What Did NBC Know And When Did They Know It?

People in and outside NBC are raising questions about the network’s assertion that it had never received complaints about fired Today show co-anchor Matt Lauer before Monday, pointing to shifting language in the network’s own statements about the fired star.

The initial Wednesday morning memo on Lauer’s firing, signed by NBC News Chairman Andrew Lack, referred to a woman who had come forward to complain about Lauer on Monday night, saying that it was “the first complaint about his behavior in the over twenty years he’s been at NBC News.”

NBC’s second statement, released later Wednesday, said, “We can say unequivocally that, prior to Monday night, current NBC News management was never made aware of any complaints about Matt Lauer’s conduct.”

According to Politico, employees at NBC News especially noted the wording shift from “in 20 years” to “current NBC News management,” according to a network staffer. Lack’s current tenure at NBC News began in 2015, though he had previously headed the news division from 1993 to 2001. The tweak raised questions over whether NBC brass was suggesting that past executives may have heard of inappropriate behavior.

At least one, CNN president and former “Today” executive producer Jeff Zucker, addressed the issue on Thursday. At Business Insider’s Ignition conference, he denied any knowledge of bad behavior by Lauer.

"What’s missing in coverage of most media scandals, sex harassment or otherwise, is a willingness to confront systemic causes that led to the scandal, including the culpability of management in allowing scandals to take place," Mark Feldstein, a broadcast journalism professor at the University of Maryland and a former news executive at NBC, CNN and ABC told USAToday.

Lauer Still Wants $30M From NBC

Matt Lauer

Lawyers representing former NBC host Matt Lauer are reportedly seeking to get the longtime anchor upwards of $30 million after he was fired this week over allegations of sexual misconduct.

Page Six at the NYPost reports that Lauer's team is seeking for NBC to pay the host for the remainder of his $20 million per year contract, which still had a year and a half left before he was fired.

“They are currently looking at his contract and determining whether the claims against him, which clearly would affect any moral clause in his contract and his ensuing termination would cut off his contractual rights to be paid through to the end of his contract," a source close to Lauer's team told the outlet.

Morality clauses are often added to contracts allowing companies to fire employees for publicly embarrassing situations that damage the company's image.

NBC News Chairman Andy Lack announced Lauer's firing in a memo to employees Wednesday morning, suggesting that more allegations would likely be uncovered, according to The Hill.

Reports emerged later that day on other allegations of sexual assault and harassment against the former NBC anchor dating back to 2001.

Megyn Wants Matt

NBC host Megyn Kelly on Thursday invited Matt Lauer and his accusers onto her show, stating she remains "committed to telling people's stories if they choose to come forward."

The invitation comes one day after the 59-year-old Lauer was ousted from NBC amid sexual harassment allegations.

“As hard as it is to report on one of our own colleagues, we remain committed to telling people’s stories if they choose to come forward,” said the "Megyn Kelly Today" host, according to Entertainment Weekly. “The women in this case, too — the Matt Lauer case — are invited and welcome to do exactly that on this show."

Kelly departed from Fox News in January despite being offered a reported $100 million to stay, citing a desire to be home with her husband and young children during evening hours.

The 47-year-old former attorney was reportedly crucial to an internal investigation into sexual harassment claims against Fox’s late former chairman and CEO, Roger Ailes.

The Hill reports...with Lauer gone, Kelly becomes the highest paid employee in broadcast news along with ABC's Robin Roberts, with each at a reported $18 million a year, according to Variety.

Bette Midler Says Geraldo Rivera Drugged And Groped Her

Bette Midler has tweeted a video of an interview she did with Barbara Walters in 1991 in which she said journalist Geraldo Rivera groped her in the 1970s.

The video resurfaced Thursday, a day after Rivera, now a Fox News reporter, defended Matt Lauer after he was fired as a "Today" show co-host over allegations of sexual misconduct.

"Tomorrow is my birthday," Midler wrote on Twitter. "I feel like this video was a gift from the universe to me. Geraldo may have apologized for his tweets supporting Matt Lauer, but he has yet to apologize for this."

