News

Charlie Rose has reached a settlement with three former CBS employees who sued him in 2018 for sexual harassment.

The accusers, Katherine Brooks Harris, Chelsea Wei and Sydney McNeal, alleged that Rose touched them on their thighs, kissed their cheeks and made numerous inappropriate sexual remarks.

Rose was fired from his job as a co-host of “CBS This Morning” in November 2017, at the height of the #MeToo movement, when the Washington Post reported on harassment allegations from eight women. Bloomberg TV and PBS also canceled his long-running interview show, “Charlie Rose,” which was produced by Rose’s company.

Rose publicly apologized for his “inappropriate behavior,” saying he had behaved “insensitively.”

The Post followed up in May 2018, citing 27 complaints stretching back to the 1980s. The three plaintiffs were included in that report, and filed suit shortly thereafter.

They settled with CBS in December 2018, but the case against Rose has lingered in New...

Rascal Flatts have announced their Life Is a Highway Tour, ahead of the country band’s 25th anniversary. The 21-date trek, named after the country trio’s 2006 hit “Life Is a Highway,” starts on Feb. 13 in Evansville, Indiana, and makes stops in Columbus, Ohio; Savannah, Georgia; and Fort Worth, Texas. The tour wraps on April 5 in Jacksonville, Florida. Country singers Lauren Alaina, an American Idol Season 10 runner-up, and Chris Lane will be the special guests through the U.S. tour.

“It’s hard to believe that 2025 will be the 25th anniversary of Rascal Flatts…...

A day will come when Gayle King decides to step down from her prominent role at “CBS Mornings.” But that day is not today.

King and CBS News have struck a deal to extend her contract, according to people familiar with the matter. King, who has been at CBS News since taking a role at the show once called “CBS This Morning” in 2011, last renewed her deal with CBS in 2022. CBS News declined to make executives available for comment. King’s decision was previously reported by The New York Post.

CBS extends her contact when its morning show has taken on a new fighting edge. “CBS Mornings,” like other CBS News programs, runs third in the ratings behind ABC News’ “Good Morning America” and NBC News’ “Today,” but in recent months has narrowed the gap with the ABC program in a critical audience category — people between 25 and 54, the demographic most...

As previously reported, Season 5 of “The Drew Barrymore Show” kicks off on Monday, September 9.

Hosted by Drew Barrymore, during premiere week and throughout September the daytime talk show will welcome “CBS Mornings” hosts Gayle King, Nate Burleson, Vlad Duthiers and Tony Dokoupil, along with numerous other cutting-edge guests and influencers such as Demi Moore, Chris Hemsworth, Zoë Kravitz, Eva Mendes, David Beckham, Stephen Colbert, Justin Theroux, Demi Lovato, Lucien Laviscount, Matty Matheson, Hilary Swank, Ms. Rachel, Tony Danza, Jeff Bridges, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Aubrey Plaza, James McAvoy, Shailene Woodley, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Kate McKinnon, Brooke Shields, Riley Keough and Kathy Bates, among others.

As part of Season 5, the show will see the introduction of a new signature segment called “Wellsdays,” where Drew dedicates the show to tackling health and wellness issues affecting us all. Additionally, viewer favorite segments return including “Drew-Gooders,” “Design by Drew” and “The Weekender.”

Also new this season...

CBS News on Thursday formally announced the launch of “CBS Mornings Plus,” the long-awaited third hour of its popular “CBS Mornings” broadcast, which will premiere Monday, September 30 on select CBS-owned stations.

According to the network, the third hour will take viewers deeper into the most important headlines of the day, as well as pop culture, entertainment, health, wellness and financial news. “CBS Mornings” co-host Tony Dokoupil will continue in his role during the flagship broadcast while joining Adriana Diaz as co-hosts for the third hour. Dokoupil and Diaz will drive in-depth interviews and original reporting on major news stories each day during the new live hour.

Produced by the current “CBS Mornings” team, the all-new third hour will air at 9:00 a.m. Et/Pt on CBS-owned stations in Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Detroit and Miami. The broadcast will be simulcast on CBS News 24/7, CBS News’ national, free streaming news network.

Exclusive: In a rare media outing for the duo together, Salma Hayek Pinault and husband François-Henri Pinault, the Kering CEO and majority owner of CAA, are among guests lined up for next week’s CBS Mornings.

The Oscar-nominated actress and the business magnate are due on the show Tuesday morning with topics of conversation potentially spanning Hayek’s performance in new Toronto Film Festival movie Without Blood, directed by Angelina Jolie, and the couple’s work for luxury goods company Kering.

French Billionaire Pinault acquired a majority stake in CAA in late 2023 and has rarely spoken about the acquisition in English-language media so it’ll be interesting to see whether the subject comes up.

