History will look at the life and legacy of President Theodore Roosevelt as part of a two-part documentary series debuting Memorial Day, the network announced during its Television Critics Association Winter Tour session Wednesday.

The five-hour series, executive produced by Leonardo DiCaprio and Doris Kearns Goodwin, will air across two consecutive nights beginning May 30, said the network. Based on Goodwin’s bestseller Leadership: In Turbulent Times, the miniseries will explore the breadth and depth of one of history’s most interesting men—a cowboy, soldier, statesman, conservationist, adventurer, reformer and author who suffered profound personal loss and became at age 42 the youngest president of the United States, said History.

“History has cemented itself as the premier destination for presidential documentary content that tells the definitive yet complex stories of our most influential leaders – Washington, Grant, Lincoln and now our fourth instalment – Theodore Roosevelt,” said Eli Lehrer, Executive Vice President and Head of Programming for The History Channel as a statement. “Teddy was a fascinating man of many contradictions and we are proud to partner again with modern-day leaders in their own right -- Doris and Leo -- to bring this President’s larger-than-life story to our audience.”

The announcement comes on the heels of the network’s upcoming three-night documentary series Abraham Lincoln debuting Feb. 20. ■ 

HBO has set an Aug. 3 premiere date for its documentary series Obama: In Pursuit of a More Perfect Union, the network said Wednesday.

The series, directed by Peter Kunhardt, follows the historic Obama presidency  and reflects on the country’s past and present national identity, the network said. 

The series features interviews from such political and celebrity personalities as Jelani Cobb; John Lewis; David Axelrod; Rev. Alvin Love; Michael Eric Dyson; Laura Washington; Rev. Jeremiah Wright; Rev. Al Sharpton; Cornel West; Jesse Jackson; Ta-Nehisi Coates; Sherrilyn Ifill; Valerie Jarrett; Henry Louis Gates Jr., and  Keegan-Michael Key. 

CNN topped television’s coverage of Wednesday’s Inauguration of President Joe Biden as nearly 40 million viewers across several broadcast and cable networks viewed the festivities.

CNN averaged 9.9 million viewers from 11:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., topping ABC’s 7.6 million viewers and NBC’s 6.8 million watchers, according to Nielsen. MSNBC (6.5 million), CBS (6 million) and Fox News (2.7 million) rounded out the list. 

Overall, 39.5 million viewers tuned in to see Biden’s swearing in ceremony, up from the 38 million viewers who tuned into Donald Trump’s inauguration in 2017. Barack Obama's 2009 inauguration averaged 50.6 million viewers, according to Nielsen.

Also Read: Communications Industry Extends Congratulations to President Biden

CNN was also the most watched network during the broader 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. period, averaging 7.7 million viewers, topping ABC with 5.3 million viewers and MSNBC with 5.3 million viewers, according to Nielsen. The 29.2 million total viewers for the time period across the six networks was up from the 26.8 million viewers for the 2017 inauguration but down from 2009 (34.3 million).

FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, in a passionate keynote speech to the State of the Net annual conference, focused on growing political challenges to internet freedom. Acknowledging the long run of "rosy propositions" about the internet's value, she warned that "this formidable tool can not only bring us together but can divide us, too." She voiced special concern that government-directed internet shutdowns "can stunt the democratic process, threaten human rights, batter economies, and disrupt modern life" - and emphasized that the U.S. President could institute an internet shutdown under current regulations.

Without ever mentioning the incumbent U.S. President by name during her Tuesday, Jan. 28 speech to the annual SOTN conference of policymakers, Rosenworcel's political invective concentrated on what she sees as a potential threat to American free speech similar to actions that have been implemented globally.

"We have discovered what is ugly—that outrage can travel online with a greater velocity than veracity," Rosenworcel said, citing the "terrifying [ways] that this tool for global collaboration can be used to disrupt democracies as surely as it can be used to destabilize dictatorships." She focused on overseas examples, quoting reports that 21 countries shut down the internet 122 times last year.

After a lengthy tale of overseas internet shutdowns, she brought the story to the U.S.

"You might think this is at some distance from what could happen in the United States. But you might want to think again," Rosenworcel said, trying to avoid alarmist rhetoric as she outlined a scenario in which the President could use World War II- era regulations to stifle the web.

