TV Ratings: MSNBC Tops Primetime During DNC Week

The viewership boost provided by the 2024 Democratic National Convention allowed MSNBC and CNN to topple Fox News from the No. 1 position in both total viewers and the advertiser-coveted Adults 25-54 demo during primetime.

MSNBC—which enjoyed its most-watched DNC ever—landed in the top spot of both measured categories in primetime, snatching the demo win from CNN by just 10,000 viewers. During total day, though, the network finished second behind Fox News in total viewers and behind CNN in the demo.

TV Newser reports Nielsen live plus same-day data for the week of August 19 saw FNC average 2.173 million total viewers and 285,000 A25-54 viewers during primetime. The network was down a respective -4% and -2% relative to the week prior. During total day, Fox News averaged 1.454 million total viewers and 199,000 A25-54 viewers for week-to-week gains of +4% and +6%, respectively.

Among all basic cable networks, Fox News fell to No. 3 in both total viewers and the demo during primetime. It continued to lead in total viewers across total day, but dropped from first to fourth in the demo.

MSNBC’s primetime lineup averaged 3,367,000 total viewers and 557,000 viewers in the A25-54 demo. The network enjoyed week-to-week gains in the triple digits, rising +135% and +246%, respectively. In total day, MSNBC averaged 1.449 million total viewers—a mere 5,000 viewers behind from FNC—and 200,000 A25-54 viewers. That translates to gains of +54% and +94%, respectively.

Among all basic cable networks, MSNBC moved to the top in total primetime viewers and the demo. During total day, it finished in second place in total viewers and moved to third place up from sixth in the total day demo.

CNN averaged 2.201 million total viewers and 547,000 A25-54 viewers in the demo during primetime for week-to-week gains of +180% and +253%, respectively. Across total day, the network saw 916,000 total viewers and 201,000 viewers in the demo, denying MSNBC the demo win by only 1,000 viewers. That translates to respective gains of +63% and +103% in both measured categories.

CNN was the No. 2 network in primetime with total viewers and the demo. During total day, it ranked third in total viewers and jumped from seventh to second place in the demo.

Augusta Radio: Beasley Media Launches Local News Website

Beasley Media Group has expanded its digital presence by launching a new online news site called Augusta Today. 

The site aims to provide local news coverage for the Greater Augusta metro area, featuring content from Beasley’s in-market talent like WGAC hosts Ashley Brown and Austin Rhodes. The site offers breaking news, sports coverage, lifestyle features, and columns, all without a paywall1.

This move aligns with similar strategies by other radio operators like Townsquare Media and Saga Communications, as the industry seeks to increase digital revenue1. Beasley reported a 10.4% year-over-year increase in digital revenue for Q2 2024, with digital now accounting for 21.5% of their total net revenue.

Steven Uhles’ extensive background in journalism and marketing makes him a great fit for the role of Editor-in-Chief at Augusta Today. His commitment to keeping the content free and accessible aligns well with Beasley Media Group’s community-focused approach. It’s exciting to see how this new venture will enhance local news coverage and engagement in the Augusta area.

Market Manager Kent Dunn’s enthusiasm highlights the potential impact of Augusta Today on the community, complementing Beasley’s existing radio stations. This initiative reflects a broader trend in the industry towards integrating digital platforms to reach and serve local audiences more effectively.

Amazon Drops Plan For $155M Investment In Diamond Sports

Back in January, Diamond Sports Group generated a lot of buzz over a plan that was intended to not only lift the company out of bankruptcy, but also position a behemoth behind it: Amazon. Diamond, the operator of a collection of regional sports networks, had filed for bankruptcy 10 months earlier, and looked to be heading toward liquidation until it proposed the Amazon-backed plan.

But now Amazon has nixed its planned $115 million investment, as first reported by Sports Business Journal and confirmed by people briefed on the matter who were not authorized to speak publicly. In the wake of that decision, industry executives and experts hold mixed opinions on why Amazon made that choice, and what it means for Diamond’s future, which was already murky.

