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Tuesday, February 10, 2026 |
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Happy Tuesday. Here's the latest on NBC, Chloe Malle, Paramount, YouTube TV, Chappell Roan, Dan Bongino, Truth Social, and many more... |
The 'Today' show's grace under pressure |
The "Today" show and the Olympics are one of the great symbiotic relationships in television. The morning show usually relocates to the host city and lets viewers feel like they're at the games, with the hosts as giddy (and sleep-deprived) travel guides. But not this year, as you already know.
Back in 2012, I embedded with "Today" at the Summer Olympics in London. We're "having a good time, covering the news, having a few laughs, and doing what the 'Today' show is all about," Savannah Guthrie told me during an interview in the Winnebago all the hosts shared near the Tower of London set.
The Olympics, Al Roker added, "shows the show at its strength. And the fact that we can turn on a dime if there's something really serious that happens. We respond well to that."
Case in point: The disappearance of Savannah's mom, Nancy Guthrie. Last week, "Today" helped galvanize the nation to search for Nancy and pray for her safe return. As it became evident that Savannah was a victim of a crime, all the Olympics plans were called off — a costly but common-sense decision by NBC News higher-ups.
Savannah, Craig Melvin and Hoda Kotb were all supposed to host from Milan. Instead, Kotb has joined Melvin at the anchor desk in New York this week. My sense is that the morning show's production team is taking this hour by hour, day by day, given the unbearable circumstances.
Roker still traveled to California for Super Bowl live spots, giving the show some on-the-scene flavor.
"Folks, we are asking for your grace as we continue to do this," Melvin said yesterday. And viewers have certainly given it. "Today" has been positively inundated with supportive messages.
TV veterans have also been complimentary of the show's delicate handling of the situation. Longtime morning TV producer Shelley Ross told The AP's David Bauder, "They’re reporting it as stoically as possible without medicating themselves. They were very professional in their coverage. I think it was pitch-perfect and helpful." Here's my report for "Erin Burnett OutFront" about the show's genuine "family" vibe right now...
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"Today" is still sharing Olympics highlights, and the rest of NBC is firing on all cylinders for the games. (I was glued to the Gold Zone stream yesterday.)
Mike Tirico hosted prime time coverage from Milan last night after helming the Super Bowl broadcast from California on Sunday night. "Sixteen hours door to door," Kaylee Hartung said on Instagram. "We left our hotel outside Santa Clara at 11:30 p.m. Sunday night Pacific time and walked in the door here in Milan at 9:30 p.m. Monday Milan time. What a ride."
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US ice dancers Evan Bates and Madison Chock compete on Monday. Jamie Squire/Getty Images |
If you've been watching the games, you have probably heard "a high-pitched buzzing sound coming from above the athletes."
That noise is coming from the drones! "In the ever-evolving chase to provide viewers with the best possible camera angles and views, aerial drones have taken over the Olympics in a big way," the National Post's Paul Ferguson wrote. Some of the views are simply astonishing. I'd like a Peacock channel called Drone Zone just for the aerial spectacle...
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Still awaiting Super Bowl ratings... |
No, there are no Nielsen #s for the Super Bowl yet, and yes, there are many viral lies to the contrary.
"There are a ton of random accounts racking up engagement with fake ratings data specifically conjured up to confirm people's existing biases," especially re: Bad Bunny's half the show, Awful Announcing editor Ben Koo observed. "This has become a billion-dollar industry as X and Meta let you just make up stuff and then get paid for the engagement."
Yep, what he said. It's an "information shit show," veteran sports media reporter Richard Deitsch wrote last night. And it probably won't improve much when the #s land late this afternoon, but here's hoping...
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...while Olympics ratings surge |
But hey, there are some #s for the Olympics. The games are off to a "hot" start, THR's Rick Porter wrote: Viewership for Friday's opening ceremony and Saturday's first full day of competition was "up by more than 60% compared to the same two days of the 2022 Winter Olympics" in Beijing. Porter: "Huge growth in streaming on Peacock and less pronounced time zone differences between the host cities (Milan and Cortina, Italy) and the United States likely played roles in the ratings gains."
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Senate hearing about ownership cap |
Sen. Ted Cruz is chairing a Senate Commerce Committee hearing this morning about media ownership rules. National Association of Broadcasters CEO Curtis LeGeyt will be there to press for raising the station ownership cap. Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy will be there to oppose the change.
>> Take note of former GOP-appointed FCC commissioner Michael O'Rielly's latest blog post: "Congress intentionally and permanently blocked local broadcasters from holding or controlling licenses with a collective national audience reach above 39 percent. Arguments suggesting otherwise or trying to bypass this prohibition lack factual basis or value. Local broadcasters' only recourse—good or bad—is to advocate for Congress to amend the law."
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Knight Media Forum begins in Miami |
It's an annual gathering of journalists, funders, policymakers and others in the Knight Foundation network. Timed to the forum, the Civic News Company is releasing its second national survey on whether community info needs are being met. This Civic Info Needs Census shows that "Americans find it harder to stay informed about their neighborhoods, towns, and cities than about national and international news." Here are the key insights...
