Fox News’s Harris Faulkner criticized ABC’s Rachel Scott for causing an “emotional” start to former President Trump’s interview at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) convention on Wednesday.
The Hill reports Faulkner said the moderators should have welcomed Trump on stage and acknowledged that just weeks prior he had undergone an assassination attempt.
Scott opened the question-and-answer session with Trump by citing his past comments about Black people, asking him why Black voters should trust him. Trump shot back and said he didn’t think he’d ever been asked a question “in such a horrible manner.”
“He walks out onstage and not a greeting to acknowledge it’s been 18 days at that point since you survived an assassination attempt. We’re going to ask you tough questions, but Mr. President, welcome and we’re glad you’re still here,” Faulkner said.
“I mean, it didn’t take much to show humanity, and in that moment, I was so disappointed that that didn’t happen,” she said, adding that “things got off to an emotional start.”
Faulkner co-moderated the event with Scott and Semafor’s Kadia Goba. Trump’s interview and combative tone at times struck a negative chord and evoked animated responses from the audience.
Faulkner said Thursday that while there were some who were critical of what Trump had to say, it was expressed “respectfully.”
SiriusXM has announced it is bringing its network of podcasts to Apple Music through a premium listening subscription called SiriusXM Podcasts+.
Digital Music News reports Subscribers in the United States, Canada, and over 50 other countries will enjoy ad-free listening to new episodes, bonus content, and early access to podcast content from SiriusXM. At launch, the SiriusXM Podcasts+ subscription includes access to ‘SmartLess,’ the Freakonomics Radio network, and select shows from the Last Podcast network. Also included are ‘99% Invisible’,’ ‘The Joel Osteen Podcast,’ ‘Busted Open,’ ‘The Bonfire with Big Jay Oakerson and Robert Kelly,’ ‘Literally! with Rob Lowe,’ and ‘Andy Cohen’s Daddy Diaries Podcast.’
Additional podcasts are expected to join the SiriusXM Podcasts+ offering on Apple Podcasts later this year. SiriusXM says these initial shows represent their most listened podcasts and contain a wide variety of interests. Included in the subscription are transcripts of the podcasts, offering full-text display for each episode, making them accessible to deaf and hearing impaired individuals.
“As the leading audio entertainment company in North America, we are excited to expand our audience reach with the launch of SiriusXM Podcasts+,” adds Scott Greenstein, President & Chief Content Officer at SiriusXM. “This new offering gives podcast enthusiasts the chance to subscribe to premium content from some of the most popular podcasts on our network, right through Apple Podcasts. This allows us to reach new listeners, increases value for creators looking to engage fans, and facilitates our ability to add premium content to our flagship SiriusXM app and enhance the value of our core subscription.”
Hope Media Group has appointed Tim Dukes as the new President. Previously serving as the Chief Operating Officer (COO), Dukes will now lead the Christian radio company. Meanwhile, Joe Paulo, who held both President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) positions, will focus solely on his role as CEO.
Tim Dukes’ background in Christian radio and his experience at various stations across different cities make him well-suited for this position. The group operates not only through traditional radio stations like KSBJ Houston but also via digital platforms such as “NGEN Radio,” “Hope on Demand,” and “Amen: The Prayer App.” Their concert and event brand division adds another dimension to their outreach efforts.
Tim Dukes
Dukes has been promoted from Chief Operating Officer to President of Hope Media Group. In his new role, Tim will continue to oversee day-to-day operations, leveraging his extensive media experience. His new title aligns with the positive influence he has had on the ministry and gives him the authority necessary to expand HMG's scope through strategic partnerships and acquisitions.
Joe Paulo, previously President & CEO, will now hold the title of CEO, streamlining his role as he continues to guide HMG through its next phase of growth. Dukes and Paulo will collaborate closely on strategic opportunities to enhance HMG's mission and results. Joe stated, "Healthy things grow, and growing things change. These promotions highlight our commitment to nurturing internal talent and expanding our leadership capacity to drive continued growth and innovation for the ministry.”
Hope Media also announced the promotion of Desires Gonzalez and Shawn Hill.