Amazon and Diamond declined comment, according to The Athletic.

Diamond holds, and pays for, the broadcasting rights to 34 teams across MLB (12), the NBA (13) and NHL (9), and has operated them under the Bally brand. In the scheme of things, the $115 million Amazon planned to commit is a relatively small amount. For comparison: At the beginning of the year, Diamond projected its linear TV operation alone would bring in $2.07 billion in revenue, with costs of $1.94 billion — to say nothing of the streaming side of the house.

Importantly, Amazon’s investment never was to be delivered right away, but instead once the company had emerged from bankruptcy — which hasn’t happened. That made it a low-risk opportunity, one that perhaps provided the company a valuable up-close look at Diamond’s operation.

“Amazon almost always has a way out,” said Crakes, who has advised some unsecured creditors in the Diamond bankruptcy proceeding. “Because they are so big, they can kind of dictate terms.”

As for Amazon’s possible motivations to exit, Crakes believes the company could have seen that Diamond was likely to safely emerge from bankruptcy, therefore limiting Amazon’s opportunity to grow its own sports-media-rights business further in the near future.

YES, MSG Networks Combine For NY Regional Sports App

Gotham Advanced Media and Entertainment, the joint venture between MSG Networks and the YES Network, is launching a new app in the fall that will air local games for seven New York area teams.

CNBC reports the package announced Wednesday is believed to be the first time that two regional sports networks have combined their apps into a bundled option.

The Gotham Sports app will launch ahead of the NBA and NHL seasons. Locals will be able to watch the New York Knicks, New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, Buffalo Sabres, Brooklyn Nets and New York Yankees with a subscription.

The Gotham Package that gives access to all of those teams will cost $359.99 annually and $41.99 monthly, almost identical to the monthly price of Fox, Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery’s joint Venu streaming service that was blocked with a temporary injunction earlier this month. 

Judges Rule In Favor Of Palin vs. NYTimes

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin won her bid for a new trial against the New York Times over an editorial that she maintains defamed her by linking her rhetoric to a deadly shooting in Tucson that severely wounded Democratic U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords.

Courthouse News reports a three-judge panel of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that a 2022 trial dismissal clearing the newspaper of liability should be vacated, and sent the case back to Manhattan federal court. The decision gives Palin a third chance to prove that the Times and former opinion editor James Bennet should be held liable for linking her words to inciting the 2011 mass shooting in a 2017 editorial titled “America’s Lethal Politics.”

“Unfortunately, several major issues at trial — specifically, the erroneous exclusion of evidence, an inaccurate jury instruction, a legally erroneous response to a mid-deliberation jury question, and jurors learning during deliberations of the district court’s Rule 50 dismissal ruling — impugn the reliability of that verdict,” senior United States Circuit Judge John M. Walker Jr. wrote in the panel’s 56-page opinion.

Representatives for Palin called the reversal a “significant step forward in the process of holding publishers accountable for content that misleads readers and the public in general.”

While Palin’s case was previously dismissed in the lower court on First Amendment grounds for not meeting the high standard of showing actual malice, the Second Circuit reversed and ruled that a “strong inference of actual malice” could be drawn from the evidence.

Palin sued the Times in 2017 after her name appeared in a June 14 article by the Times editorial board on the day gunfire broke out at a congressional baseball practice.

The editorial blamed overheated political rhetoric for inciting gun violence, focusing in particular on a map that a political action committee for Palin had released featuring the stylized crosshairs of a gun over several election districts controlled by Democrats.

Sometime after the map was disseminated, Giffords, who represented one of those districts, was shot in the head at a "Congress on Your Corner" event.

Though the Times called the link from the shooting to Palin "clear" and "direct," within 14 hours it had published a correction saying there was no such link. No evidence has ever been shown that the Tucson shooter, Jared Lee Loughner, saw the Palin PAC's map.

