Latest news with #WHCDWeekend
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
MSNBC Is Working to Build Its Podcast Portfolio. Next Up: A Nicolle Wallace Show
As the line between a conversational podcast and a TV segment blurs rapidly, MSNBC is stocking up on original audio shows — 18 and counting — as the progressive news brand pivots its business beyond its cable news roots. The latest bet: The Best People, billed as the first podcast from Nicolle Wallace, the network stalwart who has hosted Deadline: White House since joining MSNBC in 2017 from ABC's The View and who has held roles in the Bush administration and as an advisor to the late John McCain. More from The Hollywood Reporter MSNBC Makes Key Political Hire as It Builds a New D.C. Bureau Stephanie Ruhle Sets MSNBC Primetime Special With Laid-Off Federal Workers (Exclusive) At WHCD Weekend, Glam With a (Small) Dash of Dystopia The podcast will be an interview format with notable figures — Jason Bateman, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jeff Daniels and NBA coach Doc Rivers are among the first round of guests — cutting across the entertainment, sports and political landscape. The series, which launches June 2, is part of the network's efforts to bring on-air linear TV talent to other platforms. MSNBC's primetime hosts like Rachel Maddow, Jen Psaki and Chris Hayes have already made the leap with offerings like Ultra, The Blueprint and Why Is This Happening? while former primetime host Alex Wagner was dispatched for the podcast Trumpland during the first 100 days of the new administration. Earlier this month, the company hired Madeleine Haeringer, who recently worked at Pod Save America producer Crooked Media, as its senior vp of digital, audio and longform to oversee MSNBC's offerings. The network says both its showcasts (audio versions of existing TV series) and original podcasts saw 13.4 million downloads in April. For comparison, Fox's audio division saw 37 million-plus downloads and streams last month, Paramount (which includes CBS News) hit 20.6 million and CNN landed at 12.2 million for April, per industry research firm Podtrac's latest tally. The news brand, now led by CNN veteran Rebecca Kutler, is also experimenting with bundling all of its originals and showcasts (32 titles in total) in a MSNBC Premium bundle on Apple Podcasts that offers early and ad-free listening and extra content at a $2.99 a month price point. (For example, new episodes of The Best People will arrive on Mondays but subscribers will get access to the show on the Friday before.) The leap to audio (or, in some cases, video podcasting) arrives as news consumption habits have shifted quickly since the first Trump administration boosted cable viewership when the real estate mogul came to power in 2017. Shortform video platforms like TikTok and longform podcasts on platforms like Spotify hosted by entertainers and influencers have arguably become the center of the media ecosystem, with legacy brands looking for a way in. Network executives are also looking past the declining pay TV industry — a model that had sustained MSNBC, CNN and Fox News via lucrative carriage deals with cable and satellite providers — to try and reach consumers directly. Though, as of now, the only way to view MSNBC is through a pay TV provider. A podcast bundle allows the network to sell its full breadth of offerings in a different, increasingly popular format. MSNBC is also staffing up in preparation for a major corporate ownership change. The news brand, long a part of the NBCUniversal portfolio, is expected to be spun out this fall into a new company, the nondescriptly titled Versant, that will house MSNBC and CNBC along with other cable channels like USA Network, Oxygen, E!, Syfy and the Golf Channel. Best of The Hollywood Reporter How the Warner Brothers Got Their Film Business Started Meet the World Builders: Hollywood's Top Physical Production Executives of 2023 Men in Blazers, Hollywood's Favorite Soccer Podcast, Aims for a Global Empire
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
MSNBC Makes Key Political Hire as It Builds a New D.C. Bureau