On the same day, hosts Gayle King, Tony Dokoupil and Nate Burleson will also welcome Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum into the studio.

Among other guests being lined up next week are Sylvester Stallone on Thursday 12, potentially to discuss Tulsa King,...

CBS Mornings star Gayle King enjoyed a scenic getaway with Oprah Winfrey weeks after headlines surfaced about their relationship.

They’ve been besties for many years, which sparked speculation that they might have a romantic relationship.

That led to them addressing rumors that they are gay and a couple during an interview.

Oprah indicated many people still believe they are together, despite what they might have previously said.

They continue to take trips, including the summer vacation Gayle recently revealed.

The duo visited a beautiful region of Italy, and Gayle shared multiple photos and video clips from the excursion. Several commenters reacted to seeing them together again for another trip out of the country.

Gayle King and Oprah enjoyed a Venice trip together

Gayle revealed in an Instagram carousel post that she and Oprah went to Venice, Italy, as part of the annual Dvf Awards. Dvf are the initials of Diane von Furstenberg,...

(Courtesy photo)

Paramount Global’s CBS has officially announced an expansion hour for its flagship breakfast program, “CBS Mornings.”

Starting later this month, CBS stations in five major metropolitan areas will debut a third hour of CBS Mornings, called “CBS Mornings Plus,” hosted by Tony Dokoupil and Adriana Diaz.

The broadcast stations that will offer CBS Morning Plus are in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Detroit and Miami. In four of the five markets, Paramount owns two stations — one offering CBS, and another that is affiliated with the CW Network or otherwise independent. It wasn’t clear from the announcement if CBS Mornings Plus will air on the secondary stations owned by Paramount or the main CBS station in each market.

In addition to the five markets, CBS Mornings Plus will stream on CBS News 24/7, the free, ad-supported streaming TV (Fast) news channel launched by CBS News nearly a decade ago.

CBS News’ third hour of “CBS Mornings” is set to debut on September 30, with Tony Dokoupil and Adriana Diaz cohosting the additional programming hour, the network announced Wednesday.

The program will extend the network’s flagship morning show into the 9 a.m. hour. “CBS Mornings Plus” will air weekdays on CBS-owned stations in Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Detroit and Miami. The show will also be simulcast to CBS News 24/7, the broadcast network’s free streaming platform.

The third hour will be produced by the “CBS Mornings” team and will include relevant headlines of the day, as well as pop culture, entertainment, health, wellness and financial news.

Both of the program’s competitors in the broadcast morning show market, ABC’s “Good Morning America” and NBC’s “Today” show, have already expanded beyond the initial two-hour timeslot.

“CBS Mornings Plus is a great example of how our broadcast and...

Morning-news viewers in various parts of the country will soon have more to watch on CBS.

CBS News will on September 30 launch a live, third hour of its flagship “CBS Mornings” A.M. program, a move that will extend the show into the 9 a.m. hour. “CBS Mornings Plus” will be co-anchored by Tony Dokoupil and Adriana Diaz, and will air weekdays on CBS-owned stations in in Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Detroit and Miami and simulcast on CBS News 24/7, CBS News’ free streaming news outlet.

“This expansion of ‘CBS Mornings’ shows a commitment to the brand, and I’m excited to see what this team can do with another hour of real estate to experiment with,” said Shawna Thomas, executive producer of “CBS Mornings” and the new extension. “People say all the time they wish we had another hour. Now it’s time for us to do something...

If the money shot in a documentary comes when the subject gets so honest and personal that they begin to cry, director R.J. Cutler was in trouble when he began work on his Martha Stewart doc, “Martha.” That’s because his subject doesn’t show much inclination to get honest and personal, much less emotional.

That made things difficult for Cutler, the director of “The September Issue” and “The War Room,” who is also on the festival circuit this fall with “Elton John: Never Too Late.” The filmmaker is trying to craft a film about the rise, fall and redemption of an iconic American lifestyle maven, but finds that icon reluctant to play along with the fall and redemption parts of that storyline. Time and again, Stewart clams up or shuts down when she’d prodded on sensitive subjects; you get the feeling she’s humoring her filmographer with only...

Paramount Audio today announced the creation of a new original crossover podcast series combining two major CBS franchises: “48 Hours" and “NCIS.”

In “48 Hours: NCIS” two of the most iconic brands in media join forces for a one-of-a-kind audio series that merges the award-winning journalism of one of the most celebrated true crime news programs with the world’s No. 1 TV franchise. It will premiere on October 29, 2024.

The series will be hosted by award-winning CBS News correspondent and host of CBS’ “The Talk,” Natalie Morales. Raised in a military family as the daughter of a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Air Force, Morales joined CBS News in 2021, and her reporting is featured across several CBS News platforms including "48 Hours," "CBS Mornings," "CBS Sunday Morning" and others.

