Morgan Stanley To Advise Comcast On Potential Spin-Off

Comcast Corp. has decided to work with investment bank Morgan Stanley to evaluate options for its cable networks, according to Bloomberg citing people familiar with the matter, after announcing last week it’s considering divesting the business.

Morgan Stanley is helping Comcast, a cable provider and media company, study scenarios for the networks, the people said. Comcast owns cable networks including MSNBC, CNBC, E! and Bravo, among others. It hasn’t specified which ones might be split off, and it could still decide to keep them.

Comcast President Mike Cavanagh said Thursday that the media conglomerate has been deliberating whether to separate its cable networks into a new company that would go to shareholders.

The goal would be to position the new business to “take advantage of opportunities in the changing media landscape and create value for our shareholders,” Cavanagh said, without offering further details.

Comcast’s cable networks business has been in decline as consumers cancel their cable TV subscriptions, creating a drag on the stock. Separating it could help Comcast unlock a higher valuation for itself.

If separated, the business could act as a consolidator of other cable networks or draw interest itself from others. Comcast could spin off the business and combine it with other cable network businesses through a tax-friendly merger structure known as a Reverse Morris Trust, some of the people said.

A potential spinoff of its cable networks could significantly impact MSNBC, reports Cord Cutter News. Historically, MSNBC has benefited from its close relationship with NBC News, leveraging its reporting resources to provide a mix of original reporting and opinion-based programming. If Comcast proceeds with the spinoff, MSNBC might need to explore new strategies to maintain its newsgathering capabilities.

Here are a few potential paths MSNBC could take:

1. Building an Independent News Organization: This would involve creating its own team of reporters and editors, which would require substantial investment and time.
2. Negotiating a Deal with NBC News: MSNBC could continue to access NBC News’ resources through a formal agreement, potentially involving a fee.
3. Shifting Focus to Opinion-Based Programming: By relying more on opinion content, MSNBC could reduce its dependence on original reporting, though this might affect its viewership and brand identity.

Hollywood Insiders Dreading Possible Trump Win

Hollywood insiders are expressing dread over tomorrow’s presidential election because it’s so close.

According to a new report from Hollywood outlet Deadline, the fact that former President Trump has a good shot at re-taking the White House is driving serious anxiety in Hollywood circles.

"Fascism is at the door, and her campaign isn’t fighting back enough, aren’t breaking through," a PR executive told the outlet, fretting that the Harris campaign hasn’t taken a clear lead.

"It’s too tight in the battleground states, and she needs a sweep to make it to 270 [electoral votes]," the executive added. "This should have been over, a done deal, weeks ago."

The race between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris is currently neck and neck, with top pollsters unable to make any real predictions about who will win.  

Fox Digital News reports the outlet reported on Friday that, according to insiders, "dread over a possible Trump return to the Oval Office has become the only conversation anyone in the C-suites and West L.A. enclosures are having right now."

These conversations "alternate from cautious optimism to dismay to out-and-out anger."

Many Hollywood A-listers have pledged their support for Harris and even joined her on the campaign tail in recent weeks just to help give her a much-needed bump over the former president. Beyoncé appeared at a Harris rally in recent weeks, as did pop star Jennifer Lopez, who spoke at Harris’ Las Vegas rally Thursday where she slammed comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s deprecating Puerto Rico joke he made at Trump’s New York City rally.

Rapper Cardi B spoke at Harris’ Milwaukee rally on Friday. 

Despite the star power trying to prop up the vice president, one self-described "compassionate conservative" Hollywood player told Deadline that only the endorsement of former President George W. Bush would make a difference this late in the game. 

Equal Time Concerns Raised Over Harris' SNL Appearance

NY Post Composite Graphic

NBC aired a message from former President Donald Trump during Sunday’s broadcast of a NASCAR race and an NFL game, after FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr criticized Vice President Kamala Harris’ appearance on “Saturday Night Live” and accused the network of trying to evade an FCC rule requiring broadcasters to give rival candidates equal airtime if they want it.

The appearance was related to providing Trump with equal time. The outlet noted that it was not clear if the Trump campaign requested the slot or if it was provided by NBC.

Harris made her debut on SNL less than three days before the election in a short skit for the episode’s cold open with comedian Maya Rudolph, who plays Harris on the show.

A FCC commissioner had opined that Vice President Harris’s recent appearance on “Saturday Night Live” violated the “equal time” rule.

“This is a clear and blatant effort to evade the FCC’s Equal Time rule,” Commissioner Brendan Carr posted on the social platform X Saturday in response to a post from The Associated Press about Harris being on the show that night. 

