2023 in American television
 | This article may be too long to read and navigate comfortably. (July 2023) |
In American television in 2023, notable events included television show debuts, finales, and cancellations; channel launches, closures, and re-brandings; stations changing or adding their network affiliations; information on controversies, business transactions, and carriage disputes; and deaths of those who made various contributions to the medium.
Notable events
[edit]January
[edit]| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | During the first quarter of that night's Monday Night Football game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium, Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest and collapsed midfield after tackling Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins. Hamlin received treatment (including CPR and automated external defibrillation) on-field by stadium medical personnel, who were able to restore his heartbeat, and was subsequently taken to University of Cincinnati Medical Center in critical condition. (Hamlin came out of his induced coma on January 5, with his neurological functions determined to be intact; he was released from UCMC on January 9 and returned to Buffalo, where he underwent two additional days of evaluation at Buffalo General Medical Center before being released there.) After being suspended for roughly 45 minutes with 5:58 remaining in the quarter, the game—which was simulcast on ABC, in addition to its regular broadcasts on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+—was postponed. On January 6, the NFL announced that the game would not be completed; playoff seeding that was to be determined by the Bills–Bengals game was instead decided by winning percentage (factoring this, the Bengals would clinch the AFC North championship title), and matchups were determined through Wild Card games (involving the Miami Dolphins against the Bills, and the Baltimore Ravens against the Bengals) scheduled for January 14 and 15, respectively. The Bills and Bengals would each advance to the Divisional Playoffs, which saw the Bengals qualify for the AFC Championship, 27–10, in a January 22 rematch against the Bills. | [1][2] [3][4] [5][6] |
| 3 | For The View's first episode of the year, current and former hosts (including original panelists Star Jones, Debbie Matenopoulos and Meredith Vieira, the latter appearing via phone call due to illness) reunite to honor Barbara Walters. Walters, who died on December 30, 2022, at age 93, created and produced the ABC daytime talk show, and was among its panelists from its August 1997 debut until her retirement in May 2014. | [7] |
| 5 | CBS West Coast flagship KCBS-TV and independent KCAL-TV, both in Los Angeles and owned by the network, jointly rebrand their news department as KCAL News. The change takes effect with the launch of a six-hour local morning newscast on KCAL-TV, with a one-hour simulcast on KCBS-TV (which begins carrying CBS Mornings live at 4 a.m. PT along with the West Coast feed at 7 a.m. PT). Local and network management agreed to the KCAL News rebrand as a way to leverage KCAL-TV's stronger identity in the market, having been the first station to launch a three-hour primetime newscast in 1990. | [8][9] |
| 6 | Dish Network removes 32 stations collectively owned by Mission Broadcasting (including WPIX/New York City, WXXA/Albany, WYOU/Scranton–Wilkes Barre, KWBQ–KASY/Albuquerque–Santa Fe, WNAC/Providence, KAMC/Lubbock, and KLRT–KASN/Little Rock) and White Knight Broadcasting (owner of WVLA/Baton Rouge and KFXK/Longview), after the satellite provider and the two Nexstar Media Group affiliate companies fail to renew a carriage agreement that expired that day. The blackout effectively leaves the affected Mission and White Knight stations without satellite distribution as both groups have been involved in separate carriage disputes with DirecTV (and co-owned DirecTV Stream and U-verse TV) that began in October 2022. | [10][11] [12][13] |
| 10 | The 80th Golden Globe Awards air on NBC and stream on Peacock from The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, with Jerrod Carmichael hosting. It follows a one-year absence from the network after NBC declined to air the previous year's ceremony in support of boycotts by various media companies, actors, and other creative individuals in the entertainment industry over the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's lack of action to increase the diversity of the organization's board membership. Among television awards, Abbott Elementary was the top winner with three awards each ("Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy", "Best Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy" for Quinta Brunson, and "Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series – Musical-Comedy or Drama" for Tyler James Williams), tying with top film winner The Banshees of Inisherin (which won for "Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy", "Best Screenplay", and "Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy" for Colin Farrell) for the most wins overall among the ceremony's awards. | [14][15] [16] |
| 12 | Nexstar Media Group ceases live streams of local programming (including newscasts) produced by its stations on their websites and mobile apps, instituting a two-hour delayed feed of each station's local programs in its place. The change is an apparent effort to obtain leverage in contractual negotiations with linear pay TV providers, amid Nexstar's carriage disputes with providers such as DirecTV, Dish Network and Verizon FiOS (see January 6 entry as an example). Three of the group's major-market stations (WGN/Chicago, KTLA/Los Angeles and KRON/San Francisco), and live breaking news and severe weather events covered by the affected stations are exempt from the change, which deviates from the now-standard practice of offering live newscasts online for the convenience of viewers who are unable to view them at home or who live outside of the station's home market. | [17] |
| 15 | The 28th Critics' Choice Awards airs on The CW from the Fairmont Century Plaza Hotel in Century City, with Chelsea Handler as host. Among television nominees, Better Call Saul had the most wins with three awards ("Best Drama Series", "Best Actor in a Drama Series" for Bob Odenkirk, and "Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series" for Giancarlo Esposito), while Abbott Elementary won two awards ("Best Comedy Series", and "Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series" for Sheryl Lee Ralph). Everything Everywhere All at Once won five awards (including "Best Picture", and "Best Supporting Actor" for Ke Huy Quan) to become the ceremony's top winner overall and among film nominees. Special honors went to Jeff Bridges (Lifetime Achievement Award) and Janelle Monáe (#SeeHer Award). | [18][19] [20][21] |
| 17 | The Daily Show begins its post-Trevor Noah era, returning from a five-week hiatus with Leslie Jones beginning a week-long stint as guest host. Jones is the first in a series of guests who will anchor the Comedy Central nightly program while the network determines a permanent successor for Noah, who ended a seven-year run as host in December 2022. | [22][23] |
| 19 | LIV Golf signs a multi-year deal with The CW to broadcast and stream its events beginning with the 14-tournament 2023 season (the first event being the LIV Golf Mayakoba tournament at the El Camaleón Mayakoba Golf Course in Solidaridad, Quintana Roo from February 24 to 26). The deal is the golf organization's first U.S. broadcast deal—its inaugural year in 2022 was available only through YouTube—and the CW's entry into live sports telecasts. This deal was criticized by the National Press Club as an attempt by Saudi Arabia's monarchy (which finances LIV through a sovereign wealth fund) to sportwash its unflattering reputation after their alleged involvement in the October 2018 assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. As CW stations are only contractually obligated to air the network's prime time schedule, 14 affiliates (eight owned by CBS, five owned by Tegna, and Weigel-owned WCIU/Chicago) declined to air the LIV telecasts; CW majority owner Nexstar leased airtime on other stations in those markets. | [24][25] [26][27] [28] |
| 23 | CBS News Detroit, a localized extension of CBS News's streaming service, formally launches in Detroit. CBS-owned WWJ-TV simulcasts the 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts, with additional newscasts debuting on both platforms in the coming weeks. This marks a return to local news on WWJ-TV since a partially-outsourced morning drive newscast was cancelled in 2012. (An 11 p.m. newscast, produced by co-owned WKBD-TV, ran from 2001 to 2002, when the entire news service was shuttered.) The launch of CBS News Detroit was delayed throughout much of 2022 due to pandemic and supply chain-related delays. WKBD-TV's 10 p.m. news, originally produced remotely from KTVT/KTXA in Dallas–Fort Worth, had already been relaunched as Detroit Now News, a hybrid national-local newscast featuring CBS News Detroit reports and content. | [29][30] [31][32] [33] |
| The Association of Pickleball Professionals, now the Association of Pickleball Players, signs multiplatform deals with CBS Sports and ESPN to broadcast and stream its tournaments beginning with the league's 2023 season. In addition to coverage on APP's standalone outlet, APP TV, the agreements encompass eleven of the 22 APP Tour events scheduled for the 2023 season, covering streaming coverage of eight events on ESPN+ (beginning with the Daytona Beach, Florida event held from February 8–12) and accompanying hour-long recap shows airing on ESPN2, and linear broadcasts of three additional events and recap programs on CBS Sports Network. | [34][35] [36] | |
| 24 | In the wake of felony charges of domestic abuse against him being made public following a court hearing on January 12, Adult Swim announces that it has severed ties with Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland. The single-count charges of domestic battery and false imprisonment, to which Roiland pled not guilty in October 2020, were related to a complaint involving an alleged incident that occurred ten months prior with an unidentified woman. Following Roiland's exit, production of the animated series will continue with co-creator Dan Harmon remaining as its lone showrunner, while the title characters, which had been voiced by Roiland, will be recast. Hulu would follow suit the next day, dropping him from Solar Opposites (the lead character of which he also voiced, in addition to handling showrunning duties) and the just-premiered Koala Man. | [37][38] [39] |
| The FCC issues a fine of $504,000 against Fox for "willfully violating" regulations prohibiting the sounding of Emergency Alert System tones or the simulation of an EAS alert during television programming in the absence of an emergency for a November 2021 promotional segment that aired during Fox NFL Sunday for a game telecast involving the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles that followed the pre-game show. (The Giants won that game, 13–7.) The promo mimicking an emergency broadcast, described by Fox as a "short comedic advertisement", began with a three-second excerpt of the 853 Hz and 960 Hz tones used to precede EAS alert transmissions, which the network admitted had been downloaded or recorded from a YouTube video. | [40][41] | |
| 25 | DirecTV removes Newsmax TV from the namesake satellite provider, and sister services DirecTV Stream and U-verse TV, after the company and network parent Newsmax Media fail to agree on a new contract. Although DirecTV cites aggressive carriage fee demands for the removal (while noting the wide availability of the network's content on its website and free streaming platforms), Newsmax accused the company of "deplatforming" it and fellow archconservative news and commentary channel One America News Network (which DirecTV removed in April 2022)—inferring an ideological motive for the decision, even though DirecTV continues to carry their main conservative rival Fox News—and dishonesty about the network's fee increase offers. A group of 41 Republican congressmen led by Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX) sent a letter to the CEOs of DirecTV and shareholders AT&T and TPG Capital the week before, warning them of possible House committee hearings over the impasse should the provider drop the network. Newsmax TV, as with OAN, has challenged the 2020 presidential election, earning support from former president Donald Trump (who is a personal friend of Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy) amid his criticism of Fox News for being the first television news outlet to call Arizona for Democratic challenger Joe Biden in that election. DirecTV reached an agreement to resume carriage of Newsmax on March 22. | [42][43] [44][45] |
| As part of a multi-year agreement that also extends their carriage contract for Court TV, the E. W. Scripps Company and YouTube TV announce that the vMVPD service will add Ion and digital multicast networks Bounce TV and Scripps News to its lineup, effective on this date. Under the terms of the deal, YouTube TV has the option of adding fellow Scripps-owned multicast networks Grit, Ion Mystery and Laff at a later date. | [46] | |
| 27 | ABC News officially cuts ties with Amy Robach and T. J. Holmes. The two hosts of GMA3: What You Need to Know, who had respectively been with the network since 2012 and 2014, had been off the air since December 5, 2022, after a Daily Mail exposé revealed they had been in a romantic relationship (and had left their respective spouses), an affair ABC described then as "an internal and external disruption" but not a violation of company policy (although an internal investigation would commence). On May 11, the news division named Good Morning America weekend co-anchor Eva Pilgrim and correspondent Demarco Morgan to co-host GMA3, while transportation correspondent Gio Benitez (who was among those acting as substitute hosts on the program following Holmes and Robach's departure) will take over Pilgrim's GMA weekend anchor slot. | [47][48] |
| Deadline reports that CNBC will discontinue producing original entertainment content for its prime time block, emphasizing instead on reruns of reality and documentary shows (e.g. Shark Tank, American Greed). The business news-oriented network's prime time had been home to first-run unscripted content that focused on wealth and lifestyle, including Jay Leno's Garage (whose cancellation had been announced earlier in the week) and the Kevin O'Leary-hosted Money Court. | [49] | |
| 30 | Paramount Global announces plans to fully integrate its Showtime network with the premium tier of the Paramount+ streaming service, beginning on a future date yet to be announced. The combined service will be branded as Paramount+ with Showtime, replacing a bundle of the same name that launched in mid-2022. | [50] |
| FuboTV loses access to CBS stations in 160 markets after their respective owners (including Nexstar Media Group, Sinclair Broadcast Group, the E. W. Scripps Company, Hearst Television, Cox Media Group and Tegna) declined to accept the terms of a renewed master affiliate carriage agreement negotiated between network parent Paramount Global and the vMVPD. A national CBS feed, offering most of the network's base schedule (excluding some live sports events) and news content from the CBS News Streaming Network, was provided to substitute the affected affiliates. (CBS's owned-and-operated stations were not affected by the impasse as they were carried on a different carriage agreement.) Three weeks after the affiliate board approved a revised carriage deal, the affected stations began returning to Fubo on March 31. | [51][52] | |
| Longtime KSAT-TV/San Antonio sports director Greg Simmons resigns after 42 years, a decision made after his being charged for DWI. Weekend sports anchor Larry Ramirez would serve as KSAT's interim sports director. | [53][54] | |
| 31 | YouTube TV drops MLB Network from its channel lineup after failing to reach a contract renewal agreement. Subscribers will be able to continue watching select national Major League Baseball games on Fox, ESPN and TBS. | [55] |
February
[edit]| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | For the first time since 2015, Paul Shaffer reunites The World's Most Dangerous Band (the house band for David Letterman's Late Night and Late Show) to fill in for The Tonight Show's regular house band The Roots, who were in Los Angeles preparing for a performance at the Grammys. | [56] |
| 5 | The 65th Annual Grammy Awards airs on CBS from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Trevor Noah serves as host of a ceremony that sees notable winners including Lizzo, whose "About Damn Time" wins Record of the Year; Harry Styles, whose Harry's House wins Album of the Year; and Beyoncé, whose four wins on the night (including Renaissance as Best Dance/Electronic Album) push her career Grammy mark to 32, making her the most-lauded artist in Grammy history. | [57] |
| 7 | NFL Network removes analyst and former player Michael Irvin from its coverage of Super Bowl LVII following allegations of sexual misconduct toward a woman at a hotel he was staying at in the Phoenix area, where the game will be held. Though surveillance video showed him interacting with the woman, Irvin told Dallas–Fort Worth radio station KRLD-FM and The Dallas Morning News that he had no recollection of any incident because he had been inebriated, and denied any wrongdoing. Irvin would file a $100 million defamation suit against the anonymous accuser and the hotel on February 9. | [58][59] |
| 8 | The Wall Street Journal reports Warner Bros. Discovery will continue to operate Discovery+ as a standalone streaming service, a pivot from the company's initial plans to shutter it entirely following the May 13 launch of its combination service Max, which will feature most of Discovery+'s existing content library in addition to the full HBO Max library. WBD cites concerns about Discovery+ subscribers opting out of moving to the pricier offering for the decision. (WBD has indicated that the combined service's ad-supported and ad-free tiers will be set at a higher price point than those of HBO Max and Discovery+.) | [60][61] |
| NewsNation correspondent Evan Lambert is arrested on disorderly conduct and criminal trespassing complaints for allegedly disrupting a news conference by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine on the February 3, derailment of a Norfolk Southern freight train containing hazardous chemicals that prompted residential evacuations in East Palestine. The D.C.-based correspondent was conducting a live report for the Nexstar-owned cable news channel's Rush Hour program when police officers inside the gym of the village's elementary school, where the news conference was held, told him to conclude the report while DeWine was speaking, and subsequently pushed Lambert to the ground and handcuffed him after acceding to their request. DeWine later condemned the officers' actions, clarifying he did not authorize Lambert's arrest. Lambert was released from the Columbiana County Jail later that evening on an $850 bond; he is scheduled to be arraigned on February 23. | [62][63] | |
| 12 | The Kansas City Chiefs defeat the Philadelphia Eagles, 38–35, in Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, which was broadcast on Fox (in English) and Fox Deportes (in Spanish), and streamed on the Fox Sports app and NFL+. It was the first Super Bowl assignment for play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt and color analyst Greg Olsen, who succeeded Joe Buck and Troy Aikman as Fox's NFL broadcast team in 2020 after they were hired by ABC/ESPN to call its Monday Night Football and NFL playoff telecasts. The Fox telecast averaged 115.1 million viewers according to Nielsen data, becoming the most-watched program in American television history (just ahead of Super Bowl XLIX), with viewership reaching 118.7 million during the halftime show (headlined by Rihanna, who revealed her second pregnancy with the performance); the Fox Deportes telecast was watched by 951,000 viewers, becoming both the most-watched Super Bowl broadcast and the most watched non-soccer sports telecast in Spanish-language cable history. | [64][65] [66][67] [68][69] [70][71] [72] [note 1] |
| 15 | Gray Television sells Fox affiliate KNIN in Boise, Idaho (operated by the E. W. Scripps Company) to Marquee Broadcasting in exchange for MeTV affiliate WPGA in Macon, Georgia. When completed, the deal will result in Gray owning at least one full-power station in nine of Georgia's eleven television markets. The deal was completed on May 1. | [74][75] |
| 16 | Ryan Seacrest announces he will step down as co-host and executive producer of Live with Kelly and Ryan, which he has hosted alongside Kelly Ripa since 2017, to concentrate full-time on other projects (including his hosting duties on American Idol and his syndicated radio program). Ripa's husband, Mark Consuelos, who has frequently served as guest host since she became co-host of the Disney/ABC-produced syndicated morning talk show in 2001, will succeed Seacrest on April 17 as permanent co-host of the renamed Live with Kelly and Mark. Seacrest—who will return occasionally to guest co-host—will continue hosting Live through April 14, at which time he will relocate to Los Angeles to host Idol's live performance shows. | [76][77] [78][79] |
