Coverage Notes

GB News hires chief revenue officer to 'close gap' between audience growth and advertiser take-up GB News has hired a chief revenue officer to "close the gap" between its audience growth and take-up of its ad slots by agencies.

GB News hires chief revenue officer to ‘close gap’ between audience growth and advertiser take-up
pressgazette.co.uk/the-wire/med...

Bill O’Reilly Debuts Interview Podcast ‘We’ll Do It Live’ From Fox’s Red Seat Ventures New Bill O'Reilly Interview Podcast 'We'll Do It Live' Debuts From Fox's Red Seat Ventures

One of Bill O’Reilly’s most infamous lines becomes the title of what he no doubt hopes will becomes a popular new venture.

variety.com/2026/tv/news...

NEW: CBS News correspondent Scott MacFarlane just announced to the newsroom that he's leaving the network after 20 years.

Here's his goodbye note:

Rashida Jones, Former MSNBC Chief, to Lead Piers Morgan’s Uncensored Content Venture Rashida Jones, former MSnBC President is named CEO of Piers Morgan's Uncensored

Rashida Jones led a news network often accused of being too “woke.” Piers Morgan has for the last few years railed against people taking such a stance.

Now they're working together....

variety.com/2026/tv/news... via @variety

CBS News correspondent Scott MacFarlane says he is leaving the network, and looking "forward to some independence and finding new spaces to share" his work (Scott MacFarlane/Scott MacFarlane on LinkedIn)

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NHL's Bettman cautious about NFL, optimistic about Paramount-WBD NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is aware of the impact the NFL's early negotiations could have on his league's own media rights talks.

Bettman cautious about NFL, optimistic about Paramount-WBD deal, as NHL prepares for new media rights talks: www.sportsmediawatch.com/2026/03/nhl-...

Here's my column on biggest fears regarding Paramount's successful purchase of Warner Bros Discovery, including political favoritism in media deals, a repeat of past, failed deals and domination of media by favor-currying oligarchs. CLICK link in BIO for SUBSTACK or READ: https://loom.ly/-ACuGpw

How The Atlantic won 'tortoise and hare' race versus digital news start-ups The Atlantic is in a "virtue cycle" of making a product people will pay for and putting the profit back into the business, its editor said.

How The Atlantic won ‘tortoise and hare’ race versus digital news start-ups and stayed strong as other magazine giants became 'ghost ships'
pressgazette.co.uk/north-americ...

NFL reportedly wants new rights deals in place by start of next season The timeline is accelerating for the NFL's expedited media rights talks, with the league now said to want deals done by the start of the season.

NFL wants new rights deals in place by start of next season, according to John Ourand of Puck. League is expected to negotiate the new deals one-by-one (starting with Paramount), with all going into effect immediately: www.sportsmediawatch.com/2026/03/nfl-...

Paramount CEO David Ellison has pledged to support editorial independence at CNN, saying it “needs to be maintained,” amid widespread concern about his company’s plans for the news network. Here's our writeup of his CNBC interview: www.cnn.com/2026/03/05/m...

CNBC Sport: Paramount may unwind WBD's sports strategy if merger goes through WBD's sports strategy it has deployed since it lost NBA rights may not make sense if it's acquired by Paramount.

CNBC Sport: Paramount may unwind WBD's sports strategy if merger goes through

Wolf Blitzer—and Monica Lewinsky's lawyer—had to outwit the paparazzi. Here's how they did it.

Full interview:
open.spotify.com/episode/5LlG...

Exclusive | Gayle King Signs New Deal With CBS News The ‘CBS Mornings’ co-host dispelled rumors of a possible departure, staying with the network amid a broader overhaul.

It's important to remember that it was just a few weeks ago during a network all-hands meeting, Gayle King passionately defended Bari Weiss's leadership of CBS News.

Skip ahead to today, and King -- who makes $15 million a year -- has renewed her contract.

www.wsj.com/business/med...

Benetti officially named lead MLB voice for NBC As expected, NBC Sports has named Jason Benetti as its lead Major League Baseball voice, debuting on Opening Day March 26.

NBC officially names Jason Benetti the voice of its new MLB package: www.sportsmediawatch.com/2026/03/jaso...

News: Versant, Bob Costas, David Ross and more Mark Lazarus discusses potential opportunity for Versant; Bob Costas talks about "Sunday Night Baseball" pregame; and more sports media news.

