Statement: Award-Winning Journalist Marc Lamont Hill Joins TheGrio, ‘NBC News Daily’ Inherits ‘Days Of Our Lives’ Timeslot, And CNN’s Bernard Shaw Dies At 82

Cindy Hsu - CBS

Broadcast: Cindy Hsu, the President of the New York Chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association, will anchor the 9 a.m. WCBS News in New York. Hsu is an Emmy award-winning reporter and anchor who has been at CBS New York since 1993. She also received the New York AP Broadcasters Award for Best Feature for her story Bringing Rosie Home, detailing her daughter’s international adoption story. “I am excited to embrace this opportunity to support and anchor a new daily newscast that reflects my values and passions, first and foremost as a community journalist, and also as a mother, dog mom, and healthcare advocate,” Hsu said. The newscast premiered Monday, September 12.

Lisa Bashi is named the Chief Financial Officer at Team Whistle, a sports and entertainment media company under Eleven Group—an award-winning media platform and technology company. Before joining Team Whistle, Bashi was the Head of Finance at Overtime, a sports publishing, and influencer brand. Michael Cohen the CEO of Team Whistle said, “As Team Whistle continues to mature, with continued viewership and engagement growth, as well as branded deals and agency partnerships, the time was right to bring in new talent to manage our financial performance moving forward. Lisa brings a wealth of experience. We are thrilled to have her.”

Michelle Robinson Harper is the newest general manager of WBTV in Charlotte, North Carolina. Harper began the role Tuesday, September 6, and was previously the general manager of Cox Media Group’s WHBQ-TV in Memphis for three years.

Brenda Matute is the newest co-anchor for the 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts for KMBT-TV in Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas. Her previous experience includes being the morning anchor at KVEO-TV in Harlingen, Texas. Her new role was effective September 5.

Later this month, Brandice Bailey will begin her new role as Vice President and News Director at Fox-owned station WITI Milwaukee. Bailey’s experience includes working as an executive producer at WTJV Miami, KPIX San Francisco, and CNN International in Atlanta. Bailey said in a statement, “I am thrilled at the opportunity to return to the Fox family at a station with an incomparable legacy,” said Bailey. “Not only am I looking forward to being in the electrifying Milwaukee market, but I am eager to attend my first Bucks’ and Packers’ games.”

NBC News Daily inherits the Days of our Lives timeslot on NBC following the announcement the soap opera will be moving exclusively to Peacock streaming after 57 years on the network. The anchors for the newest news program include Kate Snow, Aaron Gilchrist, Vicky Nguyen, and Morgan Radford. The news show will also stream on NBC News NOW and Peacock. The soap opera began exclusively streaming on Peacock Tuesday, September 12, after airing 14,000 episodes since its debut in 1965. Mark Lazarus, chairman of NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, said in a statement, “With a large percentage of the Days of Our Lives audience already watching digitally, this move enables us to build the show’s loyal fanbase on streaming while simultaneously bolstering the network daytime offering with an urgent, live programming opportunity for partners and consumers.”

Boston has a new meteorologist for Hearst TV’s WCVB-TV evening weekend newscast. David Williams joined the StormTeam 5 on August 20, replacing the previous meteorologist, Mike Wankum. “His command of the latest weather technology and his commitment to keeping people safe will make him a tremendous asset in a region where weather extremes are now the norm. I know our entire weather team is as excited as I am to welcome David to Channel 5,” said News Director Margaret Cronan.

Following changes to their management structure, Corey Hanson and other General Managers were assigned more VP oversight by Gray Television. Corey Hanson, the General Manager of KPTV and KPDX in Portland, Oregon, will now oversee Gray Television stations in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau, Alaska.