She pointed to 1942 revisions of the 1934 Communications Act, known as Section 706.

"Section 706 allows the President to shut down or take control of 'any facility or station for wire communication' if he proclaims 'that there exists a state or threat of war involving the United States,'” she explained noting that wireless communications could be suspended "merely if there is a presidential proclamation of a 'state of public peril' or simply a 'disaster or other national emergency.' There is no requirement in the law for the President to provide any advance notice to Congress."

Rosenworcel acknowledged, "These are .... different days."

"Section 706 has not been directly applied to the internet," she said, but quoted a 2010 Senate report that concluded Section 706 “gives the President the authority to take over wire communications in the United States and, if the President so chooses, shut a network down.”

"If a sitting President wants to shut down the internet or selectively cut off a service, all it takes is an opinion from his Attorney General that Section 706 gives him the authority to do so," she said. Citing current "unspoken norms," Rosenworcel contended "that past practice may no longer be the best guide for future behavior. Norms are being broken all the time in Washington and relying on them to cabin legal interpretation is not the best way to go."

With bold political inference, she said, "We should be straightforward."

"We should acknowledge that internet shutdowns can stunt elections and the democratic process, threaten human rights, batter economies, and disrupt modern life," the Democratic Commissioner said, calling for a "modern assessment of this language" in Section 706, reflecting "what it should mean in the digital age."

"The United States should develop a formal policy on government-directed internet shutdowns, informed by the experience of the State Department, National Telecommunications and Information Administration and Federal Communications Commission," she proposed.

"We need to have this discussion if we are committed to an open internet for all," Rosenworcel concluded. "Because without it our own laws could be contorted to support such outages. Because without it we can expect the number of government-directed internet shutdowns to grow."

NBCUniversal has named Jeff Wachtel as its International Studios President.

Wachtel, who will relocate to London from Los Angeles next summer, will focus on international and global productions in his new position, managing all aspects of television development, production, formats and strategic content partnerships for NBCUniversal International Studios, according to the company.

Wachtel most recently served as chief content officer for NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment as well as president of Universal Cable Productions and Wilshire Studios. 

“The ability to produce for a local and a global audience is key to the future success of any major production company. Jeff is one of the few creative executives in the business who has proven time and again that he can deliver shows that work on both planes,” said Kevin MacLellan, chairman, global distribution & international, to whom Wachtel will report beginning in January.

Added Wachtel: “I’m going from one dream job to another. Nothing can top my experience helping to grow USA and then UCP into hugely successful enterprises. The only thing that could be more exciting is the adventure of moving to London and working with our great international folks to help take that business to the next level.”

President Donald Trump has downgraded Washington from a swamp, and placed the news media squarely in the center.

In a tweet early Monday (July 24), the President said:

Drain the Swamp should be changed to Drain the Sewer - it's actually much worse than anyone ever thought, and it begins with the Fake News!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 24, 2017

The reference harkened to the days when Washington Post cartoonist Herblock (the pen name for Herbert Block) used to depict then-Republican Senator and VP candidate Richard Nixon coming out of a manhole to suggest the level of his political dealings and character.

That Trump downgrade followed a tweet Sunday about the "failing New York Times," POTUS' favorite description of the newspaper to which he recently granted an interview, and "Amazon Washington Post," a reference to its ownership by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, saying it was hard to read because all the stories that should be positive are "bad."

Those comments came amid tweets about "crooked" Hillary Clinton and calling Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, "sleazy" for appearing on TV -- he is a frequent face on CNN, for example, another news outlets the president regularly attacks, talking about concerns with possible Trump administration ties to Russia.

Public Citizen has bought a 30-second spot on Fox News to slam President-elect Donald Trump's picks of "wealthy corporate elites" for cabinet posts.

Billed as a parody, the ad juxtaposes Trump's own words about draining the swamp of those whose financial decisions "robbed our working class" and "stripped our country from its wealth" with cabinet picks who are billionaires or big contributors.

RELATED:Progressives Mass to Oppose Bannon as Trump Advisor

The ad will air on Fox & Friends between 7 and 7:30 a.m. Dec. 13.