Tomorrow is my birthday. I feel like this video was a gift from the universe to me. Geraldo may have apologized for his tweets supporting Matt Lauer, but he has yet to apologize for this. #MeToo pic.twitter.com/TkcolFWfA2

— Bette Midler (@BetteMidler) November 30, 2017

Midler concluded the tweet with a #MeToo hashtag, which has become synonymous with speaking out against sexual harassment and abuse.

In the interview, Midler tells Walters, "Geraldo and his producer came to do an interview with me, in the '70s, the early '70s. And this was when he was very, sort of, hot. And he and his producer left the crew in the other room. They pushed me into my bathroom. They broke two poppers and pushed them under my nose and proceeded to grope me."

"Poppers" is slang for the recreational drug alkyl nitrite.

"Grope?" Walters asks, looking surprised.

Midler responds, "Groped me. I did not offer myself up on the altar of Geraldo Rivera. He was ... he was unseemly."

A representative for Midler told ABC News that she had no further comment beyond her tweet.

Walmart Stops Sale Of Lynching T-Shirts

Custom T-shirt design company Teespring is once again on the defensive after a media group found it was selling a T-shirt about lynching journalists on its site and as a third party seller on Walmart.com.

USAToday reports Walmart was alerted to the shirt's presence on its site on Wednesday by the Radio Television Digital News Association and that same day removed it from sale. The T-shirt read "Rope. Tree. Journalist. SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED”.

The discovery highlights the ongoing problems created by technology companies that largely lean on software to screen out harmful or abusive content. These automated systems are cost effective, underwriting healthy profit margins, but have made Internet companies  — including Facebook and Google — vulnerable to individuals that figure out how to skirt the system for harm.

Teespring is a San Francisco-based company that has raised millions of dollars from Silicon Valley sources such as start-up incubator Y Combinator and venture capital firms including Andreessen Horowitz and Khosla Ventures.

Its business model is to act as an intermediary: Customers upload designs for custom T-shirts and other logo items. They then sell the items either on the Teespring site or on their own sites. Teespring takes a cut of all sales from users.

Multiple examples of inappropriate material have dogged the company. Teespring was in the news in May after shirts saying “Black Women are Trash” were discovered for sale on the site.

In a statement to USA TODAY, Walmart said the item was sold by a third-party seller on its marketplace and clearly violates its policies. "We removed it as soon as it was brought to our attention, and are conducting a thorough review of the seller’s assortment," the statement read.

Your Boss May Soon Be Hiring Alexa

Amazon has built a wide lead in the field with its popular at-home Echo speaker, which was launched in late 2014. The company is now counting on its new service, dubbed Alexa for Business and available immediately, to spark a surge in voice computing in the workplace.

The online retail giant announced the initiative here Thursday at the annual conference for its Amazon Web Services cloud-computing unit, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Even before Amazon made a push into business, RBC Capital Markets predicted that by 2020, Alexa device installations could reach 128 million. Over that same period, the voice-activated internet could result in more than $10 billion in revenues for Amazon, according to the firm.

Still, it remains to be seen how many companies will want to buy Echo speakers for every conference room, as well as design programs for unproven technology in the workplace. In addition, companies may not want workers talking to devices in crowded offices. As for company secrets, Amazon has said its Echo devices don’t send anything to the cloud until users wake the devices with its name, typically “Alexa.”

The effort to expand Alexa’s reach into the workplace comes as the service faces increased competition from virtual assistants created by Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Apple Inc.’s Siri, and Microsoft Corp.’s Cortana. Windows 10 computers, increasingly rolling out into workplaces, include the ability to speak to Cortana and get audio responses, for example.

That competitive pressure, in part, has led Amazon to add hundreds of engineers to the Alexa program and give it hiring preference over other divisions.

D/FW Radio: Hot 93.3 To Stuff A Bus With Toys

Scotty K and Bret Mega Mornings on KLIF Hot 93.3 FM will live on a bus for 5 days as they attempt to cram as many new and gently used toys into it for underprivileged kids living in the D/FW area.

Benefiting the Salvation Army, Stuff-A-Bus returns for its second year at Stonebriar Centre in Frisco on Thursday, December 14 and run through Tuesday, December 19.

