Probably the most amazing thing about Donald Trump’s tax returns that I’ve spotted so far is that in 2015 he recorded $12,000 in expenses related to the New Jersey Generals… the football team he owned that went under in 1985.
Inbox: Gov. Andrew Cuomo will receive an international Emmy award, “in recognition of his leadership during the Covid-19 pandemic and his masterful use of television to inform and calm people around the world.”
It appears Instagram and FB owner Meta holds the trademark for "X" as it relates to "online social networking services... social networking services in the fields of entertainment, gaming and application development..."
Flores says that Stephen Ross, the owner of the Miami Dolphins, offered to pay him $100,000 for every loss during 2019 season to help the team get a better draft spot. Was mad when they kept winning.
WHOA. James Murdoch has resigned from the board of News Corp. Per the company "Mr. Murdoch informed the Company that his resignation was due to disagreements over certain editorial content published by the Company’s news outlets and certain other strategic decisions."
Flores' suit includes texts from Bill Belichick that appear to show him congratulating him on getting the Giants job, mistakenly believing he was texting Brian Daboll. This was before Flores' interview with the Giants took place.
Per CNN, 48M people watched last night's debate across TV. But here's a number that stuck out to me. Fewer than 4M of those viewers were age 18-34. It was an old, old audience.
I'm late to this but: The Oprah/Meghan/Harry interview really showed the power of the long-format interview, which is almost totally gone from TV nowadays. Everything is crunched into tight, fast-paced segments now, to the detriment of all involved IMO.
Inbox: The inspector general for the NSA is opening an investigation into claims the agency “improperly targeted” a “member of the U.S. media” aka Tucker Carlson.
Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, John Oliver and Seth Meyers will co-host a podcast for Spotify, with all the proceeds going to employees of their late night shows:
Elon Musk sent a new letter to Twitter, saying the spam bot stuff "is a clear material breach of Twitter’s obligations under the merger agreement... Musk reserves all rights resulting therefrom, including his right not to consummate the transaction..."
Impeachment TV ratings: Between about 10 am and roughly 4 PM, an average of 13.1M viewers were watching, on average, across NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC.
Trump's executive order regarding TikTok cites the fact that "TikTok videos spread debunked conspiracy theories about the origins of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus" to justify the action.
Has there ever been a TV show that reached "cultural icon" status that also delivered a universally satisfying series finale? I... can't think of one? Seinfeld, Sopranos were divisive at best.
CNN's New Year's Eve telecast will be hosted by Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen, with Don Lemon and Alisyn Camerota taking over at 12:30 ET. Critically, it will also have
@donie
reporting from an Irish pub in NYC.
So I just logged on to Twitter, and the algorithm fed me 20 tweets in a row all with totally different figures for the stock market, all out of chronological order, and I have no idea what is happening.
Stanley Tucci launches a new travel food show on CNN tonight. It’s the first CNN show exploring the genre since Anthony Bourdain passed away two and a half years ago.
Donald Trump quit SAG-AFTRA two years ago in the wake of Jan. 6, saying he wanted nothing to do with the union. New disclosures show that he continued to take a SAG pension worth as much as $1 million last year.
To be crystal clear: The deal is still on as of right now, but this is the first step in what could be a legal battle to negotiate a lower price, or a termination.
I also think the popularity of podcasts featuring long interviews underscores that there is real demand for this type of format. TV (and any video platform, for that matter) should really bring it back.
So the SPAC that is funding Trump's new venture is led by a former sugar trading and processing executive (who most recently founded a bunch of SPACs), as well as a Brazilian prince/politico who is a member of Bolsonaro's PSL party.
Scoop: Meadowlark Media, John Skipper and Dan Le Batard's production company, wants to create its own "30 for 30." A new series called "Sports Explains the World" will include 30 docs and 45 podcasts, its most ambitious content push yet.
“Beginning in March, Hulu will become the official streaming home of FX Networks” Iger says on earnings call. Says Hulu and FX teams have been collaborating on strategy. Will include all seasons of FX shows. FX will also produce original shows for Hulu.
