NBC News' messy hiring and firing of former Republican National Committee head Ronna McDaniel puts a spotlight on television's practice of paying on-air political contributors.

Donald Trump's legal problems may be a headache for the former president, but they are proving a boon to MSNBC.

President Joe Biden rarely gives network interviews.

Democracy issues were once an afterthought in election night coverage, with an occasional report on broken voting machines in a polling place or two.

Television viewers will find nearly blanket prime-time coverage of a Congressional hearing Thursday on the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

CNN announced that its CNN+ streaming service will start operating on March 29.

MSNBC says it has hired former Biden aide Symone Sanders to host a weekend television show and another on its Peacock streaming service.

Media outlets that often spend hours each day exploring the country's differences paused to mark the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks by recalling almost wistfully the sense of common purpose that united Americans in the aftermath.

This image provided by MSNBC shows Nicolle Wallace on the set of "Deadline: White House." Every Friday, the “In Memoriam” feature on PBS' “NewsHour” profiles five Americans from all walks of life who died of COVID-19. The New York Times usually does one obituary a day of a virus victim under the “Those We've Lost” banner. Several CNN shows make it a point to tell individual stories. AdThe Times tells longer stories for COVID-19 victims, generally 400 to 500 words but occasionally stretching beyond.

A man stops to watch election returns on electronic billboards in Times Square, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in New York. Cable and broadcast news divisions followed the story closely, even as they learned that election night coverage was a relative dud with viewers. An estimated 56.9 million people watched coverage over 21 networks during primetime hours Tuesday, down sharply from the 71.4 million viewers on election night 2016, the Nielsen company said. For weeks, media outlets had warned that Americans would need patience on election night and beyond, and that turned out to be their most accurate prediction. Even if Biden won the presidency, Democrats were sure to face questions about why the race was so close and why predicted gains in Congress didn't materialize.

(Olivier Douliery/Pool vi AP)NEW YORK – The presidential debate commission says it will soon adopt changes to its format to avoid a repeat of the disjointed first meeting between President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden. The next presidential debate is a town hall format scheduled for Oct. 15 in Miami. That was the most-watched presidential debate ever. He called on the debate commission to act. Wallace is the only presidential debate moderator this cycle with prior experience, after receiving praise for handling the final Clinton-Trump debate in 2016.

(Democratic National Convention via AP)NEW YORK An unexpected travelogue connected as a television event during the second night of the Democrats' virtual convention, livening up a show that so far is struggling in the ratings. Four years ago, opening night drew just under 26 million viewers. NBC's telecast drew 2.28 million viewers, down from 4.29 million four years ago, Nielsen said. The left-leaning MSNBC, where Rachel Maddow, Joy Reid and Nicolle Wallace were anchors, led the way Monday with 5.1 million viewers, up from four years ago. Fox News Channel's audience was unimpressed; the 2.1 million viewers it reached for its hour of convention coverage compared poorly with the 3.4 million viewers that time slot occupant Laura Ingraham had on an average July day.

LOS ANGELES The Democratic and Republican conventions will lack for crowds but not television coverage. The Democratic meeting will be virtual, with Biden planning to make his acceptance speech from Wilmington, Delaware. Broadcast networks ABC, CBS and NBC plan an hour of nightly coverage of the conventions at 10 p.m. EDT. CNN's commentators for the Democratic meeting include Van Jones, Jennifer Granholm, Andrew Yang, and Scott Jennings. Commentary for the Republican convention will be handled by Rick Santorum, David Urban, Amanda Carpenter and Granholm.