| 22 | Spectrum News 13 reporter Dylan Lyons is killed, and colleague and photojournalist Jesse Walden critically injured, in a shooting incident in the Orlando suburb of Pine Hills, Florida that also claimed the life of a nine-year-old girl and critically injured her mother. Lyons and Walden were at the scene of a homicide that claimed the life of a woman earlier that day. A teenager was taken into custody as a suspect in both incidents. | [80][81] |
| 23 | Ellen Pompeo makes her last appearance as a cast regular on Grey's Anatomy as her character, Meredith Grey, leaves Seattle and Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital for Boston in the episode "I'll Follow the Sun." Pompeo has been with the ABC medical drama since its 2005 premiere, and remains attached as an executive producer and narrator, in addition to making occasional on-screen guest appearances, the next of which will be the current 19th season's finale in May. | [82] |
| Dish Network is hit by a cyberattack that resulted in data being extracted from its IT networks; and the company's internal servers, customer support systems and company websites being knocked offline, with service disruptions affecting its co-owned vMVPD service Sling TV and wireless provider Boost Mobile. Dish and Sling subscribers also experienced difficulties accessing streaming apps (such as its Dish Anywhere service, OTT services purchased through Dish and TV Everywhere apps of various networks carried by the Dish satellite service and Sling) using their provider logins. Some employees continued to be paid during the outage despite it preventing them from performing their jobs. Although Dish restored "many of the systems," including its websites, customer service operations and self-service applications within weeks of the attack, service disruptions and technical issues lingered into March as customers continued to report call center backlogs (some lasting up to 14 hours) and problems processing payments. Several Dish investors filed a class action lawsuit over the breach on March 30, accusing the company of negligence in failing to properly secure customer data. | [83][84] [85][86] [87] | |
| 24 | Warner Bros. Discovery informs the teams whose games air on its AT&T SportsNet channels based in Denver, Houston, and Pittsburgh that the company will exit the regional sports network business, and that its AT&T Sports Networks unit will file for Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcy unless the channels are sold or the teams take back their broadcast rights by March 31. Teams that air on Seattle-based Root Sports Northwest are not part of the proceedings as WBD only holds a minority stake in that network. | [88][89] |
| Warner Bros. Discovery files a breach of contract lawsuit with the New York Supreme Court, accusing Paramount Global of violating a 2019 agreement that gave HBO Max rights to stream the first 23 seasons of South Park as well as three subsequent seasons that had yet to air at the time on Paramount-owned Comedy Central. The suit alleges Paramount diverted most of the animated series' post-2019 episodes to Paramount+ under a separate $900-million deal between ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks (now Paramount Media Networks) and series creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone reached in August 2021, despite WBD holding streaming exclusivity over the series under their $596.7-million (or $1.7 million per episode) deal, and only produced 14 of the 30 additional episodes promised to fill out the WBD–Paramount contract. Paramount countersued WBD on April 19, alleging the contract did not define a specified episode commitment for future seasons or required it to license made-for-streaming South Park movies to HBO Max. WBD and Paramount both claim they are owed $52 million in unpaid license fees. | [90][91] | |
| 26 | The 29th Screen Actors Guild Awards are presented at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Century City, California, with notable winners including the motion picture Everything Everywhere All At Once (four awards) and TV series Abbott Elementary and The White Lotus (wins for comedy and drama ensembles, respectively). The ceremony airs live on Netflix's YouTube channel, a one-year arrangement between SAG and Netflix before the streamer, once its live-streaming capabilities are worked out, carries the ceremony exclusively beginning in 2024. (The SAG Awards' former broadcast homes, TNT and TBS, announced in 2022 that they would no longer broadcast the ceremony.) | [92][93] [94] |
March
[edit]| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | The 2023 Kids' Choice Awards airs on Nickelodeon and was simulcast on six Paramount-owned sister networks (including the Nick Jr. Channel, Nicktoons, TeenNick, TV Land and MTV2) from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, with Nate Burleson and Charli D'Amelio (who won "Favorite Female Creator") as hosts. Harry Styles won the most awards among all nominees with three each: for "Favorite Male Artist", "Favorite Global Music Star", and "Favorite Song" (for "As It Was"). High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (with Olivia Rodrigo and Joshua Bassett winning both "Favorite Kids TV Star" categories) and Wednesday (which won "Favorite Family TV Show" and "Favorite Female Family TV Star" for Jenna Ortega) were the top winners among TV nominees with two each. Other major winners include Sonic the Hedgehog 2 ("Favorite Movie"), SpongeBob SquarePants ("Favorite Animated Series"), and Adam Sandler ("King of Comedy Award"). Also on this day, Nickelodeon receives its first major rebrand in almost six years. | [95][96] [97][98] |
| 8 | Fremantle, the production company behind The Price Is Right, announces that the CBS game show will relocate from Los Angeles' Television City to Haven Studios, a Fremantle-co-owned facility in nearby Glendale, California, when its 52nd season begins taping in the summer. The game show has originated from Studio 33 at Television City (renamed in 1998 as the Bob Barker Studio, in honor of the former longtime host) since premiering in 1972; its move, and the pending relocations of several other shows from the facility (among them The Young and The Restless and Real Time with Bill Maher), comes before the start of a $1.25 billion renovation of the property, which Hackman Capital Partners bought from CBS in 2018. | [99] |
| Hulu removes 34 ABC stations operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group from its vMVPD service in 32 markets, after the streaming service reportedly declined Sinclair's offer to add Tennis Channel as part of a renewed agreement for the stations. Unlike the earlier FuboTV master agreement dispute between CBS and several of its affiliate operators (see January 30 entry), Hulu—which is majority owned by ABC parent Disney—did not substitute the affected Sinclair stations with a linear ABC national feed. (A feed was provided to the affected markets exclusively for the network's telecast of the 95th Academy Awards four days later.) The dispute lasted until April 21, when Hulu and Sinclair agreed to reinstate the affected stations through a new contract. | [100][101] [102] | |
| WLBT/Jackson removes longtime morning anchor and chief meteorologist Barbie Bassett (who is white), after she quoted the Snoop Dogg-coined slang, "Fo shizzle, my nizzle" ("nizzle" referring to the Black term of endearment vernacular for "nigger"), when a collaboration with another WLBT reporter was jokingly raised during the Gray-owned NBC affiliate's 11:00 a.m. newscast, after a report on the introduction of a new wine to the rapper's Cali Wine Collection line. Although WLBT—which infamously had its license revoked by the FCC in 1969 from original owner Lamar Life Insurance, due to the station's advocacy of racial segregation and omission of civil rights movement coverage during NBC News broadcasts—has not formally disclosed Bassett's status, her biography was removed from its website. Bassett previously apologized for a similar incident in October 2022, in which she suggested reporter Carmen Poe (who is Black) ask her grandmother—whom Bassett referred to as "grandmammy"—for a pie recipe to get a scoop on a then-upcoming ESPN College Gameday telecast from Jackson State University. | [103][104] | |
| 12 | The 95th Academy Awards airs on ABC from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, with Jimmy Kimmel as host. Everything Everywhere All at Once was the top winner with seven awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress (Michelle Yeoh, who became the first Asian woman to win the honor), Best Supporting Actor (Ke Huy Quan), and Best Supporting Actress (Jamie Lee Curtis). Other major winners included All Quiet on the Western Front with four awards (including Best International Feature Film) and The Whale with two (including Brendan Fraser for Best Actor). The telecast was seen by an estimated 18.7 million viewers, up 12% from the previous year. | [105][106] [107][108] [109][110] [111] [112] |
| 13 | As part of a multi-year agreement that also extends their existing carriage contracts for the group's 40 CBS stations and NewsNation, Nexstar Media Group and YouTube TV announce that the vMVPD service will add 59 Nexstar-operated stations serving 56 markets (consisting of 29 CW, 26 MyNetworkTV and four independent stations, including WPIX/New York City, KTLA/Los Angeles, WGN-TV/Chicago, KRON/San Francisco, WPHL/Philadelphia, and WDVM–WDCW/Washington, D.C.) to its lineup. The deal fills a major affiliate coverage gap for The CW on YouTube TV, as Nexstar was the largest group without a carriage deal for its CW stations (CBS and Sinclair Broadcast Group were the largest CW station operators to offer their affiliates on the service); it also expands local MyNetworkTV carriage on YTTV (beyond affiliates operated by Fox and Sinclair) for the first time. | [113][114] |
| 14 | Diamond Sports Group files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. The operator of the Bally Sports group of regional sports networks, which carry local broadcasts for nearly half of the teams in the NBA, NHL and MLB (42 teams in total across 19 channels), had been struggling to reduce around $8 billion in debt acquired through its 2019 purchase of the former Fox Sports Networks from The Walt Disney Company. Diamond's financial health, which was impacted by cord-cutting as well as carriage disputes earlier in the decade that significantly reduced Bally Sports' vMVPD distribution, became an issue after announcements that it had missed a $140 million payment to its lenders in February, and a scheduled rights payment to MLB's Arizona Diamondbacks on March 10. Diamond will separate from majority parent Sinclair Broadcast Group as part of the reorganization, and plans to continue to produce and air games. Diamond president Steve Rosenberg subsequently stepped down on March 20, succeeded by CFO David DeVoe. | [115][116] [117][118] [note 2] |
| DirecTV files a lawsuit against Nexstar Media Group, Mission Broadcasting and White Knight Broadcasting with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, accusing the groups of price fixing through an "illegal conspiracy" to collectively bargain in retransmission fee negotiations using "sidecar" arrangements between Nexstar and the latter two companies meant to skirt FCC regulations (including its local station ownership caps). The suit is in relation to a broader carriage dispute involving 23 Mission and two White Knight stations that were removed from DirecTV, DirecTV Stream and U-verse TV during separate negotiations in October 2022. District Judge P. Kevin Castel dismissed the antitrust lawsuit on standing grounds on March 20, 2024. | [124][125] [12][126][13] [note 3] | |
| 15 | Sports Business Journal reports that Greg Gumbel has signed a contract extension with CBS Sports that will allow the veteran sportscaster to remain studio host for its NCAA basketball coverage while stepping away from his role as play-by-play announcer for its NFL broadcasts. Outside of the period when the network did not have the NFL (1994–97), Gumbel has been with CBS since 1990 and is the first African-American to handle play-by-play for the Super Bowl. | [127] |
| 17 | Tyra Banks discloses in an interview with TMZ that she will step down as co-host of Dancing with the Stars after three seasons to focus on her business and television production projects. Banks succeeded Tom Bergeron (who had hosted DWTS since its 2005 debut on ABC) and Erin Andrews as sole host of the reality competition series in 2020. On March 20, Julianne Hough—who served as a pro dancer from 2007 to 2009 and as a judge from 2014 to 2017—was named to succeed Banks, alongside returning co-host Alfonso Ribiero, who joined the series in 2022 (coinciding with its move to Disney+). | [128][129] [130] |
| NBC and the post-production editing staff of Saturday Night Live announce a tentative labor agreement that averts a strike against the variety series that was set for April 1. The staff of 12–20 editors and film managers, who edit pre-taped sketches for SNL, unionized in October 2022, sent contract proposals to NBCUniversal that December, and approved a strike authorization with the Motion Picture Editors Guild on January 23. The deal, whose ratification was announced on March 23, gives the team pay boosts, healthcare benefits, employer-paid meals, and accommodations for those who work long shifts with short turnarounds. | [131][132] [133][134] | |
| 18 | KCBS–KCAL/Los Angeles weekend morning meteorologist Alissa Carlson Schwartz faints on-air just prior to presenting a weather segment during the CBS-owned duopoly's Saturday morning newscast. The rest of the broadcast was preempted following the incident, with both stations (which simulcast portions of the newscast) airing pre-recorded and paid programming in its place. Carlson—who, while employed at NBC affiliate KGET/Bakersfield, was diagnosed with a heart valve leak after vomiting on-set during a weather report in 2014—was treated for a head injury, and later revealed in a March 21 interview with CBS Mornings that the fainting spell was induced by vasovagal syncope likely triggered by dehydration. | [135][136] [137][138] |
| 24 | Sinclair Broadcast Group lays off 30+ news department employees and cancels certain local newscasts produced by NBC affiliates WPMI/Mobile (operated under an SSA with Deerfield Media) and WEYI/Saginaw–Flint (operated under an SSA with Howard Stirk Holdings), Fox affiliate WACH/Columbia, and Fox/ABC affiliate WGXA/Macon, and shuts down the news department of ABC affiliate KAEF/Arcata–Eureka, California. WPMI cut more than 20 members of its approximately 30-person news staff, and discontinued its weekday morning and noon newscasts as well as the lifestyle program Gulf Coast Today; WEYI cut six production staffers, and cancels its weekday morning and weekend evening newscasts; WACH cancels its four-hour morning newscast; and WGXA cut nine production staffers, reduces its hour-long weeknight 5:00 p.m. newscast to a half-hour and cancels its Sunday–Thursday 10:00 p.m. newscast. On April 3, most of the affected stations replaced some or all of the affected newscasts with Sinclair's syndicated national newscast, The National Desk (with WACH replacing the first hour of its morning newscast with a repeat of its 10:00 p.m. newscast, and WPMI replacing its local midday programs with additional runs of Family Feud), while KAEF began simulcasting newscasts from Redding parent station KRCR (retaining two Eureka-based reporters to file reports for those broadcasts). | [139][140] [141][142] [note 4] |
| 26 | The United States Army pauses its recently launched advertising campaign featuring on-screen narrator Jonathan Majors, which revives its classic "Be All You Can Be" ad slogan, one day after the actor's arrest on misdemeanor domestic violence charges in connection to a March 24 domestic dispute, in which Majors allegedly physically assaulted a woman he was dating, resulting in her sustaining minor head and neck injuries. New ads in the campaign, which do not feature Majors, would be rolled out the following weekend. | [143][144] |
| 27 | Chanel West Coast announces her departure from MTV's Ridiculousness after signing a deal to develop, produce, and star in unscripted projects for MTV parent Paramount Media Networks and its MTV Entertainment Group subsidiary. Chanel had co-presented the comedic clip show, alongside Steelo Brim and lead host Rob Dyrdek, since its launch in 2011. | [145] |
| 28 | One day after The Bachelor's 27th season concludes, Mike Fleiss announces his departure from the Bachelor franchise he created and had produced since the first Bachelor season on ABC in 2002. Claire Freeland, Jason Ehrlich, and Bennett Graebner are immediately tapped to oversee the dating game show franchise, which also includes The Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise. Though Fleiss, ABC, and Warner Bros. Television Studios (the franchise's producer) were tight-lipped as to the reason for his departure, a Variety report later indicated that Fleiss was the subject of an investigation, conducted by an outside party, into allegations of bullying and racially discriminatory behaviors. | [146][147] |
April
[edit]| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | The LSU Tigers defeat the Iowa Hawkeyes to win the championship of the 2023 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament. Simulcasts of the game on ABC and ESPN2 drew a combined 9.9 million viewers, the largest ever television audience for a women's college basketball game. | [148] |
| The 2023 CMT Music Awards airs on CBS from the Moody Center in Austin, Texas, with Kane Brown and Kelsea Ballerini as hosts. In addition to co-hosting, Kane Brown won the Video of the Year award for his collaboration with wife Katelyn Brown, "Thank God". Jelly Roll was the top winner of the night, with three awards (all for his single "Son of a Sinner"). | [149][150] | |
| 3 | The UConn Huskies top the San Diego State Aztecs in the title game of the 2023 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. The CBS broadcast attracted 14.693 million viewers, a record low for the championship event. The broadcast is also Jim Nantz's last college basketball assignment for CBS; though he remains the network's lead play-by-play announcer for NFL and PGA golf events, Nantz steps back from college basketball after calling 32 consecutive tournaments for CBS and Turner Sports. Ian Eagle will succeed Nantz as CBS' lead college basketball announcer in the 2023–24 season. This also marks the first Men's Final Four to be overseen by Charlie Baker, who was appointed president of the NCAA in December 2022 to succeed Mark Emmert (who announced his retirement in April of that year). | [151][152][18] [17] |
| Frontier Communications removes three networks—Newsmax Media-owned Newsmax TV, and Fuse Media-owned Fuse and FM—from its systems, after declining to negotiate new agreements with their respective parent companies. The dispute involving Newsmax comes two weeks after DirecTV ended a two-month dispute with the conservative news and commentary channel, and 4+1⁄2 months after Frontier dropped its archconservative competitor One America News Network in a similar dispute. | [153] | |
| American Idol season 21 contestant Sara Beth Liebe abruptly quits during the Hollywood Week round, citing the need to be with her children. Liebe called out Katy Perry on social media two weeks prior for a controversial "mom-shaming" joke that the singer made during her initial audition, in which she remarked that Liebe, after revealing she was a mother of three at age 25, had been "laying on the table too much." | [154] | |
| 5 | Hearst Television announces it will purchase NBC affiliate WBBH/Fort Myers from Waterman Broadcasting for $220.54 million, pending FCC approval. The purchase—which includes the LMA rights to Montclair Communications-owned ABC sister WZVN—marks the family-owned Waterman's exit from broadcasting (the group, originally founded in 1956 as a radio station operator, had owned WBBH since 1978), and will give Hearst its fifth station in Florida, alongside its existing properties in Orlando (WESH/WKCF), West Palm Beach (WPBF) and Tampa (WMOR). The sale was completed on June 30. | [155][156] |
| 12 | As part of a multi-year agreement that also extends their existing carriage contracts for the group's 25 CBS and 16 MyNetworkTV stations as well as Comet, Sinclair Broadcast Group and YouTube TV announce that the vMVPD service will add Tennis Channel and its companion AVOD streaming channel T2, and digital multicast networks Charge! and TBD to its lineup, effective June 1. This would later be followed on July 19 by a similar deal between Sinclair and Hulu to add the three networks as well as Comet to the service's vMVPD offering in January 2024. | [157][158] |
| PBS and many of its member stations suspend activity on Twitter after the social messaging platform labeled the service's accounts as "government-funded media." The designation had earlier been given to NPR, which suspended posts the day prior amid a broader dispute that began on April 4, when Twitter first relabeled the counterpart radio service under the "state-affiliated media" classification previously given only to news agencies influenced or controlled by autocratic governments. PBS and NPR, which are editorially independent, consider both labels to be misleading and meant to undermine their credibility; both public broadcasters are funded primarily through donations from viewers as well as corporate and philanthropic donors, while government appropriations to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting account for >1% of their overall funding. (Other public broadcasters, including the BBC and CBC/Radio-Canada, have also criticized or paused activity on Twitter after being assigned the label.) | [159][160] [161][162] | |