Desiree Gonzalez has been promoted from Chief Financial Officer to Chief Operating Officer (COO). Desiree's role has expanded beyond financial responsibilities to include oversight of Human Resources, Data Management, Software Engineering, Legal and Compliance, and other core operational functions.
Shawn Hill has been promoted to Senior Vice President (SVP) of Finance. He will now oversee both Finance and Accounting for Hope Media Group.
➦In 1922...Alexander Graham Bell died at age 75 (Born - March 3, 1847). He was a Scottish-born American inventor, scientist, and engineer who is credited with inventing and patenting the first practical telephone. He also founded the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) in 1885.
Bell's father, grandfather, and brother had all been associated with work on elocution and speech and both his mother and wife were deaf, profoundly influencing Bell's life's work. His research on hearing and speech further led him to experiment with hearing devices which eventually culminated in Bell being awarded the first U.S. patent for the telephone in 1876. Bell considered his invention an intrusion on his real work as a scientist and refused to have a telephone in his study.
Many other inventions marked Bell's later life, including groundbreaking work in optical telecommunications, hydrofoils, and aeronautics. Although Bell was not one of the 33 founders of the National Geographic Society, he had a strong influence on the magazine while serving as the second president from January 7, 1898, until 1903.
Bell died of complications arising from diabetes on August 2, 1922, at his private estate in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Bell had also been afflicted with pernicious anemia. His last view of the land he had inhabited was by moonlight on his mountain estate at 2:00 a.m. While tending to him after his long illness, Mabel, his wife, whispered, "Don't leave me." By way of reply, Bell signed "no...", lost consciousness, and died shortly after.
➦In 1964...Comedic radio actor Jack Kirkwood died just days short of his 70th birthday. He had a well know repeated role on The Bob Hope Show. Some called Kirkwood Bob Hope's second banana, but in actuality Bob Hope often played the straight man to Jack Kirkwood's hijinks.
His contributions to golden age of radio was extensive. He was on such shows as The Bob Hope Show, Edgar Bergen, Ozzie & Harriet, The Alan Young Show, Fibber McGee and Molly, Jack Benny Program, the star-studded show train Railroad Hour, and many more.
➦In 1983...WHTZ 100.3 FM, licensed to Newark, NJ signed-on with Scott Shannon and the "Morning Zoo". It went from "worst to first" in just a few months.
The station went on the air at 6:08 AM. The first two songs ever played on the station were "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor, followed by "America" by Neil Diamond.
Initially, the station called themselves by their new call letters, but by late August, they began calling themselves "WHTZ Newark, New York's New Z100". The station signed on from its new and still-incomplete studio in Secaucus, transmitting from the old FM tower site in West Orange, New Jersey, as their antenna was not moved to the top of the Empire State Building until August 4 at 6 AM.
Z100 was the second station that summer to attempt to bring the Top 40 format back to New York, with rock station WPLJ having begun the evolution to top 40 in June. WHTZ was programmed to remind listeners of one-time AM powerhouse WABC, which had gone from a tight Top 40 format to leaning Disco in early 1979 to leaning adult rock later in 1979, to leaning adult contemporary in 1980 and then evolving to Adult Contemporary/Talk in 1981, before it finally flipped to an all-talk format on May 10, 1982.
Within 74 days of signing on, WHTZ had climbed from last place to first in the New York Arbitron ratings book. Over the years, Z100 stayed with a top 40 format, with WPLJ behind them in the ratings.
The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) announced the finalists for the 2024 NAB Marconi Radio Awards in a live streamed video. The winners will be recognized and honored at radio’s biggest night, the Marconi Awards Dinner, where the industry’s major players come together to celebrate excellence and recognize stations and individuals. The dinner will be held October 9 during NAB Show New York.
Established in 1989 and named after inventor and Nobel Prize winner Guglielmo Marconi, the NAB Marconi Radio Awards are given to radio stations and outstanding on-air personalities to recognize excellence in radio.
This year's NAB Marconi Radio Award finalists include:
Russia freed wrongly convicted Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich as part of the largest and most complex East-West prisoner swap since the Cold War, in which he and more than a dozen others jailed by the Kremlin were exchanged for Russians held in the U.S. and Europe, including a convicted murderer.