Exploring the real-life cases that NCIS agents will never forget, the series will begin with a look back at a case involving...

Adaptations of popular classics have often led to heated disputes among fans of the original and contemporaries. One such classic is the popular romance novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. This book has been revamped multiple times, and made into different movies all with their own interpretations of the two lead characters.

Matthew Macfadyen in Pride and Prejudice | Universal Pictures

But the most well-known remake of the book was the 2005 Pride and Prejudice movie, starring Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen in lead roles. This movie took the audience by storm due to the unique portrayal of the beloved characters but one factor made it the most memorable. That is Matthew Macfadyen as the iconic Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy.

Matthew Macfadyen wasn’t sure about Mr Darcy

Despite winning several hearts and ladies swooning over his portrayal of the brooding romantic hero, Matthew Macfadyen wasn’t really sure about his role.

Jo Ann Ross, the first woman to run a broadcast TV network’s ad-sales efforts and one of the last senior ad-sales executives in the TV industry to hold direct relationships with advertisers when primetime broadcast programs were seen as the primary venue for Madison Avenue’s dollars, is leaving the industry, stepping down from her role as chairman of Paramount Global’s ad sales division at the end of April.

Ross had already stepped back from day to day duties, ceding that role to John Halley, who was named president of ad sales for the company in 2022. But her relationships with key sponsors were seen as valuable, as were the ties many of her senior executives had with media agencies and marketing executives. She has stayed on at Paramount in a key advisory role.

“Jo Ann has steered our advertising business from one milestone to the next. She oversaw...

Charles Osgood, the longtime host of CBS Sunday Morning and the radio program The Osgood File, died today at his home in New Jersey, the network said. He was 91.

His family said that the cause of death was dementia, according to the network where he’d worked for 45 years.

With a folksy demeanor, calming voice and wit, the bowtie-wearing Osgood anchored Sunday Morning from 1994-2016, succeeding its original host, Charles Kuralt. He won a Peabody Award and a pair of Daytime Emmys for the show in the mid-2010s and received the News & Documentary Emmys’ Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017.

“I cannot think of anything that gives me more pleasure than Sunday Morning,” he told an interviewer, “because, first of all, it feels great to be part of something that people love, and I know that they do.”

He retired in 2016 and handed the reins over the Jane Pauley, and the show,...

Can “King Charles” rule in the heady, competitive world of cable news? CNN will soon find out.

The new weekly one-hour program will debut Wednesday, November 29, at 10 p.m., and will be co-anchored by the unlikely duo of Gayle King, who still has her long-running day job at rival CBS News, and Charles Barkley, the outspoken sportscaster who remains a key element in the NBA coverage provided by CNN’s parent, Warner Bros. Discovery. CNN executives are counting on the pair to have freewheeling conversations about the biggest stories in the news cycle. “King Charles” is viewed as a limited-run series that will last at least through the first quarter of next year.

“‘King Charles’ is different than anything we have on CNN’s lineup,” says Amy Entelis, CNN’s executive vice president for talent and content development, in responses to questions provided by email. “It’s not a newscast,...

Throughout its eleven season run, "M*A*S*H" was one of the best-written shows on television. The beloved Korean War-set sitcom effortlessly blended genres in a way that was rare for its time, balancing uproarious comedy with gut-wrenching tragedy. The show won an Emmy for its writing and was nominated for eleven more, even taking over two thirds of the nominations in 1974.

Even the best shows have some weak moments, though, and not every episode or story beat in "M*A*S*H" is a winner. Some of the show's plot points have aged poorly, especially in the early seasons, when jokester playboy Hawkeye's (Alan Alda) treatment of head nurse Margaret (Loretta Swit) crossed over into sexual harassment. Other bits are just silly, like a season 1 gag involving a gold spray-painted car that Alda often references as his and Wayne Rogers' barometer for how kooky the show could possibly get. "Wayne Rogers and I said to each other,...

It’s easy to envision Robin Roberts sitting down for an in-depth interview with a hard-to-nab celebrity or landing a “get” with an inspirational newsmaker. How about Robin Roberts helping to solve a mystery ripped from the headlines?

Such a notion is a distinct possibility thanks to a new ABC News Studios production unit that Roberts will lead. The move is the latest by ABC News to increase the number of projects it creates not just for the Disney broadcast network, but for streaming outlets such as Hulu and Disney+

“The creation of this unit offers a unique opportunity to tell new and compelling stories in a wide range of formats, and we’ll also explore genres people might not expect from me,” Roberts tells Variety via e-mail.

ABC News has steadily ramped up its production efforts in recent months, launching ABC News Studios in a bid to increase work in new content areas,...

Chris Licht is being let go by CNN, Warner Bros. Discovery announced on Wednesday. Licht replaced Jeff Zucker at the cable news network (which used to be called the Cable News Network), assuming the titles of chairman and CEO of CNN Worldwide in May 2022. The tenure was short-lived.