“With the amazing success of last year's Stuff-A-Bus, and being inspired by the generosity of the DFW community, we are excited to announce that Stuff-A-Bus is back!” – Bret Mega, Morning Show Co-Host. “This year will be even bigger, in turn helping more kids in DFW than ever before. Stuff-A-Bus brings the community together so that every single kid can feel the joy of opening a present for the Holidays.”

“It breaks our hearts to think that there are thousands of kids who will have nothing.” Scotty K added. “That is why, once again, we are committed to LIVING on the bus 24/7, around the clock, collecting toys to be there for them!"

“We are so proud to bring Stuff-A-Bus back for a second year!” Hot 93.3 Station Program Director, Dustin Kross. “After seeing the amazing success and how much it helped the community last year, I knew it was something we needed to bring back! We are looking forward to collecting as many toys as we can and helping underprivileged children in the area!”

Philly Radio: Country WXTU Presents Toy Truck Parade

Entercom’s WXTU 92.5 FM, Philadelphia’s Country Station is inviting listeners to participate in its 18th Annual Toy Truck Parade to collect toys for The United Service Organization (USO) and The Boys and Girls Clubs of America.

Participants are encouraged to get in the holiday spirit by decorating their cars, trucks, SUVs and emergency vehicles and filling them with new and unwrapped toys.  The event will include participation from WXTU 92.5 FM on-air personalities, including Frank and Andie from the Morning Show.

Participating vehicles will line up in front of the Walmart Supercenter in Hatfield and judges will walk the lines of cars and trucks to judge the best decorated in four categories: Big Rig, Commercial, Personal and Emergency.  Vehicles will then parade down a four-mile route on Bethlehem Pike beginning at Walmart Supercenter and end at the Montgomery Mall, to deliver the toys to the center court.

Five children from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia will lead the parade of vehicles as this year’s Grand Marshalls. WXTU-FM personalities will hand out special trophies to this year’s Grand Marshalls and to the best decorated trucks.

The fun continues inside once the toys are delivered. A local school will sing Christmas Carols in front of the mountain of toys, there will be a photo booth for fun keepsake photos, and members of the Armed Services and the Boys and Girls Clubs will be on hand to help build the mountain of toys.

Elvis Duran's Carney Awards Debuts on TV Saturday

The Elvis Duran Group’s 2017 Carney Awards, which honors Hollywood’s leading character actors for their outstanding achievements, gathered the most recognizable faces in TV and film recently at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica, Calif. 

Jim Katz, Elvis Duran, David Katz

The show was taped exclusively for NBC Universal’s COZI TV and airs this Saturday, December 2, 2017 at 9:00pm EST.  This marks the first time The Carney Awards will be broadcast in homes nationwide.

David Katz commented, “Elvis and I, along with the family of Art Carney are so fortunate and proud to present The Carney Awards for the first time ever on television. The show we produced was hugely attended by our radio brethren including Dan Mason, Jubal, Jim Loftus, John McConnell, Ronn Owens, Eric Weiss, Keith Kauffman and so many others.  And for that, Elvis and I say thank you!”

Named in honor of the late, great Oscar and six-time Emmy winning actor Art Carney, the Carney Awards were created by Elvis Duran Group CEO David Katz, his brother Jim Katz, an Emmy Award winning producer, and Brian Carney, actor/voice-over artist and Art’s son. The Carney Awards is a joint production between The Elvis Duran Group and Radcliffe Road Pictures. National radio personality Elvis Duran, the Katz brothers and Carney are executive producers. 

This year William H. Macy, Wendie Malick, William Fichtner, Richard Kind and Xander Berkeley were honored while Allison Janney, Jeff Garlin, Clark Gregg, Dan Lauria and Titus Welliver presented.  ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” host Tom Bergeron was host.

Now in its third year, The Carney Awards honors Hollywood’s leading character actors each year for their outstanding achievements in character acting. Past honorees include Gary Cole, Stephen Tobolowsky, Dan Hedaya, Conchata Ferrell, Steve Buscemi, Bob Balaban, Michael Ealy, Bruce McGill, David Paymer, CCH Pounder and Jonathan Banks.