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Today's new nonfiction releases |
I was riveted when I read an early copy of Chris Jennings' "End of Days: Ruby Ridge, the Apocalypse, and the Unmaking of America." The book about the 1992 siege, out today, has so many connections to today. As George Packer put it, the protagonists' "conspiratorial theology has migrated in three decades from the lunatic fringe to the seat of government."
>> Also out today: Paul Fischer's "The Last Kings of Hollywood: Coppola, Lucas, Spielberg―and the Battle for the Soul of American Cinema," and Matthew Pinsker's "Boss Lincoln: The Partisan Life of Abraham Lincoln."
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Truth Social shows growth |
Year-over-year visits to Truth Social "ballooned 27% in January, more than any right-wing news website," according to SimilarWeb data analyzed by TheRighting and shared with us first. The site is still tiny next to X, Threads and others — 23.8 million visits for the entire month of January — but it's growing rather than standing still or shrinking.
>> Elsewhere: TheRighting notes that "for the third month in a row, YOY visits decreased at The Free Press," with "4.9 million visits compared to 6.1 million visits in January 2025." TheRighting's Howard Polskin attributed the year-over-year decrease to heightened attention during Trump's inauguration last year.
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Joint interview with Wintour and Malle |
Anna Wintour and Chloe Malle have given their first joint interview since Malle took over as editor of American Vogue. The pair sat down with the NYT's Jessica Testa, who characterized Malle's editorial sensibility as "cheeky but intellectual, a little more peculiar than past iterations." Wintour, for her part, seems to love that: "She's going to put her own stamp on Vogue," she said of her successor. Read on...
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Paramount sweetens hostile bid |
Paramount says it is sweetening its hostile bid a little bit, offering WBD shareholders "an extra $650 million per quarter if its WBD takeover isn't completed by end of 2026," Variety's Todd Spangler reports.
WBD shares opened up about 1% on the news. But to date there is little evidence that shareholders are siding with Paramount in sufficient numbers. As Charlie Gasparino said the other day, "shareholders show no signs of dumping the Netflix $73 billion offer during their vote later this month or in March."
>> Yesterday, in an interview on Fox Business, Netflix's chief global affairs officer Clete Willems knocked Paramount's proposal, saying the company "has identified $6 billion in synergies in the offer that they made, which is code for $6 billion in job cuts." Willems also addressed concerns about the DOJ's probe into Netflix, asserting that such reviews are part of the "totally ordinary course of business" when examining a merger...
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>> Dan Bongino is back at Fox News as a paid contributor. (Variety)
>> E.W. Scripps is offloading Court TV "to the parent company of Law&Crime." Most of Court TV's staff is being laid off. (NYT)
>> The New Yorker is hiring Becca Rothfeld, WaPo's nonfiction book critic until last week, as a staff writer. Her first piece is about the closure of the Post's Book World section. (New Yorker)
>> Geoffrey Fowler, the Post’s former tech columnist, is joining several of his former colleagues on Substack. (GFS)
>> The Athletic is investing in "live blogs and video" in part because the content is "harder for AI bots to lift," Sara Guaglione writes. (Digiday)
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'Amazon discusses AI content marketplace with publishers' |
That's the word from The Information's Catherine Perloff and Erin Woo. They report that "Amazon plans to launch a marketplace that sells content to AI firms, following a similar move by Microsoft." Jessica Lessin wrote on X: "I am curious to learn more about this. Best case: meaningful new revenue for publishers. Worst case: another middle man that cuts off publishers from audience for pennies and causes pubs to lose focus."
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YouTube's skinny bundles are here |
Rich Greenfield says this news is "set to accelerate cord-shaving": YouTube is rolling out "lower-priced YouTube TV plans that will allow subscribers to better tailor their plans to their own interests in areas like sports, news, and entertainment," TechCrunch's Sarah Perez writes. Of particular note: The $65-per-month sports package.
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OpenAI begins testing ads |
One day after a Super Bowl full of AI ads, OpenAI announced that its ChatGPT ad testing is underway. "The test will be for logged-in adult users on the Free and Go subscription tiers," OpenAI said, emphasizing that "ads do not influence the answers ChatGPT gives you, and we keep your conversations with ChatGPT private from advertisers." Dozens of companies have signed on for the test, per AdWeek...
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Tech + entertainment tidbits |
>> The Epstein files are rocking the music biz: Agents gave Casey Wasserman an ultimatum over his ties to Ghislaine Maxwell, Sharon Waxman reported the other day. (TheWrap)
>> Last night, Chappell Roan left Wasserman's agency, saying "no artist, agent or employee should be expected to defend or overlook actions that conflict so deeply with our own moral values." (Variety)
>> Discord is "rolling out age verification on its platform globally starting next month." (The Verge)
>> MrBeast's company "has agreed to buy Step Mobile, a teen-focused banking app," which "will expand the YouTube star's reach beyond media, restaurants and packaged food into financial services." (The Information)
>> CNN and Variety will team up for a town hall with Timothée Chalamet and Matthew McConaughey later this month. (Variety)
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