A spokesperson for the New York Times called the appeals ruling "disappointing," and said in a statement Wednesday evening that the paper is "confident we will prevail in a retrial."

The Times argued that the editorial’s link to Palin was an unintentional error that the company acknowledged and swiftly corrected.

Former Politician Convicted In Death Of Nevada Journalist

Robert Telles and Jeff German

The jury in the trial of Robert Telles found the former Clark County, Nevada, elected official guilty of murder in the death of investigative reporter Jeff German on Wednesday.

The jury began deliberating Monday. They will move to the penalty phase of the trial. Telles faces up to life in prison.

Telles, 47, had pleaded not guilty to a charge of first-degree murder with a deadly weapon against a victim 60 or older in the 2022 death of German, who was found outside his home with multiple stab wounds. German was a longtime Las Vegas journalist who had written articles critical of Telles and the Clark County public administrator's office.

Testimony from 28 prosecution witnesses and six defense witnesses, including Telles himself, concluded Friday. He testified that he was being "framed" by people involved in an alleged scheme, accusing office colleagues, real estate agents, business owners and police. He said it was retaliation for his crusading effort to root out corruption he saw in his office of about eight employees handling probate property cases.

"I'm not crazy. I'm not trying to avoid responsibility," Telles told the jury on Friday. "I didn't kill Mr. German, and I'm innocent."

Telles lost his Democratic primary for a second elected term after German's stories about him appeared in the Las Vegas Review-Journal in May 2022. The reports described turmoil and bullying at the Clark County Public Administrator/Guardian office and a romantic relationship between Telles and a female employee.

Telles "did it because Jeff wasn't done writing," prosecutor Christopher Hamner said during closing arguments on Monday. "It's like connecting the dots."

The killing drew widespread attention. German was the only journalist killed in the U.S. in 2022, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. The nonprofit has records of 17 media workers killed in the U.S. since 1992.

ESPN Launches ‘Where to Watch’ App

Launching today on the industry-leading ESPN App and ESPN.com, “Where to Watch” is an easy-to-use guide for sports fans to find where to watch any sports event on ESPN platforms and beyond, including broadcast, cable and regional sports networks and streaming services.

“Simplifying discovery of sporting events and where a fan can watch has become increasingly important as sports viewing has become fragmented across networks and platforms,” said Brian Marshall, Vice President, Sports Product & Technology, Disney Entertainment & ESPN Technology. “ESPN has always been the first stop for sports fans, and as we continue our evolution as the preeminent digital sports platform, we are proud to meet the needs of fans with new features to improve the discoverability of live sports and simplify their consumption journeys.”

Access to Where to Watch is available from every screen on the ESPN App and ESPN.com, ensuring the essential feature is only a tap away as part of every sports fan’s daily routine. Fans can search for events and customize the guide to prioritize their favorite teams and leagues, making it fast and easy to discover what they care about most, all tied to their ESPN profile and personalization preferences.

From Where to Watch, fans can view all the sports events for an entire day, along with the network or service on which to find them, with quick one-click access to ESPN network streams for pay TV authenticated users and ESPN+ subscribers. Beyond just ESPN, fans are also linked directly to select partner networks, which currently include NESN and Monumental Sports.

At the core of Where to Watch is an event database created and managed by the ESPN Stats and Information Group (SIG), which aggregates ESPN and partner data feeds along with originally-sourced information and programming details from more than 250 media sources, including television networks and streaming platforms.

Where to Watch supports coverage of tens of thousands of events across dozens of sports and leagues, including NFL, NCAA Football, Men’s and Women’s NCAA Basketball, NBA, WNBA, MLB, NHL, UFC, F1, NASCAR, PGA TOUR, tennis majors, MLS, Premier League, Champions League, and other live sporting event airing on ESPN platforms. Additional sport and event coverage will be added over time.

Where to Watch is available on the ESPN App and ESPN.com and can be quickly accessed on any web browser at espn.com/wheretowatch.

