
That's the headline from the AP's David Bauder.
KUSI, a local TV station once dubbed "San Diego's Fox News," accused CNN "of rejecting an appearance by one of its reporters for political reasons," Bauder wrote Friday. The station's accusation went viral. But now the news director is conceding "he didn't really know why the network turned him down," Bauder wrote.
According to CNN, a producer called "several local stations to book someone for a show." CNN "didn't end up booking any of them." But because KUSI asserted that CNN didn't want to hear the "walls work" POV of its reporter, the outrage machine cranked way, way up on Friday. Numerous Trump allies weighed in, and then the president himself.
MY POV: Lots of people don't know how newsrooms work. Trump and his boosters exploited that on Friday. Here's a personal example: Last week the "Reliable Sources" show team interviewed several border reporters from great local papers. Then we realized we didn't have time for the segment. These decisions happen every day for mundane reasons...
Friedman on "the core problem"
Thomas Friedman let it rip on "The Situation Room" Friday night:
"We have a core problem. We have a president without shame, who is backed by a party without spine, that is supported by a network called Fox News, without integrity." The result? "We face a crisis. Fasten your seatbelt."
Calling out Steve King?
Some conservatives, like the NRO editorial page and CNN's SE Cupp, have denounced Rep. Steve King for his remarks to the NYT about white supremacy. But Fox News has barely touched the story.
"The problem here is not the noise. It's the relative quiet from his party," CNN's Chris Cuomo said Friday night. "What you ignore or treat lightly, you empower..."
This Sunday on "Reliable Sources..."
I'll be joined by the NYT's Katie Rogers, who co-authored that outstanding look at Bill Shine's role at the White House... Plus Gabby Orr, Carl Bernstein, Indira Lakshmanan, Joanna Lipman, Mark Lukasiewicz, and Oliver Darcy... See you Sunday at 11 a.m. ET...
| | FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO
By Daniella Emanuel:
-- The NYT is launching a daily audio news briefing hosted by Michael Barbaro, a daily news quiz, and other features on Alexa-enabled devices... (NYT)
-- Netflix is being sued by a Vermont children's book publisher over "Black Mirror: Bandersnatch's" use of the phrase "Choose Your Own Adventure..." (Deadline)
-- "A staffer at local Fox affiliate Q13 has been fired after the station aired what appears to be a doctored video of President Trump's Tuesday night speech from the Oval Office..." (Seattle Times)
No more CBS Films
"CBS Films will be folded into CBS Entertainment Group over the next 12 months," Variety's Brent Lang revealed on Friday. After the unit's next four films come out, "CBS Films' mandate will shift towards finding content for the company's streaming services.... CBS Films President Terry Press is expected to continue to lead the division..."
--> Joe Flint's analysis on Twitter: "Another sign that Viacom deal could be nearing since there will be no need for CBS Films if merger happens. Also, CBS Films was Les Moonves passion project. Not sure rest of company ever bought into it as strategy..."
| | FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE
-- "Hamilton" in Puerto Rico premiered Friday night at the Centro de Bellas Artes in San Juan... (CNN)
-- Adrienne Elrod is NBC/MSNBC's newest contributor... (Twitter)
-- Oliver Darcy emails: Business Insider executive editor Brett LoGiurato is switching jobs (and careers), leaving the digital media outlet for a job in the publishing industry... (Talking Biz News)
-- The East Bay Express newspaper laid off "virtually its entire editorial staff" on Friday... (SF Weekly)
-- "LifeZette, the conservative news website co-founded by Fox News host Laura Ingraham, laid off at least six staffers, including senior editor Mark Tapscott and senior political reporter Brendan Kirby, and at least four other employees," Daniel Lippman reported Friday... (Politico)
-- Bob Iger's salary was $65.6 million in Disney's latest fiscal year, up 80% from $36.3 million in 2017... (THR)
Who will buy these RSNs?
"Reliable Sources" producer Justin Freiman emails: With Friday's news that Fox is not bidding on the regional sports networks, and with Disney's ESPN not able to keep them, will a new player enter into the sports broadcasting arena? When it comes to live TV viewing, news and sports are king. Could Amazon or YouTube step in? Amazon already airs Thursday night football, and is reportedly talking with Yankees about buying YES Network...
>> BTIG's Rich Greenfield wrote recently: "All eyes will be on tech platforms to see if their growing content ambitions include exclusive sports rights, effectively the last 'jenga block' holding up the legacy media ecosystem..."
Lionsgate lays off staffers
Oliver Darcy emails: Lionsgate, the entertainment studio which has struggled in recent years, laid off approximately 25 employees on Friday, sources told me on Friday. The staffers were part of the studio's motion picture marketing and distribution division. Jill Disis and I have more in our story here...
FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR
-- Aaron Sorkin says there "should be a sequel" to "The Social Network." I agree! (THR)
-- Another infuriating look at YouTube's problems: "Searching for news on RBG? YouTube offered conspiracy theories about the Supreme Court justice instead..." (WaPo)
-- "American Style," a four-part production of Vox Entertainment, will debut Sunday night on CNN... (Curbed)
Shep Smith fact-checks his own network (again)
Oliver Darcy emails: Shep Smith has a knack for correcting misinformation found on his own network. On Friday, after Fox host Melissa Francis characterized New York City as a "filthy" place that is "more dangerous than ever" on "Outnumbered," Smith corrected the record. "Here in New York City, city crime rates, violent crime rates, are the lowest they've been in seven decades," Smith said. "The violent crime rate is the lowest of any major city in America. Streets are clean, things are good. Come visit us." Watch the full clip here via Mediaite...
The Colbert primary
I'm only half kidding about that headline. Maybe not even half. The Ed Sullivan Theater is proving to be a prime spot for Democrats eyeing a 2020 bid. And Stephen Colbert is very good at sensing which candidates are standouts. | |
Brian Lowry emails: If the road to the White House runs in part through late-night talk shows and lighter venues, Kamala Harris looks like she's ready to run. Setting partisan considerations aside, her appearance on Colbert's "Late Show" on Thursday was a deft mix of policy and personality. It's a friendly setting, obviously, but one that not all politicians have mastered equally...
Beto + Oprah next month
NYT's Matt Viser broke this news on Friday: Beto O'Rourke "is going to be interviewed one-on-one by Oprah on Feb. 5 in New York." Oprah is taping several interviews at a live event at the PlayStation Theater... Other guests include Bradley Cooper, Michael B. Jordan, Melinda Gates, and Lisa Borders... The interviews will air on OWN and on Oprah's podcast...
--> CNN's Eric Bradner: The live event "could be the first time O'Rourke has taken questions publicly -- aside from his social media channels -- since a mid-December town hall in El Paso..."
--> Tickets go on sale on Monday, per Deadline...
FOR THE RECORD, PART FIVE
By Katie Pellico:
-- Per the WSJ, Apple is planning to release three new iPhone models in the fall... (WSJ)
-- Advertisers are finding ways to bring online ad targeting tactics in-store... Walgreen's will turn some of its cooler doors into digital billboards, using cameras and sensors to "serve ads to consumers who approach, based on variables such as the approximate age the technology believes they are, their gender and the weather..." (WSJ)
-- Facebook's "third-party factchecking initiative comes to the UK for the first time..." (Full Fact)
-- HuffPost has released a statement following our Thursday item about the Native American Journalists Association taking issue with this January 4 story. "HuffPost respectfully disagrees with NAJA's characterization of this story. We stand by our reporting and the perspectives reflected in the piece..."
| | A pair of weekend TV reviews
Brian Lowry emails: "True Detective," returning to HBO on Sunday night, rebounds from a disappointing (OK, bad) second season to near-first-season form, largely by mirroring the format of that debut, and buoyed by a huge star turn by Mahershala Ali.
By contrast, National Geographic's "Valley of the Boom" takes an interesting topic -- also-rans from the early era of Silicon Valley, including TheGlobe.com and Netscape, which were supplanted by other players -- and squanders it, employing an off-putting hybrid format that mixes documentary-style interviews with dramatic portrayals...
FOR THE RECORD, PART SIX
-- Lisa Respers France emails: R. Kelly's estranged daughter has spoken out about her father, who she called a "monster..."
-- One more from Lisa: "Criminal Minds" is set to end with Season 15.
Deep dive into the "streaming wars"
Here's the lay of the land from Hadas Gold: "For cord cutters and streaming lovers, 2019 will mean two things: A raft of new streaming services will hit the scene, and users will see major changes to viewing libraries." Read her full story here...
Looking ahead to Netflix earnings...
Shares of Netflix popped 4% on Friday "after a series of bullish analyst reports ahead of next week's earnings," Jordan Valinsky wrote on our new CNN Business markets live blog. "Raymond James upgraded the stock to a 'strong buy' and increased the price target of Netflix's stock to $450 from $435. The analyst credits the popularity of 'Bird Box' and 'Roma' for bolstering its film efforts and boosting subscriber growth. Yesterday, an UBS analyst boosted the stock from neutral to buy. Netflix is up 27% for the (short) year and up 33% since January 2018..."
| | The three key challenges in Netflix's future
Frank Pallotta emails: Netflix is the king of streaming, but the competition is ramping up. So I spoke with Steven Zeitchik -- the Washington Post's business of entertainment reporter -- for this new CNN Business video that breaks down the three major challenges Netflix will face in the future.
Those challenges? Content, big debt and their revenue streams, or lack thereof... Stream this week's "Reliable" podcast. It is about streaming!
It's "great to be in a space" like streaming TV where "you don't have to fight against the tide — you're rowing with the current," Hulu CEO Randy Freer told me in a podcast interview at CES this week. | | Freer talked about Hulu's ownership structure, its investments in new shows, and the importance of the tech backend. He also said Hulu is eyeing some fresh bets on news and documentary content. Daniella Emanuel and I recapped the interview in this story... And you can hear the whole thing via Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app...
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That's a wrap. Send me your feedback anytime! See you Sunday...
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