ACM Changes Radio Awards Criteria

The Academy of Country Music® announced changes today to the ACM Awards radio categories’ criteria and open submissions date for the 53rd Academy of Country Music Awards®. For the first time ever in the National On-Air Personality of the Year category, submissions will be accepted from terrestrial, satellite and internet radio personalities, if all eligibility requirements are met. The Academy has also removed the requirement to be a current Academy member to be eligible to submit for all radio categories.

Additional changes to On-Air Personality of the Year, National On-Air Personality of the Year and Radio Station of the Year categories include a shorter aircheck, and a streamlined essay portion with a maximum length of five hundred words – replacing the individual written summaries of industry or community work, etc. For additional details, please visit www.acmcountry.com/voting-criteria.

Open submissions for the 53rd Annual Academy of Country Music Awards® will begin Wednesday, January 3, 2017 at 9:00 AM PT / 11:00 AM CT at www.ACMcountry.com and will end at 5:00 PM PT / 7:00 PM CT on Monday, January 15, 2017. The 53rd Academy of Country Music Awards will air LIVE next spring from Las Vegas on a date to be announced, on the CBS Television Network.

The Academy of Country Music Awards telecast recognizes winners for the previous calendar year. The radio eligibility period is between November 24, 2016 to December 31, 2017.

Nominees for the Academy of Country Music radio awards categories, outlined below, will be announced in the spring of 2018.

• On-Air Personality of the Year – National
• On-Air Personality of the Year – Major (Markets 1-25)
• On-Air Personality of the Year – Large (Markets 26-50)
• On-Air Personality of the Year – Medium (Markets 51-100)
• On-Air Personality of the Year – Small (Markets 101+)
• Radio Station of the Year – Major (Markets 1-25)
• Radio Station of the Year – Large (Markets 26-50)
• Radio Station of the Year – Medium (Markets 51-100)
• Radio Station of the Year – Small (Markets 101+)

SiriusXM To Add SEC Sports Channel

On Thursday SiriusXM announced it had reached a deal with the SEC and will be launching a new, exclusive 24/7 sports channel which include new shows as well as simulcasts of SEC Network shows

“College sports have always been an important part of SiriusXM’s lineup, and the launch of a dedicated SEC channel breaks new ground and brings our college sports programming to another level,” Scott Greenstein, SiriusXM’s President and Chief Content Officer said. “SEC fans have tremendous passion for their colleges and universities and we are focused on giving those fans the kind of access, news and analysis that keeps them connected to their teams, wherever they live and wherever they go.”

The station is set to launch early next year. It will also have live play-by-play from a variety of sports. 

“SiriusXM’s new SEC-dedicated channel results from our fans’ loyalty and passion, which demands we continue to expand the reach of the Conference in new and innovative ways,” said SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey.  “SEC fans have an interest in news and information, which they can now access through a SiriusXM channel that provides another opportunity to access timely, reliable and entertaining content about the Southeastern Conference.”

Earlier, the SEC signed an agreement multi-year extension of their play-by-play broadcast agreement.

WaPo Drops Garrison Keillor Columns

Garrison Keillor

Days after carrying an op-ed byGarrison Keillor in which he argued the calls for Minnesota Sen. Al Franken to step down are “absurd,” The Washington Post confirms that it will no longer run his syndicated columns, according to 11Alive.

In a statement provided by representative Azhar AlFadl Miranda, editorial page director Fred Hiatt said, “Readers are entitled to a basic level of transparency from the columnists they read in The Washington Post. Garrison Keillor failed to meet that standard this week. Knowing he was under investigation for his workplace behavior, he should not have written a column on that subject; or, if he was going to write, he should have told his editors and readers that he was under investigation. Instead, he wrote a column defending Sen. Al Franken without any disclosure of his own situation.”

He added, “We also are very troubled by Minnesota Public Radio’s report that Keillor engaged in inappropriate behavior in the workplace, a charge that he denies. MPR, which terminated its relationship with Keillor for that behavior, has given us no information beyond the statement they made public.”

Hiatt expressed admiration for many of the weekly columns Keillor submitted as part of the Washington Post syndication service over the last year and a half. Nevertheless, he concluded, "We do not intend to publish his columns in the future.”