ESPN Digital, which includes the ESPN App and ESPN.com, is by far the No. 1 digital sports destination and is uniquely positioned to deliver a more comprehensive, accessible, seamless viewing experience to a broader audience of sports fans.

Audacy Promotes Ralph Cipolla To VP/Programming Analytics

Audacy has promoted Ralph Cipolla to VP/Programming Analytics and Research.

The announcement comes from Audacy Chief Programming Officer Jeff Sottolano, who commented in a memo to staff, “Ralph joined Audacy’s programming team a little more than three years ago and has been instrumental in elevating our capabilities and ensuring the science component of the delicate marriage of art + science is well represented in all of our content decisions. 

Ralph Cipolla

He has also been instrumental in elevating our company wide performance insights as we have successfully grown our overall brand performance. I’m excited to have Ralph on our team and this promotion is a well deserved reflection of his contributions and impact.”

Ralph Cipolla commented, “At Audacy, I have found the career satisfaction that is only realized when you work with leaders and colleagues you respect and in whom you believe, when values are shared, and when you are given the privilege, responsibility, and opportunity to contribute, create, and be a part of something that touches so many people every day. I am grateful to Jeff Sottolano, Dave Richards, Susan Larkin, David Field, and so many others at Audacy for their constant encouragement, support, belief in innovation, and the chance to joyfully grow and do what I love each and every day.”

ESPN, USTA Extend Relationship with New 12-Year Agreement

With the Main Draw of the 2024 US Open underway in New York City, ESPN and the United States Tennis Association (USTA) have extended their relationship with a new, 12-year agreement that will keep the iconic event with ESPN through 2037.

The deal, which starts in 2026 and is ESPN’s longest-term tennis agreement, also continues to make ESPN the home of the entire US Open in Latin America and the Caribbean and in Canada on TSN and RDS. ESPN Deportes likewise continues as the exclusive Spanish-language home of the US Open in the United States.

In the new agreement, USTA will take over host broadcaster duties from ESPN beginning in 2026 as ESPN focuses its production resources on the more than 260 hours of annual coverage planned for the U.S., as well as hundreds of hours for international territories.

“We take tremendous pride in our 15-year relationship with the USTA,” said ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro. “This agreement reinforces our long-term dedication to tennis, our capacity to showcase one of the premier events on the annual sports calendar and, as the world’s first sporting event to offer equal purses for its female and male competitors, The Walt Disney Company’s industry-leading commitment to women’s sports.”

Fox Nation To Air Special on American Exceptionalism

FOX Nation, FOX News Media’s subscription based streaming service, will debut American Exceptionalism with Benjamin Hall on Friday, August 30. 

During the hour-long program, FOX News correspondent Hall will take viewers on an uplifting journey to Hazard, Kentucky. 

Once a booming Appalachian coal-mining town, Hazard faced an opioid epidemic, an exodus of opportunity and a devastating flood. Joined by special guests throughout the program, including Hazard Mayor Donald “Happy” Mobelini, SPARK Ministries regional coordinator Jenny Combs, a group of high school students, and other residents, Hall uncovers a powerful story of resilience, ingenuity and the unyielding American spirit as the Hazard community bands together to rebuild and restore the town to its former glory.

FOX Nation is a direct-to-consumer on-demand streaming service designed to complement the FOX News Channel experience with a members-only destination for its most passionate and loyal super fans.

Telegram CEO Charged Over Alleged Criminal Use of App

Pavel Durov, the Russian-born co-founder of Telegram, was formally charged late Wednesday by French authorities on suspicion of allowing illegal activity to take place on his popular social media platform and messaging app.

Courthouse News reports Durov, Telegram's flamboyant billionaire chief executive, was removed from detention and transferred to a Paris court on Wednesday afternoon ahead of the indictment. He will remain free on a 5 million euro bond, nearly $5.6 million, but cannot leave France.