As it prepares for its future spun off from Comcast, the new leaders of MSNBC have made a key hire to build up its political reporting infrastructure. Sudeep Reddy was enlisted away from Politico to join the cable news TV brand as it establishes its own presence in Washington, D.C. apart from NBC News and creates its own beltway bureau. Reddy, who led 150 journalists as senior managing editor at the Arlington-based trade publication during an eight-year tenure, will start at MSNBC on June 16. More from The Hollywood Reporter Stephanie Ruhle Sets MSNBC Primetime Special With Laid-Off Federal Workers (Exclusive) At WHCD Weekend, Glam With a (Small) Dash of Dystopia White House Correspondents' Dinner Focuses on Awards, Journalism as Trump Snubs Comic-Free Soirée He'll report to Scott Matthews, the svp of newsgathering who just joined the channel's leadership from WABC-TV in March. 'Sudeep's appointment signals the importance of original and enterprise reporting for the future of MSNBC,' Matthews wrote in a memo to staff. 'He will lead our Washington team to focus not just on the happenings inside Washington but also on how decisions in the capital will impact people across the nation and around the world.' The work to build up its own political reporting muscle is ahead of Comcast's separation of its cable TV business into a nondescriptly named firm called Versant that will include MSNBC, CNBC, USA Network, Oxygen, E!, Syfy and the Golf Channel. Versant, which will be run by NBCU exec Mark Lazarus, says its brands reach 70 million homes and generate $7 billion in revenue annually. The close date for that deal is expected later this year. NBC News, and its newsgathering resources along with franchises like the Today show, are staying put at Comcast. And several key reporting talents are being divided up between NBC News and Versant's MSNBC and CNBC, among them Steve Kornacki, who inked a deal to exit MSNBC to stay put among the Comcast stable. So MSNBC has been making notable hires — Matthews is looking to hire for an estimated 100 roles — to fill the void in reporting areas that had been occupied by NBC News resources. Reddy will oversee coverage of Capitol Hill, the White House, the State Department, Justice Department and Supreme Court as the exec looks to build the MSNBC D.C. bureau. As the line between cable television blurs with longform video podcasting, MSNBC has also been hiring from a new competitive set, including bringing on former NBC News alum and recent Crooked Media GM Madeleine Haeringer to oversee its podcast and audio offerings. New products, amid a rapidly shifting linear-to-digital landscape and evolving media ecosystem, appears to be one part of the equation for MSNBC. Matthews added of Reddy in the memo to staff, 'While at Politico, he launched dozens of new products, including newsletters, podcasts, live events and digital offerings; guided strategy and operations for Politico Playbook during the first Trump administration; and built the newsroom's first audio team from the ground up.' Best of The Hollywood Reporter How the Warner Brothers Got Their Film Business Started Meet the World Builders: Hollywood's Top Physical Production Executives of 2023 Men in Blazers, Hollywood's Favorite Soccer Podcast, Aims for a Global Empire
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Fox News' Camryn Kinsey Is 'Doing Well' After Fainting on Live TV
Fox News commentator and former Donald Trump staffer Camryn Kinsey, who fainted on live TV during an interview segment on Thursday night, is responding to the viral moment. Kinsey took to her Instagram on Friday to share an update. 'Wow, sorry for the scare last night. I want to start by thanking the incredible Fox News team and the EMTs who responded with such speed and care. It was an unexpected and frightening moment, but thanks to their professionalism and kindness I'm doing well.' More from The Hollywood Reporter Trump Names Fox News Host Jeanine Pirro Acting U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C. 'Fox & Friends' Co-Host Steve Doocy to Ditch New York for Florida, Will Host Show From Other Cities At WHCD Weekend, Glam With a (Small) Dash of Dystopia She continued to thank those who have reached out to her before adding an update on her health. 'I'm taking it slow, staying hydrated, letting my body rest and thanking the Lord that everything is okay,' she wrote. 'It may not have been how I planned to end the segment, but I'll be back on your TV soon. Hopefully long enough to finally finish my point about Kamala!' Moments before Kinsey fell to the floor, she was speaking about former President Joe Biden's recent comments on The View about why he thinks Kamala Harris lost the 2024 election. 'This is what they have to do; they have to rewrite history because they had a failed campaign; they had a failed presidency,' she said to Jonathan Hunt. 'She never went to the border. This is about incompetency. It's not about, uh, ideology, or uh, it's not about…' On Thursday, Biden shared that he wasn't surprised by the election outcome, saying, 'They went the sexist route — this is a woman, she's this, she's that,' he said. 'I've never seen such as successful and consistent campaign undercutting the notion that a woman couldn't lead the country and a woman of mixed race.' Best of The Hollywood Reporter 22 of the Most Shocking Character Deaths in Television History A 'Star Wars' Timeline: All the Movies and TV Shows in the Franchise 'Yellowstone' and the Sprawling Dutton Family Tree, Explained
