THE DAILY NEWSLETTER - TUESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2021

Media Winners & Losers

MEDIA WINNER:
John Berman

John Berman, guest-hosting 8 p.m. show Anderson Cooper 360, earned the number 1 spot in CNN’s ratings on Wednesday.

Berman drew 734,000 total viewers and 184,000 in the advertiser-coveted 25-54 age demographic on Wednesday. He placed behind his timeslot rivals Tucker Carlson and Chris Hayes in total viewers, but beat Hayes in the demo.

Anderson Cooper’s hour has emerged as the most-watched at CNN since Chris Cuomo, formerly the network’s 9 p.m. anchor and its top-rated host, found himself embroiled in a controversy that led to his firing earlier this month. For the month of November, Cooper had the most-watched show on CNN, averaging 786,000 viewers.

It appears that Berman – who anchors CNN morning show New Day – subbing in for Cooper kept those numbers up.

Here is a full breakdown of Monday’s cable news ratings by show.

As for the three networks overall, here are the total day averages in total viewers and the 25-54 category.

  • Total viewers:
    • CNN: 523,000
    • Fox News: 1.69 million
    • MSNBC: 866,000
  • 25-54 Demo:
    • CNN: 116,000
    • Fox News: 284,000
    • MSNBC: 101,000

Here are the prime time averages in total viewers and the 25-54 demo.

  • Total viewers:
    • CNN: 674,000
    • Fox News: 2.54 million
    • MSNBC: 1.53 million
  • 25-54 Demo:
    • CNN: 159,000
    • Fox News: 410,000
    • MSNBC: 159,000

Read the full article here, from Mediaite+!

MEDIA LOSER:
Dr. Mehmet Oz

Dr. Mehmet Oz did not want to talk to New York Magazine reporter Olivia Nuzzi for a profile on his run for Senate. But he ended up providing her with ample comments after trying and failing to hang up the phone when she called.

Nuzzi released a profile on Oz that kicked off with a description of the difficulties she faced in trying to interview anybody from his campaign. Because of the media reluctance of people on Oz’s team, Nuzzi decided to try contacting the television personality directly, along with his wife, Lisa Oz.

To Nuzzi’s surprise, Mrs. Oz did pick up the phone, but she hung up almost instantly. Nuzzi decided to call again to see if that was deliberate, and that led to a tense exchange between the two and an attempted hang-up.

As it turns out, Mrs. Oz did not hang up the phone as she thought, and what ensued was something amazing.

Nuzzi said Mrs. Oz “had mistakenly connected her device to what sounded like the sound system of a vehicle, meaning that as they engaged in paranoid conversation and argument for more than four minutes, I remained on the line, hearing every word of it.”

A sample:
"This f***ing girl reporter,” Mrs. Oz said. “This is the girl reporter who broke into some guy’s house and stole all his photo albums.” She was referring to an accusation made up by disgraced ex-Trump aide Corey Lewandowski in retaliation after I had reported details of his Single White Male obsession with a White House official.

It went on (and on and on) like that. After the call ended, Nuzzi's phone rang again. “It was Lisa Oz,” she writes. “I picked it up and said hello. She paused, then she hung up on me. This time she was successful.”

It was an embarrassing and very public fail by the couple, both in that it happened and what they said.

Mediaite's 2021 Most Influential in News Media list is HERE!

Check out the 75 individuals who shaped — and made — the headlines this year.

And NEW for 2021: Mediaite's Most Influential in Sports Media is HERE.

The A-Block

Let’s Clarify That

Dr. Anthony Fauci said he is currently against vaccine mandates for airline passengers during an interview with CNN’s Jim Acosta on Monday.

Fauci a day earlier had indicated that he might not agree with President Joe Biden on airline vaccine requirements during an interview with Jonathan Karl on ABC News’ This Week. Biden has been clear he is not in favor of such a mandate, but Fauci created confusion when he said he felt one might be necessary to look into.

“A vaccine requirement for a person getting on the plane is just another level of getting people to have a mechanism that would spur them to get vaccinated,” Fauci told Karl. “Namely, you can’t get on a plane unless you’re vaccinated, which is just another one of the ways of getting requirements, whatever that might be.”

On Monday, Fauci appeared on The Situation Room where he was asked to clarify his position on the issue.

“You’ve been saying that vaccine mandates for domestic flights should be seriously considered,” said Acosta. “Is that something that President Biden is seriously considering?”

Dr. Fauci's answer is worth hearing in full.


In Other News...

Greta Thunberg Slams Biden Over Climate Policy: 'U.S. is Actually Expanding Fossil Fuel Infrastructure'

Stephen Miller Slams 'Helpless, Clueless' Kamala Harris: 'It's All Downhill From Here'

'Wasn't all Bad': Biden's Chief of Staff Ron Klain Shredded on Twitter for Sharing Article Celebrating 2021

HALL: Fox’s Will Cain Calls for Firing of ‘Out of Control’ and ‘Power Drunk’ Dr. Anthony Fauci

Must See Clip

“Now you’re going to jail!”

“Now you’re going to jail!” said a white-haired passenger to a younger woman on a plane this weekend. “That’s assault.”

He was right. Because after passenger Patricia Cornwall went ballistic about masks on a Delta flight, shouting profanity and attacking the older male passenger, she did in fact end up under arrest.

The incident was caught on camera, of course, and it's
a DOOZY.

Links We Like

Guess What? There’s No Federal Answer to Covid, After All
- Rich Lowry, National Review
Russian Dissident Snatched Hours After Daily Beast Interview About His Entire Family Being Kidnapped
- Anna Nemtsova, Daily Beast
Why So Much Obama-era Pop Culture Feels So Cringe Now
- Constance Grady, Vox
Everyone Will Eventually Get Covid. Pretending We're in Control is Becoming Too Costly.
Prof. Francois Balloux, Twitter
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