With her bizarre and highly erratic behaviour once again visible on-air, insiders working behind-the-scenes at The Wendy Williams Show seen on BET (DStv 129) say "it's like coming to work and watching a trainwreck every day".
Video streamer on defence in its Q3 earnings call with investors as Netflix admits that its content catalogue of titles is now smaller than what it used to be.
The American TV news anchor Shepard Smith who abruptly left FOX News (StarSat 261) in October 2019 is joining CNBC from 13 July where he will be anchoring The News with Shepard Smith timeslot on weekdays, starting later this year.
It's not yet clear whether The News with Shepard Smith will be broadcast in South Africa and Africa on CNBC Africa (DStv 410) but if it is, it will be on at 01:00 in the mornings South African time, following The NBC Night News with Lester Holt at 00:30.
The News with Shepard Smith will be a general news show on the TV financial news channel that Shepard Smith says will be "fact-based, hour-long evening news program with the mission to cut through the static to deliver facts, in context and with perspective".
The show will serve as "the perfect bridge between CNBC's daytime investor-focused news programming and the network's aspirational business-oriented entertainment programs in primetime".
Shepard Smith will work from CNBC's headquarters in Engelwood Cliffs, New Jersey.
Shepard Smith will serve as CNBC's chief general news anchor and chief breaking general news anchor, as well as the executive producer of The News with Shepard Smith.
"Information is coming at us from every direction. If we're not careful, life-altering decisions will be made based on half-truth, rumour, misdirection or worse," says Mark Hoffman, CNBC chairperson, in a statement announcing Shepard Smith's addition. Smith Shepard says in the statement that "Gathering and reporting the news has been my life’s
work. I am honoured to continue to pursue the
truth, both for CNBC’s loyal viewers and for those who have been following my
reporting for decades in good times and in bad". "Mark Hoffman presented me with CNBC’s vision for a
fact-based, hour-long evening news program with the mission to cut through the
static to deliver facts, in context and with perspective." "I know I found a
great home for my newscast. I am excited to be working with the exceptional
talent at CNBC and eager to build a team focused on uncovering the news behind
the headlines." ALSO READ: Original FOX News anchor Shepard Smith shocks and abruptly quits after 23 years with the American channel.
The FOX News (StarSat 261) anchor has abruptly dumped FOX News on Friday, immediately exiting the conservative-slanted American TV channel after 23 years and despite having signed a multi-year contract extension in March 2018, and shocking FOX News colleagues.
Shepard Smith who joined FOX News as one of the original anchors when it started in the United States in 1996 is abruptly gone after anchoring his Friday afternoon edition of Shepard Smith Reporting.
Besides being the anchor of Shepard Smith Reporting Shepard Smith was also the FOX News chief news anchor and managing editor of its breaking news unit.
In a statement, Shepard Smith says "Recently I asked the company to allow me to leave FOX News and begin a new chapter."
"After requesting that I stay, they graciously obliged. The opportunities afforded this guy from small town Mississippi have been many. It’s been an honour and a privilege to report the news each day to our loyal audience in context and with perspective, without fear or favour."
"I’ve worked with the most talented, dedicated and focused professionals I know and I’m proud to have anchored their work each day - I will deeply miss them."
On-air Shepard Smith said that he "will be able to see more of Gio [Graziano, his boyfriend] and Lucia, and our friends and family, and we will see what comes along. Even in our currently polarised nation, it is my hopes that the facts will win the day, and that the truth will always matter, that journalism and journalists will always thrive."
On-air Shepard Smith said "under our agreement I won't be reporting elsewhere - at least in the near future".
FOX News says that "a series of rotating anchors will replace Shepard Smith until a new dayside news program is announced".
Jay Wallace, FOX News president, in the statement says "Shep is one of the premier newscasters of his generation and his extraordinary body of work is among the finest journalism in the industry".
"His integrity and outstanding reporting from the field helped put FOX News on the map and there is simply no better breaking news anchor who has the ability to transport a viewer to a place of conflict, tragedy, despair or elation through his masterful delivery."
"We are proud of the signature reporting and anchoring style he honed at FOX News, along with everything he accomplished here during his monumental 23-year tenure. While this day is especially difficult as his former producer, we respect his decision and are deeply grateful for his immense contributions to the entire network."
Neil Cavuto followed after Shepard Smith's timeslot and opened his Friday show looking shocked and saying "I’m a little stunned and a little heartbroken. I don’t know what to say", as he opened his hour.
"A better newsman you probably cannot find. A bigger, more emotionally connected to human kind you cannot find. So Shepard, I don’t know what the heck you’re planning to do or where you go, but I just know you’ll be great at doing it, and you deserve the best that life has to offer."
John Roberts who did a report for Neil Cavuto said in his intro "I’m just trying to compile my thoughts too. I walked out here to do the hit and suddenly got hit by a subway train. Holy mackerel."