| 13 | The studios of WWMT/Kalamazoo–Grand Rapids were evacuated around 2:30 p.m. ET, after a Greenville man with a history of mental illness threatened to kill himself with a bomb he claimed to have in his backpack. (Authorities later confirmed that they only found an iPhone charger and wiring in the backpack.) The suspect—who initially said he was submitting a news tip—forced his way through the front door of the Sinclair-owned CBS/CW affiliate's lobby when chief engineer George Markle moved to barricade the suspect between both lobby doors, and helped evacuate station staff from the building. After two hours, the suspect surrendered to police and was taken to the Kalamazoo County Jail. | [163][164] [165] |
| 16 | Due to a 90-minute delay over what is later revealed to be an overlooked technical bug, Netflix aborts plans to live-stream the Season 4 reunion special of dating series Love is Blind. The special would have been the streamer's second-ever live event (after Chris Rock: Selective Outrage, which ran without error on March 4). The reunion is recorded and released on a tape delay the following day. | [166][167] [168] |
| 18 | Avoiding a trial in Delaware Superior Court that already had a jury empaneled and sworn in, Dominion Voting Systems and Fox News announce a $787.5 million settlement agreement in the former company's defamation lawsuit over the latter's airing of baseless claims that Dominion's voting machines switched votes cast for Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden, one of several conspiracy theories spread by Trump, his supporters and many conservative media outlets to explain his defeat by Biden. Dominion had been seeking $1.6 billion in damages. Though the settlement does not require them to apologize on-air, Fox News does acknowledge in a statement that "the Court's rulings [found] certain claims about Dominion to be false." | [169] |
| 19 | The news-gathering helicopters of Griffin Media's two Oklahoma CBS affiliates sustain damage from a supercell thunderstorm that spawned at least nine tornadoes across the central section of the state. While covering an EF3 tornado that caused extensive damage in Cole, three-inch hailstones knocked out the windshield of a Bell 407 operated by Oklahoma City flagship KWTV; pilot Jim Gardner and photographer Rich Kriegel, who were both on board, were not injured. An EF2 tornado which struck Shawnee later that evening damaged the tail rotor and roof of a Bell 206 B3 JetRanger operated by Tulsa sister KOTV (which was being housed in a hangar for maintenance and required inspection) at the city's airport. | [170][171] |
| 20 | The WNBA announces a multi-year deal with the E. W. Scripps Company that will see Ion Television air regular season doubleheaders, along with regional telecasts (airing in early- or late-evening broadcast windows) carried on selected Ion O&Os, on Friday nights starting with the 2023 season. Ion's initial slate of 44 WNBA-produced games will air over 15 weeks from May 26 to September 8. The deal gives Ion its first national sports telecasts since a three-event UFC preliminary fight deal in 2010–11, and marks the first rights deal ever signed by Scripps Sports, which was formed in December 2022 to acquire sports events for Ion and Scripps's local television stations. | [172][173] [174][175] |
| Fox News announces it has parted ways with conservative commentator Dan Bongino, who hosted the Saturday prime time show Unfiltered for the network as well as the Fox Nation program Canceled in the USA. According to Bongino, the move was due to a breakdown in contract negotiations and not related to Fox's settlement with Dominion Voting Systems. | [176][177] | |
| 21 | Paramount Global agrees to a $167.5 million settlement of a case stemming from the 2019 merger of CBS Corporation and Viacom filed by former CBS shareholders against some of the company's former officers and directors (including vice-chairperson Shari Redstone and acting CEO Joseph Ianniello) over alleged breaches of fiduciary duties related to the merger negotiation and approval. | [178] |
| 23 | NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell departs the company following a third-party investigation into a complaint relating to an inappropriate relationship that Shell had with a female employee. Comcast president Michael J. Cavanagh will assume management responsibilities for the division until a successor is appointed. CNBC anchor and senior international correspondent Hadley Gamble—who lodged the complaint alleging sexual harassment by Shell, and allegations of bullying and discrimination by members of CNBC World's management team in March that led to investigations into both matters—would subsequently reach an agreement with NBCUniversal to depart the network on May 9. | [179][180] |
| 24 | Fox News parts ways with Tucker Carlson, permanently ending Tucker Carlson Tonight with the April 21 broadcast (which ended with the expectation that it would be back the following Monday). The dismissals of Carlson and senior executive producer Justin Wells—reportedly directed by Fox Corporation executive chairman/CEO Lachlan Murdoch and Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott to Fox chairman Rupert Murdoch—are tied to a discrimination lawsuit by producer Abby Grossberg (who was fired in March, and would go on to settle the litigation for $12 million on June 30), alleging she was subjected to bullying and antisemitic comments while working on the program, and was coerced by company lawyers to provide misleading testimonial answers in the Dominion Voting Systems defamation lawsuit settled six days prior. Private text messages that Carlson sent to colleagues (expressing skepticism of election fraud claims made by former president Donald Trump's attorneys, criticizing the network for "jeopardizing" its credibility by amplifying the claims, and revealing that he hated Trump "passionately") were among the internal messages made public through the Dominion lawsuit that were widely seen as exposing Fox to greater legal liability. Carlson's former 8:00 p.m. ET slot was temporarily filled by Fox News Tonight, which was hosted by a rotation of network personalities; Jesse Watters Primetime took over the hour on July 17, as part of a broader prime time realignment that also saw timeslot changes for The Ingraham Angle and Gutfeld! (with Ingraham being moved to Watters' former 7:00 p.m. ET slot). Carlson would debut a conservative commentary video series on Twitter on June 6, prompting a cease and desist notice issued by Fox News one week later, citing a non-compete clause in his former contract that runs until early 2025. | [181][182] [183][184] [185][186] [187][188] [189] |
| CNN parts ways with anchor Don Lemon, following a series of controversies over his on-air remarks and treatment of network colleagues, and an April 5 Variety report that outlined allegations of mistreatment toward several former female colleagues—including Nancy Grace, Kyra Phillips and Soledad O'Brien—and instances of "diva-like behavior" during his 17-year career at CNN. Lemon was earlier criticized for remarks about Nikki Haley, which were widely perceived as sexist, on the February 16 edition of CNN This Morning, suggesting the former United Nations ambassador and South Carolina governor (who turned 51 the month prior) was not a viable presidential candidate because she "isn't in her prime"—referencing a comment Haley made during her declaratory speech the day prior that implied President Joe Biden and her rival for the 2024 Republican nomination, Donald Trump (then 80 and 76, respectively), were too old to hold office. | [190][191] [192][193] [note 5] | |
| The Walt Disney Company conducts a second round of layoffs affecting hundreds of employees, including ABC Current Programming SVP Stacey Adams, Freeform programming development SVP Julie Jarmon, and Disney Branded Television unscripted programming VP Marc Buhaj, and 20th Television SVP and Current Programming co-chief Dana Sharpless; FiveThirtyEight founder/CEO Nate Silver will also depart at the end of his contract later this year as part of cuts to the ABC News unit. The company will also combine the current programming and development teams of Disney Television Animation, and dissolve digital content division 20th Digital Studio, Disney Media Distribution's first-run syndication unit and Disney Television Studios's marketing division (marketing responsibilities for programs produced by its studio units will be handled by the company's television and streaming properties). | [194][195] [196][197] | |
| Concluding an expansion that began on April 1 (when it replaced overnight drama series and infomercials with repeats of its evening talk and analysis shows), NewsNation permanently switches to a 24-hour all-news schedule on weekdays: the Nexstar-owned network debuts a four-hour rolling afternoon news block, NewsNation Now (replacing crime dramas in that slot), and an hour-long political news show, The Hill (a broadcast extension of the co-owned publication, replacing an hour of NewsNation Rush Hour). The expansion coincides with the unveiling of a new studio at its New York bureau in the Daily News Building (where co-operated CW affiliate WPIX also christened a separate studio on that date). Syndicated scripted series acquired before the former WGN America began its gradual format shift from entertainment to news in February 2021 (such as Blue Bloods and Last Man Standing) and time-brokered programs will continue to air on weekends outside of prime time until late 2024, when NewsNation plans to switch to all-news programming full-time. | [198][199] [200] | |
| 25 | A man carrying an electric guitar and a handwritten sign—reading "Free Billie Eilish", and referencing a dark web conspiracy theory regarding the CIA's infamous MKUltra experimentation program and ex-Illuminati "insider" Donald Marshall—climbed onto a digital billboard on KTLA/Los Angeles's landmark auxiliary transmission tower outside its Sunset Bronson Studios facility. (The Nexstar-owned CW affiliate's promotional billboard was subsequently turned off temporarily for safety reasons.) The man descended from the tower after about three hours, as firefighters and LAPD crisis negotiators sought to get him down an adjacent ladder. He was arrested on a suspicion of trespassing complaint. | [201][202] |
| 26 | Facebook Watch announces the cancellation of Red Table Talk, the streaming service's last remaining original program, with its producers seeking a new service for future episodes of the talk show. The move comes amid ongoing layoffs at Facebook Watch parent Meta Platforms (which included that of Mina Lefevre, Facebook Watch's head of development and programming) and a shift in emphasis by Meta toward content for its Horizon Worlds virtual reality service. | [203] |
| ESPN cut ties with baseball reporter Marly Rivera for calling fellow reporter Ivón Gaete a "fucking cunt" in a heated caught-on-tape exchange on April 18, after Rivera alleged Gaete tried to interview Aaron Judge, despite the former having had been scheduled to interview the New York Yankees outfielder. | [204][205] | |
| Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt vetoes H.B. 2820, a bill that would extend authorization for the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority, the state's PBS member network, through July 1, 2026. Although Stitt later alleged the veto was over objections to LGBTQ+ content on certain PBS programs that he claims "indoctrinat[es]" and "overly sexualizes" children (harkening rhetoric of a broader ongoing culture war over LGBTQ+ rights), the bill is one of over 20 measures (some passed unanimously by the state's House and Senate) that he elected to veto in a broader impasse with Senate leaders over his education and tax proposals—which, in addition to increasing education funding and teacher salaries, would also create a voucher-like tax credit program. The veto of H.B. 2820—which, had it not received the required two-thirds support of both legislative chambers to override it, would have resulted in OETA's agency authorization expiring on July 1 and the member network ceasing operations when its existing funding appropriations lapsed in July 2024—was overridden by the legislature on May 25 (the penultimate day of its 2023 session), passing the House, 73–23, and the Senate, 38–6. | [206][207] [208][209] [note 6] | |
| A red-tailed hawk fatally collided with a Bell 206 JetRanger operated by WPLG/Miami as the helicopter flew over Pembroke Pines en route to cover a story during the BH Media-owned ABC affiliate's noon newscast. Pilot Mark Lewis and photographer Joe Brennan were not injured, and the helicopter—which sustained damage to its cockpit window—landed safely. | [211][212] | |
| 27 | Just shy of a year after announcing his departure, James Corden hosts The Late Late Show for the 1,193rd and final time. Will Ferrell and Harry Styles are the guests on the finale, which also featured a pre-recorded farewell message from President Joe Biden and a dream sequence sketch that included appearances by fellow current and former late night hosts Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, David Letterman and Trevor Noah. The last episode of Corden's 81⁄2-year run as host—which was preceded earlier that night by the show's final prime time Carpool Karaoke special—also served as the series finale of the CBS late night talk franchise, which debuted in January 1995 with Tom Snyder as its original host. After airing reruns of The Late Late Show for the remainder of spring and summer, the timeslot was filled by reruns and unaired episodes of the comedy panel show Comics Unleashed starting in September until mid-January of the next year. | [213][214] [215][216] [217] |
| Sinclair Broadcast Group announces it will cancel full-length newscasts and lay off all news department staff at CBS affiliate KTVL/Medford, Oregon, and CBS/Fox affiliate KPTH/Sioux City, and discontinue partially outsourced newscasts on NBC affiliate WNWO/Toledo (co-produced by CBS sister WSBT/South Bend since March 2017), CBS affiliate WGFL/Gainesville, Florida (co-produced by CBS sister WPEC/West Palm Beach since October 2019), and Fox affiliate KPTM/Omaha (co-produced by Fox sister KMPH/Fresno since 2013), effective May 12. The National Desk will replace newscasts on all five stations starting May 15. The cuts, as well as reductions in news production at five other stations (see March 24 entry), are believed to be related to the recent bankruptcy of Sinclair-controlled Bally Sports parent Diamond Sports Group. | [218][219] [220][221] [222][142] [note 7] | |
| 28 | Phoenix's professional basketball teams, the NBA's Suns and the WNBA's Mercury, reach agreements with Gray Television to air their regionally televised games on independents KTVK and KPHE-LD, and with interactive video provider Kiswe to livestream their games on team-specific subscription streaming services. The deal—which was slated to begin with a Mercury-Minnesota Lynx preseason game on May 25 and last five years for the Suns and two for the Mercury—would see the Gray stations maintain exclusivity over certain Suns and Mercury games, feature team-related programs on KTVK and KPHE, and have the content distributed throughout Arizona across KTVK's translator network and Gray-owned KPHE repeaters in Tucson (KOLD-DT5) and Yuma–El Centro (soon-to-launch KAZS). The Suns and Mercury are the first major-league teams to end their television partnerships with Bally Sports since the March 14 bankruptcy of parent Diamond Sports Group, whose Bally Sports Arizona has carried Suns and Mercury games since 2003 and 2006, respectively. (The Suns were last on over-the-air local TV when the team ended its contract with MyNetworkTV O&O KUTP in 2011.) U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Christopher Lopez, who is overseeing Diamond's bankruptcy proceedings, would void the Gray deal on May 10, on the basis that the Suns and Mercury violated rules that froze Diamond's rights with the teams and gave them a right of first refusal to match the deal, while in bankruptcy. Diamond effectively reversed course on July 13, declining to submit an offer matching the Gray deal to retain the Suns/Mercury rights before that day's deadline. | [223][224] [225][226] [227][228] [229][230] [note 8] |
| 30 | During ABC's coverage of Game 1 in the Miami Heat–New York Knicks playoff series, a bumper shown during the telecast included stock footage with the original towers of the World Trade Center in the background. After complaints from viewers, ESPN said it "mistakenly used an old stock image and we apologize." | [231] |
May
[edit]| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Two days after the conclusion of the 2023 NFL draft, Xfinity drops NFL Network from its systems after failing to reach a contract renewal agreement prior to its expiration. The blackout ends the following day, reportedly resolved after a phone discussion between NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Comcast CEO Brian Roberts conducted the previous afternoon. | [232][233] |
| As part of a multi-year agreement that also extends their existing carriage contracts for the company's 90 ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox stations and NewsNation, Nexstar Media Group and Hulu announce that the latter will begin carrying additional Nexstar-run stations serving 32 markets (consisting of 26 MyNetworkTV and four independent stations, including WGN-TV/Chicago, KRON/San Francisco, WPHL/Philadelphia, WTTA/Tampa–St. Petersburg, KAUT/Oklahoma City and WDVM/Hagerstown–Washington, D.C.) to its vMVPD service's lineup. Although some of Nexstar's 29 CW affiliates were reportedly added to Hulu beginning in February, the terms of the deal do not specify whether carriage of other CW stations operated by Nexstar were included as part of the agreement. | [234][235] [236] | |
| 2 | The Writers Guild of America commences a strike against television and film studios, its first labor stoppage since 2007 and the largest production stoppage for the American entertainment industry since 2020, after the union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers failed to agree on a new contract by the WGA's May 1 renewal deadline. The WGA sought increases in compensation and residuals, and greater protections for over-scale pay (citing a decline in pay despite the expansion of content with the rise of streaming services in recent years that effectively created a "gig economy" for unionized writers), staffing requirements for television shows to employ a certain number of writers for a specified period of time (regardless of need for specific episodes), curbs on mini-rooms (where groups of writers outline story breakdowns and write scripts), and restrictions on chatbot scriptwriting. The strike immediately halted production of late night talk and variety shows; and, just as how the Fall network schedules were impacted by the 1981 and 1988 strikes in addition to being compounded by the concurring SAG–AFTRA strike that would begin on July 14, halted or delayed development and production of scripted series for the 2023–24 network schedule (resulting in unscripted programs, and acquired foreign, cable and streaming series occupying much of the Fall schedule), along with cable and streaming programs that have uncompleted episodes. At the outset, prime time network schedules were not significantly disrupted at the strike's commencement (after production on most scripted network shows for the 2022–23 season had already concluded). As well, some shows that employed paerticipating WGA members continued production, either without pre-written material (including talk shows The View, The Kelly Clarkson Show and Gutfeld!) or using fi-core and non-union writers to continue ongoing and planned storylines (as soap operas had done during previous strikes). The WGA would declare the strike over effective at 12:01AM on September 27, three days after the Guild and AMPTP reached a tentative agreement that was approved by Guild leadership on September 26, and allowing its rank and file to return to work while they perform a ratification vote. | [237][238] [239][240] [note 9] |
| A man fires an automatic-style rifle into a glass door panel outside the front lobby of WHBQ/Memphis around 11:30 a.m. CT. The suspect—who had a history of mental illness, and was in the midst of a mental episode that family and friends reportedly intended to seek help for that day—had earlier informed an employee of the Imagicomm-owned Fox affiliate that he was carrying a gun while talking to them outside the studio's front gate. Employees were evacuated to a back parking lot for around 30 minutes as police secured the area; no one was injured. The suspect was arrested about two hours later at a nearby burger restaurant, where he was barricaded inside a bathroom and posted a Facebook Live video, in which he insisted on speaking with "news people" about alleged evidence into corruption in the Memphis Police Department. | [241][242] [243] [note 10] | |
| 4 | The NHL's Vegas Golden Knights sign a multi-year agreement with the E. W. Scripps Company's Scripps Sports division to air their regionally-televised games on Ion O&O KMCC/Laughlin–Las Vegas (which will become an independent station). The deal, effective with the 2023–24 season, replaces AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain as the Knights' television partner and expands the team's local relationship with Scripps (KMCC sister station KTNV has carried the Knights' preseason and ABC-televised regular season games since the team's inaugural 2017–18 season, concurrent with its AT&T SportsNet contract). Scripps will syndicate the Knights telecasts to stations across the team's broadcast territory, including the company's stations in Boise, Salt Lake City and Montana. The Knights are the first major-league team to cut ties with AT&T SportsNet since its parent, Warner Bros. Discovery, announced its intent to exit the RSN business. | [244][245] [246] |