A longer version of the ad, which you can watch below, was posted on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube last week.

The media is still trying to figure out how they were so wrong about predicting Donald Trump’s historic election as president of the United States.

Much of the media had Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton easily ascending to the office of the presidency, only to eat crow when Trump shocked the world on Election Day.

But veteran TV journalist Dan Rather foresaw Trump’s potential ascension from real estate mogul and reality TV star to the most powerful position in the free world. In an interview I conducted with Rather this past January during the Television Critics Association Winter press tour before the first Republican primary vote for Trump was cast, the current host of AXS TV’s The Big Interview told me that Trump’s ability to take advantage of the media and his unconventional outreach to a segment of America virtually ignored by both the Republicans and the Democrats could lead him to the White House.  

Below is Rather’s fortuitous assessment of Trump’s political success: 

n one of the most stunning political upsets in the nation's history, Donald Trump has been elected President of the United States. CNN's Anderson Cooper called it a "revolution in American politics," and he was not understating it.

Media outlets started calling the race at about 2:45 a.m., when he topped the magic 270-electoral vote total.

President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence appeared at the Trump campaign headquarters at about 2:15 a.m. to speak to his supporters.

Related: Networks Track Trump's Pursuit of Historic Win

At about 2 a.m., Hillary Clinton Campaign Manager John Podesta appeared at Clinton's campaign event to say that she was "not done yet," suggesting that his candidate could "still bring this thing home," but advising supporters who had shown up for a victory party to go home and get some sleep. But at about 2:40 a.m. CNN reported that Clinton had called Trump to concede the race, though the networks had yet to call it for Trump.

Some of the biggest losers in the election were the pollsters and the media pundits who had predicted a convincing Clinton win. Even Republicans were not expecting victory, with one insider reportedly telling CNN early in the night they did not think Trump had a path to victory.

Trump has been a media-bashing former reality TV figure and real estate mogul who is the first President who has never held public office or served in the military (though he did attend a military academy as a boy). But he clearly tapped into anger at a dysfunctional Washington and blue collar workers in the Rust Belt who have seen jobs flee the country or disappear altogether.

Related: Dispatches From the Clinton-Trump Front Lines

Analyst Van Jones said Trump had skillfully used his reality TV background and social media to play the villain, and in doing so had gained, not lost, followers.

Media outlets started the night talking about where the Republican party would go from here, given the phalanx of polls giving Clinton leads in key states and nationally--Democrats had even talked about gaining both the White House and regaining the Senate. The answer the voters gave: To the White House and in control of both the House and Senate.

The House will remain in Republican hands, and the Senate looked to be staying Republican as well--the Dems may pick up a seat or two, but needed five--which should make it easier for a President Trump to get his cabinet and agency appointments through.

A Trump presidency could mean Republican Ajit Pai would become the FCC chairman. The deregulatory Pai is well-liked by many industry players, though he and FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler have butted heads over FCC process issues as well as policy. "In a Trump Administration, Ajit Pai should be hands down favorite for chairman,"s aid Adonis Hoffman, former chief of staff to Democratic commissioner Mignon Clyburn.

Republicans have voted against efforts to revamp set-top boxes, create tough new broadband privacy rules, business data rule revises, and more.

That Republican trifecta of White House and both Houses of Congress also removes a veto threat from potential Congressional efforts to undo some of the Wheeler agenda.

But Trump is no traditional deregulatory Republican. He ran on a "drain the Washington swamp" agenda and has said he would block an AT&T/Time Warner Cable deal and even maybe try to unwind Comcast/NBCU.

He is expected to be generally pro-business and anti-regulation, but Trump has made a habit of defying expectations. Clearly the financial markets were not sure what to think, with major drops in international exchanges and DOW futures.

Trump has threatened to sue news outlets that ran unflattering stories about him, excluded some outlets from campaign events when he didn't like coverage, threaten to toughen libel laws, and was branded a threat to the First Amendment by the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Trump and VP candidate Mike Pence are the most media-experienced duo ever to hold the top two offices. Trump had a long run on NBC's Apprentice and Pence is a former conservative talk radio host.

One potential takeaway from the election was that Trump's earned media trumped the Clinton campaign's massive ad spend.