Carr said Harris' appearance on SNL may have broken the rule if NBC did not also send an invitation to former President Trump.

Brendan Carr

During her appearance on this week’s episode of “SNL” Harris joined comedian Maya Rudolph, who often impersonates her, for a cold open sketch. While Rudolph was playing the vice president, Harris began her “SNL” debut on the other side of a mirror from the comedian.

“I’m just here to remind you, you got this, because you can do something your opponent can’t do — you can open doors,” Harris told Rudolph, seemingly referring to a video from earlier in the week in which former President Trump had a hard time grabbing the handle of a garbage truck.

The executive producer of “SNL,” Lorne Michaels, had said in a past interview that neither Harris nor Trump would make appearances on his show during this election cycle.

"This is a clear and blatant effort to evade the FCC's Equal Time rule," Carr wrote of Harris' appearance. "The purpose of the rule is to avoid exactly this type of biased and partisan conduct - a licensed broadcaster using the public airwaves to exert its influence for one candidate on the eve of an election. Unless the broadcaster offered Equal Time to other qualifying campaigns.”

Trump campaign Senior Advisor Jason Miller told Fox News Digital that Trump did not receive an invite.

Political Ad Dollars Flowing Right Up To Election Day

With Election Day upon us, there's been just shy of $1 billion spent on political ads up and down the ballot in the last week, data from the ad-tracking firm AdImpact shows.

NBC News reports the $994 million is close to one-tenth of the more than $10 billion that's been spent on political advertising so far since the start of 2023, spent across just seven days. And while Election Day may bring a temporary end to the spending onslaught that's seemingly dominated every television commercial break in recent weeks, it's not over yet: There's still more than $300 million in future advertising time booked between today and Tuesday.

The most expensive race over the last week is, unsurprisingly, the presidential race, where more than $272 million has been spent on ads, according to data from AdImpact. Former President Donald Trump's campaign has narrowly outspent Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign $43.4 million to $40.7 million between Oct. 27 and Nov. 2, but Democratic super PACs helped the party narrowly outspend Republicans over that period in the presidential race.

The vast majority of the almost $1 billion spent on ads this week has come in down-ballot races across the country, as candidates and outside groups spend furiously in races for Congress, the state House, pivotal ballot questions and other races.

There's been more than $267 million spent on ads in down-ballot races, meaning all of the other races outside of races for president, governor and Congress.

The two races drawing the most spending are in Florida, with $19 million in ad spending on the ballot referendum on abortion rights and about $18.5 million on the ballot referendum on legalizing marijuana there.

One other down-ballot race saw more than $10 million in ad spending over the last week: California's referendum on rent control.

Senate races have drawn $227 million so far.

Potential voters have seen a lot of political ads lately, especially in battleground states.  CBS's David Pogue explored the world of political ads during yeserday's airing of CBS Sunday Morning:

As for Pennsylvania voter Jack Levis, there was one question left: Has he voted? "Mailing it today," he replied. "So, it's decided!"

Survey: X Postings From Republicans Have Tripled

Elon Musk has frequently used X (formerly Twitter), the social media site he owns, to fuel doubts about the security of the upcoming presidential election, according to a report from CBS News. Researchers at CBS found that among hundreds of posts by Musk about election security this year, 55% either contain misleading or false statements, or amplify posts that do this.

This comes at a time when 65% of U.S. X users say getting news is a reason they use the platform, according to a 2024 Pew Research Center survey. And 59% of X users cite keeping up with politics as a reason for using it. At the same time, the vast majority of Americans who regularly get news on X say they at least sometimes see news there that seems inaccurate, including 37% who see this extremely or fairly often.

Today, views of X are more positive than negative. About four-in-ten X users (38%) say it’s mostly good for democracy, 27% say it’s mostly bad, and 34% say it has no impact. That’s an uptick of 6 percentage points in the share who say it’s mostly good from last year.

GOP users’ views of X have changed dramatically in the past three years. The share of Republican users who see X as mostly good for democracy has roughly tripled from 17% in 2021 to 53% today. This includes a 10-point rise in just the past year (from 43% to 53%). (Throughout this report, Democratic and Republican users include independents who lean toward each party.)

Democratic X users’ views are trending negative. The share of Democratic users who see it as mostly bad for democracy has risen 11 points since 2021, to 39% today.