| Gray Television fires South Dakota State Capitol reporter Austin Goss (who filed reports for KOTA–KEVN/Rapid City and KSFY–KDLT/Sioux Falls) following his arrest on charges of making "threatening, harassing or misleading contacts" tied to a January 23 prank call he made to former South Dakota State Senator and Republican Party chairman Dan Lederman by spoofing the personal cell phone number of Governor Kristi Noem, which a state investigation found that Goss may have obtained during "personal and professional" communications with her. | [247] | |
| 5 | NBC Sports California suspends veteran Oakland Athletics play-by-play announcer Glen Kuiper, after he appeared to refer to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum as the "nigger league museum" during the pre-game show for that night's away game against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Kuiper apologized for the remarks—which he made while discussing a visit he and broadcast partner Dallas Braden made to the museum earlier that day—following a commercial break at the top of the sixth inning. The A's denounced Kuiper's remarks in a statement on Twitter, calling his use of the slur "unacceptable." Kuiper was fired by NBC Sports California on May 22. | [248][249] [250][251] [252][253] [254] |
| 6 | The coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla is televised on all major broadcast networks, cable news channels and BBC America. The ceremony was watched cumulatively by 10.9 million viewers according to Nielsen, with ABC's coverage leading all networks with 3.04 million viewers. | [255][256] |
| 7 | The 2023 MTV Movie & TV Awards are broadcast on MTV and its sister networks, with Scream VI (Best Movie) and The Last of Us (Best Show) among the notable winners. Originally planned as a live ceremony (from the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California), the event airs instead as a prerecorded presentation in the wake of several attendees, and previously announced emcee Drew Barrymore, withdrawing in solidarity with striking WGA members, as well as plans by the Guild to picket the event. (Barrymore, who still appeared on the broadcast in pre-recorded skits, has agreed to host the ceremony in 2024.) | [257][258] [259][260] |
| 8 | Nexstar Media Group announces it will acquire independent station KUSI/San Diego from McKinnon Broadcasting for $35 million. The deal would create a duopoly with Fox affiliate KSWB (the first such duopoly in the San Diego market), and marks the family-owned McKinnon's exit from broadcasting (McKinnon, which was founded in 1962, had launched KUSI in 1982 and the station was its last television property following the 2010 sale of KIII/Corpus Christi to London Broadcasting Company). Nexstar plans to turn KUSI into a CW affiliate once its contract with Tegna-owned KFMB-DT2 (which runs through September 2026) expires or is terminated early. | [261][262] [263][264] [note 11] |
| 9 | Paramount Media Networks announces it will shut down MTV News as part of broader layoffs and cost-cutting at the company, affecting 25% of the company's U.S.-based staff. Launched in 1987 but affected by downsizing in its later years, MTV's news and documentary division was noted for its coverage of music, politics, lifestyle, and pop culture that was geared toward the network's younger audiences. Paramount Global also announces the consolidation of Showtime Networks and MTV Entertainment Studios into a single "studio" unit, and the nine separate operations teams of the Paramount Media Networks cable channels into one portfolio group. | [265][266] |
| 10 | CNN's Kaitlan Collins moderated a town hall with Donald Trump at Saint Anselm College in Goffstown, New Hampshire, in front of an audience primarily made of likely Republican primary voters. The former president and 2024 Republican presidential candidate made numerous false claims (including repeating voter fraud allegations in his 2020 presidential election loss); reiterated his support of the 2021 U.S. Capitol attack; credited himself for appointing three of the six Supreme Court justices who overruled the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion ruling in the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision; and sidestepped questions about whom he supported in the Russian invasion of Ukraine and if he supported a national abortion ban during the event. Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav and CNN Global CEO Chris Licht defended the decision to hold the town hall; however, media observers, CNN staffers, and Trump critics across the political spectrum denounced it for appearing to "normalize" his candidacy—despite Trump being the subject of multiple criminal and civil cases (including federal and state investigations into his attempts to overturn the 2020 election, and a New York civil trial that concluded the day prior, in which he was found liable of sexually abusing and defaming former Elle columnist E. Jean Carroll, remarks about whom Trump made during the event were amended into a separate defamation lawsuit against Trump, filed by Carroll in 2019, on May 22), and his tendency to make false claims and spread disinformation. In response to the event, legal commentator Tristan Snell said he would no longer appear on CNN under its current leadership. The town hall was watched by 3.1 million viewers according to Nielsen, lower than that of the network's July 2022 town hall with President Joe Biden (3.7 million). | [267][268] [269][270] [271] |
| 15 | WideOpenWest announces it will discontinue its in-house pay television services, Ultra TV (a traditional pay-TV service relying on QAM/IP-based set-top boxes that launched in 2011) and WOW tv+ (an IPTV service using Android TV infrastructure that launched in March 2020), and migrate its remaining video customers—totaling 117,100 subscribers as of Q1 2023, a 6.2% decline from Q4 2022—to YouTube TV, under a partnership that wil see the Alphabet-owned vMVPD provider be offered as part of WOW!'s Internet bundle, beginning that Summer. | [272][273] [274][275] [note 12] |
| Country singer Reba McEntire, who earlier served as an advisor in the Knockout rounds for the 23rd season of The Voice, was announced to succeed outgoing coach Blake Shelton—the last of the NBC music competition series' four original coaches, who earlier announced his departure prior to the Season 23 premiere—for the 24th season. The semifinals, which followed a real-time voting structure without an "Instant Save" feature for the first time since Season 5, saw both artists coached by Shelton, Grace West and NOVIAS, advancing to the following week's final round; both artists would go on to lose to eventual winner Gina Miles, who was coached by former One Direction member and debuting coach Niall Horan, making him the series' tenth overall winning coach and the third coach to win on their first attempt. | [276][277] [278][279] | |
| 17 | Mission Broadcasting announces it will acquire MyNetworkTV affiliate WADL/Mount Clemens, Michigan from Adell Broadcasting Corp. for $75 million. Clinton Township-based Adell, which signed on WADL in May 1989, will retain ownership of religious broadcaster The Word Network and radio station WFDF/Farmington Hills. Upon closure, Mission intends to contract with partner company Nexstar Media Group to provide operational services for WADL, which it planned to turn into Detroit's affiliate of The CW (a network majority owned by Nexstar); the station briefly affiliated with the network on September 1 (replacing WKBD), before moving to Scripps-owned WMYD due to a dispute between Adell and Mission/Nexstar over their affiliation contract. The sale was approved eleven months later on April 23, 2024; however because of issues concerning Nexstar's management of Mission-owned WPIX/New York City (which resulted in a $1.82-million fine, and a requirement for Mission to sell the station to Nexstar or an independent third-party to comply with FCC ownership rules that the LMA's structure had purportedly violated due to attributable interests in the latter's involvement with WPIX), the approval was conditioned on Nexstar not being involved in financing Mission's purchase of the station, Mission enforcing limits to performance bonuses and ad revenues provided to Nexstar under any LMA between the two groups, the station limiting carriage of Nexstar-provided programming to no more than 15% of the station's weekly programming time (a clause normally applied to local programming provided by a station operator under LMA rules that likely constrains WADL from carrying the full CW schedule as intended, particularly as Scripps plans to drop it from WMYD in September 2024 as part of a chain-wide disaffiliation from the network), and that any SSA cannot include an option for Nexstar to purchase WADL outright. | [280][281] [282][283] [284][285] |
| 19 | Citadel Communications announces that it will sell independent station WSNN-LD/Sarasota, Florida to Nexstar Media Group for $1 million. The transaction, which is expected to be completed by the end of the year, will combine the station with Nexstar's existing Tampa–St. Petersburg duopoly of WFLA (NBC) and WTTA (MyNetworkTV), and marks Citadel's exit from broadcasting; the company—which acquired WSNN in 2009—had owned nine major-network stations in the Midwest and New England (including current Nexstar properties WHBF/Rock Island–Davenport, KCAU/Sioux City and WIVT/Binghamton) at various points from its founding in 1982 until 2019. The sale was finalized on July 20. | [286][287] [288][289] |
| 22 | Fifteen months to the date after it was first announced, Tegna announces it has terminated its deal to be acquired by hedge fund Standard General. The $8.6-billion deal, which was originally slated to be completed in the second half of 2022, had faced regulatory hurdles (the FCC's Media Bureau had designated the deal for a hearing by an administrative law judge in February), scrutiny from lawmakers and labor unions concerned over job losses (in part because the deal did not address conflicts with stations operated by Cox Media Group—whose majority owner, Apollo Global Management, helped finance the deal—in four markets), and a deadline for Standard General to arrange financing for the deal on this date. As a result of the deal's termination, Tegna (which owns and operates 68 stations in 54 markets) announces a share repurchase plan and the collection of a $136 million termination fee from Standard General. | [290][291] [292] |
| 23 | Netflix begins cracking down on unauthorized password sharing between subscribers and non-paying customers in the U.S. by introducing an $8/month "extra member" option to permit access to users who do not live in the account holder's household, and intending to block devices attempting to access a user's Netflix account without paying over a certain timeframe. Netflix initially tested the "extra member" program—which resulted in account cancellations in countries where paid-sharing has been implemented—to primary account holders in Chile, Costa Rica and Peru in 2022, and formally commenced paid-sharing in Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain In February 2023. | [293][294] [note 13] |
| 24 | Gray Television files a lawsuit in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals that requests to vacate a $518,283 fine issued by the FCC in July 2021 (which was upheld on appeal in a 3–1 vote by the FCC Media Bureau in October 2022), pertaining to a July 2020 non-license asset deal between Gray and Denali Media Holdings that saw the former acquire and transfer the CBS affiliation rights for Anchorage from KTVA (now a Rewind TV affiliate) to Gray-owned KYES (now KAUU). Because Gray already owned NBC affiliate KTUU, the FCC considered the transaction as equivalent to purchasing a second top-four station in violation of FCC duopoly regulations. Gray—which acquired KAUU (then a lower-rated MyNetworkTV affiliate) in 2016—contends the FCC had no authority to regulate the affiliation purchase as it did not involve a license transfer, that its regulation of a "functional equivalent" to the agency's Top-4 Rule via the fine exceeds the agency's regulatory authority, and that the fine violates the First Amendment by penalizing Gray's programming decisions without furthering a "legitimate" government interest. | [295][296] [297] |
| 29 | Silver Chalice acquires majority control of Stadium from Sinclair Broadcast Group (which co-founded the broadcast/streaming sports network with the Chicago White Sox subsidiary in 2017, as a reconfiguration of Sinclair's American Sports Network syndication service). Sinclair cites that the decision to sell its controlling stake in Stadium was due to insufficient viewership to justify continued financing, refuting a report by Front Office Sports disclosing the purchase that it was tied to financial issues related to the recent bankruptcy of its Diamond Sports Group unit. Stadium will maintain its affiliation agreements with Sinclair-run stations, while Sinclair will continue to supply some programming for the network. | [298][299] |
| 30 | One week after failing to make a rights payment before the end of its fee grace period, Diamond Sports Group informs the San Diego Padres that it will no longer provide financing to Bally Sports San Diego that would enable the regional sports network to continue paying fees to the team. The Padres' local television rights consequently reverted to the team and Major League Baseball following that evening's game against Miami (the first of a three-game away series), marking the first instance since Diamond's March 14 bankruptcy filing that it returned the local MLB broadcast rights to a franchise. The league took over production of the Padres' regional telecasts starting with the May 31 Padres–Marlins game, and began carrying them on alternate channels on Cox, Spectrum, U-verse, DirecTV and Fubo within the team's home market, along with, for the first time ever, a blackout-free, direct-to-consumer option via MLB.tv. Game announcers Don Orsillo, Mark Grant and Bob Scanlan will remain on the broadcasts as they are directly employed by the Padres. | [300][301] [note 14] |
June
[edit]| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | Chuck Todd announces that he will stepping down as moderator of Meet the Press after nine years. Todd's tenure as moderator, which would end on September 10, saw the NBC program launch into other ventures (including the NBC News Now extension show Meet The Press Now, which Welker co-hosts and had originally debuted on MSNBC in 2015 as MTP Daily, weekly podcasts and a documentary film festival), and Todd himself facing criticism from some viewers and media critics for not pushing back against false statements made by guests (particularly those made by former president Donald Trump, his administration's officials, and his archconservative supporters in political leadership). Todd will be succeeded as MTP moderator on September 17 by NBC News White House correspondent Kristen Welker, who will move from the co-anchor chair at Saturday Today to become the political talk show's first female moderator (since co-creator Martha Rountree's 1947–53 tenure as its original host), as well as the first person of color to regularly serve as the program's moderator (Welker is of mixed Black–Caucasian heritage). | [302][303] [304] |
| 6 | The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead reports that Red River Broadcasting has exercised an option to terminate the sale of Fox affiliates KQDS/Duluth–Superior and KVRR/Fargo–Moorhead to Forum Communications. The $24-million deal, first announced in November 2021, was dependent on the FCC approving a waiver of ownership rules prohibiting the combination of two full-power "Big Four" outlets in the same market, in order to allow a duopoly between KVRR and Forum-owned ABC affiliate WDAY. The FCC, which has only once approved such a "Big Four" duopoly (in 2019), had not yet considered the Fargo waiver. (Forum, which also owns The Forum and News Tribune newspapers in the respective cities, would have had no such issues in Duluth as it has no existing television properties in that market.) | [305][306] [note 15] |
| 7 | Warner Bros. Discovery announces the departure of Chris Licht as CEO of its CNN Global division after just over one year. Licht had already ceded operational control of the network to WBD Chief Corporate Operating Officer David Leavy in the fallout from the Donald Trump town hall meeting, though the ouster came in the aftermath of the June 2 publication of a less-than-flattering Atlantic article documenting Licht's short but tumultuous tenure at CNN. | [307][308] [309] |
| Actor Jay Johnston is arrested by the FBI for his alleged involvement in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The comedian/actor (known for his roles in Mr. Show with Bob and David, The Sarah Silverman Program and Bob's Burgers) was charged by the U.S. Department of Justice on counts that include civil disorder, entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, and impeding passage through Capitol property. | [310] | |
| 11 | The 76th Tony Awards air on CBS and Paramount+ from New York's United Palace, with Ariana DeBose as host. Notable winners included Kimberly Akimbo (Best Musical), Leopoldstadt (Best Play), and the first two non-binary performers to win acting awards (J. Harrison Ghee for Some Like It Hot and Alex Newell for Shucked). The ceremony and telecast were initially postponed on May 12 after organizers for the Tonys were denied a waiver request from the Writers Guild of America to use pre-written material during the Guild's strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (both CBS and Paramount+ are AMPTP members). But by May 16, organizers agree to ceremony alterations—including refraining from using a script and placing an emphasis on live performances from Tony-nominated shows—thus allowing the event to proceed without a WGA waiver or picket line. | [311][312] [313] |
| 12 | The Denver Nuggets defeat the Miami Heat, 94–89, in Game 5 of the 2023 NBA Finals to win their first championship in franchise history; the Nuggets, in their first-ever Finals appearance, defeated the Heat in four of five games in the best-of-seven series; ABC carried the NBA Finals exclusively for the 21st consecutive year. This year's NBA playoffs, which began on April 15 (and were televised on TNT, ESPN, ABC and NBA TV—with each team's regional broadcaster also televising local coverage of First Round games, except for most weekend games that ABC televised nationally), saw ESPN/ABC carry the Western Conference Finals and TNT carry the Eastern Conference Finals, per the alternating exclusivity rotation under the NBA's contracts with ESPN Inc. and Warner Bros. Discovery Sports. | [314][315] [316] [note 16] |
| Pat Sajak announced on social media that he would retire as host of Wheel of Fortune at the conclusion of its 41st season in mid-2024; he will remain with the program thereafter as a consultant. Sajak has hosted the Sony/CBS-distributed game show since December 1981, when he succeeded Chuck Woolery on the now-defunct network version (Sajak would leave that version in January 1989, six months prior to its move from NBC to CBS, to host his own late-night talk show for the latter network), and began hosting the syndicated version when it debuted in September 1983. On June 27, it was announced that Ryan Seacrest will succeed Sajak as host for the 2024–25 season. | [317][318] | |
| 13 | The Vegas Golden Knights defeat the Florida Panthers, 9–3, in Game 5 of the 2023 Stanley Cup Finals to win their first championship in franchise history; the Golden Knights, which began play in the NHL six years prior, defeated the Panthers in four of five games in the best-of-seven series. TNT, TBS and TruTV simulcasted this year's Stanley Cup Finals, per the alternating rotation under the NHL's contracts with ESPN Inc. and Warner Bros. Discovery Sports. It marked both the first time that the three networks carried the championship series and the first time since 1994 (when it was carried nationally by ESPN and regionally by New York City-based MSG) that the Finals aired exclusively on cable in the U.S. This year's Stanley Cup playoffs began on April 17, and was televised on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, TBS and TNT, with each franchise's regional broadcaster also televising local coverage of First Round games (except for weekend games that ABC televised nationally). | [319][320] [note 17] |
| Sports analyst/commentator Shannon Sharpe announces he will be leaving the FS1 morning sports talk show Skip and Shannon: Undisputed, which he has co-hosted since its debut in September 2016, following that day's broadcast. It was then announced that the show would take a hiatus until August 28 due to Fox Sports failing to find a new debate partner with Skip Bayless. | [321][322] [323] | |