“I have great respect for Chris, personally and professionally,” David Zaslav, president and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, said on Wednesday morning. “The job of leading CNN was never going to be easy, especially at a time of huge disruption and transformation, and he has poured his heart and soul into it. While we know we have work to do as we look to identify a new leader, we have absolute confidence in the team we have in place and will continue to fight for CNN and its world class journalism.”

Zaslav hand-picked Licht to turn the struggling CNN around. One of their first items of business?...

CNN CEO Chris Licht will leave his post after a little more than a year at the helm after losing the support of staff and enacting a series of chaotic editorial changes under the direction of parent company Warner Bros. Discovery.

David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, told staffers Wednesday of the decision during CNN’s regular editorial call, according to three people familiar with the matter. These people said Zaslav and his team informed Licht as early as Tuesday that he could no longer stay in the role, which he assumed in May of last year. Licht was the subject of a disastrous profile in The Atlantic last week that depicted him as being aloof from staff, thin skinned in regards to press coverage, and annoyed by comparisons to his predecessor, Jeff Zucker.

In his place, a team of three executives will run CNN’s editorial operations for an interim period: Amy Entelis,...

On Tuesday, performers Lea Michele and Myles Frost presented the nominees for the 76th annual Tony Awards live on “CBS This Morning” before finishing the list from the heart of Broadway at the Sofitel New York.

Recognizing the best in live theatre, the Tony Awards cap off a strong year for Broadway, which bounced back during the 2022-2023 season with a number of acclaimed and groundbreaking productions. In total, there were 38 eligible shows, including 17 original plays and nine new musicals as well as six play revivals and six musical revivals.

Earning the most of any production, Some Like It Hot came out on top, with a total of 13 nominations. The most nominated play, meanwhile, is Ain’t No Mo’, which garnered six. Additionally, Sweeney Todd and A Doll’s House were the two most recognized revivals of the year, collecting eight and six nominations, respectively.

When it comes to the acting prizes,...

Don Lemon is leaving CNN after 17 years of pushing its boundaries.

The anchor, who had become one of the Warner Bros. Discovery network’s most popular faces in recent years, announced on social media Monday that he had been ousted from CNN.

“I was informed this morning by my agent that I have been terminated by CNN. I am stunned. After 17 years at CNN I would have thought that someone in management would have had the decency to tell me directly. At no time was I ever given any indication that I would not be able to continue to do the work I have loved at the network. It is clear that there are some larger issues at play,” Lemon said. “With that said, I want to thank my colleagues and the many teams I have worked with for an incredible run. They are the most talented journalists in the business,...

Twenty-nine years ago, Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne were celebrating their Academy Award nominations for portraying Tina Turner and Ike Turner in 1993’s “What’s Love Got to Do With It.” This year, Bassett is nominated for the best supporting actress Oscar for her commanding performance as Queen Ramonda in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” and her longtime collaborator couldn’t be more thrilled.

Calling in between interviews for “John Wick: Chapter 4,” Fishburne tells Variety, “It’s what’s in my heart that I’d like to talk about more than what’s on my mind. I’m just really, really happy about all of the accolades that have been coming Angela’s way for this performance.”

Fishburne sought out “Wakanda Forever” early in its theatrical run, interested to see what the Marvel sequel had in store.

“I was just blown away by a couple of things,” he says, recounting the experience.

CNN’s morning show isn’t peeling away from Don Lemon.

The anchor will return to “CNN This Morning” on Wednesday, despite delivering a set of controversial remarks last week, the latest maneuver in what has become a more difficult than expected effort by the Warner Bros Discovery-backed outlet to shake up its programming.

“I sat down with Don and had a frank and meaningful conversation. He has agreed to participate in formal training, as well as continuing to listen and learn. We take this situation very seriously,” CNN CEO Chris Licht said in a memo Monday night. “It is important to me that CNN balances accountability with fostering a culture in which people can own, learn and grow from their mistakes. To that end, Don will return to CNN This Morning on Wednesday.”

Lemon, who has become one of CNN’s best-known anchors after leading a late-evening program...

Don Lemon will be absent from “CNN This Morning” for a second consecutive broadcast as CNN continues to grapple with backlash to comments he made last week about the abilities of women over 40 — a crucial demographic for any morning-news program.

Three people familiar with the Warner Bros. Discovery-backed network say CNN staffers got word around 3 p.m. on Sunday that Lemon, who had been expected to return to his morning duties after taking a previously-scheduled day off on Friday, would not be on air Monday. Sara Sidner, an anchor who has been getting more screen time over the past year, is expected to fill in for him, sitting alongside co-anchor Poppy Harlow while the third member of CNN’s morning show team, Kaitlan Collins, will report from Poland. Some CNN staffers have begun to wonder, according to these people, whether the network may be considering a shake-up of the “CNN This Morning” team.