The Wall Street Journal reports Gershkovich and other Americans left Russian aircraft moments ago at an airport in Turkey’s capital, Ankara. Russia had kept the 32-year-old behind bars for more than a year on a false allegation of espionage. It sentenced him in a hurried and secret three-day trial to 16 years in a high-security penal colony.
Moscow also released former Marine Paul Whelan, journalist Alsu Kurmasheva and Vladimir Kara-Murza, a British-Russian dissident and Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, sentenced to 25 years in prison on treason-related charges. Russia also released a number of political dissidents.
The sweeping deal involved 24 prisoners and at least six countries, and came together after months of negotiations at the highest levels of governments in the U.S., Russia and Germany, whose prisoner, Russian hit man Vadim Krasikov, emerged as the linchpin to the arrangement.
White House officials, U.S. diplomats and personnel from the CIA had crisscrossed Europe and the Middle East looking for friendly governments willing to release the Russian spies in their custody in return for Americans held by the Kremlin.
President Biden—about an hour before he notified the world he was dropping out of the presidential race on July 21—called the prime minister of Slovenia, whose country was contributing two convicted Russian spies to the swap, to secure the pardon necessary for the deal to proceed. CIA Director William Burns traveled to Turkey last week to meet his counterpart there and finalize the logistics for the swap.
Later this year, the CBS EVENING NEWS will return to New York and feature a new look and format, along with an ensemble team of journalists and new editorial leaders, it was announced today by Wendy McMahon, president and CEO of CBS News and Stations and CBS Media Ventures.
After the presidential election, award-winning journalists John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois will anchor the CBS EVENING NEWS from the CBS Broadcast Center. Margaret Brennan, CBS News’ chief foreign affairs correspondent and moderator of FACE THE NATION WITH MARGARET BRENNAN will regularly lead coverage from Washington, D.C., when news breaks on the political and foreign affairs fronts. Also, Lonnie Quinn is being named chief weathercaster for the CBS EVENING NEWS, where he will deliver the latest weather reporting and forecasts from the new AR/VR studio in New York. Quinn joins the ranks of the talented experts CBS News is building within its Weather Network, and he is already appearing on the CBS EVENING NEWS when major weather news happens.
John Dickerson Maurice DuBois, Margaret Brennan
Norah O’Donnell will anchor the broadcast and lead the Network’s political coverage through the election. She will then move into an expanded role as a CBS News senior correspondent focusing on longform reporting and interviews across CBS and Paramount, including primetime specials, CBS NEWS SUNDAY MORNING, 60 MINUTES, Paramount+ and more.
“We want to thank Norah for her exceptional work on the Evening News over the past five years, and we are grateful she has decided to continue leading our coverage through the election,” said McMahon. “Norah’s new role will give her the opportunity to contribute across CBS and Paramount, allowing us to see more of the groundbreaking stories and interviews that have been the hallmark of her career. Her superpower lies in her ability to secure and deliver big interviews and newsmaking stories that set the news cycle and capture the cultural zeitgeist. We look forward to elevating and showcasing Norah’s reporting now and in the future.”
SiriusXM today announced second quarter 2024 operating and financial results, including revenue of $2.18 billion, a decrease of 3% compared to the second quarter of 2023. The company recorded net income of $316 million in the second quarter of 2024 compared to $310 million in the prior year’s second quarter. Net income per diluted common share was $0.08 in both the second quarter of 2024 and the second quarter of 2023.
“As we approach the close of our transaction with Liberty Media, I am proud to report on our continued financial success,” said Jennifer Witz, Chief Executive Officer. “We remain focused on delivering for our listeners and our investors, leveraging our position in audio to innovate and explore new avenues for growth. By pairing the unique voices and perspectives across music, sports, and politics from our unparalleled live programming with new features and subscription packages, we are poised to capitalize on the opportunities ahead.”
“I am pleased with this quarter's performance, which reflects our dedication to strong operational and financial execution,” said Tom Barry, Chief Financial Officer. “Our strategic investments in technology and automation continue to reduce costs, improve the efficiency of our teams, and enhance the customer experience. We expect to close the announced transaction with Liberty Media after the market closes on Monday, September 9th, and we continue to target long-run leverage of mid-to-low three times adjusted EBITDA.” added Barry. “In the second quarter, SiriusXM delivered $103 million to stockholders through our regular quarterly dividend and ended the quarter with net debt to adjusted EBITDA of 3.2 times. We remain committed to driving long-term value for our stockholders.”