| 20 | The NBA's Utah Jazz signs a multi-year agreement with Sinclair Broadcast Group to broadcast their regionally televised games and other team-specific programs on the company's Salt Lake City duopoly of KUTV (CBS) and KJZZ (independent), effective with the league's 2023–24 season; the stations replace Warner Bros. Discovery-owned AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain and Root Sports Northwest as the Jazz's regional television partners. The deal also marks the team's return to KJZZ, which previously held over-the-air telecast rights to Jazz games from 1993 to 2009. Team owner Ryan Smith's holding company, Smith Entertainment Group, also starts a new in-house production division, SEG Media, to produce the telecasts, which will also be carried on a new subscription streaming service scheduled to launch in October. Game announcers Craig Bolerjack, Thurl Bailey and Holly Rowe will remain on the broadcasts as they are directly employed by the Jazz. | [324][325] [note 18] |
| 21 | Television presenter Geraldo Rivera announces he has quit the Fox News talk show The Five, which he has co-hosted since January 2022. On June 29, the same day his final episode was scheduled to air, Rivera announced that he would be leaving Fox News entirely after having quit the program; he later alleged in a July 13 appearance on The View that a "toxic [work] relationship" with an unnamed Five co-host led to his departure. | [326][327] [328] |
| 23 | KQED 9/San Francisco's KQED Newsroom ends after 55 years on television. KQED News continues on KQED 88.5 FM, online, and social media platforms. | [329] |
| 27 | Roku and CBS Sports announce a multi-year deal to become the exclusive American media partners for the Formula E electric motorsport series. The deal marks the first sports rights agreement for Roku and expands CBS's existing relationship with the promotion; Roku will stream 11 races per season on the Roku Channel and CBS will carry five races per season that will also be streamed on Paramount+, with all races carried by the two streaming services being accessible through Roku's live-streaming sports aggregation platform. | [330] |
| 28 | As part of a multi-year agreement that also extends their existing carriage contract for NFL Network and expands its distribution to co-owned DirecTV Stream and U-verse, NFL Media and DirecTV announce that the latter will add NFL RedZone to the lineups of its subscription television services. The addition of RedZone will allow DirecTV subscribers to continue to view regional NFL broadcasts not carried within their home market in some capacity, after the league's December 2022 deal with Google to distribute the package to YouTube TV and YouTube Primetime Channels customers resulted in DirecTV losing residential carriage rights to the NFL Sunday Ticket out-of-market sports package following the 2022 season. | [331] [note 19] |
| 29 | Nexstar Media Group fires news director Stanton Tang and assistant news director Amy Fox from NBC affiliate WOOD/Grand Rapids, following an internal investigation into a leaked memo urging reporters and producers to cover fewer stories on West Michigan-area Pride Month events because of criticism from conservative viewers over related stories aired earlier that month on its newscasts. Tang—who, in the memo, had asked reporters to only cover Pride events if considered newsworthy and to pursue viewpoints reflecting "both sides" of the story—had also been accused by station journalists of having his own right-leaning views influence editorial decisions (occasionally sending links to Twitter posts from conservative news outlets and commentators as story ideas in emails to reporters), and of fostering a hostile work environment within the news department (including pressuring and getting into intense arguments with journalists that caused some to take sick leave due to mental anguish, and discouraging them from voting in the 2022 Michigan gubernatorial and U.S. House primaries, only to later acknowledge he voted in that election, in possible violation of voter intimidation laws); prior complaints about Tang's workplace conduct allegedly went unaddressed when brought up to WOOD general manager Julie Brinks and to Nexstar management. News producers Luke Stier and Madeline Odle were also terminated for leaking information about the memo to local media and broadcast industry outlets. Veteran television executive Steven Ackermann was appointed as interim news director on June 30. | [334][335] |
| 30 | In what the network describes as a move meant to "identify additional cost savings," ESPN lays off about 20 on-air personalities. The notable names confirmed on this date to be exiting include NBA analysts Jalen Rose and Jeff Van Gundy; NFL studio analysts Matt Hasselbeck, Keyshawn Johnson, Rob Ninkovich, and Steve Young; NFL draft expert Todd McShay; boxing analyst and This Just In host Max Kellerman; college football analyst David Pollack; college basketball analyst LaPhonso Ellis; veteran reporter/host Suzy Kolber; and SportsCenter anchors Neil Everett and Ashley Brewer. It is the third round of layoffs this year at ESPN, following two waves affecting behind-the-scenes staffers earlier in the Spring. | [336][337] |
July
[edit]| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hawaiian Telcom removes the Honolulu duopoly of Fox/CW affiliate KHON and MyNetworkTV affiliate KHII, and NewsNation from its systems across the state after failing to renew an agreement with Nexstar Media Group that expired on June 30. The provider filed an FCC complaint on July 6, asking for the commission to rule Nexstar's failure to continue the channels’ carriage as a violation of good-faith negotiation rules for each day since the previous contract lapsed. Hawaiian Telcom, which noted the Islands‘ volcanic and mountainous terrain prevents many residents from receiving KHON/KHII over-the-air and alleged that the group sought to increase fees to carry the channels by 80%, accused Nexstar of withholding consent by not responding to its request to extend negotiations by one week—forcing it to remove the channels—until immediately before the agreement expired. The parties reached a multi-year agreement to restore KHON/KHII (along with Rewind TV-affiliated KHON-DT4) and NewsNation to Hawaiian Telcom's lineup on July 20, although the provider stated it would not drop the Nexstar complaint (which it amended the day before to allege the group had unraveled an earlier version of the deal on July 17, demanding Hawaiian Telcom rescind the complaint and not file future FCC complaints against Nexstar). | [338][339] [340] [note 20] |
| 2 | DirecTV removes 159 stations owned by Nexstar Media Group after the two parties fail to reach a new carriage agreement. The impasse results in the complete loss of stations operated by Nexstar and its partner companies (Mission Broadcasting and White Knight Broadcasting) from the DirecTV satellite service, DirecTV Stream and U-verse, amid an existing contractual and legal dispute between DirecTV and Nexstar dating to October 2022, concerning alleged collective bargaining influence by the three station groups in retransmission fee negotiations that prompted the earlier removal of Mission and White Knight's respective stations from the company's television services (see March 14 entry). In a July 18 FCC letter, DirecTV accused CW majority owner Nexstar of forcing Sinclair Broadcast Group to remove 21 affiliates (all based in markets where both groups operate stations, and leaving subscribers of the vMVPD service in those areas unable to view CW programs) from DirecTV Stream on July 12; Nexstar countered that DirecTV Stream continued to carry Sinclair's CW stations without renewing a prior agreement that expired in November 2022. A gradual restoration of the Nexstar stations to DirecTV would begin on September 17, with the companies announcing a new multi-year carriage deal the next day. | [341][342] [343][344] |
| 10 | Charter Communications announces it will begin offering a reduced-cost tier of its Spectrum TV Select cable package that will exclude regional and many national sports networks featured in its standard basic tier (including its own Spectrum Sports channels in areas where Charter also operates an RSN). The Spectrum Select Signature tier—which will gradually launch across most of its footprint beginning in late Summer, alongside the renamed Spectrum Select Plus expanded tier—will be marketed primarily to non-sports fans, and is intended to limit cord-cutting among existing subscribers. The company also plans to launch a subscription streaming service for its Spectrum Sports channels, which will be available at no extra charge to Select Plus subscribers. Concurrently, Charter announces a new carriage agreement with DirecTV for Spectrum SportsNet and SportsNet LA, which lowers the required coverage rates for the two Los Angeles-based networks under terms similar to recent deals that saw the company reduce coverage mandates for owned or third-party regional sports networks carried on its systems (RSNs usually require carriage by at least 80% of a provider's regional subscribers); Charter intends to impose similar provisions for its Spectrum Sports RSNs in future negotiations with other providers, enabling them to reduce programming costs subsidized by their customers. | [345][346] [347] [note 21] |
| Saima Mohsin, who served as an international correspondent for the network from 2013 fo 2017, sues CNN for racial discrimination and wrongful termination. The journalist (who became a freelance presenter for Sky News in 2022) suffered severe tissue damage after a cameraman accompanying her on assignment accidentally drove over her foot while covering the Israel-Palestine conflict in 2014. Moshin—who is British Pakistani—alleges that the network refused to provide adequate accommodations for her injury, which left her unable to do more physically demanding reporting work, and denied her request to move to an anchor role (alleging an executive said she didn't "have the look we are looking for") and other on-air opportunities in favor of white American correspondents. | [348] | |
| 13 | The Atlantic Coast Conference announces a four-year deal with The CW, under which the network will broadcast a total of 50 ACC college football and basketball games (initially consisting of 13 football, 28 men's basketball and nine women's basketball games) each season through the 2026–27 academic year. Raycom Sports—which sublicenses the ACC television rights from ESPN, and terminated a preceding national broadcast deal with Bally Sports on June 15—will produce the telecasts. Starting with a September 9 non-conference football game between the Pittsburgh Panthers and Big 12 member Cincinnati Bearcats, The CW will air two ACC football games each Saturday during the Fall (in the afternoon and prime time), and Saturday afternoon men's basketball doubleheaders and Sunday afternoon women's basketball games from December to February. | [349][350] [351] [note 22] |
| 15 | SAG-AFTRA commenced a strike against television and film studios, after the union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers failed to agree on a new contract after their previous agreement expired on June 30. This marks the first time that actors have initiated a labor dispute since the 1980 actors strike. With the concurrent Writers Guild of America strike, this was also the first time that actors and writers have walked out simultaneously since 1960. Similar to the WGA, SAG-AFTRA cited several issues, including economic fairness, residuals, regulating the use of artificial intelligence, and alleviating the burdens of the industry-wide shift to self-taping. In addition to impacting film and television productions, actors could not take part in promotional work, such as press junkets, film premieres, and other events such as San Diego Comic-Con. Journalists and performers employed under the SAG-AFTRA National Code of Fair Practice for Network Television Broadcasting contract (a separate agreement negotiated between the union, major broadcast networks and other producers which currently runs through July 2024) were not affected, allowing news programs, most talk, variety, game and reality shows, soap operas, sports and promos to continue production with SAG-AFTRA members covered by that agreement. The strike ended on November 9 after a new agreement with the AMPTP was reached. | [352][353] [354][355] [356] |
| The New York Supreme Court rules in favor of DirecTV in a breach of contract lawsuit filed by the company in November 2021 against Nexstar Media Group, involving a 2015 carriage renewal agreement for WDVM/Hagerstown, Maryland (then-NBC affiliate WHAG). The suit alleged that Nexstar did not give DirecTV adequate notice that the station would become an independent once its affiliation contract with NBC expired in July 2016, resulting in the satellite provider overpaying to carry a station that would no longer be a Big Four affiliate. (As part of an effort at the time to reduce affiliate duplication in certain markets, NBC parent Comcast elected to disaffiliate from WHAG—a decision that was disclosed publicly by Nexstar in February 2016—due to perceived competition with nearby O&O WRC/Washington, D.C.) The court ruled that Nexstar overcharged DirecTV by basing its carriage fee rate for WDVM on its prior NBC affiliation, and ordered the broadcaster to repay “several million dollars” worth of excess fees that DirecTV paid during the contract term (plus interest). | [357][358] [359] [note 23] | |
| 17 | Four days after its release, CMT removes the music video for Jason Aldean's single "Try That in a Small Town" from its rotation, amid controversy over the song's lyrics and the video's themes. The scrutiny pertained to the lyrics being interpreted by some listeners as evocative of vigilantism, lynchings and sundown towns (the former interpretation also drawing criticism as Aldean performed at the Route 91 Harvest music festival during the October 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting); the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee, where the video was filmed, being the site of several incidents of racial violence (including a 1927 lynching and the city's 1946 race riots); and the juxtaposition of the lyrics and excerpts of news footage from the 2020 race riots (including lootings and violent clashes between protesters and officers) interspersed in the video. Aldean responded to the criticism on Twitter, asserting the song was meant to represent “the feeling of a community that I had growing up, where we took care of our neighbors, regardless of differences of background or belief." | [360][361] [362][363] [364] [note 24] |
| 18 | Diamond Sports Group files separate lawsuits against majority owner Sinclair Broadcast Group and senior creditor JP Morgan that seek to receive compensation for Sinclair's preferred equity repayment to the investment firm. Sinclair completed its $1.025-billion worth of equity repayments to JP Morgan in February for its preferred interest in Diamond that it acquired as part of the group's 2019 purchase of the former Fox Sports Regional Networks from Disney. Diamond accuses Sinclair of manipulating the payment schedule so that JPMorgan was nearly made completely whole on its investment, even though it knew the former's bankruptcy would wipe out its equity in the subsidiary, | [366] |
| After Diamond Sports Group receives bankruptcy court approval of its motion (filed on June 22, with the intent of terminating the contract effective June 30) to surrender its contract with the team, the Arizona Diamondbacks and Major League Baseball assume the regional television rights to the former's games from Bally Sports Arizona, starting with that night's game against the Atlanta Braves. The telecasts will be carried on alternate channels on Cox, Spectrum, Xfinity, DirecTV, DirecTV Stream, Fubo and other providers within the team's regional territory, along with a blackout-free livestream on MLB.tv (with all games scheduled through July 23 available free to stream using MLB login credentials on the respective websites and apps of the MLB and the Diamondbacks). Due to the earlier departures of the NBA's Suns and WNBA's Mercury from the network (see April 28 entry), the loss of the Diamondbacks from the network leaves the NHL's Arizona Coyotes as the only major Phoenix-area sports franchise that maintains a broadcasting relationship with Bally Sports Arizona. Game announcers Steve Berthiaume and Bob Brenly will remain on the broadcasts as they are directly employed by the Diamondbacks. | [367][368] [369][370] [note 25] | |
| 23 | Preceding that day's ESPN+ broadcast of a friendly match between AC Milan and Real Madrid CF at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, ESPN soccer analyst Shaka Hislop fainted on-air while co-hosting the pre-match show with play-by-play analyst Dan Thomas. The retired professional soccer star later regained consciousness and was treated by stadium medical personnel, later describing the incident as "awkward" and was seeking medical opinion on the cause of his collapse. | [371][372] [373] |
| 28 | NASCAR announces a seven-year deal with The CW to broadcast Xfinity Series races exclusively on the network starting in 2025. The deal—which replaces NBC, USA Network and Fox Sports as the second-tier circuit's broadcast partners—will see The CW air 33 live races each year as well as weekend practice and qualifying events, with additional content being made available on The CW's streaming apps and digital platforms; NASCAR Productions, the stock car racing league's in-house production unit, will handle production responsibilities for the race telecasts and other ancillary content. The deal will mark the first time that all Xfinity Series races will be available exclusively on American broadcast television. | [374][375] [376] [note 26] |
August
[edit]| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Jeffrey Goldberg is named moderator of Washington Week effective August 11, coinciding with The Atlantic (where Goldberg has served as editor-in-chief since 2016) joining Washington, D.C. PBS member station WETA and NewsHour Productions, LLC as an editorial partner of the PBS political affairs program, which will accordingly be retitled Washington Week with The Atlantic. Goldberg succeeds Yamiche Alcindor, who stepped down from the role on February 24, primarily to focus on her job as Washington correspondent for NBC News (various journalists have served as guest moderators since Alcindor's departure). | [377][378] |
| 4 | Days of Our Lives producer Corday Productions announces the departure of the Peacock soap opera's longtime co-executive producer/director Albert Alarr, with senior producer Janet Spellman-Drucker replacing him as co-EP and the company announcing it will be "implementing additional HR protocols." Alarr's departure comes in the aftermath of an investigation conducted by Days distributor Sony Pictures Television (outlined in a July 25 Deadline Hollywood report) that revealed Alarr had allegedly fostered a toxic work environment on the program, and had been verbally and physically abusive toward staffers (namely female staffers, who allege incidents of inappropriate comments and physical contact by Alarr). Though Corday Productions reportedly gave a written warning to Alarr (who denied the allegations against him) and ordered him to undergo training, his continued presence on Days led to on-set tensions among those aware of the investigation, with cast members petitioning for Alarr's ouster. | [379][380] [381] |
| 9 | Big Brother season 25 contestant Luke Valentine is removed from the CBS/Paramount+ reality show one day after uttering the N-word in a conversation, a violation of the show's code of conduct. | [382] |
| 10 | The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and Fox formally announce that the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards will be pushed back from its original planned date of September 18 until January 15, 2024. The rescheduling, due to the ongoing Writers Guild and SAG-AFTRA strikes, mark the first postponement of a Primetime Emmy ceremony since 2001, when the September 11 attacks and ensuing start of the war in Afghanistan pushed the 53rd Primetime Emmys from September to November. (The related Creative Arts Emmys will also move from September to the weekend of January 6–7, 2024.) | [383] |
| 15 | Sage Steele announces that she has left ESPN after settling her lawsuit against the network and its parent, The Walt Disney Company. Steele, who had been with ESPN since 2007 and had anchored SportsCenter and NBA Countdown, had sued ESPN and Disney in 2022, alleging the network had "sidelined" her after she criticized the network's COVID-19 vaccination policy and questioned the ethnicity of former U.S. President Barack Obama. | [384] |
| Nielsen Media Research reports that for the first time since it started its monthly gauge in 2021, the combined share of broadcast and cable network viewing during July was less than half of all total TV usage (49.6%). | [385] | |
| 20 | Spain defeats England, 1–0, in the final of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. The tournament, which began on July 20, was televised by Fox Sports and Telemundo respectively in English (on Fox and FS1) and Spanish (on Telemundo and Universo), with all games streamed on the Fox Sports app and Peacock. The networks and streaming platforms carried a primarily late night and early morning schedule of games—with only five matches being held during prime time—due to the tournament being played across nine cities in Australia and New Zealand (12–16 hours ahead of Eastern Daylight Time, depending on each game's corresponding host venue). | [386][387] [388][389] |
