NBC News drops gay and race-specific DEI teams in attempt to 'streamline editorial efforts'



NBC News has released several identity-based news teams that cover sexuality- and race-focused stories.

Not only were dozens of employees laid off, but the cuts seemingly came as a surprise.

'Not their first gay rodeo.'

NBC News reportedly made the announcement early on Wednesday, and according to insiders, the bomb was dropped by Executive Vice President of Editorial Catherine Kim. At around 10 a.m., about 150 NBC News staffers were told they were no longer employed during a brief meeting that was described by one source as a "difficult day for a lot of us."

LGB-free

The Wrap reported that the cuts completely eliminated teams who superficially covered news for black, Asian, Latino, and various gay identities. This includes NBC BLK, NBC Asian America, NBC Latino, and NBC OUT.

NBC OUT, for example, describes itself as content driven toward "the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer community."

Recent coverage included, "Queer art faces widespread museum censorship," and "Not their first gay rodeo: Celebrating 50 years of queer cowfolks."

NBC BLK recently published a piece on how a "new exhibit highlights LGBTQ legacy of Harlem Renaissance."

The bizarre content will still live on, but in a less dedicated format.

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Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The Wrap noted that the specific pages will still have stories published regarding the identity groups, but the content will come from a group of just five news team members who will contribute to the pages across the board. Another alleged inside source said the cuts were not meant to target the diversity teams, but rather were driven by budget concerns and a desire to "streamline its editorial efforts."

Ruffled feathers

The shift in personnel comes after Comcast announced a realignment of its networks in August. As reported by Reuters, USA Network, CNBC, and MSNBC will branch off into a new company called Versant. MSNBC will also change its name to "MS NOW" and lose its peacock logo.

The new name is an acronym for "My Source News Opinion World."

MSNBC was launched in 1996 and represented a partnership between Microsoft and the National Broadcasting Company. Microsoft left the venture in 2012, however.

CNBC will keep the same name, which stands for Consumer News and Business Channel.

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Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Divesting diversity

NBC News' total reductions make up about 7% of its 2,000 staffers. The move comes as several companies shift away from their divisive verticals, which haven't always been amicable departures.

In April, Paramount agreed to terminate its diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, which included racial quotas for staff and writers, after it was sued by a white writer who said he was discriminated against.

Then-president and CEO of CBS George Cheeks had said publicly that he set a goal for CBS writing rooms to have 40% non-white staff members, with 17 of 21 networks allegedly meeting or exceeding that target.

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One company may just have killed pay-per-view forever



A pair of monumental streaming deals have likely ended the chances of two major brands ever appearing on pay-per-view again.

In recent years, sports fans have typically only dished out cash for pay-per-view events if they were for boxing, mixed martial arts, or professional wrestling.

'It’s an outdated, antiquated model.'

Fans of the latter two have been left frustrated in recent years, as events they would have simply paid a one-time fee to watch in the past now get locked behind subscription paywalls.

Rope a dope

When the UFC inked a deal with ESPN in 2019, the fight promoter abandoned standard PPV and made its events purchasable only through ESPN+, which requires a separate subscription. Viewers, now effectively required to pay for the opportunity to pay for an event, were understandably miffed.

Meanwhile, WWE, also owned by TKO Holdings along with UFC, has until now been showing its premium events through Comcast's subscription-based streamer Peacock, without an additional fee.

Now, in the span of a week, TKO Holdings may have eliminated this hurdle — and the business model — forever.

As part of its new rights deal, UFC will abandon a PPV scheme, as viewing options slowly creep toward looking like traditional TV again.

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Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

Down for the count

Last week, TKO signed with ESPN to provide the WWE's biggest live events to the Disney-owned network, which will shift ESPN+ to a direct-to-consumer model. Simply put, WWE events will either appear on the ESPN app or on television and the app at the same time.

As for UFC, it will depart ESPN for Paramount, which on Monday acquired the rights to UFC events for $7.7 billion over seven years, per CNBC.

All 13 marquee UFC events along with 30 "Fight Nights" will appear on the Paramount+ app, but it will not charge subscribers an added fee the way ESPN+ did.

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Photo by Waleed Zein/Anadolu via Getty Images

Fight club

What is left are two gigantic brands, no longer on PPV models, with some of the biggest wrestling events of the year appearing on ESPN's cable channels.

"The pay-per-view model is a thing of the past," Mark Shapiro, TKO Group's president, said. "What’s on pay-per-view any more? Boxing? Movies on DirecTV? It’s an outdated, antiquated model," he told CNBC.

"When [fans] find out, 'Wait, if I just sign up for Paramount+ for $12.99 a month, I'm going to automatically get UFC's numbered fights and the rest of the portfolio?' That's a message we want to amplify."

For now, subscription models may reign supreme, but it seems entirely possible that premium products may wind up being free for viewers on whichever type of screen they choose to view it on, even if it is the dreaded living-room TV.

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‘The Office’ new spin-off series has been greenlit, but will it flop?



In a development that could be either devastating or thrilling for fans of “The Office,” the famous show has been greenlit for a spin-off series.