Partisans hold opposing views of X. Republican X users are far more likely than Democratic users to see it as mostly good for democracy (53% vs. 26%). In contrast, Democratic users are three times as likely as their GOP counterparts to see it as mostly bad (39% vs. 13%).

Potential Tech Strike Threatens NYTimes Election Coverage

The New York Times’s long-running labor dispute with its technology staffers is reaching a breaking point, with a potential Election Day strike threatening to interfere with the newsroom’s ability to cover the closely watched presidential race.

The Wall Street Journal reports some executives and journalists at the paper are worried that a walkout by members of the 600-person technology workers’ union could disrupt publishing and the quality of election-coverage tools available to subscribers on a day that traffic is expected to surge. 

“We have made it clear that we need to reach an agreement before the election in order to avert a strike,” the Times Tech Guild’s bargaining team wrote in a letter to the paper’s board of directors, urging them to intervene. 

The Times Tech Guild has been holding meetings and rallies in recent weeks to make its case, including a Saturday demonstration in Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza, where workers passed out fliers and chanted “no contract, no code.” 

A spokeswoman for the Times called the election deadline timing “arbitrary” and said that it “feels both unnecessary and at odds with our mission.” A representative for the tech guild didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The stance by the Guild, which represents software engineers, data analysts and designers at the Times marks the first test of the union’s labor muscle since it was formed in 2022, the outlet said.

According to the union, members voted to walk off the job by a 95% margin in September if the company did not meet their demands, which include job security in the face of improving AI technology and pay equity for women and minority union members.

Comcast May Ignite Media Reconfiguration

Comcast is thinking about separating or spinning off NBCUniversal’s cable networks. If it moves forward with the idea, it could lay the groundwork for a reconfiguration of the entire American media landscape.

CNBC reports the logic for Comcast is fairly straightforward. NBCUniversal’s cable networks aren’t growing anymore. The company’s energy and focus is on promoting Peacock, NBCUniversal’s growing but still money-losing streaming service. Carving out the cable portfolio could placate Comcast investors by removing declining assets from the balance sheet.

“We are now exploring whether creating a new well-capitalized company, owned by our shareholders and comprised of our strong portfolio of cable networks, would position them to take advantage of opportunities in the changing media landscape and create value for our shareholders,” Comcast President Mike Cavanagh said during the call. “We are not ready to talk about any specifics yet, but we’ll be back to you as and when we reach firm conclusions.”

Though executives stressed that the exploration is in the very early stages, it could be a prelude to broader industry consolidation. NBCUniversal’s cable networks, which include Bravo, E!, Syfy, Oxygen True Crime and USA Network, as well as news networks MSNBC and CNBC, could be merged with another media company or could be a catalyst for a rollup, or consolidation, of cable channels at a number of different companies.

The loss of value for cable networks has now led to a new opportunity for a rollup, if companies such as Comcast, Warner Bros. Discovery and Disney decide they want to shed declining cable assets in favor of focusing on streaming.

Thus far, media companies have opted to keep their cable networks, which still pump out billions in profit even as millions of Americans cut the cord each year.

Comcast may set a template if it moves forward with a spin and sees a spike in its overall valuation.

YouTube Defends Conservative Creators Against NYTimes Hit Piece

The New York Times' Nico Grant reached out to prominent YouTubers last week to inquire about the "election misinformation" beleaguered far-left media watchdog Media Matters had claimed to have found in their videos. 

The PostMillenial website reports Grant also reached out to YouTube for his article. The platform said that "none of the 286 videos violated its community guidelines." YouTube further told The Times that "what's important to use is that we're representing a broad spectrum of views."

Grant asked Tucker Carlson, Tim Pool, Ben Shapiro, Andrew Klavan, Benny Johnson, and the Babylon Bee, among others about those videos before digging into their relationship with YouTube, asking "Are you a member of the YouTube Partner Program? If so, how frequently does YouTube demonetize your videos? Has YouTube sent you messages, emails or notices in the last year that your content contains misinformation?" When reached for comment, most of those commentators responded with some variation on "f*ck you" and posted the correspondence on X.

YouTube had once had restrictions against so-called election misinformation but those restrictions were lifted. Others have not been. Grant blasted YouTube for what he said was their decision to "stop fighting the most persistent strain of election misinformation in the United States: the falsehood that President Biden stole the 2020 election from Donald J. Trump."

And he boosted Media Matters, which is a far-left media "watchdog" that is currently facing lawsuits both from Elon Musk's X and from the state of Missouri. The Times claims that Media Matters "monitors information from conservative sources" and "examined the consequences" of YouTube's cessation of election information censorship. Grant admits that Media Matters "is a partisan organization," but said that The Times "independently verified the research."

