Subject: Andrew Sullivan's return; Colbert's "growing pains;" WH dinner sightings; Game of Thrones spoiler alert; cable news wars; media week ahead calendar
From: CNN's Reliable Sources <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 2 May 2016 04:12:43 +0000
List-Id: 47c9040f6ff957a59bd88396emc list <47c9040f6ff957a59bd88396e.161353.list-id.mcsv.net>

By Brian Stelter and the CNNMoney Media team - [email-masked] (mailto:[email-masked])

** Andrew Sullivan's back
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What media types will be talking about on Monday morning: Andrew Sullivan's first essay for New York mag.  (http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/04/america-tyranny-donald-trump.html) He urges support for the Republicans who are trying to thwart the Donald Trump "monster;" urges Hillary Clinton to "grasp the lethality of her foe;" and argues that the news media must cover Trump differently.

His conclusion: "Trump is not just a wacky politician of the far right, or a riveting television spectacle, or a Twitter phenom and bizarre working-class hero. He is not just another candidate to be parsed and analyzed by TV pundits in the same breath as all the others. In terms of our liberal democracy and constitutional order, Trump is an extinction-level event. It’s long past time we started treating him as such." Read it here... (http://)

-- John Podhoretz ‏tweets: "That break did @sullydish inestimable good. His essay in New York Magazine is extraordinary." Others will surely deem him out of touch, however...
Larry Wilmore's best joke
Sullivan's "extinction-level event" line reminded me of this Larry Wilmore joke from the White House Correspondents Association dinner: "Guys, I am not surprised Donald Trump is happening to America... Because I watch movies, I do... And every time there's a black president, something always comes to destroy the earth. Always." [LAUGHTER] It's true!"

Everybody has an opinion about Wilmore's performance. My take: It was funnier than "the room" admitted... But some of his "jokes" were nonsensical... And his act didn't have an overriding sense of purpose the way Stephen Colbert's did ten years ago. It'll be fun to hear his own self-assessment on Monday's "Nightly Show..."

-- BTW: After the dinner, Wilmore and Don Lemon reunited... (https://twitter.com/DeadlineDominic/status/726640085181960192)

** Surprise sightings at #NerdProm
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Speaking of the dinner and speaking of Trump: I kept seeing his high-profile surrogates and supporters at parties all across D.C. Katrina Pierson at The New Yorker's rooftop party at the W... Scottie Nell Hughes at the garden brunch in Georgetown... Jeffrey Lord in the ballroom at the Hilton... Eric Trump and his wife Lara Yunaska walking the red carpet. Trump himself said on Fox that he didn't want to attend the dinner because he wouldn't have been able to respond to President Obama's jabs...

** Obama's "head fake"
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From my perch in the ballroom, one of Obama's funniest moments was his faux ending: "Let me conclude tonight on a more serious note. I want to thank the Washington press corps. I want to thank Carol for all that you do. The free press is central to our democracy and, nah, I’m just kidding! You know I’m going to talk about Trump."

The audience roared with approval. There was no denying the desire to hear what Obama really thinks about Trump, couched in humor, of course. White House aides called this portion of Obama's speech "his head fake." And it worked perfectly.

But his Trump barbs felt... I don't know... Anti-climactic? Tammy Haddad was on to something when shesaid this on "Reliable Sources" this morning: (http://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2016/05/01/what-obama-thinks-about-trump-coverage.cnn) "How about his restraint in going after Trump? What is that about? That is about this election. That's about the general campaign. That's about this president getting on the campaign trail, saving all his good material" for the fall...

-- Also from today's show:
Watch former Obama joke writer David Litt explain the production of the presidential #WHCD speech... (http://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2016/05/01/the-argument-against-the-correspondents-dinner.cnn)

-- Should journalists refrain from attending the dinner altogether? Here's the argument Bob Garfield made on the show... (http://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2016/05/01/the-argument-against-the-correspondents-dinner.cnn)
Fight at the MSNBC party
The WashPost says (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/reliable-source/wp/2016/05/01/nerdy-fight-breaks-out-at-whcd-afterparty-between-fox-news-and-huffington-post-reporters/) "punches were definitely thrown" when Fox's Jesse Watters and HuffPost's Ryan Grim butted heads on Saturday night. It happened at MSNBC's after-party at the Institute of Peace. Watters is known for his doofus-on-the-street and ambush interviews, so Grim tried to turn it around and record Watters in an unsuspecting setting. Watters grabbed Grim's phone, wouldn't give it back, and then they briefly came to blows. The RNC's Sean Spicer was among the interventionists. "No fighting at the peace building! That's my rule," Spicer told me today at CNN's end-of-the-weekend brunch...

