Maury Povich talks about fame, hugging 50 Cent, and dreams of guests like Jay-Z
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NEW YORK – Maury Povich still hasn’t drawn the line when it comes to today’s media landscape.
The veteran TV journalist and “King of Talk TV” said he has an open mind about the big changes happening at CBS, even if he and his wife Connie Chung don’t agree.
Chung, a legendary news anchor who also co-hosts “CBS Evening News,” remains adamant that the merger of CBS parent company Paramount and Skydance Media and the appointment of Bari Weiss as CBS News editor-in-chief are wrong for journalism, but her husband believes the issue is not black and white.
“We’re talking about that a little bit,” Povich said. “She was talking about the situation at CBS and how she couldn’t understand how the new owners at Paramount could hire someone like Bari Weiss, who had never been on TV, to run the news division, and I just said, ‘Well, you never know. Let’s just wait and see.’ And she jumped at me. … I became a little more open to the experience.”
But Povich says, “She shot me down right away.”
The Federal Communications Commission approved the merger of Paramount Global and Skydance Media in July, paving the way for an $8.4 billion sale that includes the CBS broadcast television network. The FCC has agreed to transfer the broadcast licenses of 28 owned and operated CBS television stations to new owners after Paramount paid $16 million to settle a lawsuit brought by President Donald Trump over his “60 Minutes” interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris that aired in October. FCC Chairman Brendan Kerr said the agency’s review of the proposed merger is unrelated to the civil litigation.
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Weiss, a former opinion journalist, has faced criticism since he began leading CBS News amid dramatic personnel changes and a network town hall with Erica Kirk that was unpopular with some viewers. Povich says he is watching everything unfold.
“I have to prove myself in some way. Let’s see what happens,” he told USA TODAY. “So far, I don’t think we’ve seen any change. I watched ’60 Minutes,’ and this is the same ’60 Minutes’ that I’ve watched all my life. So we’ll see.”
Povich says, “I don’t like to pass judgment. I don’t like knee-jerk reactions. My wife, on the other hand, is a long-time member. She really loves CBS and has a very contemptuous attitude towards what’s going on.”
Contributed by: Reuters
