martha and anderson: moderating any presidential debate is challenging. but last night abc<u+2019>s martha raddatz and cnn<u+2019>s anderson cooper had to figure out how to guide a town hall on <u+201c>the issues<u+201d> when there was one topic dominating the airwaves for the preceding 48 hours: the lewd remarks donald trump made about women on an <u+201c>access hollywood<u+201d> tape in 2005. mr. cooper went there early on, asking mr. trump if he understood that he was boasting about sexual assault (the gop candidate said it was <u+201c>locker room<u+201d> talk and apologized). the moderators cracked the whip , cutting off both candidates to keep things moving, and ms. raddatz had some tense exchanges with mr. trump on foreign policy, politico reports. mr. trump complained about his perception that he was being challenged and interrupted more, at one point lamenting it was <u+201c>one on three.<u+201d> some critics wanted more questions from the audience, accusing the moderators of overstepping, fortune and cnbc report. with all eyes on mr. trump just days after the video surfaced, the event could be another ratings bonanza for the networks. we<u+2019>ll see if nbc<u+2019>s sunday night football took a hit or if the packers and giants ate into the debate audience. (nbc was telling viewers to watch the game and stream the debate.) billy bushwhacked: while donald trump<u+2019>s comments on that <u+201c>access hollywood<u+201d> tape have threatened to upend his campaign, there was another voice on the recording, nbc<u+2019>s billy bush, and that has sparked a separate controversy for the network. at the time of the conversation, mr. bush was a co-host of <u+201c>access hollywood<u+201d> and he is heard egging on mr. trump during a lewd exchange. after initially signaling mr. bush<u+2019>s job was safe, nbc decided to suspend him from his role on the <u+201c>today show,<u+201d> the wall street journal reports. (mr. bush has apologized for his conduct.) nbc also faced questions about why the washington post broke the story of the tape on friday when nbc and access hollywood had possession of it for several days last week. an nbc executive told wsj the delay was caused by lawyers determining if access hollywood could be accused of recording it illegally (they decided there was no issue). pressure is now also mounting for <u+201c>the apprentice<u+201d> producer mark burnett to release footage in which mr. trump reportedly used sexist language while filming the reality show, the associated press reported. mr. burnett is backing mr. trump and has warned staffers not to leak the footage , according to buzzfeed news. damage control: the nfl is rushing to assure its teams that people still love to watch football following news that ratings were down more than 10% a month into the season. <u+201c>while our partners, like us, would have liked to see higher ratings, they remain confident in the nfl and unconcerned about a long-term issue,<u+201d> wrote nfl senior executives brian rolapp and howard katz in a letter to the teams. they added that over the past 15 years, ratings viewership has grown 27% and that football <u+201c>continues to be far and away the most powerful programming on television and the best place for brands and advertisers.<u+201d> of all the theories of what<u+2019>s the drag on viewership -- the election, cord-cutting, anthem protests, -- you can be certain twitter isn<u+2019>t the culprit. sponsors have been underwhelmed by twitter<u+2019>s live-streaming of thursday night football, ad age reports. the second game delivered 327,000 average-per-minute viewers -- a metric in line with how tv is typically measured. the great wall: after netflix launched in 130 countries this year, the question for many investors was how soon the company would gain entry to the giant untapped market that<u+2019>s proved elusive: china. in the words of netflix ceo reed hastings, who spoke at the new yorker techfest, it <u+201c>doesn<u+2019>t look good,<u+201d> bloomberg reports. he referenced movie services from both disney and apple that were shut down in recent months. mr. hastings had no comment on speculation of disney<u+2019>s m&a interest in netflix , recode reports, but he had some colorful commentary on the film industry, accusing theater owners of <u+201c>strangling the movie business<u+201d> by holding firm against allowing films to stream soon after they<u+2019>re released in theaters, according to variety. recall that theater owners were annoyed by netflix<u+2019>s deal with luxury theater group ipic entertainment that allows films to be streamed upon theatrical release. bankers and lawyers are beginning to line up for a potential viacom inc. and cbs corp. deal. the special committee of the board of viacom has hired morgan stanley, while cbs<u+2019>s special committee has retained lazard. [ cmo today ] to mark fox news<u+2019>s 20th anniversary, co-presidents bill shine and jack abernethy held a meeting to announce plans for the business, including the unveiling of a fancy new $30 million studio. the celebrations come in the wake of the sexual harassment scandal that led to roger ailes<u+2019>s ouster. the executives acknowledged that there had been <u+201c>lack of communication from the top<u+201d> for the past few years. [ hollywood reporter ] former yahoo editorial director scott ard filed a lawsuit that accuses yahoo and its ceo marissa mayer of discrimination against men. mr. ard, now editor-in-chief of the silicon valley business journal, was fired from yahoo last year. yahoo spokeswoman carolyn clark stood behind yahoo<u+2019>s hiring and performance-review processes, which she said are guided by <u+201c>fairness.<u+201d> [ mercury news ] the columbus dispatch, a local paper in swing-state ohio, is the latest conservative paper to switch sides and endorse democratic presidential nominee hillary clinton, calling mr. trump unfit for the gig. [ columbus dispatch ] the <u+201c>views<u+201d> metric has a totally different definition when used to measure the popularity of a show that airs on tv versus a show that streams online. [ digiday ] tic tac, which donald trump mentioned in his controversial video, took a stand against chauvinistic behavior in a recent tweet: <u+201c>tic tac respects all women. we find the recent statements and behavior completely inappropriate and unacceptable.<u+201d> [ prweek ] vice is hoping its young audience will care as much about business and finance as it does about north korea and pot as it launches a new channel called vice money. the show coincided with the vice news premiere on hbo. [ variety ] follow us on twitter: @wsjcmo , @digitalshields , @vranicawsj , @jackmarshall , @perlberg , @alexbruell , @srabil , @asharma subscribe to our morning newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox, at http://on.wsj.com/cmotodaysignup . write to alexandra bruell at alexandra.bruell@wsj.com
cmo today: trump video fuels feisty presidential debate - wsj
alexandra bruell