CNN typically devotes its daily morning editorial call to hashing out the news cycle, lining up “rundowns” for its various programs; and internal housekeeping. On Friday’s call, according to three people familiar with the matter, anchor Don Lemon took time out for something different — an apology.

Lemon sought to tamp down internal and external backlash to polarizing comments he made on Thursday’s “CNN This Morning” about when women are in their prime, though it remains unclear whether all staffers will let the matter drop.

Speaking for a few minutes, one of these people said, Lemon said he regretted saying that women who are past their 40s are no longer in their prime, a comment that appeared to be off the cuff and inspired by coverage of Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor who recently declared her candidacy for the 2024 U.S. presidential race. “Nikki Haley isn’t in her prime,...

Meghan Trainor showed off her acting chops recently with a guest role on How I Met Your Father. She played Ramona in season 2 episode 2, “Midwife Crisis,” an expectant mother who was about to give birth early and needed Sophie’s (Hilary Duff) help. But how did the “All About That Bass” hitmaker land a part in the Hulu series? Trainor dished on her role in a recent interview, revealing that it all began with a “mom class” with Duff.

Meghan Trainor as Ramona in ‘How I Met Your Father’ | Patrick Wymore/Hulu Meghan Trainor appeared in ‘How I Met Your Father’ Season 2

“Midwife Crisis” saw Trainor as Ramona, Sophie’s neighbor who hired Sophie to take photos of her home birth. But there was one problem: Sophie had zero experience photographing home births. She lied to Ramona to get the job, telling the mom-to-be, “I’ve shot so many home births,...

The 65th Annual Grammy Awards will be presented in 2023, and there’s a lot to keep in mind regarding who will be recognized, when, and how. Here’s what we know so far.

SEE2022 Grammy predictions: Album of the Year

When are the awards?

The 2023 Grammys date is Sunday, February 5, 2023. As usual, the Premiere Ceremony and the prime time telecast will take place on the same day.

Who’s hosting the awards?

Former “Daily Show” host Trevor Noah is back as emcee for the third year in a row.

Who’s performing at the awards?

See the complete list of performers here.

Who’s presenting at the awards?

First Lady Jill Biden; Grammy winner Cardi B; actor, producer, writer, and host James Corden; current Grammy nominee Billy Crystal; current Grammy nominee Viola Davis; actor Dwayne Johnson; three-time Grammy winner Olivia Rodrigo; and five-time Grammy winner Shania Twain will take the stage as presenters.

CNN’s new chief hopes primetime anchor Don Lemon can help the network gain ground in some of TV news’ toughest terrain.

Chris Licht, who has vowed to tone down some of the more aggressive commentary at the network since taking its reins earlier this year, has enjoyed an eyebrow-raising streak in morning news. He launched the durable MSNBC franchise “Morning Joe” in 2007 and then helped CBS gain new momentum in the a.m. in 2012 by starting “CBS This Morning.” Neither program was the most-watched of its brethren, but Licht gained new viewership for the networks that backed him by providing more substantial conversation among anchors and ignoring some of the frillier elements of the time period, like cooking demonstrations or street interviews with passersby.

Now he’s betting he can do the same for CNN, even as TV networks are seeing new challenges to their sunrise efforts.

“People are...

CNN is hoping to wake up its morning schedule.

The Warner Bros. Discovery-backed news outlet unveiled a new lineup for its morning block, installing Don Lemon, Kaitlan Collins and Poppy Harlow in place of the current hosts, John Berman and Brianna Keilar. Chris Licht, CNN’s chairman and chief executive, has had some of his greatest career success in morning news, having launched MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” and retooled the program once known as “CBS This Morning.”

The new CNN program, retitled and with a new set, is expected to debut later this year — and looks to emulate some of the formats Licht has led in the past. Both “CBS This Morning” and “Morning Joe” hinged on spirited conversation among a broader group of panelists, some of whom talk more to each other than they do directly to viewers at home.

“There is no stronger combination of talent than Don,...

In August 2022, tennis superstar and 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams announced plans to evolve from the sport she loved her whole life (she doesn't like the word retirement). The following month, a third-round loss at the US Open essentially ended her illustrious career ... until she eventually (fingers crossed) pulls a Michael Jordan.

In a post-match interview with "CBS This Morning" anchor Gayle King, Williams said the next chapter of her life would be "Serena 2.0," and she would "still be around." Could that new version of the tennis champ send her to Hollywood? After all, she grew up just around the corner in Compton, California. In 2021 she signed a first-look deal with Amazon Studios to create scripted and unscripted TV content and received an executive producer credit on "King Richard," the biopic about her father's influence on her and her sister Venus Williams' careers.