SiriusXM Second Quarter 2024 Segment Highlights
SiriusXM Total Subscribers of 33 Million: self-pay subscribers decreased by approximately 100,000 in the second quarter of 2024, an improvement from the prior year results due to lower voluntary churn and higher automaker volumes, which were partially offset by higher vehicle-related churn and lower vehicle conversion rates and streaming net additions. Self pay subscriber churn remained steady at 1.5%, consistent with the same period in 2023. Paid promotional subscribers declined by approximately 73,000 during the 2024 quarter, largely due to a shift towards unpaid trial subscriptions by certain automakers. The SiriusXM trial funnel stood at approximately 7.4 million at the end of the quarter, compared to 7.5 million at the end of both the first quarter of 2024 and the second quarter of 2023.
Bob Cooney, the veteran Philadelphia Daily News sports writer who more recently has been a host at WPEN 97.5 The Fanatic, said on Wednesday he is no longer with the station.
The Philadelphia Business Journal reports Cooney wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that he was notified on Wednesday that the station is "moving in a different direction."
Cooney had been handling the midday shift in the wake of Anthony Gargano’s departure last fall to help launch AllCity Network’s AllPhly digital media outlet. He had been teaming with a rotating group of co-hosts, mainly newcomer Bill Colarulo and NBCSP host Amy Fadool.
“Wanted to say thanks to all who listened over the years during my time at The Fanatic,” Cooney told his followers on X. “Loved the conversations and getting to know a lot of you."
Bob Cooney
Program Director Scott Masteller would only confirm via email that Cooney had left the station.
Cooney joined the station in 2017 to team with Gargano during the morning drive shift. Gargano was moved to middays a year later in favor of John Kincade and Cooney stayed on the morning shift. The Fanatic (WPEN-FM) shook up its on-air lineup in March by moving Andrew Salciunas to work with Kincade at 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. Cooney moved from mornings to middays at that time.
Rumors have swirled for months that Mike Missanelli could be headed back to the station as a midday host. Masteller said Tuesday that he and Missanelli had been talking off and on for several months. Missanelli confirmed the same on his own podcast, saying he was made an offer but it was not satisfactory to him.
On Tuesday, The Fanatic and parent Beasley Media Group announced that former Philadelphia Phillies closer Ricky Bottalico has signed a multiyear contract extension to continue serving as co-host with Tyrone Johnson of the afternoon drive show.
The Fanatic is owned by Naples, Florida-based Beasley, which operates 59 radio stations across the country.
Venu Sports, the sports streaming venture from Fox, Disney’s ESPN, and Warner Bros. Discovery WBD will cost fans $42.99 a month, the platform announced on Thursday.
Scheduled to launch this fall, Venu will stream games and content that incudes the National Football League, Major League Baseball, the National Basketball League, the National Hockey League and Division I college football and basketball.
The Wall Street Journal reports the streaming service will provide access to 14 live sports channels and a library of on-demand content from the companies’ sports networks.
Around the time it was announced earlier this year, Citi analysts estimated the new service to encompass about 55% of U.S. sports rights.
The $42.99 price tag is significantly cheaper than the traditional cable TV bundle, which can cost north of $100 a month. It is also cheaper than YouTube TV, which costs $73 a month. Subscribers will also get a 7-day free trial at sign up. Subscribers will be locked in at the $42.99 rate for 12 months from when they sign up with the ability to cancel at any time.
One of Venu’s main draws is access to NBA games, for which ESPN and Warner’s TNT currently share the media rights. But the league recently signed new 11-year deals worth $77 billion that will go into effect after the 2024-25 season with NBCUniversal, ESPN and Amazon, leaving TNT out after a decades-long partnership.
FOX News Channel (FNC) finished the month of July as the most watched network in all of television in weekday primetime, outpacing not only all of cable but the competition on broadcast networks ABC, CBS and NBC.
Posting its highest July on record and among top 10 highest-rated months of all time, FNC is the only channel to grow its audience versus 2020 and 2016, as the competition shed massive viewership.