| 23 | Fox News hosts the first of the 2024 Republican Party presidential debates at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which will also host the GOP's nominating convention. Eight candidates appear on the stage—Doug Burgum, Chris Christie, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Asa Hutchinson, Mike Pence, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Tim Scott—the lowest number of candidates for the first Republican debate stage since 2012. The relatively low number was due to strict RNC requirements that any participants have at least 40,000 individual donors and poll above 1% in either three national polls or two national polls and one state poll. (By comparison, high candidate numbers caused both the 2016 GOP and 2020 Democratic debates to be spread out over two nights.) Thanks to not meeting polling requirements or refusing to sign a loyalty pledge to back the eventual nominee, Ryan Binkley, Larry Elder, Will Hurd, Perry Johnson, Francis Suarez, and former president Donald Trump did not attend; Trump, the polling frontrunner, instead appears in a pre-taped interview with Tucker Carlson that aired as counterprogramming to the debate on X (formerly Twitter). | [390][391] [392][393] |
| 30 | Two months after the ouster of Chris Licht (see June 7 entry), Warner Bros. Discovery announces the hire of Mark Thompson as CNN's new chief executive officer; Thompson is previously known for his tenures as director general of the BBC and CEO of The New York Times. | [394] |
| 31 | The cable networks and TV stations owned by The Walt Disney Company (including Disney Channel, Freeform, National Geographic, the FX and ESPN networks, and ABC O&O stations), are dropped from Charter Communications' Spectrum cable systems due to an unresolved carriage dispute. The two companies would announce a new agreement on September 11, one that allows customers who subscribe to certain Spectrum packages access to the Disney+ and ESPN+ streaming services (and, when it launches, ESPN's direct-to-consumer service), but also allows Charter to drop carriage of Freeform, FXX, FXM, and smaller Disney- and Nat Geo-branded channels. | [395][396] |
September
[edit]| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Producers of Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta announce that cast member Erica Mena will not return to the VH1 reality show for its next season, its 12th, after a Season 11 episode (which originally aired on August 29) captured Mena directing a slur at castmate Spice during an argument (and table-flipping incident) between the two women. | [397] |
| 5 | Citing a desire to focus on his "health, family, and faith," Chris Mortensen announces on social media he retired from his NFL reporting role at ESPN after the network's coverage of the league's player draft in April. Mortensen had been a mainstay of ESPN's pro football coverage since joining the network in 1991, and appeared in his "insider" role on draft broadcasts, Sunday NFL Countdown, and SportsCenter. | [398] |
| 8 | Stations owned and operated by Hearst Television (37 stations covering 27 markets) are dropped from Dish Network due to an impasse in retransmission negotiations between the two sides. | [399] |
| Fox News fires senior executive John Finley following an investigation into a violation of the company's conduct standards. Finley's 20-year tenure at Fox included serving as executive producer of Hannity and helping to develop other Fox News signature shows (including Outnumbered and The Five) as well as the Fox Nation streaming service. | [400] | |
| 9 | With Kristen Welker moving to host Meet the Press (see June 4 entry), NBC News justice correspondent Laura Jarrett becomes the new co-anchor of the Saturday edition of Today alongside Peter Alexander. | [401] |
| 12 | The 2023 MTV Video Music Awards airs on MTV and its related digital and linear platforms from Newark's Prudential Center. Nicki Minaj serves as host, with notable winners including Shakira (Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award), Diddy (Global Icon Award), Minaj herself (Best Hip-Hop Video for "Super Freaky Girl"), and Taylor Swift (a night-leading 9 awards, including her 2nd consecutive Video of the Year, and record-extending 4th overall, for "Anti-Hero"). | [402] |
| 14 | Morgan Murphy Media announces it will acquire three TV stations in Michigan from The Marks Group: WBKP/Calumet and WBUP/Ishpeming (affiliated with The CW and ABC respectively and simulcasting each network on both stations across the market over subchannels), and WBKB-TV/Alpena (CBS/NBC/ABC/Fox). The $12 million deal, which also includes radio properties in the western Upper Peninsula, is expected to close at the end of the year pending regulatory approval. | [403] |
| 18 | Amid the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes, ABC announces that it will simulcast ESPN's Monday Night Football during each week of the 2023 NFL season. This marks the first time a full season of Monday Night Football has aired on ABC since 2005. | [404] |
| 21 | WWE announces that its Friday night showcase SmackDown will leave Fox for USA Network in October 2024 as part of a new deal with USA owner NBCUniversal that also includes a series of WWE prime time specials airing on NBC beginning in the 2024–2025 TV season. SmackDown previously aired between 2016 and 2019 on USA, which currently also carries Monday Night Raw and NXT telecasts under separate deals that end in September 2024. | [405] |
| Rupert Murdoch announces he will step down as chairman of Fox Corporation and sister company News Corp in November. Murdoch's son, Lachlan Murdoch, will become sole chairman of both companies at that time, while the elder Murdoch, who founded the Fox television network in 1986 and Fox News in 1996, will retain a "chairman emeritus" role. | [406] | |
| 26 | Sean McManus announces he will retire from the chairman role at CBS Sports in April 2024, with David Berson replacing him. McManus, who has been with CBS since 1996 and has been its sports division's chairman since 2011, is noted for securing several sports rights deals for the network (most notably the 1998 return of the NFL after a four year hiatus); he also concurrently served as president of both CBS Sports and CBS News from 2005 to 2011. | [407] |
| 27 | The second 2024 Republican Party presidential debate takes place at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. The event is conducted by and aired on Fox News and Univision. | [408][409] |
| 28 | The inaugural edition of the People's Choice Country Awards, the country music-focused offshoot of the People's Choice Awards, airs on NBC and Peacock from Nashville's Grand Ole Opry House. Little Big Town serves as hosts of a ceremony that includes notable winners Morgan Wallen (The People's Artist), Jelly Roll (four awards, including Male Artist and New Artist) and Lainey Wilson (three awards, including Female Artist). | [410] |
October
[edit]| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Roy Wood Jr. announces he will not return to The Daily Show when it returns from the WGA strike on October 16. Wood had been a correspondent on the Comedy Central program since 2015 and had been regarded as a candidate for the permanent host role (Wood, in an interview with NPR, indicated he would still consider such a role if the network extended it to him). | [411] |
| The NHL's Arizona Coyotes announce they have agreed to end their relationship with Bally Sports Arizona, and that the team has reached a multi-year deal with Scripps Sports to carry Coyote games on Scripps-owned KNXV-DT2 in Phoenix as well as KGUN-DT2/Tucson and KUPX-TV and KSTU-DT2/Salt Lake City. The Coyotes were the last remaining Arizona pro sports team with a contract with Bally Sports Arizona, after the network ceded Arizona Diamondbacks rights back to Major League Baseball (see July 18, 2023, entry) and the NBA's Phoenix Suns and WNBA's Mercury signed new deals with Gray Television (see April 28, 2023, entry). | [412] | |
| 10 | Barry Melrose announces he is stepping down from his hockey analyst role at ESPN due to his being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. A former player and coach (most notably coach of the Los Angeles Kings), Melrose had been a popular part of ESPN's NHL and collegiate hockey coverage since 1994. | [413] |
| 13 | In the wake of the Israel-Hamas war that began on October 7, MSNBC temporarily removes Muslim hosts Ayman Mohyeldin, Mehdi Hasan and Ali Velshi from anchoring duties, with their shows temporarily being replaced by ongoing coverage of the war during the weekend. Their shows returned to air the following weekend. | [414] |
| 17 | Paramount Global announces that it will shutter Showtime's sports division at the end of the year, with all sports content within the company, and any content that may air on Showtime, expected to be produced by CBS Sports beginning in 2024. Showtime Sports launched in 1986 and has been known for its coverage of boxing (primarily under the Showtime Championship Boxing and ShoBox: The New Generation banners) and mixed martial arts (namely the Bellator MMA promotion) on both the Showtime network and pay-per-view. | [415] |
November
[edit]| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Walt Disney Company announces it will acquire the remaining 33% in the streaming service Hulu that it does not already own from NBCUniversal. The $8.61 billion deal is expected to close in 2024. | [416] |
| Stephen Colbert reveals that Taylor Tomlinson will host After Midnight, a new program that will follow his Late Show on CBS' late night schedule beginning in early 2024. | [417] | |
| 7 | WWE announces that its Tuesday night program NXT will move from USA Network to The CW, as part of a five-year deal that starts in October 2024. | [418] |
| 8 | The 57th Annual Country Music Association Awards airs on ABC from Nashville's Bridgestone Arena, with Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning as hosts. | [419] |
| NBC News airs the third 2024 Republican Party presidential debate from Miami. | [420][421] | |
| 9 | The National Women's Soccer League announces four-year media deals with incumbent CBS Sports as well as ESPN, Prime Video, and Scripps Sports. The deals, which will bring $60 million in rights fees to the league per year (40 times what the previous deal with CBS had brought in), will include matches on CBS's and ESPN's respective on-air and streaming platforms, Friday night games on Prime Video, and Saturday night doubleheaders on Scripps-owned Ion Television. | [422] |
| 15 | Giving no initial reason for doing so, Univision news anchor León Krauze announces his departure from the Spanish-language network. Krauze had co-anchored the network's late-night newscast, Noticiero Univision Edición Nocturna, since January 2022, and had spent the prior 10 years as news anchor for Univision's Los Angeles O&O, KMEX-DT. | [423] |
| 23 | The 97th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade broadcast attracts a record TV audience for NBC, with 28.5 million total viewers watching the event on NBC or Peacock (22.3 million for the live morning broadcast alone). | [424] |
| 26 | The live broadcast of the NFL RedZone channel is interrupted by a fire alarm inside the NFL Network studio in Inglewood, California; the alarm, which turns out to be a false one, forces host Scott Hanson and the channel's production crew to temporarily evacuate the studio (viewers would see coverage of the Buffalo Bills/Philadelphia Eagles game in the interim). | [425] |
| 29 | NASCAR announces seven-year deals for its top-tier Cup Series, beginning in 2025, with Fox Sports, NBC Sports, Prime Video, and TNT Sports. The deals will see incumbents Fox and NBC carry an equal number of 14 races each season, but also see new partners Prime Video and TNT not only split a mid-season package of 10 races but also exclusively carry practice and qualifying sessions for every Cup Series race. | [426] |
| 30 | Bailey Cable TV, a TV/internet provider serving small towns in southwestern Mississippi and eastern Louisiana, closes operations and disconnects service to customers without advance warning. | [427] |
| After the two sides fail to reach a retransmission agreement before a 5PM (Pacific Time) deadline, 66 stations (in 52 markets) owned by Tegna Inc. are removed from the DirecTV satellite service. The signals would be restored on January 13, 2024, after Tegna and DirecTV reach a new agreement. | [428][429] | |
| In what the network bills as “The Great Red vs. Blue State Debate,” Sean Hannity moderates a debate on Fox News between two state governors with confirmed or rumored presidential aspirations, Florida Republican Ron DeSantis (who was seeking the GOP nomination for president in 2024) and California Democrat Gavin Newsom (who's been regarded as possibly contending for his party's nomination in 2028). | [430] |
December
[edit]| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Six months after the company terminated a proposed sale of the stations to Forum Communications (see June 6 entry), Red River Broadcasting enters into an agreement to sell Fox affiliates KVRR/Fargo–Moorhead and KQDS/Duluth–Superior to Coastal Television Broadcasting Company; the stations are Red River's last remaining TV properties, and the transaction, which is subject to FCC approval, is later priced at $18.1 million. | [431][432] |
| 6 | The five major commercial broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, The CW, Fox, and NBC) begin their prime-time schedules by simulcasting an "in memoriam" tribute card to the legendary producer Norman Lear, who died the previous day. | [433] |
| The fourth 2024 Republican Party presidential debate is held in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, airing on NewsNation and simulcast on The CW. It's the first national news program for the latter network since its 2022 purchase by Nexstar Media Group, and it becomes the last of the five major English-language commercial broadcast networks in the United States to offer news programming. | [434][435] | |
| 7 | Amazon Prime Video announces it has reached an agreement to carry Premier Boxing Champions events beginning in 2024, both pay-per-view events available to purchase on streaming, cable, and satellite, as well as additional bouts and ancillary programming available to Prime Video subscribers only. The deal, which is projected to feature 12-14 events in its first year, replaces PBC's relationship with Showtime in the wake of that cable network's exit from sports productions (see October 17 entry). | [436] |
| 15 | Mayim Bialik announced that she was fired from Jeopardy! Bialik had shared hosting duties on the syndicated game show with Ken Jennings, who has been the show's sole host since May (after Bialik stepped back in support of the show's striking writers) and will go forward in that same capacity. | [437][438] |
| The 50th Daytime Emmy Awards, the first major showbiz award event since the resolution of the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes (it had been rescheduled from June 16 due to the WGA strike), air on CBS from Los Angeles' Westin Bonaventure Hotel. Kevin Frazier and Nischelle Turner host the ceremony that sees such notable winners as General Hospital (Outstanding Drama Series), The Kelly Clarkson Show (Outstanding Talk Series), and Susan Lucci and Maury Povich (Lifetime Achievement Awards). | [439][440] [441] | |
| 19 | A helicopter operated by ABC O&O WPVI-TV/Philadelphia crashes in a wooded area in Washington Township, Burlington County, New Jersey, killing pilot Monroe Smith and camera operator Christopher Dougherty. | [442] |
| 26 | Stating the need remains to continue ensuring competition and diversity of viewpoint, the FCC announces in its quadrennial ownership review that it will uphold restrictions that forbid common ownership of two of the four major TV networks, and strengthen rules that forbid one entity from owning every TV station in a single market (with case-specific requests for ownership of more than one of a market's top-four stations still considered). Broadcasters had lobbied for the loosening of station ownership rules, citing loss of audience share to streaming services. | [443] |
| 28 | Altice USA announces it has sold Cheddar, the millennial-targeting business news channel, to the media company Archetype; the financial terms are undisclosed. | [444] |
| 29 | Paramount-owned over-the-air network Dabl receives a major rebrand. The network also transitions into broadcasting Black sitcoms, after four years of airing lifestyle-oriented programs. |
Television shows
[edit]Shows debuting in 2023
[edit]Shows changing networks
[edit]| Show | Moved from | Moved to | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta | VH1 | MTV | [445] |
| RuPaul's Drag Race | [446] | ||
| All Star Shore | Paramount+ | [447] | |
| FBI True | CBS | [448] | |
| Inside the NFL | The CW | [449] | |
| Miss USA | FYI | [450] | |
| FBOY Island | HBO Max | [451] | |
| Summer Camp Island | Cartoon Network | [452] | |
| Minx | Starz | [453] | |
| Miss Universe | Fox | The Roku Channel | [454] |
| Kevin Hart's Muscle Car Crew | Motor Trend | [455] | |
| The Nevers | HBO | Tubi | [456] |
| Screen Actors Guild Awards | TNT/TBS | YouTube[note 27] | [93] |
| Warrior | Cinemax | Max | [457] |
| Joe Pickett | Spectrum Originals | Paramount+ | [458] |
| Superstar Racing Experience | CBS | ESPN | [459] |
| Dancing with the Stars | Disney+ | ABC/Disney+[note 28] | [460] |
| Below Deck Down Under | Peacock | Bravo | [461] |
| The Real Housewives of Miami | [462] | ||
| NFL Sunday Ticket | DirecTV | YouTube TV[note 19] | [463][464] |
Milestone episodes and anniversaries
[edit]| Show | Network | Episode # | Episode title | Episode airdate | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Family Guy | Fox | 400th episode | "Love Story Guy"[note 29] | January 8 | [465] |
| Jimmy Kimmel Live! | ABC | 20th anniversary | "George Clooney, Snoop Dogg, Coldplay" | January 26 | [466] |
| Bob's Burgers | Fox | 250th episode | "Oh Row You Didn't" | February 19 | [465][467] |
| Chicago P.D. | NBC | 200th episode | "Trapped" | February 22 | [468][469] |
| RuPaul's Drag Race | MTV | "The Crystal Ball: Episode 200" | February 24 | [470] | |
| NCIS | CBS | 450th episode | "Unusual Suspects" | February 27 | [471] |
| The Lead with Jake Tapper | CNN | 10th anniversary | "March 17, 2023" | March 17 | [472] |
| The Blacklist | NBC | 200th episode | "The Hyena" | March 19 | [473][474] |
| The Young and the Restless | CBS | 50th anniversary | "3/22/2023" | March 22 | [475][476] |
| All In with Chris Hayes | MSNBC | 10th anniversary | March 31, 2023 | March 31 | [citation needed] |
| General Hospital | ABC | 60th anniversary | Multiple | March 31 April 3–7 | [477] |
| The Neighborhood | CBS | 100th episode | "Welcome to the Milestone" | April 10 | [478][479] |
| The Bold and the Beautiful | 9,000th episode | "4/18/2023" | April 18 | [480] | |
| Power Rangers | Netflix | 30th anniversary | "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always" | April 19 | [481] |
| American Dad! | TBS | 350th episode | "Better on Paper" | May 8 | |
| The Simpsons | Fox | 750th episode | "Homer's Adventures Through the Windshield Glass" | May 21 | [482] |
| FBI | CBS | 100th episode | "God Complex" | May 23 | [483][484] |
| On Patrol: Live | Reelz | "072923" | July 29 | [485] | |
| AEW Dynamite | TBS | 200th episode | "Dynamite 200" | August 2 | [486] |
| When Calls the Heart | Hallmark Channel | 100th episode | "Life Is But a Dream" | August 27 | [487] |
| Anderson Cooper 360° | CNN | 20th anniversary | "September 8, 2023" | September 8 | [488] |
| The Rachel Maddow Show | MSNBC | 15th anniversary | "September 11, 2023" | September 11 | [489] |
Shows returning in 2023
[edit]| Show | Last aired | Type of return | Previous channel | Returning channel | Return date | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lingo | 2011 | Revival | Game Show Network | CBS | January 11 | [490][491] |
| Night Court | 1992 | NBC | same | January 17 | [492][493] | |
| Are You the One? | 2019 | New season | MTV | Paramount+ | January 18 | [494] |
| Kitten Bowl (as Great American Rescue Bowl) | 2021 | Revival | Hallmark Channel | Great American Family | February 12 | [495] |
| XFL | 2020 | New season | ESPN/ABC/Fox/FS1 | ESPN/ABC/FX | February 18 | [496] |
| Magnum P.I. | 2022 | CBS | NBC | February 19 | [497][493] | |
| Party Down | 2010 | Revival | Starz | same | February 24 | [498][499] |
| Farmer Wants a Wife | 2008 | Reboot | The CW | Fox | March 8 | [500] |
| Split Second | 1987 | Revival | First-run syndication | Game Show Network | April 17 | [501][502] |
| Clone High | 2003 | MTV | Max | May 23 | [503][504][505][506] | |
| Warrior | 2020 | New season | Cinemax | June 29 | [457][507] | |
| Project Greenlight (as Project Greenlight: A New Generation) | 2015 | Revival | HBO | July 13 | [508] | |
| Justified (as Justified: City Primeval) | FX | same | July 18 | [509][510] | ||
| Futurama | 2013 | New season | Comedy Central | Hulu | July 24 | [511][512][513] |
| Big Ten on CBS (as The Home Depot Big Ten on CBS) | 1986 | Revival | CBS | same | September 2 | [514][515] |
| Kitchen Nightmares | 2014 | New season | Fox | September 25 | [516] | |
| Wild Kingdom (as Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom Protecting the Wild) | 2018 | Revival | YouTube | NBC | October 7 | [517] |
| Frasier | 2004 | NBC | Paramount+ | October 12 | [518][519] | |
| Hollywood Squares (as Celebrity Squares) | 2019 | VH1 | same | October 17 | [520] | |
| Aqua Teen Hunger Force | 2015 | Adult Swim | November 26 | [521][522] |
Shows ending in 2023
[edit]Entering syndication in 2023
[edit]A list of programs (current or canceled) that have accumulated enough episodes (between 65 and 100) or seasons (three or more) to be eligible for off-network syndication and/or basic cable runs.
