Super Bowl Update

NBC Peppered by Online Critics in Shuffle of Hosts
Last week's news that Erica Hill was leaving CBS to shove Jenna Wolfe aside at NBC's Weekend Today hasn't gone over quite as well as NBC might have hoped.  Numerous critics have taken up their pitchforks on social media, the blogosphere and elsewhere to trash the Peacock Network's latest screw job. [NY Times]

Roosevelt Tried To Abolish the FCC
The Communications Act of 1934 established the Federal Communications Commission.  Despite having signed the law that did so, President Franklin D. Roosevelt soon began trying to shut it down. [The Technology Liberation Front]

Retrans Fees Seen Hitting $6B By 2018
This year, SNL Kagan has forecast that TV station owners will reap $2.36 billion from cable and satellite companies.  By 2018, that amount could nearly triple, ballooning to somewhere north of $6 billion.  If you don't think your cable bill is quite high enough yet, hang on. [TVNewsCheck]

Netflix Adopts Anti-Takeover Plan Designed To Thwart Carl Icahn
Noted corporate raider Carl Icahn said last week he's bought up nearly 10% of Netflix.  Upon learning this, the streaming/DVD-by-mail company has put in place mechanisms that make sudden and not-so-wise takeovers a bit more difficult to pull off.  Will it work?  We'll see. [Deadline Hollywood]

NBC News President Steve Capus announced Thursday that Erica Hill will be joining Weekend Today as co-anchor. The weekend anchor team of Lester Holt, Hill, Jenna Wolfe, and Dylan Dreyer officially debuts Saturday.

Hill, who briefly served as co-anchor of CBS This Morning, was replaced there earlier this year by Norah O'Donnell.  CBS reportedly tried to find a suitable niche for Hill but couldn't.

NBC had no such problem, Capus explained.
 

“Erica’s extraordinary track record as a journalist has proven that she can cover everything from hard news to pop culture with ease and professionalism,” he said.

Hill has been also been named an NBC News national correspondent. She will report on all platforms of NBC News including Today, NBC Nightly News and MSNBC. Hill will co-anchor both Saturday and Sunday editions of Weekend Today alongside Lester Holt. Holt has served as co-anchor of Weekend Today since 2003 and is the longest-running anchor of the broadcast.

Jenna Wolfe has been named news anchor of Weekend Today and will expand her role to both Saturday and Sunday editions. Wolfe has been with the morning broadcast since 2007. In addition, Wolfe will continue as Today correspondent, reporting feature stories for both the weekday and weekend broadcasts.

Meteorologist Dylan Dreyer was named weather anchor of Weekend Today upon joining NBC News in September. Dreyer will remain in that role, also providing weekend weather reports on MSNBC.

Prior to joining NBC News, Hill served as co-host of CBS News' CBS This Morning in 2012 and The Early Show in 2011. She was news anchor of The Early Show in 2010, while also co-hosting The Early Show Saturday from 2008 to 2010. Hill joined The Early Show Saturday while working at CNN, where she served as anchor and correspondent for CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 from 2008 to 2010.

Hill also spent seven years at CNN, joining the network at its Atlanta headquarters in 2003. She served in various roles at CNN and HLN. From 2006 to 2008, she was the anchor of HLN's Prime News with Erica Hill, a live two-hour news and interview program. She co-anchored Prime News Tonight from 2005 to 2006, and served as national correspondent for CNN Newsource in Washington in 2004.

CBS News' chief White House correspondent, Norah O’Donnell, has been named co-host of CBS This Morning, it was announced by CBS News chairman Jeff Fager and president David Rhodes. O’Donnell will join co-hosts Charlie Rose and Gayle King beginning this fall.

“This is a very exciting development for our morning program and for all of CBS News,” Fager said. “Norah is an accomplished reporter with all the skills for the job. She’s a hard worker who knows her story and, as she has shown time after time at the White House, she can think on her feet on live television.”

“Norah thrives on the kind of original reporting and newsmaker interviews that are the hallmark of CBS News and CBS This Morning,” said Rhodes. “She is the perfect addition to the best morning news program on television.”

“Norah has earned the respect of global newsmakers as a tough but fair reporter,” said Chris Licht, VP of programming for CBS News and executive producer of CBS This Morning.  “Adding her to the team is part of our ongoing process of improving and building on the solid foundation that already exists at CBS This Morning.”

Erica Hill, who served as a co-host of CBS This Morning and helped with its successful launch, is in discussions regarding a new role.  
 

O’Donnell has been CBS News’ Chief White House Correspondent since June 2011. She will leave the White House to assume her new role. O’Donnell will continue as the principal substitute anchor for Face the Nation and will continue to report for all CBS News broadcasts and platforms.

Before joining CBS News, O’Donnell was the chief Washington correspondent for MSNBC and a contributing correspondent for NBC’s Today. She joined NBC News in 1999. Earlier in her career, O’Donnell was a staff reporter for the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call.