The Peacock series will be a fresh mockumentary featuring a brand-new cast within the same universe as Dunder Mifflin — where all the fan favorite characters worked. However, the show will not be set in Scranton, Pennsylvania, but instead at a failing Midwestern paper company.

“Because this new series will technically be a spin-off instead of a straight reboot, we are at least avoiding the possibility that we get black trans Michael Scott or, I don’t know, nonbinary Mexican Jim Halpert,” Lauren Chen says, who is admittedly a huge fan of the original series.

But Chen is skeptical.

“NBC has been so very blatant in marketing it specifically as a spin-off to ‘The Office,’” Chen says. "They had the opportunity, there was the possibility, of just marketing this new as of yet untitled show as a new sitcom from the creator of ‘The Office.’”

“However, the fact that they are really making it clear that no, this is a spin-off of ‘The Office’ and it’s the same universe, it kind of seems like they’re cheaply trying to attach ‘The Office’ and all the goodwill and fandom that show now has to this new thing.”

“It feels very cheap,” she adds.

While fans of “The Office” have hoped that old cast members will return to the new show, Chen says the “lead stars of the original series are absolutely not interested in it.”

Steve Carell, who played Michael Scott in the original series, shot the idea down right away in an appearance on Stephen Colbert’s show.

“I doubt it,” Scott said when Colbert asked if he’d appear in the show.

“He’s not interested; he’s not in it,” Chen says.

“Keep in mind, this is someone who didn’t even want to finish the rest of the original series. He peaced out.”

John Krasinski, who played the beloved Jim Halpert in the original series, has also said he won’t be in the spin-off series either.

“I’m just not confident that it’s going to be done well. Maybe I’ll be proven wrong,” Chen says.


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Toby Keith shares update on his battle with stomach cancer, revealing what's kept him going: 'He's been riding shotgun with me'



Country music legend Toby Keith announced in June 2022 that he was battling stomach cancer and had been undergoing chemotherapy for several months.

"So far, so good," he reassured fans, noting that he needed time "to breathe."

Ahead of receiving the Country Icon Award at the inaugural People's Choice Country Awards on Thursday, the 62-year-old Oklahoma native indicated how he purposed some of those precious breaths.

"I lean on my faith, and I just pray," he told Fox News Digital. "You gotta do what you gotta do, and I don't know how people do it without faith. ... That's that what I did."

Keith emphasized that throughout his battle, faith "was [his] rock."

Upon being presented the award Thursday night by fellow country star and Christian Blake Shelton, Keith joked, "I bet y'all never thought you would see me in skinny jeans."

While he made sure to thank his family, fans, and collaborators, he singled out his creator, saying, "I want to thank the Almighty for allowing me to be here tonight. He's been riding shotgun with me for a little while."

the man, the myth, the LEGEND. @tobykeith is your 2023 @peopleschoice country icon! \ud83e\udd29 watch the #PCCAs now on NBC and @peacock.
— NBC Entertainment (@NBC Entertainment) 1695949842

He appears to have an edge in his battle with cancer, telling E! News, "I feel pretty good. ... It's a little bit of a roller coaster. You get good days and, you know, you're up and down, up and gown [sic]. It's always zero to 60 and 60 to zero but I feel good today."

In June, the musician revealed to the Oklahoman that his tumor had shrunk by a third and that everything was "in a real positive trend."

At the award show, Keith played "Don't Let the Old Man In" from Clint Eastwood's 2018 film "The Mule" before an audience of misty eyes.

Concerning his choice of song, Keith told NBC, "Coming back on TV for the first time and performing live in front of a live audience, I thought it was fitting."

Keith sings in the song, "When he rides up on his horse,/ And you feel that cold, bitter wind, / Look out your window and smile. / Don't let the old man in."

Keith noted he looks forward to return to performing in the fall if "everything goes good."

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MSNBC-linked Mehdi Hasan suggests imagining 'if liberals or the Dems had ... an actual propaganda arm'



Leftist media figure Mehdi Hasan suggested imagining a situation in which the left had "an actual propaganda arm" that frequently targeted former President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

"Imagine if liberals or the Dems had a nationwide messaging apparatus, an actual propaganda arm, which pumped out Jared Kushner’s name and alleged misdeeds daily, 100s of times," he wrote. "Then you start to understand the messaging imbalance in this country & how GOP gets away with so much."

Hasan, who hosts a show that appears on the notoriously left-leaning cable channel MSNBC and streams on Peacock, made the comments in response to a tweet in which Aaron Rupar had said that "Hunter Biden has already been mentioned at least 104 times *this morning* on Fox News and Fox Business, according to a transcript search. It's not 10am eastern yet."

People pounced on Hasan's comment.

"That's literally what your network is," Brad Polumbo responded.

"You work for MSNBC," Nicholas Fondacaro tweeted.

"Lol, you’re joking right? Msnbc and cnn are the dnc propaganda arm," someone else wrote.

"Most of us call that the mainstream media," another person tweeted.

"They do. It’s called the media (Even though it should branded satire). You are a part of that messaging apparatus," someone else commented.

"The absolute most hypocritical and mindless tweet for the day," another commenter declared.

"I don't have to imagine it. You're it," another person wrote.

— (@)

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