NewsNation has announced it is elevating executives Michael Corn and Cherie Grzech to expanded roles after signing new multi-year extensions to stay at the network.

Corn has been named the President of Programming & Specials, and will relocate to New York as part of the position. He had previously served as President of News since May 2021.

Grzech, who previously held the title of Senior Vice President and Managing Editor of News and Politics, is now the President and Managing Editor of News and Politics. She will oversee the network’s news and political programming, and will lead all network operations.

The expansion of the pair’s roles with the company comes as NewsNation prepares to fill out a lineup completely dedicated to news coverage on a 24/7 basis later this spring.

“NewsNation’s remarkable growth over the past three years is a testament to Michael and Cherie’s exceptional leadership,” said Nexstar Networks President Sean Compton. “As we steer our organization into a full 24/7 operation later this spring, we are thrilled to have them guiding the network in these newly focused roles.”

Comedian Jimmy Failla has found his niche at Fox News, appearing on a variety of programs — including Gutfeld! — and also hosting Fox News Saturday Night.

Failla has climbed the ladder at Fox News after previously working as a taxi cab driver while working on his stand-up comedy routine. But he believes comedy should still be the driving force behind his work, not conservative or liberal politics and policies.

In an interview with Variety, Failla said that his weekend program isn’t as partisan as a casual observer might think of when hearing that it airs on the notoriously conservative cable news channel.

“True comedy doesn’t have a political party. Comedy is a party. And at a party, you don’t ask who they voted for at the door,” Failla said.

Fox News, like others in the genre, features primetime opinion programming slanted toward one side of the political aisle. But Jimmy Failla said his program certainly doesn’t fit into the firebrand category like many others in cable news.

“We are not a call to arms show. We are like a chill the f— out show,” Failla said before adding that the now-partisan nature of late-night TV shows helmed by the likes of Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, and Jimmy Fallon is a “frustration” for him. He shared his belief that the late-night genre should be an escape, rather than another avenue for political discussion.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) drops three episodes per week of hisVerdict podcast with iHeartMedia. MSNBC host Chris Hayes is questioning the morality, and more importantly the legality, of the arrangement.

On All In with Chris Hayes, the MSNBC host began the topic by joking that Cruz “seems to have one foot out the door of the U.S. Senate,” due to his podcasting efforts. He continued by questioning whether iHeartMedia was complicit in breaking campaign finance laws with its business relationship with the Texas Senator.

“Now, beyond the weirdness of devoting so much of his time to his side hustle, Cruz’s podcasting habit raises some serious ethical and legal questions. Who is actually producing the program and what is happening to the money it generates? We have some fascinating new answers,” said Hayes.

“Back in 2022, Cruz partnered with iHeartRadio — the number one syndicator of US radio programming, reaching 245 million people each month. iHeart would bankroll the whole operation, although Cruz aides and iHeart executives didn’t provide details of the deal, including how much Cruz will be paid for the rights to the podcast. That was a murky but important issue, considering the Senate’s strict rules on outside employment. You can’t just like have another job. There are a whole pages about this in the Senate code of conduct. So how do you get around that? As we recently learned, you pay Ted Cruz’s super PAC rather than Ted Cruz himself.”

Reporting from The Dallas Morning News alleges a political action committee — the Truth and Courage PAC — has received more than $630,000 in payments from iHeartMedia Management Services Inc., which is more than a third of the money raised by the PAC since the start of last year.

A spokesperson for Premiere Networks — an iHeartMedia subsidy — that the Senator “volunteers his time and isn’t compensated” for the program. However, the company freely admitted it sells advertising for the podcast, with the proceeds going to fund the PAC.

While defending himself, Cruz said it’s “sad what has happened to the media”, arguing The Dallas Morning News is a “left-wing, Democrat attack group.”

Chris Hayes called Cruz “touchy” for the defense, noting that he understands why the Seantor would be defensive because the arrangement “may very well violate election law.”

PACs are forbidden from coordinating with candidates and their campaigns. Additionally, campaigns are limited in how much money they can solicit from the groups. Hayes, however, argues that there’s a clear coordination between Ted Cruz, iHeartMedia, and the Truth and Courage PAC.

“Not only is Ted Cruz’s podcasting habit weird, I think it’s a little insulting to the 30 million Texans he represents, presumably full-time,” Hayes concluded. “It also appears to be a serious ethical and campaign finance scandal in the making.”