French media reported that authorities also opened an investigation over allegations that Durov was violent with one of his sons in Paris who was attending school there in 2017.

An arrest warrant, reportedly issued in late March, accused Durov of not cooperating with authorities and allowing fraud, drug trafficking, cyberbullying, organized crime, child pornography and the promotion of terrorism to take place on the platform. There is no indication that Durov was personally involved in criminal activity on Telegram.

His arrest and indictment were met with both condemnation and applause around the world. Critics denounced the case as a politically motivated attack on free speech while others accused Telegram of becoming a dangerous online tool used to spread disinformation and conduct illegal activities.

The 39-year-old tech entrepreneur, who lives and runs his business in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, was arrested Saturday night when his private jet landed at Le Bourget airport outside Paris.

Detroit Radio: Sports Rap Radio Goes Silent On 1270 AM

Sports Rap Radio, the first all-Black sports radio station in the U.S., has closed down. Rob Parker’s initiative aimed to provide a platform for underrepresented voices in sports-talk radio, and it’s clear he put a lot of passion into the project.

The station, which debuted on June 4 on WXYT 1270 AM, featured a lineup of prominent sports figures and a mix of hip-hop and sports talk. However, it was taken off the air on August 27.

Former ESPN personality Rob Parker, who has since worked at Fox Sports 1, attempted to launch the first all-Black sports radio station in the United States. 

“Sports Rap Radio, the idea and concept, is viable and serves the underrepresented Black community in sports-talk radio,” Parker said. “I’m proud that we were able to launch the first all-Black sports talk station in this country. I’m proud of the product the staff delivered. But I’m devastated that I couldn’t deliver this for our culture. I failed my people.”

As of 5p CT on August 27, the signal had already returned to its previous sports betting format, The Bet Detroit, carrying Audacy’s BetQL network programming.

Radio History: Aug 29

➦In 1892...Broadcast Pioneer Harry Read was born in Seattle, WA.. He was a co-founder  of KXL Portland OR. Read was Secretary-Treasurer of KXL Broadcasters and, General Manager & Chief Technician KXL Radio.  Today KXL is known as KXTG 750 AM and airs a sports talk format.  It's sister-FM station uses the KXL calls and airs news/talk. Both are now owned by Alpha Media Group.

➦In1914...Radio actor Willard Waterman (right) was born in Madison Wisconsin (Died at age 80 - February 2, 1995).  He was versatile supporting actor. He replaced Harold Peary, on "The Great Gildersleeve," radio program after Peary was unable to convince sponsor and show owner Kraft Cheese to allow him an ownership stake in the show.

He began his radio career at WIBA in Madison, singing in a quartet that performed "musical interludes between programs." and moved to NBC in Chicago in early 1936.

➦In 1936...ABC news anchor Peter Jennings was born in Toronto (Died was age 68 - August 7, 2005). The son of a CBC newsman/exec he had his own half-hour Saturday radio program at age 9.  Before his 30th birthday he anchored briefly for CTV and ABC TV, but was considered too young with insufficient gravitas.  After much reporting from world hot spots he became sole anchor of ABC’s World News Tonight in 1983, an assignment he continued until just before his death from lung cancer.

➦In 1943...summertime replacement show 'Paul Whiteman Presents' was heard on NBC radio for the last time. The hostess was Dinah Shore, and Whiteman led a 35-piece orchestra. His well-known theme song was Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue.

➦In 1946...Bwana Johnny (left) was born in Oregon (Died at age 59 in 2005).  Bwana, whose real name was Richard Johnson, had been a popular disc jockey at the old 1260/KYA back in the late 1960s. Most recently, he had worked in production with Jones Radio Networks in Seattle before his illness forced him into a care facility.

Before coming to the Bay Area in 1969, "Beautiful Bwana" worked at KLOG/Kelso, Wash., WUBE/Cincinnati and KJR/Seattle.