-- Programming alert: Fox, sensing an opportunity here, will have Watters tell his side of the story on "The O'Reilly Factor" Monday night...

** Hulu developing a cable-like bundle
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Hulu wants to sell a streaming version of cable TV -- with full channels, on-demand capabilities and all the rest. That's according to the WSJ's Joe Flint and Shalini Ramachandran,who published this big scoop tonight.  (http://www.wsj.com/articles/hulu-is-developing-a-cable-style-online-tv-service-1462150982) They say the cable-like subscription service is striving for a Q1 2017 launch, though a whole lot can happen between now and then.

Dish's Sling TV already basically provides what Hulu is working on. But "this one is different than all of the other Web TV packages that people have been trying to put together — because this one is being created by the people who make and sell TV," Peter Kafka explains. (http://recode.net/2016/05/01/disney-fox-hulu-comcast/)  "That is: Disney and 21st Century Fox — who own two-thirds of Hulu and control its management* — want to sell a service that competes directly with the pay TV distributors who are their most important customers."

WSJ says Disney and Fox are nearing distribution deals with Hulu for this new service. Comcast, a silent partner in Hulu, "so far hasn’t agreed to license its networks..."

** Colbert's "growing pains"
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Chris Licht was out and about at the #WHCD this weekend, but he told me that he's declining all interview requests while settling into his new role as "Late Show" showrunner. In Monday's NYT, (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/business/media/letting-stephen-colbert-be-stephen-colbert-whoever-that-is.html?src=twr) Jim Rutenberg doesn't quote Licht, but he quotes Les Moonves explaining why Licht has been brought on board.

Key passage: "Mr. Moonves noted that many late-night hosts before Mr. Colbert needed time to adjust to the 11:30 time slot. 'There’s no way you don’t have growing pains,' Mr. Moonves said, adding that he has patience for what he expects to be a long-running show. 'These things are generational,' he added. To make some adjustments after eight months 'makes sense to me, and to Stephen.'" More... (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/business/media/letting-stephen-colbert-be-stephen-colbert-whoever-that-is.html?src=twr)
For the record
-- Sydney Ember's feature on Monday's NYT Biz Day front: "For Women in Advertising, It's Still a 'Mad Men' World" (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/business/media/for-women-in-advertising-its-still-a-mad-men-world.html?src=twr) (NYT (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/business/media/for-women-in-advertising-its-still-a-mad-men-world.html?src=twr) )

--The Forward profiles (http://forward.com/culture/339517/how-a-rabbis-granddaughter-became-the-host-of-democracy-now/) Amy Goodman, leading off with her "viral" appearance on "Reliable Sources..." (Forward (http://forward.com/culture/339517/how-a-rabbis-granddaughter-became-the-host-of-democracy-now/) )

-- And speaking of past guests on the show: Doug Heye is joining CNN as a political commentator... (Playbook (http://www.politico.com/playbook/2016/04/garden-brunch-edition-trump-revives-latino-activism-pool-reports-from-whcd-party-circuit-bdays-tina-flournoy-fred-hiatt-jim-margolis-luiza-savage-214045) )

** "Game of Thrones" spoiler alert!
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Frank Pallotta emails his story: (http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/01/media/jon-snow-game-of-thrones/index.html) Jon Snow is dead, fans have been repeatedly told. But following the apparent death of the character in last season's finale, there was still doubt in the magical world of "Game of Thrones." Even President Obama was suspicious enough to ask the show's director whether Snow, the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, was dead. He was "deader than dead," director David Nutter assured the president.

Yet after months of theories, debates, and steadfast denials, "Game of Thrones" revived the hero Jon Snow from the dead tonight. The episode ended with Snow opening his eyes and taking deep gasps before immediately cutting to the credits.

In the moments following Snow returning to the world of Westeros, fans came alive themselves, flooding social media with shock, excitement, and even bit of anger. I, of course, saw it coming (who didn't?) and I can't want to see the backpedaling from creators D.B. Weiss and David Benioff. But who cares? Jon Snow is back! Is it next Sunday yet?