New on @sportsmediawatch.bsky.social: Versant CEO Mark Lazarus discusses potential opportunity for sports rights; David Ross returns to @espn.com; and more sports media news.

www.sportsmediawatch.com/2026/03/vers...

Exclusive: AP brass to staff: Resistance to AI is ‘futile’ The tensions inside the wire service reveal a broader conflict playing out across the media over how AI should be applied within journalism.

www.semafor.com/article/03/0...

New: Internal tension at the Associated Press over use of AI. One of the AP newsroom leaders leading the company's AI initiatives told staff that many editors preferred an AI-written article to a human one, and told them when it comes to using AI in the newsroom "resistance is futile."

David Zaslav reaps more benefits of Paramount offer by unloading $114 million of WBD stock David Zaslav reaps more benefits of Paramount offer by unloading $114 million of WBD stock

Following multiple name changes, shelved projects, and a cable spin-off that didn't help decrease Warner Bros.' massive debt, David Zaslav sold $114 million worth of WBD stock in the wake of Paramount's offer.

Scoop: The White House meeting that never was Sarandos was informed shortly after arriving at the White House that his meeting was canceled because of a last-minute scheduling conflict.

Scoop: Netflix's White House meeting that never was

Comcast co-CEO Mike Cavanagh says for Peacock, "domestic is our path" and that the company is looking at bundles and partnerships for Peacock's growth (Etan Vlessing/The Hollywood Reporter)

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NBC News Doubles Down on Steve Kornacki and his “Kornacki Cam” in Midterms Push (Exclusive) A live feed of Kornacki will stream on NBC's platform as well as on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram as the news division doubles down on the data wonk.

This is a smart move. On election night, every TV network will be almost entirely focused on grabbing a tiny slice of linear TV watchers, whereas the majority of consumers have pretty much checked out of linear TV entirely. It's time for TV news outlets to start treating the cable bundle as a declin

Versant climbs in its first quarter after spin-off, announces dividend and $1 billion stock buyback Versant separated from Comcast earlier this year....

Versant separated from Comcast earlier this year.
https://sherwood.news/markets/versant-climbs-in-its-first-quarter-after-spin-off-announces-dividend-and/

Brendan Carr says Paramount's deal for WBD has "real consumer benefits" and is "cleaner" than Netflix's and that he expects it to be approved "pretty quickly" (CNBC)

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Telemundo announces full slates of FIFA World Cup 2026 coverage With 100 days to go until the kickoff of FIFA World Cup 2026 on June ... Read More

Telemundo announces full slates of FIFA World Cup 2026 coverage https://nca.st/IentE

Telemundo releases official FIFA World Cup 2026 song ‘Somos Más’ Telemundo dropped its official FIFA World Cup 2026 song March 3, 2026. Titled “Somos Más,” ... Read More

Telemundo releases official FIFA World Cup 2026 song ‘Somos Más’ https://nca.st/le3Nc

Versant Sees Chance to Snatch Big Sports Rights as NFL Opt-Out Looms Versant Sees Chance to Snatch Big Sports Rights as NFL Opt-Out Looms

Versant, the newest company in the media sector, is getting ready to tackle some of the most lucrative properties in the business.....

variety.com/2026/tv/news... via @variety

MS NOW puts ‘We the People’ at the center of its election night brand For the first time in its nearly 30-year history, MS NOW is entering an election ... Read More

MS NOW puts ‘We the People’ at the center of its election night brand https://nca.st/Q5ZEg

Will media consolidation finally end TNT Sports? Will Paramount's looming acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery finally mark the end of one of sports TV's great brands, TNT Sports?

The future of TNT Sports has been on uncertain ground through years of instability for its various parent companies. Will Paramount's acquisition finally mark the end of one of sports TV's great brands? www.sportsmediawatch.com/2026/03/para...

Versant reports 2025 revenue fell 5% YoY to $6.69B and net income fell 32% to $930M; platform revenue hit $826M, up 3.9% YoY, the only segment with YoY growth (Lillian Rizzo/CNBC)

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How toxic is Scott Jennings inside CNN? @status.news has learned some producers are giving on-air talent a heads-up when he is scheduled to appear on shows, quietly offering them the option to preemptively excuse themselves rather than appear alongside him.