| Bitter Behind-the-Scenes Feud The American Conservative Union, the organization behind the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), engaged in a bitter feud with the company behind its controversial main stage, which was accused of evoking Nazi symbolism. ACU officials and the company that built the stage were at odds after Hyatt Hotels issued a statement on Sunday night condemning the stage and insisting they had no part in its design. The statement came in response to complaints from liberals on Twitter directed at the hotel chain. The social media outcry was in part inspired by claims that the event stage resembled an “Odal rune” Nazi symbol, an allegation CPAC dismissed as an “outrageous and slanderous” conspiracy theory. Mediaite has learned that this week, CPAC brass, fuming over the media’s coverage of the stage, threatened to out the stage company to the media.
And it got heated. Sources said Design Foundry was told by ACU general counsel David Safavian and other ACU brass on a Monday afternoon call that if it didn’t release a statement by 10 a.m. Tuesday copping to the stage design, ACU would release their own statement blaming the firm.
Read the fascinating, behind-the-scenes story here, from Mediaite's Zachary Petrizzo.
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February Ratings: MSNBC Wins Overall For First Time in History, CNN Scores in Demo, Fox News Wins Prime Time RATINGS MSNBC was most-watched across all of cable in total day viewers in February, an historic win for the network in the first month with new president Rashida Jones at the helm. Fox News won prime time for the month, while CNN was the most-watched among the valuable demographic of viewers age 25-54 for the fourth month in a row. In total day viewers, MSNBC averaged 1.36 million, and 206,000 in the key demo, according to data from Nielsen. This is the first time ever that the network has taken the top spot in total day, and in an internal note obtained by Mediaite, Jones thanked staffers, saying she was “proud of our coverage the past few weeks” – perhaps a nod to the fact that MSNBC was most-watched during the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump – and thanking them for their “excellent journalism and dedication to reporting these important stories”. Fox was second most-watched overall in total day in February, averaging 1.32 million total viewers, and was second in the demo, with 210,000. CNN averaged the fewest total day viewers in February, with 1.19 million total viewers, but dominated in the demo, averaging 281,000 viewers. In prime time, Fox won the month, averaging....  6.5.0 | 