The Times went after not only the YouTubers, but the platform, saying that "YouTube generated revenue from more than a third of those videos by placing ads before or during them." Those commentators included Rudy Giuliani, Tucker Carlson, Ben Shapiro, Kash Patel, and others.

With their refusal to remove the videos, The Times posits that YouTube, "in this presidential contest," has "acted as a megaphone for conspiracy theories." 

Media Ripped For Ignoring Claims Emhoff Allegedly Hit Girlfriend

Doug Emhoff and VP Harris

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff has presented himself as a “supporter of women” except when he’s “slapping them in the face or banging the nanny,” according to Megyn Kelly.

The host of the SiriusXM podcast “The Megyn Kelly Show” weighed in on the fallout from recent revelations first published in DailyMail.com about an alleged incident in which Emhoff physically assaulted his then-girlfriend because she was said to be flirting with another man.

Emhoff has not commented on the latest allegations.

“If this were a Republican, it would be leading every news channel,” Kelly said on her last week.

Kelly added that Emhoff sleeping with his child’s nanny and impregnating her “is in a special league of its own.”

She said that “most of us would have left it alone if he hadn’t then paraded himself out there and let the media parade himself out there like he was the ideal husband on steroids” or “like he is the new version of what it means to be a real man.”

Kelly made reference to a recent MSNBC interview in which host Jen Psaki fawned over Emhoff for his “role in reshaping the perception of masculinity” despite his having acknowledged being unfaithful to his first wife, Kerstin Emhoff, by impregnating his child’s nanny.

The DailyMail.com report also alleged that Emhoff told his then-girlfriend who was the victim of the purported assault in May 2012 that he admitted to getting the nanny pregnant and that the nanny claimed his “aggressive” behavior toward her caused her to have a miscarriage.

Kelly also issued a dire warning ahead of Tuesday’s Presidential Election — painting a grim picture of life under a Kamala Harris regime. The eponymous host of The Megyn Kelly Show told the Daily Mail that if Harris ascends to the top perch in the White House it “would just be such a dark day.”

Kelly presented a host of national issues that she feels Harris would fail to address — or even make worse.

Chris Russo’s ‘High Heat’ Ending on MLB Network

Christopher Russo

The “Mad Dog” announced Friday that his show “High Heat” on MLB Network will end on the network, with Friday’s episode being the last show.

The NY Post reports Russo had hosted the show on the network since 2014. Alanna Rizzo has been a co-host since 2021.

“In more than 2,200 episodes over the last 11 seasons, High Heat created a signature edgy and entertaining look at the game,” MLB Network said in a statement. “It’s been a great ride, and we thank Chris and Alanna for everything they’ve given to the show. As Chris likes to say, ‘That’s a good job by you.’”

Russo will still regularly appear on other MLB Network shows, according to The Athletic.

The sports media legend also works for ESPN, co-hosting “First Take” every Wednesday, and has his own radio show on Sirius XM.

Houston Radio: Radio Tower Owners, Others Sued Over Fatal Crash

The families of three people killed in the fiery Oct. 20 helicopter crash that took down a 1,000 foot radio tower in Houston's Second Ward are suing the owners of the helicopter, the touring company that operated it and the owners of the structure, reports The Houston Chronicle.

The lawsuit was brought on behalf of the families of Cesar Lerma, Marie Alonso and their 9-year-old son Dylon Lerma, who died in the crash along with helicopter pilot Samantha Grandbouche. The suit accuses three businesses — National Helicopter Solutions, Porter Equipment and SBA Communications — of acts of negligence that contributed to the crash.

Grandbouche is also named as a defendant.

The families are seeking more than $50 million in damages, according to the lawsuit.  The tower stood at 999 feet above ground, according to FCC records.

The FCC identified the radio stations that operated from the tower as:

• KLTN(FM), Houston, TX, 102.9 MHz
• KAMA-FM, Deer Park, TX, 104.9 MHz
• KOVE-FM, Galveston, TX, 106.5 MHz
• KCOH(AM), Houston, TX, 1230 kHz

According to a company spokesperson, SBA Communications recently acquired the tower. It was previously owned in part by Univision and sold in a transaction with several other towers in September.

Country Phenom Oliver Anthony Leaving Music Industry

One-time Country sensation Oliver Anthony has decided to leave the music industry.