Comscore's entire business model is to provide key metrics for media companies, entertainment giants and publishers. Now it is being accused of using artificial numbers fo inflate its revenue.
Meadowlark Media, the content company from former ESPN chief John Skipper and Dan Le Batard, has struck a deal for a BBC podcast. Skipper also tells me their first video project should come after Labor Day.
Campbell Soup Co. tells investors in an SEC filing that over the past four weeks: sales of Campbell's soup (including Pacific Foods) increased 59.3 percent, Prego pasta sauce increased 52.9 percent, and Goldfish crackers increased 22.7 percent.
@joshtpm
According to his financing agreement, he is taking out a margin loan (presumably on Tesla shares) is guaranteeing some other cash (likely by selling shares in Tesla) and has debt financing from a consortium of big banks
Purely unscientific poll, but: "Cheers," 'MASH' and "Breaking Bad" seem to be leading candidates as major hits with cultural impact/satisfying finales.
“We want all the world’s music and audio content to be available to Spotify users. With that comes great responsibility in balancing both safety for listeners and freedom for creators... We regret Neil’s decision to remove his music from Spotify, but hope to welcome him back..."
Filmmaker Amanda Milius, (daughter of John Milius, the writer of "Dirty Harry" and "Apocalypse Now") has secretly been working on a pro-Trump doc "The Plot Against The President." Nunes, Giuliani, Stone, Don Jr. all participated.
Netflix director (and possible VP pick?) Susan Rice exercised her stock options in the streamer this week, and subsequently sold all the shares, netting her a gain of about $300,000
"This opens up a whole new opportunity for many of our clients who are no longer with us,"--Mark Roesler, CEO of CMG Worldwide, whose company controls the likenesses of Burt Reynolds, Christopher Reeve, Neil Armstrong and many others.
Flash: Universal Music says that it will pull its song catalog from TikTok tomorrow at midnight, as the companies are unable to reach a deal on rights. Huge implications.
Like, Meet the Press was originally a show where one guest would be grilled for half an hour by a panel of journalists. Sunday shows don't do that anymore!
Just in: CNN founder Ted Turner tells me in a statement that losing Larry King “felt like a punch to the gut.” “If anyone asked me what are my greatest career achievements in life, one is the creation of CNN, and the other is hiring Larry King.”
CNN anchor Chris Cuomo testified as part of the NY AG's investigation into his brother, confirming that he was part of a small team of advisers that helped Gov. Cuomo respond to the sexual harassment claims (pages 112-115):
Fox News was the most-watched channel for impeachment coverage, it appears, averaging 2.9M, to MSNBC's 2.7M, ABC and CBS' 2M, CNN's 1.85M, and NBC's 1.7M.
Some news: I’m excited to announce that I have joined The Hollywood Reporter, based in New York City. I’ll write THR’s daily tip-sheet newsletter, Today In Entertainment, and contribute to coverage.
Just in from the Recording Industry Association of America's 2020 music revenue report: "For the first time since 1986, revenues from vinyl records were larger than from CDs."
Some *professional* news: I have a new role at THR! I am now our media and business writer. I’ll be covering biz and corporate stories (like a recent merger deal...), the world of TV news, and media companies like Condé Nast and The NY Times, as they evolve for a digital future.
When the CBS soap opera "The Bold and the Beautiful" returns to production this week, they will use the actual spouses of actors as stand-ins for scenes that involve physical contact:
Update: Jon Stewart, the 🐐 herder? The former host of the
@TheDailyShow
, seen on the left, helped get 2 goats to an animal shelter upstate Monday. The goats traveled along the N line tracks in
#Brooklyn
in the afternoon. It's not clear how they got there. Video: Farm Sanctuary.
Update: Brian Flores will be interviews live on CBS Mornings tomorrow, along with his attorneys. The show is co-hosted by former NFL player Nate Burleson.