According to Nielsen Media Research, FNC has accelerated the most among U.S. television, gaining the largest percentage of viewers and solidifying its spot as the go-to destination for all breaking news, occupying the largest share of the audience since November 2014 (60% in total day viewers).
Attracting the highest viewership in television, FOX News Media was the leader in news during the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, the Republican National Convention (RNC), President Biden’s decision to end his re-election campaign and his first Oval Office address to the nation following the news. FNC delivered 99 of the top 100 telecasts in cable news, while MSNBC netted just one and CNN had zero. July was the highest-rated month since the November 2020 election as more Independents continued to tune in to FNC over any other network, according to data from Nielsen MRI Fusion. Additionally, FNC ranked as the top network in all of cable among upscale, Asian and Hispanic viewers during total day viewership and 25-54 demo.
In primetime, FNC delivered 3.5 million viewers and 498,000 in the 25-54 demographic, growing its audience double-digits year-over-year (+120%) in total viewership and even attracting 236% more viewers in the 25-54 demo. In total day, FNC drew 1.9 million viewers and 268,000 in the 25-54 demo, again more than doubling its demo audience. FNC also posted the most growth month over month, accelerating 41% in total viewership and 69% in 25-54 demo during total day hours and 52% in primetime viewers with a 95% bump in the 25-54 demo. In contrast, MSNBC posted its lowest weekday primetime viewership average of 2024.
FNC is the only network to show growth across the board versus the prior political seasons, a notable feat due to heightened viewership during the pandemic and the impact of cord cutting on the industry. Notably, FNC is up double-digits in both total day (+17%) viewers and 7-11 PM/ET primetime (+15%), while CNN lost 47% of total day viewers and 43% in primetime versus 2020. MSNBC followed suit dropping 40% of total day and primetime viewers. This trend also is reflected versus 2016, with FNC growing 21% in total day viewers and 25% in primetime as CNN shed 45% and 47%, respectively while MSNBC was also down across the board in primetime.
At 5 PM/ET, FNC’s The Five averaged above 3.9 million viewers and 396,000 in 25-54 demo, outpacing every program on CNN and MSNBC across the board. Following the hour, Special Report with Bret Baier (weeknights, 6 PM/ET) averaged 2.9 million viewers and 337,000 in 25-54 demo, marking its top month since November 2020.
On July 17th, FNC’s revamped primetime lineup marked its one-year anniversary. Kicking off with The Ingraham Angle at 7 PM/ET and closing with late-night program Gutfeld! at 10PM/ET, each show grew its timeslot across the board. Overall, from 7 – 11PM/ET, FNC attracted 37% more viewers and 65% in the 25-54 demo versus the interim period with each host beating CNN and MSNBC combined in its time slot with total viewers. For the first time since 2016, FNC beat Discovery among all younger primetime demos during Shark Week.
At 8 PM/ET Jesse Watters Primetime was the number one show in all of cable news, marking its highest-rated month since launch. For the month, Watters delivered a whopping 4.4 million viewers and 590,000 in the 25-54 demo, crushing the hour by double- and triple-digit advantages. Notably, year-over-year, Watters grew the timeslot by 132% with total viewers and 246% with 25-54 viewers, establishing the program as the fastest growing program in all of cable news.
FNC’s hit late-night program Gutfeld! continued as the genre’s most-watched in broadcast and cable television in viewers, 25-54 and the younger A18-49 demographic with nearly three million viewers, 458,000 in 25-54 demo and 296,000 in A18-49. During the month of July, Gutfeld! notched its largest audience in viewers and 25-54 demo in program history as it outranked CBS’ The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!, NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Late Night with Seth Meyers, CBS’ After Midnight and Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. The program also finished the month on track to have its most-watched year in program history.
FNC’s primetime lineup once again swept the competition every hour, beginning at 7 PM/ET with FNC’s The Ingraham Angle averaging 3.3 million viewers and 423,000 in the 25-54 demo. FNC’s Hannity at 9 PM/ET remained dominant, nabbing 4.3 million viewers and 657,000 in the 25-54 demo, making it the top show of the month in the 25-54 demo. Closing the night at 11 PM/ET, FOX News @ Night surpassed the competition, delivering 1.7 million viewers and 282,000 in 25-54 demo. Notably all three shows posted their best months since November 2020.