Frankly, I wouldn't rule out the...

The typical evening-news program give viewers all the news they need to know in less than 30 minutes. John Dickerson’s take on the format aims to unpack the headlines of the day and offer something most news programs don’t — perspective.

Dickerson will lead CBS News’ step into an emerging frontier, an evening-news program that doesn’t air on a TV network, but streams instead, presumably for a younger, more tech-savvy audience. “CBS News Prime Time With John Dickerson,” a new hour-long program, debuts tonight at 7 p.m. eastern on CBS News’ streaming outlets, and will appear live Monday through Thursday. The goal is for Dickerson, a former host of “Face The Nation” and a longtime political journalist and analyst, to provide insight and historical context around the events of the day so viewers gain a deeper understanding of the news cycle.

Dickerson intends to use the program to “to explore the world,...

Ryan Kadro, formerly the executive producer for “CBS This Morning,” has been tapped as CNN’s senior vice president of content, strategy and development.

He will report to Amy Entelis, executive VP of talent and content development for CNN Worldwide. Among his duties, Kadro will help revamp CNN’s morning news program. He will also help brainstorm new programming for the cabler.

Kadro is a former deputy to Chris Licht, who is now CEO of CNN, and took over as executive producer of “CBS This Morning” after Licht departed to work on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”

Also Read:

Brian Stelter Out at CNN, ‘Reliable Sources’ Canceled

His appointment at CNN is yet another indicator of a larger shift in the network’s news programming strategy, following the ouster of Brian Stelter and the cancellation of “Reliable Sources.” Last week, CNN parted ways with longtime legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin as well.

CNN has enlisted a new executive to help it generate programming ideas.

Ryan Kadro, a veteran of “CBS This Morning” and several digital ventures, is set to join CNN as a senior vice president of content strategy, overseeing the development of new programming such as a revamped morning show and other new concepts, according to a spokesperson for the network and two other people familiar with the matter.

Kadro is a former lieutenant to Chris Licht, the CEO of CNN, and succeeded him as executive producer after he left the CBS morning program to work with Stephen Colbert on CBS’ “Late Show.”

His hire puts a trusted executive in place to create programming in which Licht is said to have a strong interest. Licht, who helped launch “Morning Joe” and the most recent iteration of “CBS This Morning,” is said to be eager to revamp to play more robustly against the A.

Olivia Newton-John, the top female pop vocalist of the 1970s who starred in movies including “Grease” and “Xanadu,” died Monday. She was 73.

Her husband, John Easterling, posted the news on her official Facebook page, writing: “Dame Olivia Newton-John (73) passed away peacefully at her ranch in Southern California this morning, surrounded by family and friends. We ask that everyone please respect the family’s privacy during this very difficult time.”

A cause of death was not given, but Newton-John was diagnosed with breast cancer that surfaced for a third time in 2017. “Olivia has been a symbol of triumphs and hope for over 30 years sharing her journey with breast cancer,” her husband wrote. “Her healing inspiration and pioneering experience with plant medicine continues with the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund, dedicated to researching plant medicine and cancer.”

Her “Grease” costar and hit duet partner John Travolta was quick to weigh in with a tribute on social media.

The CNN image for the past few years has been embodied by passionate on-air personalities like Don Lemon or Brianna Keilar. These days, it might best be symbolized by beat reporters like Jamie Gangel or Kaitlan Collins.

Gone in recent weeks (for the most part) are what had become the network’s signature red-versus-blue showdowns between hot-talking contributors or segments that hinge on an anchor scolding an interviewee. This is the kind of stuff that typically gives cable-news a viral boost. In its place, CNN is trying something else: the news.

And it could guide what three people familiar with the network say will be some sort of recalibration of on-air talent that could become more apparent this fall.

“CNN seems to be moving back more toward straight news and away from some of the blatant opinion-mongering by its anchors that characterized its past few years,” says Mark Feldstein, chairman...

Chris Wallace left a Sunday show on Fox News Channel to jump into the world of streaming at CNN. But now he’s going back to a weekend format for which he is best known.

Wallace will take the reins of a new Sunday program on CNN, the network announced Wednesday during an upfront presentation for its parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery. He will essentially reprise the program he had been doing for CNN+, a one-on-one talk program called “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?” that will also appear on the company’s large HBO Max streaming service. Wallace will continue to serve as an anchor for CNN, which he joined in January 2022 after anchoring Fox News Sunday for nearly two decades.

The show is intended to serve as part of a new “CNN Sunday” premium block that will also include a new program devoted to longer-form enterprise journalism from...

CNN+ is gone, but some of the big-name anchors who were hired for the service appear to be sticking around for a while.