In a lengthy YouTube video last week, the 32-year-old, whose real name is Christopher Anthony Lunsford and who rose to fame a year ago with his hit song "Rich Men North of Richmond," sat in a wooded area with his two dogs opining on life and his career. 

"I’ve decided that moving forward, I don’t need a Nashville management company. I don’t even need to exist within the space of music. So, I’m looking at switching my whole business over to a traveling ministry," Anthony revealed after discussing how he believes "our system is broken."

He added that he wants to "kind of keep things in the family business," noting that his great-grandfather had been a traveling minister. 

"I have this vision for this thing that I’m calling the Real Revival Project, and it’s basically going to start as a grassroots music festival, but hopefully it grows into something that can literally change our landscape and our culture and the way we live," he said in the video posted Tuesday. 

Anthony said he wants to stimulate the economies in these small towns, showcasing their culture while using local musicians and vendors, "so, you’re not having to drive to Pittsburgh to some concrete amphitheater to see a show."

Radio History: Nov 4

➦In 1916...David Sarnoff proposed the concept of a "radio music box" for radio reception.

The curator of Sarnoff's papers found a previously mis-filed 1916 memo that mentioned Sarnoff and a "radio music box scheme" (the word "scheme" in 1916 usually meant a plan).  Here is the memo:

David Sarnoff

"I have in mind a plan of development which would make radio a 'household utility' in the same sense as the piano or phonograph. The idea is to bring music into the house by wireless.  

"While this has been tried in the past by wires, it has been a failure because wires do not lend themselves to this scheme. With radio, however, it would seem to be entirely feasible. For example--a radio telephone transmitter having a range of say 25 to 50 miles can be installed at a fixed point where instrumental or vocal music or both are produced. The problem of transmitting music has already been solved in principle and therefore all the receivers attuned to the transmitting wave length should be capable of receiving such music. The receiver can be designed in the form of a simple 'Radio Music Box' and arranged for several different wave lengths, which should be changeable with the throwing of a single switch or pressing of a single button.  

"The 'Radio Music Box' can be supplied with amplifying tubes and a loudspeaking telephone, all of which can be neatly mounted in one box. The box can be placed on a table in the parlor or living room, the switch set accordingly and the transmitted music received. There should be no difficulty in receiving music perfectly when transmitted within a radius of 25 to 50 miles. Within such a radius there reside hundreds of thousands of families; and as all can simultaneously receive from a single transmitter, there would be no question of obtaining sufficiently loud signals to make the performance enjoyable. The power of the transmitter can be made 5 k.w., if necessary, to cover even a short radius of 25 to 50 miles; thereby giving extra loud signals in the home if desired. The use of head telephones would be obviated by this method. The development of a small loop antenna to go with each 'Radio Music Box' would likewise solve the antennae problem.

"The same principle can be extended to numerous other fields as, for example, receiving lectures at home which be made perfectly audible; also events of national importance can be simultaneously announced and received. Baseball scores can be transmitted in the air by the use of one set installed at the Polo Grounds. The same would be true of other cities. This proposition would be especially interesting to farmers and others living in outlying districts removed from cities. By the purchase of a 'Radio Music Box' they could enjoy concerts, lectures, music, recitals, etc., which may be going on in the nearest city within their radius. While I have indicated a few of the most probable fields of usefulness for such a device, yet there are numerous other fields to which the principle can be extended... 

"The manufacture of the 'Radio Music Box' including antenna, in large quantities, would make possible their sale at a moderate figure of perhaps $75.00 per outfit. The main revenue to be derived will be from the sale of 'Radio Music Boxes' which if manufactured in quantities of one hundred thousand or so could yield a handsome profit when sold at the price mentioned above. Secondary sources of revenue would be from the sale of transmitters and from increased advertising and circulation of the Wireless Age. The Company would have to undertake the arrangements, I am sure, for music recitals, lectures, etc., which arrangements can be satisfactorily worked out. It is not possible to estimate the total amount of business obtainable with this plan until it has been developed and actually tried out but there are about 15,000,000 families in the United States alone and if only one million or 7% of the total families thought well of the idea it would, at the figure mentioned, mean a gross business of about $75,000,000 which should yield considerable revenue.  

"Aside from the profit to be derived from this proposition the possibilities for advertising for the Company are tremendous; for its name would ultimately be brought into the household and wireless would receive national and universal attention."

Sarnoff eventually ruled over an ever-growing telecommunications and consumer electronics empire that included both RCA and NBC, and became one of the largest companies in the world. Named a Reserve Brigadier General of the Signal Corps in 1945, Sarnoff thereafter was widely known as "The General."