📺JULY RANKINGS
Among Total Viewers
Jesse Watters Primetime – Fox News -( 4,413,000)
Hannity – Fox News – (4,300,000)
The Five – Fox News ( 3,854,000)
The Ingraham Angle – Fox News – (3,314,000)
Special Report with Bret Baier – Fox News – (2,913,000)
Gutfeld! – Fox News – (2,907,000)
The Story – Fox News – (2,372,000)
America Reports – Fox News – (2,232,000)
Outnumbered – Fox News – (2,192,000)
Your World with Neil Cavuto – Fox News – (2,120,000)
The Faulkner Focus – Fox News – ( 2,063,000)
America’s Newsroom – Fox News – (2,039,000)
Fox News at Night – Fox News – (1,668,000)
Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell – MSNBC – (1,493,000)
The Rachel Maddow Show/Alex Wagner Tonight Average – MSNBC – (1,443,000)
FNC’s daytime lineup, led by two-hour morning news program America’s Newsroom with Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino (weekdays, 9-11 AM/ET), saw 2 million viewers and 257,000 in the 25-54 demo. The Faulkner Focus at 11 AM/ET, anchored by Harris Faulkner, notched 2.1 million viewers and 265,000 in the 25-54 demo, marking the show’s second best month since launch with viewers. At 12 PM/ET, Outnumbered earned 2.2 million viewers and 271,000 in the demo. From 1-3 PM/ET, America Reports with John Roberts and Sandra Smith garnered 2.2 million viewers and 283,000 in the 25-54 demo, marking the show’s best month ever. Each of these programs outperformed NBC’s Today with Hoda and Jenna, NBC News Daily, GMA3, Kelly Clarkson Show and The Talk in total viewers. At 3 PM/ET, anchor Martha MacCallum’s The Story averaged 2.4 million viewers and 309,000 in the 25-54 demo, beating ABC’s The View in viewership. Your World with Neil Cavuto at 4 PM/ET nabbed 2.1 million viewers and 259,000 in the 25-54 category for the month, marking its best month November 2020.
NBCUniversal’s presentation of the opening Tuesday of Paris Olympics competition – highlighted by Simone Biles and the U.S. women’s gymnastics team winning the gold medal in the team competition, three American silver medals and one bronze in the pool, and the U.S. women’s rugby team’s dramatic bronze-medal victory – posted a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 34.7 million viewers on NBC, Peacock, and across key NBCU platforms, according to official data from Nielsen and Adobe Analytics – nearly doubling the opening Tuesday of competition for the Tokyo Olympics (18.4 million across all platforms).
In addition, Tuesday’s live afternoon coverage of the women’s gymnastics team final (12:15-2:30 p.m. ET) – which was mostly outside of the 2-5 p.m. ET live “Paris Prime” window – averaged 12.7 million viewers across NBC and Peacock, ranking among NBC’s most-watched Olympic weekday daytime events ever.
Beginning with Friday’s Opening Ceremony, NBCUniversal has a posted five-day Total Audience Delivery average of 34.0 million viewers across the combined live Paris Prime (2-5 p.m. ET) and U.S. primetime (8-11 p.m. ET/PT) time periods – up 79% from Tokyo (19.0 million).
West Palm Beach leads all markets in local NBC station ratings through the first four days of broadcast coverage (“Paris Prime” + primetime windows). Following are the Top 15 markets:
Tuesday’s coverage was streamed by 5.0 million viewers on Peacock and NBCU Digital platforms.
Peacock’s “Gold Zone” Strikes Gold
The number of Peacock accounts watching “Gold Zone” doubled between its Saturday debut and Tuesday, as viewers continue to rave about the fast-paced, whip-around coverage, showing the best and most compelling Olympic moments happening at any time. Since its premiere, “Gold Zone” has consistently ranked among the Top 5 most-watched Olympic titles on Peacock, and is live every day of the Games from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET.