| Show | Seasons | In Production | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S.W.A.T. | 6 | Yes | Cable syndication on We TV. | [714] |
| Insecure | 5 | No | Cable syndication on OWN. | [715] |
| FBI | Yes | Broadcast syndication on Ion Television. | [716] | |
| Man with a Plan | 4 | No | Digital syndication on Laff. | [717] |
| People Puzzler | 3 | No | Broadcast syndication to individual stations. | [718] |
Networks and services
[edit]Launches
[edit]| Network | Type | Launch date | Notes | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CBS News Detroit | OTT streaming | January 23 | On December 14, 2021, CBS News and Stations announced that it would launch CBS News Detroit, a hybrid news department utilizing resources from their Detroit duopoly of CBS O&O WWJ-TV and CW O&O WKBD-TV, which relaunched in-house news operations for the first time since their previous effort was discontinued in December 2002; the news department and streaming channel was originally planned to launch in the second or third quarter of 2022, but was delayed until January due to pandemic-related broadcast equipment supply issues. CBS News Detroit launched with the news operation on January 23 (see that date's entry in the "Events" section), initially offering supplemental national content from the CBS News streaming service for much of its schedule, outside of simulcasts of WWJ's initial two weeknight newscasts and a half-hour streaming-exclusive extension of its early evening edition. Collectively, CBS News Detroit is expected to eventually produce 137 hours per week of live news programming (40 hours of which consists of WWJ/WKBD news simulcasts), along with national CBS News streaming content. | [29][719] [32][33] |
| The Cowgirl Channel | Cable/satellite and OTT streaming | February 5 | A spinoff of The Cowboy Channel, the Rural Media Group-owned network focuses on content dedicated to women in western sports. Programming includes live professional rodeo and other western sporting events (including barrel racing, breakaway roping and women's ranch rodeo events), and western-themed lifestyle content (such as fashion and home design programs). The Cowgirl Channel was initially available on Dish Network and Sling TV, along with live streaming and VOD content being made available on its sister network's dedicated OTT streaming service, Cowboy Channel+. | [720][721] |
| CBS Sports Golazo Network | OTT streaming | April 11 | A soccer-focused OTT network from CBS Sports, the network (which is based out of Stamford, Connecticut) features a new weekday morning snow called Morning Footy, live studio programming for the UEFA Champions League and NWSL, breaking news programming and select live matches from CBS's soccer properties. | [722][723] [note 30] |
| Spectrum News+ | OTT streaming | April 17 | A national cable/streaming news channel operated by Charter Communications-owned Spectrum Networks, the network features reports from Spectrum News' 30+ regional cable news channels (such as New York 1, Bay News 9, Spectrum News 13 and the Spectrum News 1 networks), as well as national and international headlines, weather coverage, special reports and selected original programming from various Spectrum News regional channels. The network—which initially offered a 24-hour rolling news schedule on weekdays, with plans to expand its weekend programming to a 24-hour schedule as well by Summer—was available at launch to Spectrum residential cable customers, the Spectrum News mobile app, and connected TV apps for Roku and Apple TV devices. | [724][725] |
| Court TV Legendary Trials | OTT streaming | July 17 | The E. W. Scripps Company's Scripps Networks unit launched two ad-supported streaming channels—initially available on Amazon Freevee, Fubo, Plex and Xumo Play—serving as extension services of namesake digital multicast networks Court TV and Laff. Court TV Legendary Trials features four-hour blocks of archival, high-profile court cases from the network's library (dating to its initial 1991–2005 existence as a cable channel), featuring commentary and analysis from current Court TV anchors, while Laff More features classic sitcoms and unscripted comedy programs from the 1950s to the 1990s (including many series shown on the linear Laff network) as well as comedy films. | [726] |
| Laff More | ||||
| CNN Max | OTT streaming | September 27 | On August 24, Warner Bros. Discovery announced that it would incorporate live news into company's streaming service Max. | [727] |
| Crunchyroll Channel | OTT streaming | October 11 | On October 4, Sony announced it would launch the Crunchyroll Channel as a free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) network under a partnership between Crunchyroll and its sister channel, Game Show Network. The linear service launched on October 11 for The Roku Channel, LG Channels, and Vizio WatchFree+ platforms. The channel later became available on Amazon Freevee on October 17, and on Pluto TV on February 5, 2024. The initial programming lineup featured Japanese and English versions of anime titles such as Horimiya, Ranking of Kings, Moriarty the Patriot, Psycho-Pass, Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest, Sugar Apple Fairy Tale, To Your Eternity, and Code Geass. | [728][729] [730][731] |
| The Nest | OTA multicast | October 30 | Five months after selling controlling interest in the sports-oriented Stadium to Silver Chalice (see May 29 entry), Sinclair Broadcast Group converts Stadium's OTA channel space into a network of "comfort food programming" (Sinclair's term) that features reruns of home improvement, true crime, reality and celebrity-driven shows. | [732][733] |
| NBCUniversal AVOD networks (27 channels) | OTT streaming | TBD | On June 29, NBCUniversal announced it would launch 27 thematic ad-supported streaming channels—initially available on Xumo Play (owned by corporate parent Comcast) and Amazon Freevee—consisting of content from the company's programming library, and programs sourced from its linear broadcast and cable channels. The networks consist of eight generalized programming services (reality-focused Bravo Vault; true crime networks Oxygen True Crime Archives and American Crimes; entertainment news and reviews channel Rotten Tomatoes; TNBC, featuring sitcoms originated on the 1992–2002 NBC Saturday morning block and other family-oriented comedies; and themed entertainment channels Universal Action, Universal Crime, Universal Monsters and Universal Westerns), two sports channels (sports news and talk service NBC Sports; and GolfPass, an extension of Golf Channel featuring news and features programs, and the linear network's original magazine and instructional programs), four Telemundo-based Spanish-language channels (romance-focused entertainment network Historias de Amor; Lo Mejor de Telemundo, featuring selected original reality series, dramas and telenovelas from the network; 24-hour streaming news service Noticias Telemundo Ahora; and entertainment and sports news service Telemundo al Día), and 13 series-specific channels (devoted to the Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Real Housewives, Top Chef, Million Dollar Listing, Bad Girls Club and Saved by the Bell franchises, Saturday Night Live, Little House on the Prairie, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Lassie, The Lone Ranger, Made in Chelsea and Murder, She Wrote). | [734] |
| Now TV | vMVPD streaming | On May 23, Comcast announced that it would launch an American version of Now, the vMVPD streaming service operated by its Sky Group division in the United Kingdom and Europe, which will be available to Xfinity Internet customers through the Xfinity Stream app on supported devices (including Xfinity Flex, Fire TV, iOS and Android devices), and via casting through AirPlay and Google Chromecast. The discount service will initially feature a lineup of around 40 channels from companies that include A&E Networks; AMC Networks; Allen Media Group; Crown Media Holdings; Great American Media; Sony Pictures Television and Warner Bros. Discovery (including A&E, Discovery Channel, History, AMC, Lifetime, Great American Family, Hallmark Channel, Game Show Network, The Weather Channel and Food Network), and over 20 free ad-supported television (FAST) channels operated by NBC, Sky and Xumo Play (such as NBC News Now and Sky News), as well as complimentary access to the ad-supported version of Peacock's premium tier (which Comcast will cease offering separately at no additional charge to subscribers of Xfinity's Internet tiers on June 26). | [735][736] |
Conversions and rebrandings
[edit]| Old network name | New network name | Type | Conversion date | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newsy | Scripps News | OTA multicast and OTT streaming | January 1 | The E. W. Scripps Company announced on September 29, 2022, that it would rebrand Newsy as Scripps News, a rebranding that is part of a broader corporate reorganization of Scripps' national news services—including its Washington, D.C. bureau and the Scripps Local Media unit's Denver-based national desk—into a singular division under the same name. The move comes 1+1⁄2 years after a previous rebrand that saw Newsy expand its weekday live news and original news/interview programming, coinciding with the network's transition from a cable to an OTA multicast distribution model. (Scripps-owned Court TV—which offers a weekday block of trial coverage and crime-related news programming—remains under the oversight of the company's president of network news, Kate O'Brian, who is executive vice president of the new division.) At the start of June, Scripps's traditional broadcast stations began to carry a daily hour of Scripps news programming, replacing the hour formerly held by the internally-produced The List and The Upside. | [737] |
| Epix | MGM+ | OTT streaming and cable/satellite | January 15 | On September 28, 2022, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer announced that it would rebrand Epix and its companion OTT streaming service Epix Now as MGM+ on January 15, 2023, as part of a broader effort to realign the service with the MGM brand and as a streaming-first platform with accompanying linear channel offerings. The rebranded service's three linear multiplex channels were renamed accordingly: Epix 2 as MGM+ Hits, Epix Hits as MGM+ Marquee and Epix Drive-In as MGM+ Drive-In. | [738] |
| Decades | Catchy Comedy | OTA multicast and vMVPD streaming | March 27 | On February 13, Weigel Broadcasting announced that it would rebrand Decades as Catchy Comedy on March 27, as part of the classic television network's broader shift from a general entertainment format towards classic sitcoms. The rebranded network's schedule features a thematic block format on weekdays (featuring family-oriented sitcoms in the morning, female-driven sitcoms in daytime, comedies from the Norman Lear library in prime time, and "smart" comedies in late night), while the weekend "Decades Binge" block was rebranded as "The Catchy Binge," focusing on binge-style marathons of various classic comedies. | [739] |
| Classic Reruns TV | NOST | OTA multicast and OTT streaming | April 3 | On April 3, Classic Broadcasting rebranded Classic Reruns TV as NOST: The Nostalgia Network, shifting the network's format from classic television series to older licensed and public domain movies from the 1940s through the early 1980s. The rebranded network's schedule incorporates thematic film blocks, including westerns on midday weekdays, a nightly "Primetime Spotlight" presentation, weekly "matinee" films on Saturday mornings, and the science fiction and horror movie showcase Lord Blood-Rah's Nerve Wrackin' Theatre on Saturday nights. | [740] |
| HBO Max | Max | OTT streaming | May 23 | On April 12, Warner Bros. Discovery announced it would relaunch HBO Max as Max, featuring content from HBO Max's and much of Discovery+'s libraries (including original content as well as content from various WBD brands such as Warner Bros., New Line Cinema, CNN, Discovery Channel, HGTV, Food Network, Cartoon Network and Warner Bros. Animation). Originally announced on August 4, 2022, the combined service was originally planned to operate on Discovery+'s existing app infrastructure and utilize that service's technical operations (as HBO Max ran on the infrastructure originally designed to support the smaller content selection and less intensive technical demands of the predecessor HBO Go and HBO Now services); however, WBD abandoned plans to fully integrate the services on February 23, choosing to maintain Discovery+ as a standalone platform due to the higher price point for Max, while incorporating much of the service's content library into Max. In addition to maintaining HBO Max's ad-free and ad-supported tiers at their existing price points (with user profiles, watch histories and other settings being ported to the relaunched service), Max included a tertiary "Ultimate" ad-free tier that features an expanded catalog of 4K UHD content (previously available to lower-tier subscribers) and Dolby Atmos surround sound. | [741][742] [743][744] [745] |
| LX News | NBC LX Home | OTA multicast and OTT streaming | August | Approximately 40 staffers at LX News were told on May 3 that NBCUniversal would be "winding down" the service, with a closure date expected in mid-2023 and employees being considered for other positions within the NBCU portfolio. LX News featured news/lifestyle features and longform content geared toward Gen Z and millennial audiences. Following the rebrand, NBC LX Home now airs LXTV produced lifestyle programs. | [746][747] |
| NBC Sports Washington | Monumental Sports Network | Regional sports network | September 12 | In August 2022, Monumental Sports & Entertainment purchased NBC Sports Washington from NBCUniversal. Monumental owns the Washington Wizards, Washington Capitals and Washington Mystics, all of which have television rights agreements with the network. In June 2023, Monumental announced plans to rebrand the network in September 2023. | [748][749] |
| AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh | SportsNet Pittsburgh | October 2 | On August 31, 2023, the Pittsburgh Penguins announced its intent to purchase AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh and rebrand it as SportsNet Pittsburgh on October 2. NESN, which is owned by Penguins owner Fenway Sports Group, operates the network. The purchase comes after AT&T SportsNet owner Warner Bros. Discovery announced in February they were leaving the regional sports network business. | [750] | |
| AT&T SportsNet Southwest | Space City Home Network | October 3 | On September 16, 2023, the Houston Chronicle reported that the Houston Astros and Houston Rockets planned to purchase AT&T SportsNet Southwest and rebrand it as Space City Home Network prior to the start of the 2023–24 Houston Rockets season. | [751][752] | |
| Dabl | same | OTA multicast | December 29 | On December 21, Paramount Global announced that it would rebrand Dabl as an African American-oriented network, focusing on sitcoms that features a predominantly black cast from the 1990s to the 2000s. As part of the rebrand, its OTT streaming network on Pluto TV was discontinued. |
Closures
[edit]| Network | Type | End date | Notes | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DirecTV Red Zone Channel | Satellite | January 8 | In December 2022, with the announcement that rights to NFL Sunday Ticket moved from DirecTV exclusively to YouTube (though it continues to carry the service for commercial and hospitality establishments under a subcontract), it was confirmed that the service would not produce its own equivalent, and would simply distribute the NFL Network-produced RedZone. | [753] |
| PeopleTV | OTT streaming | January 31 | On January 24, Dotdash Meredith began notifying carriers of the streaming entertainment news and lifestyle channel (which include vMVPD providers Philo and FuboTV, and AVOD streaming services Tubi, Local Now, DistroTV, Stirr and Xumo Play) that it would shut down PeopleTV, a spin-off of the entertainment magazine, effective January 31. | [754] |
| TrueReal | OTA multicast | March 27 | On March 10, the E. W. Scripps Company announced that it would discontinue TrueReal, effective March 27, and fold selected programming from its lineup (such as Storage Wars and Parking Wars) into the schedule of sister multicast network Defy TV; both networks had featured reruns of unscripted programming from the A&E Networks library, and had targeted different audiences in the 25-54 age group (TrueReal for women, Defy towards men), since jointly launching in July 2021. Scripps leased TrueReal's transponder space to Jewelry Television, which filled the network's subchannel placements on Scripps- and Inyo Broadcast Holdings-owned stations. | [755] |
| VRV | OTT streaming | May 8 | On April 3, Crunchyroll, LLC announced that the anime, speculative fiction and gaming-centered streaming service would cease operating as a standalone service and integrate much of its content with the parent company's namesake service, effective May 3; existing VRV subscriptions (including watch histories and queues) migrated to the Crunchyroll Premium service. The dissolution of VRV—launched in November 2016 as a joint venture between AT&T and the Chernin Group, and consisting of content from Crunchyroll and Mondo Media in addition to the premium tier VRV Select—is part of a broader consolidation of Crunchyroll, LLC's international anime streaming platforms (including Funimation and Wakanim) into the existing Crunchyroll platform, which Sony Pictures and Aniplex acquired from WarnerMedia in August 2021. | [756] |
| Bally Sports Arizona | Regional sports network | October 21 | On October 13, Bally Sports Arizona announced on Twitter that it was shutting down. The network had lost the rights to its three professional sports teams due to its parent company's ongoing bankruptcy. | [757] |
| SportsNet Rocky Mountain | December 31 | On September 5, The Denver Post reported that AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain had notified its employees that the network would shut down at the end of the year. October 6 was the last day of work for full-time employees. | [758] | |