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Stephanie Ruhle Sets MSNBC Primetime Special With Laid-Off Federal Workers (Exclusive)
MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle will host a primetime special featuring an audience of federal workers whose jobs were slashed by DOGE. '100 Days of Trump: A Town Hall with Forced Out Federal Workers,' will air Thursday May 1 at 9 p.m. More from The Hollywood Reporter At WHCD Weekend, Glam With a (Small) Dash of Dystopia White House Correspondents' Dinner Focuses on Awards, Journalism as Trump Snubs Comic-Free Soirée MSNBC Taps Crooked Media and NBC News Veteran Madeleine Haeringer to Lead Digital Efforts (Exclusive) 'It has been like drinking from a fire hose, whether it's executive orders, deportations, tariffs, and what's happened to all the federal workers because of the DOGE situation,' Ruhle tells The Hollywood Reporter in an interview. 'We thought DOGE and this enormous impact on federal workers would be a great way for us to press pause and show people what's happening.' Ruhle says that the audience of the town hall will feature a range of former federal workers, including some forced out by Health and Human Services, the Internal Revenue Service, Veterans Affairs, and other agencies. 'I'm viewing our audience as part of this conversation, not just there to stand up and ask questions the way you often see a traditional town hall,' Ruhle says. 'I see every person in that room as also an important guest, an important voice, because this is not about partisanship. This isn't about this administration. This is about America, because much of what the President is trying to do right now is reshape the way we live, the way we work, the way we see our country, the way other countries see us.' Soboroff, meanwhile, will deliver stories about how the cuts will impact different parts of the country. He's headed to West Virginia next week to show what these jobs are and where they are,' Ruhle says. 'Think about West Virginia. It is a state that has been crushed in terms of its economy. It's one of the lowest ranking states in terms of health care, in terms of education, and now we're going to see massive job cuts. 'Take a state like Alabama, a deep red state, I don't think people would realize that the largest employer in the state of Alabama is the University of Alabama, which is obviously tied to their hospital system,' Ruhle adds. 'It's why you've got Republican senator Katie Britt in Alabama urging the President not to have these sweeping cuts, because when you take cuts like that, you're going to impact millions and millions and millions of potential lives if we're cutting off medical research.' For Ruhle, who frequently covers business and economics given her background as a financial reporter, the cuts are part and parcel with the sweeping tariffs announced earlier this month as part of an effort to reshape the economy. Though she notes that many Americans do want to shake up what had been the status quo. It's a lot of chaos. But there is some boldness to it if you want to shake up the status quo, and most people would argue they have some appetite for shaking up status quo, right?' Ruhle says. 'But there's a difference between shaking up the status quo, optimizing the government, optimizing what we do and how we spend. There's a large gap between that and where we are right now. 'When people think about federal workers, they just think bloated D.C. And you know, there is a big positive appetite for the idea of DOGE,' Ruhle says. 'You can speak to people at any income level, any demographic, any political affiliation, and people will say the government is too big, the government is too bloated, he government doesn't work for me. And that led way to the openness to the idea of DOGE. Then DOGE came, and what it's actually doing is having a sweeping effect on all different parts of this country and our economy, and we want to shine a spotlight and show it, because it's not something that's just happening in DC.' Best of The Hollywood Reporter Most Anticipated Concert Tours of 2025: Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar & SZA, Sabrina Carpenter and More Hollywood's Highest-Profile Harris Endorsements: Taylor Swift, George Clooney, Bruce Springsteen and More Most Anticipated Concert Tours of 2024: Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny, Olivia Rodrigo and More