Read more from Frank here... (http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/01/media/jon-snow-game-of-thrones/index.html)

** Sumner Redstone trial starts on Friday
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All this week, we'll share updates about the looming Sumner Redstone-Manuela Herzer trial. It will start on Friday in L.A. Superior Court unless a settlement is struck. The WSJ has a fantastic primer on what this is all about... (http://www.wsj.com/articles/fight-over-sumner-redstones-mental-competence-heads-toward-climax-1462132734) As Joe Flint tweeted (https://twitter.com/jbflint) , this legal battle has a "cast of characters that are a reality show producer's dream... Better than any cast of 'Survivor.'" Check out the cast of characters here... (http://www.wsj.com/articles/fight-over-sumner-redstones-mental-competence-heads-toward-climax-1462132734)

** Kelly and Michael win an Emmy
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Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan have ten days left together on "Live with Kelly and Michael." We'll see what it's like on the air. But off air, the co-hosts are sharing a big award: They just received the Daytime Emmy for outstanding talk show host. Here's the full list of winners... (http://deadline.com/2016/05/daytime-emmy-awards-2016-live-blog-1201747439/)
Road to 2016

** CNN's 2016 ratings story
------------------------------------------------------------
Monday's WSJ (http://www.wsj.com/articles/cnn-enjoys-outsize-ratings-boost-from-presidential-race-1462126349) carries this cable news ratings chart, showing CNN with its greatest spike since the 2008 election. The chart is a vivid illustration of the 2016 election as a rising tide lifting all boats -- CNN's boat more than others.
The Journal describes how (http://www.wsj.com/articles/cnn-enjoys-outsize-ratings-boost-from-presidential-race-1462126349)  CNN's ad revenues are up as a result. There are a couple newsworthy quotes from Jeff Zucker in the story:

>> CNN trying to peel away viewers from Fox? In the past, "I think it was a legitimate criticism of CNN that it was a little too liberal," Zucker said. "We have added many more middle-of-the-road conservative voices to an already strong stable of liberal voices. And I think that we are a much more-balanced network and, as a result, a much more inviting network to a segment of the audience that might not have otherwise been willing to come here."

>> When viewership sags after the election, what then? Zucker says he doesn't want to share his plans: "I don't want to give everything away because that would give our competitors the way we are thinking about. I sound a bit like Donald Trump. Now I begin to understand his reasoning."

** Fox and MSNBC's responses to CNN
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The cable news wars are alive and well. The proof is in these comments from Fox and MSNBC in the WSJ story about CNN: (http://www.wsj.com/articles/cnn-enjoys-outsize-ratings-boost-from-presidential-race-1462126349)

-- Unnamed Fox News spokesperson: "CNN has been languishing in the basement so long that they consider getting to the ground level in an election year a wild success. That speaks volumes about Time Warner’s low expectations."

-- NBC/MSNBC spokesman Mark Kornblau: "I think the only direction they have tacked is toward Trump."

** Media week ahead calendar
------------------------------------------------------------
-- Monday A.M.: The digital content NewFronts begin! Full schedule here... (http://www.iab.com/events/digital-content-newfronts-2016/)
-- Monday P.M.: The Met Ball
-- Monday P.M.: Six month anniversary of this newsletter!
-- Wednesday after the bell: 21st Century Fox earnings
-- Thursday: 1pm: I'll be interviewing HBO CEO Richard Plepler at the Paley Center for Media. It'll be live-streamed here... (https://www.paleycenter.org/mc-richard-plepler-hbo-5-5)
-- Friday: "Captain America: Civil War" arrives in U.S. theaters. (Previews on Thursday)
-- Sunday: Mother's Day

** Nice work if you can get it!
------------------------------------------------------------

** $3 million for 4 days
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"Mother's Day" was a box office bummer for Open Road Films, making just $8.3 million in its opening weekend. Now comes this news: (http://variety.com/2016/film/news/julia-roberts-mothers-day-salary-1201764235/) "Julia Roberts earned $3 million for 'Mother's Day' for a supporting role that required her to shoot for only four days."

Variety's (http://variety.com/2016/film/news/julia-roberts-mothers-day-salary-1201764235/) Ramin Setoodeh, who attributed the $750,000-a-day rate to sources, says  (http://variety.com/2016/film/news/julia-roberts-mothers-day-salary-1201764235/) "it's a reminder that Roberts’ days as an A-list star who could carry a movie on her own could be over — as evidenced by other recent misfires like 'The Secrets in Their Eyes' and 'Mirror Mirror.' But many of her celebrity peers (George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Harrison Ford) are also struggling to carry films outside sequels based on pre-existing franchises..."

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