The Media Notepad: Media companies suspend advertising on X after Musk approves anti-Semitic comments

Also: Bally Sports getting ready to close; The CW is on the move in two markets

CNBC and other outlets are reporting Friday evening numerous companies have “paused” advertising on Twitter/X after owner Elon Musk boosted an anti-Semitic post on the platform. 

Lionsgate (Debmar-Mercury) was the first traditional media company to pause and Apple was the first tech company to do so. As of this writing, others who followed suit include Paramount Global, Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, and NBCUniversal/Comcast with more likely to come. 

Computer giant IBM was the first to suspend advertising on Thursday after Musk boosted a post featuring anti-Semitic content. 

It was also revealed the images of several brands were running adjacent to racist and pro-Nazi material, including Amazon, the NBA, and others. 

Since Musk acquired the platform in October 2022, his far right-wing views have taken prominence on the platform and “shadowbanned” those who criticize him on Twitter/X and in other venues, including this website’s account (I’ll have more on this in a “Behind The Blog” piece on Facebook this coming week.) This space has run numerous pieces on Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, comparing it to Sam Zell’s just-as-disastrous purchase of the Tribune Co. in 2007. 

Musk also unbanned numerous banned accounts linked to white supremacists and former President Donald Trump, who was banned after the January 6, 2021 mayhem at the Capitol. 

Hate speech has also soared since Musk took over as racist comments are now more prominent on the site. For example, the #ChicagoScanner hashtag – once a reliable source of what’s going on in the city – is now hijacked by far-right extremists who use it to spread misinformation and racist propaganda, speech, jokes, and memes, such as this one (the link has offensive content, so viewer discretion is advised.) This space talked about the hashtag last April when hundreds of teens descended downtown and whether or not social media is effective in keeping people informed.

Are these “pauses” permanent? In the past, advertisers and marketers reduced their presence on Twitter/X once Musk does something offensive and stupid – that is, until the controversies quieted down and then return. I have a feeling this time would be no different – remember the “promises” they made after George Floyd was murdered? 

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In an unusual move, The CW has a new home in Phoenix – thanks to the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes. 

Starting Monday, Arizona Coyotes hockey games are shifting off of a subchannel of Scripps’ KNXV (15.2) and returning to KASW, another station Scripps owns in the Phoenix market. To make room for the team, Scripps is moving The CW affiliation to 15.2 in a deal CW owner Nexstar signed off of, who’ll continue to broadcast Antenna TV programming when The CW doesn’t operate (Antenna TV, which features sitcoms from the 1950s through the 1980s, is also owned by Nexstar, who inherited the diginet through its purchase of Tribune Media.) This means KASW becomes an independent station for the first time in its history. 

KASW carried at least 20 Coyotes games a season after the team moved from Winnipeg (as the Jets) in 1996 before Fox Sports Arizona took over exclusive rights. The gradual shift starts Monday, as the Coyotes play the Los Angeles Kings with the game being broadcast on both stations. 

“We are so excited to be able to reach more fans than ever before. This is a continued step in the direction of super serving Coyotes Hockey here in the desert, the best fans in the world,” said Coyotes Chairman and Governor Alex Meruelo. “We couldn’t be happier to be working together with a great partner like Scripps Sports and continue showing our commitment to make hockey thrive in the desert.”

The move is indeed intended to reach more fans, as Antenna TV isn’t carried on satellite TV in the Phoenix area and is also absent on a few cable and VMVPD systems. 

The soon-to-be-defunct Bally Sports (see below) dropped the Coyotes as part of its bankruptcy proceedings, leading the team to strike a deal with Scripps, who is looking to get into the sports business as more RSNs shutter. Scripps already has rights to the Vegas Golden Knights; the team airs games on independent KMCC in Las Vegas in a similar setup. 

KASW signed on in 1995 as a WB affiliate, transitioned into The CW in 2006, and went through several owners before Scripps acquired the station in 2019 from Nexstar. The station was formerly in a duopoly with KTVK, a former ABC affiliate now an independent station owned by Gray Television, and airs Phoenix Suns games. 

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The CW is also on the move in Seattle as Sinclair plans to transition a current Univision affiliate into a general market English-language station airing CW programming starting January 1.

The Maryland-based broadcaster announced this week it was dropping the Spanish-language network from its KUNS and also eliminating its news department, the only one serving Spanish-language viewers in Seattle. The move riled Latino leaders in the city, who plan to fight the move but isn’t likely to have an impact. The Latino population is quickly growing in Seattle, accounting for 10.5 percent of the population. 

The CW was on Paramount Global’s KSTW since its inception in 2006, but after Nexstar bought 75 percent of the network, reducing Paramount’s share from 50 percent to 12.5 percent, it was one of eight stations who opted out of its affiliation deal September 1 and returned to being an independent (KSTW was also a CBS affiliate from 1960-62 as KTNT and again from 1995-97.) Since September, The CW has been airing on a subchannel of KUNS’ sister station KOMO, who airs programming from Comet when The CW isn’t broadcasting. 

This isn’t the first time a Spanish-language station converted to all-English programming. From March 1989 to December 1994, Chicago’s WCIU was a part-time Univision affiliate and converted into a general market independent station as the company purchased former English independent WGBO-TV. Univision had a rocky relationship with Weigel’s WCIU as it carried several programs in English, including the daytime Stock Market Observer. 

Univision was criticized this week after network executives met with former President Donald Trump at his Mar-A-Largo estate arraigned by son-in-law Jared Kunsher, resulting in an interview that did not go over well with its viewers, leading one of its news anchors to resign. Sinclair itself has been criticized for its ties to the former President and the Republican party at large. 

No word on where Univision would wind up in Seattle, though a national feed is offered through DirecTV, but you would have to pay extra to receive it. 

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It looks like it’s curtains for Bally Sports as the chain of regional sports networks is expected once the MLB season ends next October.

Bally operator Diamond Sports Group is likely converting to Chapter 7 bankruptcy – meaning liquidation, light fixtures and furniture included. On Wednesday, a bankruptcy judge greenlighted a plan to end their deals with the NBA, MLB, and the NHL, freeing teams to find new partners. 

“Let’s be clear what’s going on here: This is a liquidation of the business,” said Sinclair attorney David Seligman, whose company is the parent of Diamond Sports. “This is going to be in operation for another year, and then it’s going to be shutting down the business.”

The NBA is already on board, with the NHL to join soon. Meanwhile, reports surfaced that Diamond plans to drop the Cleveland Guardians and the World Champion Texas Rangers, meaning those teams could get their television rights back either to keep for themselves (through MLB) or sell to another party. RSNs generally generate revenues to fund teams’ payrolls; those connected with Bally are now expected to be slashed for next year. 

The American League Central consisted of four teams (now three) who currently have or had deals with Bally Sports; the lone team – the Chicago White Sox – has a deal with NBC Sports, but the team is also expected to cut payroll next year so they are unlikely to benefit. 

Bally now has eleven MLB and NHL teams each; and fifteen NBA franchises. The ongoing saga does not affect the Chicago Cubs as the team owns half of Marquee with Sinclair owning the other half. Marquee does not operate under Diamond or Bally brand.