Chris Licht, the new chairman and CEO at the Warner Bros. Discovery news operation, gave indications at a town hall meeting on Thursday that he intended to find places for some of the popular names that were lured to the company with the promise of new programs for CNN.+ The subscription-based streaming service was scuttled abruptly by the company’s new parent after it completed its acquisition of WarnerMedia from AT&T. Three people familiar with the conversations at the meeting said Licht indicated he wanted to find places for Chris Wallace, the one-time Fox News anchor, and Audie Cornish, the NPR veteran, appearing in parts of the company’s portfolio. He also said Kasie Hunt, who was hired from NBC News, has been appearing in current CNN programming.

CBS shareholders have reached a 14.75 million settlement in their securities lawsuit against Leslie Moonves and the network regarding how it dealt with the sexual misconduct allegations against the disgraced former chairman-ceo and how his previous #MeToo comments affected the company’s financial performance.

In a legal filing obtained by Variety on Monday, investors in CBS Corp. — which now, re-merged with Viacom, is called Paramount — wrote, “Lead Plaintiff and Defendants have negotiated, at arm’s length and with the assistance of an experienced and neutral mediator, a proposed settlement of all claims in this Action for 14,750,000 in cash. This resolution, which falls well within the range of possible approval, involved a thorough investigation, extensive motion practice, consultation with an expert on damages and loss causation, and a formal mediation involving rigorous and extensive negotiations.”

Representatives for CBS declined to comment on Monday.

The initial lawsuit was filed in August 2018, one month...

Norah O’Donnell and CBS News have come to terms on a new deal that will keep the anchor at “CBS Evening News” beyond the 2024 election, according to four people familiar with the matter.

A a spokeswoman for O’Donnell declined to make the anchor available for comment. O’Donnell disclosed her new contract Friday evening while having a toast with some producers at CBS News’ Washington, D.C., facility, according to three of these people. CBS News confirmed it had signed the anchor to a new deal on Saturday, after details, some previously reported by Puck, began to surface.

The deal was cemented despite growing speculation that CBS News, under the direction of co-president Neeraj Khemlani, might seek to replace the anchor, who has seen her profile grow during a stint co-anchoring the formerly-titled “CBS This Morning” and a tenure at a “CBS Evening News” that has moved its main...

Chris Licht has a thing for the underdog. The future head of CNN Global helped Stephen Colbert snatch the late-night viewer crown right off of Jimmy Fallon’s messy spikes. Now he’s been cast in a similar role for CNN, which is currently in third place out of three.

Licht is a well-respected producer who launched “Morning Joe” on MSNBC and spearheaded “CBS This Morning” before buoying “The Late Show.” Against Fox News Channel and MSNBC, Licht faces — to put it kindly — an uphill battle.

In 2022, Fox News nearly triples CNN’s overall viewership throughout the entire day (6 a.m. to 6 a.m.). If that sounds bad, don’t look any closer: Fox’s primetime (8 p.m. to 11 p.m.) advantage is nearly 3.5 times the typical CNN audience. Runner-up MSNBC has a 20 percent advantage over CNN in total-day viewership and a 41 percent lead in primetime.

The news isn’t entirely grim.

CNN and Fox News Channel are fierce rivals, and their anchors regularly take pot shots at each other. But there is at least one thing on which they agree: how much a new subscriber to their streaming outlets ought to pay.

CNN will charge $5.99 per month for its new CNN Plus, a subscription-video streaming outlet that is expected to launch in late March, according to a person familiar with the matter, confirming information previously reported by The Los Angeles Times. That is the same monthly fee sought by Fox News for its Fox Nation outlet. Early-bird customers who sign up for CNN Plus during an initial four-week offer will get 50% off that price for life, for as long as they subscribe.

With the launch, CNN will enter a crowded fray. Many of the nation’s big TV-news outlets have already launched streaming counterparts. And except for Fox Nation, they are...

If it wasn’t for Chris Licht, you might not see Gayle King on TV every weekday morning.

King wasn’t the typical host of a national morning-news show. She had worked for nearly two decades at a Hartford TV station before trying her hand at daytime TV. When Licht, who was starting a new morning program for CBS News, gave her a call, King was in her 50s and hadn’t worked the same ladder as most of her contemporaries in A.M. television. “If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t even be at CBS,” King said in an interview. Today, she is the center of CBS’ morning-news programming, which seeks to be more serious and offer a deeper take on topics than its competitors at ABC and NBC. “The core of what we are doing here hasn’t changed,” says King. “Chris set the template for that.

Update, 9:09 Am Pt: In his first memo to CNN employees, the network’s incoming leader Chris Licht praised the network’s coverage of the Ukraine crisis yet did not get into specifics of what direction he wants to take the network.

He wrote, “I know you have a lot of questions. Perhaps the biggest one is how will CNN change? The honest answer is that I don’t know yet. David Zaslav has given me one simple directive: To ensure that CNN remains the global leader in News as part of Warner Bros. Discovery.”