The FOX News (StarSat 405) anchor Shepard Smith has been forced to apologise after disgusting remarks following the news of the death of the Hollywood actor Robin Williams, in which Shepard Smith called the actor a coward.
In a disgusting trash talk segment on FOX News Shepard Smith rambled: "Something inside you is so horrible or you're such a coward or whatever the reason, that you decide that you have to end it. Robin Williams at 63, did that today".
Following a firestorm of criticism Shepard Smith apologised and said that he would be horrified if anyone, especially Robin Williams' family, heard him call the dead actor a coward.
"To the core of my being, I regret it," said Shepard Smith. "It just came out of my mouth. And I'm so sorry. And to anyone and their families who see that, I am sorry".
Robin Williams died after hanging himself in his home in California with a belt and has been seeking help for a battle with depression.
It's unbelievable, yet very real: seated personnel sitting in front of giant flat, touchscreens, sweeping their fingers as "information specialists" over responsive, massive monitors exactly like on the bridge of the starship Enterprise, as part of the brand-new Fox News Deck unveiled today on the Fox News Channel (TopTV 405).
The Fox News Deck, invoking images of the futuristic yet fictitious USS Enterprise bridge since Star Trek The Next Generation and subsequent series, is part of Shepard Smith's new studio and news coverage role which South African viewers will see on the Fox News Channel from today.
"Construction crews, computer programmers and journalists have been working around the clock to build the Fox News Deck," Shepard Smith told Fox News Channel viewers.
"We're trying to fuse the old way of doing TV news with this new reality which is smartphones, apps, the internet, your computer," said Kim Rosenberg, senior executive producer at Shepard Smith Reporting.
"We've built an amazing set. We've introduced some very new technologies - some of which have never been used on a live television production before," said Peter Blangiforti, the vice president of graphics engineering.
Shepard Smith has signed a new deal to remain with the Fox News Channel (TopTV 405) in which he is becoming the primary breaking news anchor for the American TV news channel and in which he is losing his FOX Report with Shepard Smith show, while his show Studio B is changing its name to Shepard Smith Reporting.
Fox News Channel is constructing a new set for Shepard Smith Reporting, and Shepard Smith who joined Fox News in 1996 will now become the go-to breaking news anchor for the channel.
"The FOX Report with Shepard Smith will be incorporated into a breaking news unit where Shepard Smith will dedicate his anchoring, reporting and presentation acumen as domestic and international events unfold," says the Fox News Channel in a press release.
"Additionally, Shepard Smith will continue to anchor Shepard Smith Reporting, a new one-hour program. The show will be housed in a newly constructed signature studio unveiled upon launch, known as The FOX News Deck."
"The Deck and Shepard Smith's dedicated team of producers and information specialists will also be able to interrupt all programming as needed at a moment's notice to bring viewers the latest news as it develops."
"Shepard Smith's strength in breaking news and on location anchoring and reporting remains unmatched," says Michael Clemente, the executive vice president of news at Fox News Channel.
"That's why we are committed to fully utilizing his skills away from the teleprompter whenever and wherever news is breaking across multiple platforms. His new program will provide viewers with the opportunity to become more involved with how news organically develops," says Michael Clemente.
Signing off on his last FOX Report with Shepard Smith on 13 September, Shepard Smith said "it's the most exciting new venture of my career".
TopTV broadcast a suicide live on air when the Fox News Channel (TopTV 405) showed a man shooting himself in the head live on television with a handgun.
This is another first for South African television history and is due to a massive mistake by the American 24-hour news channel.
The Fox News Channel on Friday showed live coverage of Arizona police chasing a suspect who've fled the scene.
The man then pulled out a handgun and committed suicide by shooting himself in the head - before the Fox News Channel could prevent the helicopter footage from being broadcast around the world. Fox News Channel anchor Shepard Smith shouted at the control booth to "get it off, get it off" as the Fox News Channel went to commercials.
Shepard Smith apologised on-air for the mistake in Studio B with Spehard Smith, saying that Fox News Channel failed to cut it in time.
"We messed up. And we're very sorry. That didn't belong on television. I personally apologize to you that that happened.
"We took every precaution to avoid any such live incident by putting the helicopter pictures on a five second delay," said Fox News' executive vice president of news editorial, Michael Clemente, in a statement. "Unfortunately, this mistake was the result of a severe human error and we apologize for what viewers ultimately saw on the screen."
TopTV didn't respond to a media enquiry made on Saturday about the suicide broadcast.
UPDATE Monday 1 October 2012 11:30 - TopTV has now responded with comment on Monday morning:
"The circumstances around this incident will be the subject of many debates and some may argue that such happenings are always possible when one covers live news," says Ian Woodrow, the vice president for channels of TopTV. "However it would not be appropriate for TopTV to add to any comment here especially when it is a development over which it has little or no control. TopTV would refer any concerned viewer to the public apology issued by Fox News."