CNN mourns the loss of Bernard Shaw, CNN’s first Chief News Anchor, and a trailblazing Black journalist. The Hollywood Reporter states the news anchor passed at 82 years old from complications from pneumonia. Shaw is credited for bringing CNN to the mainstream with his on-the-ground coverage of the Gulf War in 1991. Shaw was indicted into the NABJ hall of fame in 2014. He told NPR in 2014, “If I’m covering a story that’s of particular interest to African-Americans, I want to be certain that I cover that story as thoroughly as possible, as I would any other story. And being African-American, I would be the critic most critical of me if I failed to do the best job possible with that story.”

Fox News Media also mourns the loss of Uma Pemmaraju, the first Indian-American anchor to regularly appear on national TV. As a founding anchor at Fox News Channel, Pemmaraju was with the network when it launched in 1996, hosting Fox News Now. Born in India, the journalist received her degree at Trinity University in Texas and was also a teacher at Emerson College and Harvard University. She was 64 years old. “Uma was an incredibly talented journalist as well as a warm and lovely person, best known for her kindness to everyone she worked with. We extend our heartfelt condolences to her entire family,” said Suzanne Scott, Fox News Media CEO.

Marc Lamont Hill - Prince Williams

Cable: Last month, Allen Media Group announced their acquisition of the Black News Channel following the network’s filing for bankruptcy in March 2022. Allen Media Group, owned by Byron Allen, merged the BNC with TheGrio and aims to mark a new age of Black-focused news and will add 300 million linear and digital subscribers to the AMG portfolio. TheGrio is available on Charter/Spectrum, Comcast Xfinity, Cox, DirectTV, Dish Network, Verizon Fios, Vizio, AT&T U-verse, FreebieTV, TiVo, IMDB.tv and Redbox. The channel is also available on Amazon Prime, DirecTV Stream, Fire TV, Freevee, PlutoTV, TiVo, and XUMO.

Award-winning journalist, author, activist, and television host Marc Lamont Hill will join TheGrio as the host of a daily one-hour television show and a weekly podcast for TGBPN. Hill’s prior accomplishments include being named one of the 100 Most Influential Black Leaders by Ebony magazine and The Root 100. He has also been awarded numerous times by the National Association of Black Journalists, the National Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, and GLAAD. Hill earned his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania and is a professor of media studies at Temple University. In a statement to Deadline, the journalist said, “I’m excited to be part of the most trustworthy and innovative Black news team in the world. Together, we will create and expand spaces for engaging the most vital voices, issues, and perspectives.”

Earlier this year, MSNBC announced a four-part special series celebrating women of color, The Culture Is. The series aims to generate authentic and thought-provoking conversations across communities of women of color. The second episode, “The Culture Is: Latina” was hosted by actress Justina Machado on August 7, and featured appearances by Julissa Arce, Gloria Estefan, Maria Hinojosa, Gloria Calderón Kellett, Bricia Lopez, Janel Martinez, Mónica Ramírez and Gina Torres. The first two episodes, “The Culture Is: Black Women,” hosted by Joy Reid and Tiffany Cross, and “The Culture Is: Latina,” are available to stream on Peacock. The third episode, likely to premiere in September, is “The Culture is: AAPI Women” and will be hosted by Katie Phang. Phang is an attorney, legal analyst, and host of the Katie Phang Show on MSNBC.

urban music report

Streaming: Urban Music Report Channel, a global platform for live stream and on-demand audio, video, and podcast content in music, comedy, and Pop Culture, announced they have signed an exclusive deal to televise worldwide handball activities on a dedicated 24-hour channel called ‘The Handball Channel.” The agreement is in partnership with the television streaming network H20 and will be distributed on AppleTV, Roku, and Verizon ConnectedTV Platforms.

The Former Amazon Video Executive, Soumya Sriraman, was hired as President of Streaming for Qurate Retail Group— parent company of QVC and HSN. As reported by Variety, Sriraman is taking on the newly created role at the John Malone-controlled company. She will lead Qurate Retail’s streaming commerce business, which includes the QVC+ and HSN+ streaming services and QVC’s and HSN’s expanding presence on digital livestreaming TV.