He wrote that he planned “to do a lot of listening.”

“Together, we will double-down on what’s working well and quickly eliminate what’s not,” he wrote.

David Zaslav, the incoming CEO of Warner Bros.-Discovery, wrote in a separate memo that “I am confident you will love Chris, and that he is...

CNN will have a new chief for a new chapter in its history.

Chris Licht, a veteran producer who has overseen programs like MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” and CBS’ “CBS This Morning” and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” was named chairman and chief executive of CNN Global — a new name for the news operation once its parent, WarnerMedia, is acquired by Discovery. Licht will report directly to David Zaslav, who will be CEO of the combined company, and is expected to start on May 1.

Discovery is, at present, seen taking control of WarnerMedia sometime in mid-April, depending on a shareholder vote, among other conditions.

The prospect of a new owner and a new top executive has spurred speculation about what new programming and operating direction may be in store for the venerable cable-news outlet, which has been under scrutiny since WarnerMedia ousted former president Jeff Zucker after he failed...

Chris Licht, the wunderkind producer who launched “Morning Joe,” retooled “CBS This Morning” and helped late-night host Stephen Colbert gain traction on CBS, is jumping to CNN to take over the operation once its corporate parent, WarnerMedia, is acquired by Discovery in a much-anticipated merger expected to take place in April, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Licht could not be reached for immediate comment and a CNN spokesperson referred an inquiry to Discovery. A Discovery executive declined to comment. Executives at CBS, where Licht currently oversees “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” and is an executive vice president involved with programming strategies, were not able to offer immediate comment. Puck previously reported the new deal, which is said to have been cemented by Discovery CEO David Zaslav, who lured Licht away from a growing development deal that Colbert and his senior team have put together with Paramount Global,...

Alex Wagner is returning to MSNBC.

Wagner, who anchored a noontime hour on MSNBC before moving out as the network placed new emphasis on covering breaking news in daytime hours, will work as a senior political analyst adn guest anchor for the NBCUniversal-backed outlet. She joins as many big TV-news organizations are gearing up for coverage of the U.S. midterm elections later this year — a news event that could boost viewership levels after a general decline since early 2021.

Wagner led “Now With Alex Wagner” between 2011 and 2015, and Wagner joined MSNBC as part of a move to present more programming with a progressive lens.

Since her departure, Wagner has worked as a co-anchor on the Saturday broadcast of “CBS This Morning” and as a co-host and executive producer of the political documentary series, “The Circus,” on Showtime. She is also a contributing writer at The Atlantic.

She has had an interesting career.

While Andy Cohen appreciates that being added to Hollywood’s legendary Walk of Fame on Feb. 4 is certainly a major milestone in the increasingly multi-faceted career of the Bravo reality television producer and host, he says from the moment he began working in media he felt like a shining star.

“There’s never been a point in my career where I haven’t felt like I made it, because I just felt like getting in the door meant that I made it,” Cohen tells Variety.

His journey began as an intern at CBS News and he rose through the network’s ranks, ultimately heading up reality programming at Bravo, where he delivered brand-defining mainstays including “Project Runway,” “Top Chef” and, of course, the ever-juicy “Real Housewives” franchise.

Along the way his palpable passion for the rapidly evolving reality form provided an on-ramp to his on-camera career. He’s emerged as...

Gayle King made it official on Friday: She is sticking with CBS News.

King has been co-anchoring CBS’ morning show, which used to be called “CBS This Morning” since 2012.

King broke the news herself during her SiriusXM radio show, “Gayle King in the House,” on Friday. “I officially signed on the dotted line. So I will be with CBS a little longer.”

There had speculation in recent weeks over King’s future at CBS News. CNN reported last week that King had signed a new contract, but no official announcement was made. Earlier this week, the New York Times added that CNN chief Jeff Zucker had approached King’s reps about joining the network’s primetime lineup as a replacement for Chris Cuomo.

King addressed speculation regarding her future on Friday.

“I don’t know why people thought that just because you have a grandchild now all of a sudden...

Susan Zirinsky is back in a job where she can do one of her favorite things: tell a few stories.

For decades, Zirinsky, who left her role as president of CBS News last year, had big tales to relate. As a senior producer at CBS News, she played a role in preparing some of the operation’s most dramatic work: dozens of episodes of “48 Hours”; a memorable documentary on 9/11; and a look inside the CIA for Showtime featuring 12 living directors.

Now, after two years of tending more to the management of the news business at ViacomCBS — re-engineering CBS’ morning program and “CBS Evening News” — she has more. Zirinsky heads See It Now Studios, an independent production unit that she expects to launch documentary films and series for a range of ViacomCBS properties as well as outside parties. “I’m not a sliver of the network, or producing just for the inside,...