He moved on to WWDJ/New York as music director and afternoon-drive jock (1971-1973) and spun records for a year at WFUN/Miami before returning to his hometown, Portland, Ore., as "Crazy Dick Simms" on the Rose City's legendary KISN in 1975.

➦In 1957...The ABC radio network purchased KQV 1410 AM in August 29, 1957 for $700,000. ABC hired two executives from Storz Broadcasting to launch the top 40 format in Pittsburgh  They hired Dale Maudy who had been an executive engineer for the Stroz group and Ralph Beaudin, who had been a KOWH sales executive, as the KQV general manager.

The station was one of the oldest in the U-S and went silent on December 31, 2017 For more on KQV: Click Here.

➦In 1966...The Beatles played what would prove to be their last concert before a paying audience at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, to a sold-out crowd of 25,000. John and Paul, knowing what the fans do not (that this will be the last concert ever) brought cameras on stage and took pictures between songs. (Their lone remaining public performance was the 1969 rooftop appearance in London).

Trump Finds a New Media Foe in ABC News

For years, as Donald Trump railed against the news media, CNN was often his favorite target. Now, The Wall Street Journal reports ABC News is finding out what it is like to be the former president’s punching bag.  

Trump seized on his growing list of grievances with the network in a Truth Social posting on Sunday, suggesting he might not attend a Sept. 10 presidential debate that ABC is hosting because he was concerned he wouldn’t be treated fairly. On Tuesday, Trump said he reached an agreement on terms for the debate with Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.

Trump’s tensions with ABC have been on display for months. He sued anchor George Stephanopoulos for defamation and lashed out at an ABC reporter interviewing him at a convention of Black journalists, calling her question “nasty” and the network “terrible.” In his post Sunday, he took aim at another anchor, a political contributor and a top executive at ABC parent Disney.

“News organizations don’t want to be in the news,” said Frank Sesno, a professor of media and public affairs at George Washington University and a former Washington bureau chief for CNN. “At the end of the day, all this does is to raise the profile of the event.”

As of Monday, the Trump and Harris campaigns had failed to agree on whether microphones should be muted during the debate. The Harris campaign had said both microphones should be live, while the Trump campaign had pushed to keep the microphones muted as they were during a June debate on CNN between Trump and President Biden.

In a post on Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump said that the rules would be the same as in the CNN debate and that candidates wouldn’t be allowed to bring notes.

An ABC spokeswoman had no comment on the terms of the debate. A Harris campaign representative didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Television interviews are another way for voters to get a sense of how Harris operates in an unscripted setting. CNN said it would air a joint interview with Harris and running mate Tim Walz on Thursday, her first one since becoming the nominee. Dana Bash will conduct the interview.

Harris, Walz Will Go On CNN for First Campaign Interview

Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will sit with CNN for their first joint interview on Thursday as Democrats work to broaden their base’s excitement from last week’s Democratic National Convention. 

The interview, conducted by CNN’s chief political correspondent and anchor Dana Bash, will air at 9 p.m. ET on Thursday. It occurs as the candidates embark on a bus tour through the battleground state of Georgia and marks the first time Harris has sat with a journalist for an in-depth, on-the-record conversation since President Joe Biden dropped his bid for a second term and endorsed her on July 21.

The 37 days since her candidacy began have generated a swell of enthusiasm and momentum for Harris, including at last week’s convention in Chicago. But her lack of a formal news conference or interview has generated criticism from her Republican rivals. Thursday’s interview fulfils a vow she made earlier in August to schedule a sit-down before the end of the month.

With the interview, Harris’ extraordinarily truncated campaign is entering a new, post-convention phase. Her team is anticipating more scrutiny as she and Walz enter the final weeks before early voting begins. Harris has also been preparing for a September 10 debate with her Republican rival, former President Donald Trump.

Over the past several weeks, Harris has responded to some shouted questions from reporters as she campaigns in battleground states. She also sat for three interviews with content creators and influencers during the DNC last week – an example of her campaign’s belief that voters, especially young voters, are getting their news from less traditional sources.