Rupert Murdoch is spotted at the RNC near Tucker Carlson, MSNBC staffers express fury at NBC brass, Warner Bros. Discovery prepares to match Amazon's NBA deal, Donald Trump shows his love for the New York Post, FX cleans up on Emmy nominations day, the Russo Brothers talk with Marvel about directing the next two "Avengers" films, and so much more. But first, the A1. 

Tuned In To 2024

CNN Photo Illustration/Matt Rourke/AP

America's eyes are finally fixated on the 2024 election.

After months of tuning out what had been a fairly predictable and uneventful race between the two party incumbents, recent earthshaking events have upended the state of politics, adding an unexpected wrinkle to the storyline and prompting audiences to turn their attention to the high stakes showdown between Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

In other words: the 2024 drought appears to be over as Americans show renewed interest in a race that has suddenly been thrown into upheaval.

In recent weeks, tens of millions of people, thirsty for information, have turned to news organizations for coverage of the consequential CNN presidential debate and its aftermath, the attempted assassination of Trump, and the Republican National Convention.

The CNN debate averaged 51 million viewers, networks averaged about 19 million viewers after Trump was shot, and the first night of the RNC averaged 18 million viewers. On digital platforms, numbers have also traveled upward, with the major events sending spikes of traffic to news organizations.

To be clear, the television ratings and interest generated by the twists and turns of the 2024 election have not been historic by any means. Viewership is relatively in line with years' past, if not a bit lower. But the startling news cycle has, unquestionably, breathed life into what had been a sleepy race, offering jolts to the system.

Last week, as the news cycle took yet another abrupt turn, the cable news networks topped both primetime and total day viewership across cable, posting double-digit percentage increases over last month.

Prior to the presidential debate, which set off alarm bells over Biden's acuity and stamina, audience levels had hovered at lows, with most of the country opting against investing their time following incremental updates on a race that many had already made up their minds about. But with Biden's 2024 future now in serious doubt, and Trump having just survived an attempt on his life, Americans are standing to attention, eager to learn what comes next. 

That offers a glimmer of good news for the media industry, which usually enjoys surges in audience levels and advertising revenue during major election seasons. And it is especially welcome this year, with media organizations struggling amid a difficult business environment.

CNN Photo Illustration/Donie O'Sullivan

The Mingling Murdoch: It's not every day that Rupert Murdoch is spotted milling around and mingling in public. But the right-wing media mogul spent his day at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday doing just that. Our colleague, Donie O'Sullivan, even came across the 93-year-old Fox News boss by happenstance, snapping the photo you see above. Unfortunately, we have yet to bump into Murdoch ourselves, though rest assured: We do have plenty questions, if we see him!

CNN Photo Illustration/MSNBC

Meltdown At MSNBC: Staffers at MSNBC are not so happy with NBC News Group. That's according to reports out Wednesday from The Wrap's Natalie Korach and The Daily Beast's Corbin Bolies, both of whom reported that, in the wake of the inexplicable benching of "Morning Joe," employees inside 30 Rock are vexed and alarmed by the decision making from the Cesar Conde-led company. "There's a level of disgust in the company I haven’t seen before," one employee told Korach. Read Korach's report here, and Bolies' story here.

CNN Photo Illustration/Rebecca Droke/AFP/Getty Images

Not So Secret Disservice: In the wake of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, right-wing media figures and lawmakers have launched misogynistic attacks on the Secret Service, singling out female agents for blame in the security failure. "There should not be any women in the Secret Service. These are supposed to be the very best, and none of the very best at this job are women," far-right media personality Matt Walsh wrote. "There should not be any women in the Secret Service." While Fox's Laura Ingraham claimed women agents were too small to shield the president, others falsely blamed the security failure on DEI initiatives. Republican Sen. Ron Johnson blasted Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle in a WaPo interview, claiming she "was far more concerned about DEI than protecting, for example, President Trump." Associations that represent women in law enforcement slammed the attacks as "disingenuous at best and deeply dangerous at worst." CNN's Hadas Gold has more here.

CNN Photo Illustration/Google

Searching for Gemini: We've noticed it anecdotally, but now there is some data to back it up: Google appears to be showing users less and less of its controversial A.I. Overview panel. Data from SEO company BrightEdge found that the percentage of queries in which Google showed users the feature dropped from 11% to 7% during the month of June. For its part, Google disputed the findings, saying they "do not reflect" what the company has seen. The Verge's Jay Peters has more here.

CNN Photo Illustration/FX

The Force of FX: Emmy voters sure seem to be fans of FX. The Disney-owned network had a stellar showing on Wednesday as the Emmy nominations were announced. "Shogun" nabbed a staggering 25 nominations and "The Bear" walked away with 23, a record for a comedy series. In total, FX received 93 nominations, behind only Netflix, which earned 107, and ahead of HBO/Max with 91. CNN's Lisa Respers France has more here.