| Stadium College Sports | Cable network | With Sinclair's sale of their stake in Stadium in full to Silver Chalice and the Stadium network being replaced over-the-air with The Nest, Stadium College Sports was quietly and ultimately shut down on December 31, 2023. | [759] | |
| Circle | OTA multicast | On November 10, Gray Television announced that it would discontinue broadcast operations of Circle Network after December 31, with programming transitioning to streaming and other digital distribution platforms. | [760] | |
| Twist | In a video uploaded to Vimeo on November 15, Tegna announced that it planned to shut down Twist. The network, which launched on April 5, 2021, featured reruns of reality programming aimed at women in the 25–34 age group, sourced from the NBCUniversal library. | [761][762] |
Television stations
[edit]Station launches
[edit]| Date | Market | Station | Channel | Affiliation | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 9 | Fargo-Grand Forks, North Dakota | KNGF | 27.1 | BEK Sports | Channel 27 in Grand Forks was formerly occupied by KCPM, whose license was canceled on March 9, 2020, for failure to transmit from authorized facilities for the past 12 months. The frequency was put up for auction on June 7, 2022, along with 26 other full-power TV licenses. BEK Sports Network, Inc. was awarded channel 27 with a $6,411,000 winning bid. BEK was formally granted a construction permit for the new station on July 25, 2022. KNGF filed for a license to cover on February 9, 2023, which usually indicates that a station has signed on the air. Prior to KNGF's launch, BEK programming was seen on KRDK-TV (channel 4) during the afternoon and evening hours. | [763][764] [765][766] [767] |
| 27.2 | BEK Sports Plus East | |||||
| 27.3 | BEK Sports Plus West | |||||
| 27.4 | NewsNet | |||||
| September 26 | Flagstaff, Arizona | KAZF | 32.1 | Independent | In 2022, Gray Television participated in an FCC auction of new TV stations and paid $4.648 million for channel 32 in Flagstaff and $1.345 million for channel 11 in Yuma. The FCC approved a request from Gray Television to change the Yuma allotment from VHF channel 11 to UHF channel 27 in February 2023. KAZS, the Yuma station, began broadcasting by September 26, 2023, when KAZF in Flagstaff debuted. | [768][769] [770][771] |
| Yuma, Arizona-El Centro, California | KAZS | 27.1 |
Subchannel launches
[edit]| Date | Market | Station | Channel | Affiliation | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 13 | El Paso, Texas | KVIA-TV | 7.4 | QVC Over the Air | On October 21, 2022, Innovate Corp, the company that owned Azteca America, announced that the network would cease operations on December 31, 2022. Prior to the announcement, TV Azteca had entered into a content and co-production agreement with competitor Estrella TV that will see its news and entertainment programming blended onto that network's schedule.[772] TV Stations were notified of the closure and had switched affiliations to other networks such as Estrella TV and Vision Latina.[773] | [774] |
| January 18 | Caguas-San Juan, Puerto Rico | WLII-DT | 11.3 | Vision Latina | [citation needed] | |
| January 30 | Panama City, Florida | W20DX-D | 20.2 | Jewelry Television | [775] | |
| February 1 | Decatur-Champaign-Springfield, Illinois | WBUI | 23.4 | Rewind TV | [776] | |
| February 28 | Baton Rouge, Louisiana | WVLA-TV | 33.4 | Antenna TV | On February 28, 2023, WVLA added Antenna TV (owned by station parent Nexstar Media Group) to a new subchannel on 33.4, approximately one month after original affiliate WLFT-CD disaffiliated from the network and switched to the religious Sonlife Broadcasting Network upon being purchased by Family Worship Center.[777] | [778] |
| March 28 | Bryan, Texas | KRHD-CD | 15.4 | Jewelry Television | E. W. Scripps Company announced on March 10 that programming from TrueReal would be folded into the schedule of sister multicast network Defy TV (see Closures above). The Scripps spectrum space TrueReal leaves behind will be leased by Scripps to the shopping channel Jewelry Television. | [citation needed] |
| 15.5 | HSN | |||||
| April 14 | Grand Junction, Colorado | KLML | 20.6 | Rewind TV | On April 14, 2023, KLML switched its DT6 subchannel to Rewind TV, two weeks after the demise of TrueReal. | [citation needed] |
| July 1 | Miami, Florida | WFOR-TV | 4.5 | Catchy Comedy | [citation needed] | |
| New York City | WJLP | 33.2 | Comet | |||
| October 2 | Charlotte, North Carolina | WSOC-TV | 9.4 | |||
| October 9 | Twin Falls, Idaho | KSAW-LD | 6.6 | Laff | Changes made to allow Vegas Golden Knights games to air on the newly independent subchannels | [779] |
Stations changing network affiliations
[edit] | This section needs additional citations for verification. (January 2023) |
| Date | Market | Station | Channel | Prior affiliation | New affiliation | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 1 | Albuquerque, New Mexico | KQDF-LD | 25.1 | Azteca America | Vision Latina | On October 21, 2022, Innovate Corp, the company that owned Azteca America, announced that the network would cease operations on December 31, 2022. Prior to the announcement, TV Azteca had entered into a content and co-production agreement with competitor Estrella TV that will see its news and entertainment programming blended onto that network's schedule.[772] Many stations owned by Innovate switched to other networks such as Estrella TV and Vision Latina.[773] | [citation needed] |
| Atlanta, Georgia | WUVM-LD | 4.1 | Estrella TV | [citation needed] | |||
| Baltimore, Maryland– Washington, D.C. | WQAW-LD | 69.1 | Novelisima | [citation needed] | |||
| Baton Rouge, Louisiana | K29LR-D | 47.1 | Estrella TV | [citation needed] | |||
| Boise, Idaho | KFLL-LD | 25.1 | Infomercials | [780] | |||
| Chicago, Illinois | WPVN-CD | 24.1 | Vision Latina | [citation needed] | |||
| Columbus, Georgia | W29FD-D | 43.1 | Defy TV | [781] | |||
| Columbus, Ohio | WDEM-CD | 17.1 | Estrella TV | [citation needed] | |||
| Corpus Christi, Texas | KCCX-LD | 24.1 | Timeless TV | [citation needed] | |||
| Des Moines, Iowa | KRPG-LD | 43.1 | Vision Latina | [citation needed] | |||
| Fort Wayne, Indiana | WCUH-LD | 16.1 | [citation needed] | ||||
| Hartford, Connecticut | WRNT-LD | 32.1 | Timeless TV | [782] | |||
| WTXX-LD | 34.1 | [783] | |||||
| Las Vegas, Nevada | KHDF-CD | 19.1 | Vision Latina | [citation needed] | |||
| Madison, Wisconsin | W23BW-D | 23.1 | Timeless TV | [citation needed] | |||
| Midland–Flint, Michigan | WFFC-LD | 17.1 | Infomercials | [784] | |||
| Milwaukee, Wisconsin | WTSJ-LD | 38.1 | Timeless TV | [citation needed] | |||
| Mobile, Alabama | WWBH-LD | 28.1 | [citation needed] | ||||
| Monterey, California | KBIT-LD | 43.1 | Telemax | [785] | |||
| New Orleans, Louisiana | WTNO-CD | 22.1 | Estrella TV | [citation needed] | |||
| New York City | WKOB-LD | 42.1 | Vision Latina | [786] | |||
| Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | KOHC-CD | 45.1 | Novelisima | [citation needed] | |||
| Orlando, Florida | WFEF-LD | 50.1 | Infomercials | [citation needed] | |||
| Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | WPSJ-CD | 8.1 | Vision Latina | [citation needed] | |||
| Raleigh, North Carolina | WIRP-LD | 27.1 | Estrella TV | [citation needed] | |||
| Sacramento, California | KSAO-LD | 49.1 | NewsNet | [787] | |||
| St. Louis, Missouri | K25NG-D | 25.1 | Estrella TV | [citation needed] | |||
| Salisbury, Maryland | WGDV-LD | 32.1 | MeTV | [788] | |||
| San Juan, Puerto Rico | WOST | 14.2 | Timeless TV | [citation needed] | |||
| San Luis Obispo, California | KSBO-CD | 42.1 | Estrella TV | [citation needed] | |||
| Seattle, Washington | KUSE-LD | 46.1 | Vision Latina | [787] | |||
| Stuart–West Palm Beach, Florida | WWHB-CD | 48.1 | TBD | [citation needed] | |||
| Tampa, Florida | WXAX-CD | 26.1 | beIN Sports Xtra | [citation needed] | |||
| WTAM-LD | 30.1 | Estrella TV | [citation needed] | ||||
| Tucson, Arizona | KUDF-LP | 14.1 | [789] | ||||
| Tyler, Texas | KDKJ-LD | 27.1 | Timeless TV | [citation needed] | |||
| Westgate–Miami, Florida | W16CC-D | 16.1 | Infomercials | [citation needed] | |||
| Wilmington, North Carolina | WQDH-LD | 49.1 | Shop LC | [790] | |||
| February 1 | Santa Maria–San Luis Obispo, California | KCOY-TV | 12.1 | Dabl | Telemundo | [791] | |
| March 1 | Phoenix, Arizona | KPHE-LD | 44.1 | LATV | Independent | On March 11, 2022, Gray Television (owner of CBS affiliate KPHO-TV and independent station KTVK) acquired KPHE-LD from Lotus Communications for $1.75 million; the sale was completed on May 4. Ten months later on January 25, Gray announced that it would convert KPHE into an independent station (branded as the "Arizona's Family Sports and Entertainment Network," the first part referencing KTVK/ KPHO's shared slogan that originated on the former in 2003) on March 1; the station airs simulcasts of most of KTVK/KPHO's newscasts, sporting events (such as Phoenix Rising FC soccer matches, selected games of which will be simulcast on either KTVK or KPHO during the USL regular season, and Arizona Interscholastic Association high school state championship games), and PowerNation-distributed sports and automotive programming. With KTVK, KPHE also serves as the television home of the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA as of May, and the NBA's Phoenix Suns, beginning in October. | [792][793] [794] |
| July 27 | Cincinnati, Ohio | WBQC-LD | 25.1 | Cozi TV | Telemundo | [citation needed] | |
| August 28 | Laughlin–Las Vegas, Nevada | KMCC | 34.1 | Ion Television | Independent | On May 4, as part of the announcement a deal that would bring the games of the National Hockey League's defending champion Vegas Golden Knights to the station starting that Fall (see that entry above), the E. W. Scripps Company announced that KMCC would convert into an independent station later in the year, offering syndicated entertainment programming, news (including local newscasts produced by ABC-affiliated sister KTNV as well as Scripps-distributed news programs), and local sports events. Ion programming moved to the second digital subchannel of KMCC. | [245][246] [244][795] |
| September 1 | Salt Lake City, Utah | KUPX-TV | 16.1 | [796] | |||
| Atlanta, Georgia | WUPA | 69.1 | The CW | Independent | On May 5, CBS News and Stations announced that the company would convert its eight CW-affiliated stations into independents on September 1, intending to fill prime time slots with locally produced programs (including news and live sports, with CBSNS likely to pursue rights to professional sports teams currently held by Bally Sports networks in those markets) and programming from other properties owned by parent company Paramount Global, which sold most of its 50% stake in The CW (as did original co-parent Warner Bros. Discovery, both of which retained 12.5% shares in the network) to Nexstar Media Group in October 2022. CW programming will move to other stations in the affected markets (four of which, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Sacramento and Tampa, are home to stations operated by Nexstar—WPHL, KRON, KTXL and WFLA/WTTA, respectively), while Nexstar partner company Mission Broadcasting is in the process of acquiring WADL in the Detroit market (that station would confirm its switch to The CW—replacing WKBD—through a promotional video posted on its website in late August). On June 14, Nexstar announced that MyNetworkTV affiliates WPHL, KRON and WTTA would switch to The CW on September 1, with MyNetworkTV programming moving to their digital subchannels. CBS's stations in San Francisco and Pittsburgh will also change their callsigns in concert with the affiliation switch on September 1. On August 1, it was announced that KQCA would switch to the CW as part of a broader deal extending the network's affiliations with Hearst-owned stations in six other markets. During the week of August 28, Gray Television—under a deal extending the network's affiliations in eight other markets—announced that WPCH (which had been operating as an independent since its 1967 sign-on and was the originating feed of TBS from 1976 to 2007) would replace WUPA as the network's Atlanta affiliate, while Sinclair Broadcast Group—as part of a renewal deal involving 18 other CW affiliates—agreed to assume the CW affiliations in Seattle (ABC affiliate KOMO-TV, which will become the network's largest subchannel-only affiliate by market size) and Pittsburgh (MyNetworkTV affiliate WPNT), in exchange for letting Nexstar assume the CW affiliation rights in Oklahoma City (which will move from KOCB to KAUT-TV). | [797][798] [799][800] [801][802] [803][804] [805] | |
| WPCH-TV | 17.1 | Independent | The CW | ||||
| Detroit, Michigan | WADL | 38.1 | MyNetworkTV (retained as secondary affiliation) | The CW (primary affiliation) | |||
| WKBD-TV | 50.1 | The CW | Independent | ||||
| Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | KOCB | 34.1 | |||||
| KAUT-TV | 43.1 | Independent | The CW | ||||
| Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | WPHL-TV | 17.1 | MyNetworkTV | The CW | |||
| WPSG | 57.1 | The CW | Independent | ||||
| Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | WPCW→WPKD-TV | 19.1 | |||||
| WPNT | 22.1 | MyNetwork TV | The CW | ||||
| Sacramento–Stockton–Modesto, California | KMAX-TV | 31.1 | The CW | Independent | |||
| KQCA | 58.1 | MyNetworkTV | The CW | ||||
| San Francisco–Oakland–San Jose, California | KRON-TV | 4.1 | |||||
| KBCW→KPYX | 44.1 | The CW | Independent | ||||
| Seattle–Tacoma, Washington | KSTW | 11.1 | |||||
| Tampa–St. Petersburg, Florida | WTTA | 38.1 | MyNetworkTV | The CW | |||
| WSNN-LD | 39.1 | Independent | MyNetworkTV | ||||
| WTOG | 44.1 | The CW | Independent | ||||
| October 30 | Detroit, Michigan | WADL | 38.1 | The CW (primary affiliation) | MyNetworkTV (former secondary affiliation) | Two months after affiliating with The CW, WADL removed the network as part of a compensation dispute before the close of the Mission sale. Four days later, Nexstar announced that WMYD would take over the affiliation as of November 13. | [806][807] |
| November 13 | WMYD | 20.1 | Independent | The CW | |||
| November 20 | Phoenix, Arizona | KASW | 61.1 | The CW | Independent | A little over a month after sister station KNXV-DT2 acquired the rights to the Arizona Coyotes, the E. W. Scripps Company announced that KASW would become an independent to accommodate Scripps's local sports rights. KNXV-DT2 transitioned to carrying The CW on KASW's former pay-TV channel positions, with Antenna TV continuing to air at all other times. | [808] |
| December 18 | Bakersfield, California | KUVI-DT | 45.1 | Twist | Quest |
Subchannels changing network affiliations
[edit] | This section has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
|
| Date | Market | Station | Channel | Prior affiliation | New affiliation | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 1 | Fremont–San Francisco, California | KEMO-TV | 50.4 | Azteca América | Timeless TV | On October 21, 2022, Innovate Corp, the company that owned Azteca America, announced that the network would cease operations on December 31, 2022. Prior to the announcement, TV Azteca had entered into a content and co-production agreement with competitor Estrella TV that will see its news and entertainment programming blended onto that network's schedule.[772] TV Stations were notified on the closure and had switch affiliations to other networks.[773] WTXX-LD, which was also an Azteca America affiliate moved its Timeless TV affiliation to the main subchannel as part of the closure, and WQDH-LD which was also an Azteca America affiliate moved its Shop LC affiliation to the main channel as part of the closure. | [809] |
| Katy–Houston, Texas | KYAZ | 51.3 | MeTV+ | [810] | |||
| Lake Dallas–Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas | KAZD | 55.3 | [811] | ||||
| Los Angeles, California | KWHY-TV | 22.2 | Independent | [citation needed] | |||
| Lubbock, Texas | KNKC-LD | 29.2 | Infomercials | ||||
| Phoenix, Arizona | KMOH-TV | 6.2 | MeTV+ | ||||
| Springfield, Massachusetts– Hartford, Connecticut | WTXX-LD | 34.5 | Timeless TV | ShopHQ | |||
| Weslaco–Harlingen, Texas | KRGV-TV | 5.2 | Azteca América | Novelisima | [812] | ||
| Wilmington, North Carolina | WQDH-LD | 49.3 | Shop LC | Lx | [813] | ||
| February 1 | San Francisco, California | KRON-TV | 4.4 | Quest | Charge! | [814] | |
| March 1 | Greensboro–Winston-Salem–High Point, North Carolina | WGPX-TV | 16.6 | TrueReal | Scripps News | [citation needed] | |
| 16.7 | Scripps News | GetTV | |||||
| 16.8 | HSN | TrueReal | |||||
| WMYV | 48.2 | GetTV | Rewind TV | ||||
| Danville–Lexington, Kentucky | WDKY-TV | 56.4 | TBD | Comet | |||
| March 2 | Belmont–Charlotte, North Carolina | WJZY | 46.4 | Movies! | Grit | ||
| March 28 | Albany–Schenectady–Troy, New York | WXXA-TV | 23.3 | Laff | Grit | E. W. Scripps Company announced on March 10 that programming from TrueReal would be folded into the schedule of sister multicast network Defy TV (see Closures above). The Scripps spectrum space TrueReal leaves behind will be leased by Scripps to the shopping channel Jewelry Television. | [755] |
| WYPX-TV | 55.4 | Grit | Laff | ||||
| 55.6 | TrueReal | Scripps News | |||||
| 55.7 | Scripps News | Jewelry Television | |||||
| Appleton–Green Bay, Wisconsin | WACY-TV | 32.5 | TrueReal | ||||
| Arlington–Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas | KPXD-TV | 68.5 | Scripps News | ||||
| 68.6 | Scripps News | Jewelry Television | |||||
| Atlanta–Rome, Georgia | WPXA-TV | 14.6 | TrueReal | Scripps News | |||
| 14.7 | Scripps News | Jewelry Television | |||||
| Bellevue–Seattle, Washington | KWPX-TV | 33.6 | TrueReal | Scripps News | |||
| 33.7 | Scripps News | Jewelry Television | |||||
| Birmingham, Alabama | WIAT | 42.4 | TrueReal | Defy TV | |||
| Boston, Massachusetts | WBPX-TV | 68.6 | Jewelry Television | ||||
| Bradenton–Tampa, Florida | WXPX-TV | 66.6 | Scripps News | ||||
| 66.7 | Scripps News | Jewelry Television | |||||
| Bryan, Texas | KRHD-CD | 40.3 | TrueReal | Ion Television | |||
| Cedar Rapids, Iowa | KPXR-TV | 48.6 | Scripps News | ||||
| 48.7 | Scripps News | Jewelry Television | |||||
| Charleston
|