Walt Disney Co. is planning a fresh round of job cuts in its TV division, part of an effort to reduce costs in a shrinking part of its business, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Bloomberg reports the company is eliminating about 140 jobs, or about 2% of staff at Disney Entertainment Television, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing nonpublic information. The cuts will fall hardest on networks like NatGeo and Freeform, which are scaling back their programming, as well as the company’s ABC stations.
Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger has cut billions of dollars in costs at Disney and eliminated over 8,000 positions since returning to the top job there in November 2022. The company is trying to balance the need for investments in streaming with the rapid decline of its cable networks, which still generate billions of dollars in profit.
As part of the cuts, NatGeo will lose about 13% of its staff, the people said. The network, named after the iconic magazine, has already pared back its scripted programming to a handful of shows such as Genius: MLK/X.
ABC News staffers are bracing for major cuts as the Disney-owned network slashes budgets — with even those at top-rated “Good Morning America” on the chopping block, The Post has learned.
The Mouse House has demanded that “GMA” reduce its bottom line by a whopping $19 million, up from previous projections of $17 million, before the end of Disney’s fiscal year on Sept. 30, an insider with knowledge told The NY Post.
Sources told The Post that the “GMA” cuts won’t be coming from the eight-figure salaries of the show’s top talent — Robin Roberts, Michael Strahan and George Stephanopoulos. “They all have contracts, so there will be no cut at that level,” a former ABC News exec said of the hosts, who are estimated to make between $17 million and $18 million each. “But they will have to cut jobs.”
Freeform, formerly known as ABC Family, has historically programmed shows like Grown-ish and Pretty Little Liars for a teen audience. But teens have largely abandoned cable for streaming.
Disney is also eliminating jobs in its marketing and publicity teams.
Disney’s entertainment-oriented TV networks contributed about 12% of total revenue in the most recently reported second quarter, a sum that doesn’t include sports operations like ESPN.
The company reports fiscal third-quarter results next week.
Highly leveraged iHeartMedia Inc. has started confidential talks with a group of lenders led by Pacific Investment Management Co., according to people familiar with the situation who asked not to be identified discussing a private matter.
Bloomberg reports private discussions typically involve crafting a debt-restructuring proposal that would be shared with a wider group of debtholders if a deal in principal is reached.
Various creditor groups have been created in recent months, setting the stage for potential battles between stakeholders, Bloomberg News previously reported. Investors have been on high alert for potential creditor infighting as an era of easy money weakened lender protections and left creditors with few options but to turn against each other for a better spot in the repayment line.
The radio-station owner had $5.2 billion of long-term debt as of March 31, after borrowings were cut by two-thirds during a Chapter 11 process that was completed five years ago. But iHeart continues to face pressure from ad-revenue declines in the sector. The firm has been receiving debt advice from PJT Partners.
iHeart plans to report quarterly results on Aug. 8.
Studies released by some pundits in the radio business extol that being “free” is why a plurality of listeners say they listen. Data from the latest NuVoodoo Ratings Prospects Study fielded last month and including responses from 3,188 people ages 14 to 64 nationwide, replicates that finding, but we think it’s important to dig deeper to find the real keys to listeners.
As shown below, when respondents were given a massive panel of reasons they may listen to the radio and asked them to select their top three reasons, “free” does rise to the top of the ranking. “It’s free” was selected by 28% of the sample, substantially ahead of three reasons almost in a dead heat for second: “To know what’s going on locally,” “To get in a better mood,” and “Just a habit” – all selected by about a fifth of the sample (and “Keeps me company” just another point behind).
Nearly a fifth also cited that radio is the “Only thing to listen to in car/truck” – an advantage that will diminish as newer models proliferate. At the bottom of the ranking of the top fourteen items shown in the chart are “To win prizes” (8%) and “Commercials tell me about businesses in my area” (7%).
Breaking out the sample by gender and generation shows – not surprisingly – that men are more likely than women to cite “Sports” as reason they listen to radio. Gen Z (ages 14-27) are slightly more likely to say they listen radio out of “habit” compared to Millennials (ages 28-43) or older adults (shown here as “Gen X+,” encompassing Gen X and the youngest five years of Baby Boomers, ages 44-64). While these Gen X+ older adults are slightly more likely to cite radio being “free” compared to younger generations, they’re substantially more likely to cite “news,” “weather,” and “To know what’s going on locally.”
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