It's Debate Night in America again -- strap in

It's almost time for the tenth #GOPDebate of the season. Remember, this is the one that was originally going to air on NBC. But after the party's outcry about the CNBC debate, the RNC chose CNN instead. National Review was later removed as a co-sponsor due to the magazine's issue criticizing Trump. So the sponsors are CNN, Telemundo and Salem Media Group. Wolf Blitzer moderating. The debate telecast starts at 8:30 p.m. ET...

-- Once again, there will be a live stream on CNN.com, no log-in needed...

-- The most recent #GOPDebate scored 13.5 million viewers on a Saturday night on CBS. Will tonight rank higher or lower?

'Nothing less than a total knockout against Trump will do'

Dylan Byers thinks this will be the most contentious and dynamic debate of the GOP primary cycle so far:

Donald Trump is racing full-speed toward the Republican nomination. Tonight's debate marks the last chance for Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio to try and check his rise on a national stage. Doing so will require the sort of breakout performance we have yet to see from either candidate. But a commanding performance is absolutely necessary tonight... Nothing less than a total knockout against Trump will do.

-- Related: Don't miss Dylan's story on how "the press is coming around to Trump..."

Getting our hopes up about a brokered GOP convention...

Dylan also emails: A brokered convention is a political reporter's dream, which is to say that it (almost) never happens. But with Trump racing toward the nomination, it's looking like political reporters might actually see their dreams realized. Today our colleague MJ Lee reports that Rubio's campaign is preparing for a brokered convention. It's hard to understate the media frenzy that would surround the four-day event. In a campaign that has already shattered ratings records, this would be the World Cup...

Scoop: Soledad O'Brien to sub on 'CBS This Morning'

Former CNN morning show host Soledad O'Brien will be setting her alarm clock extra early next week: Next Tuesday through Friday she's guest-hosting on "CBS This Morning" while Gayle King is off.

It's the first time CBS is having a non-employee fill in, but won't be the last. The show's E.P. Chris Licht, who told the staff this afternoon, says: "We are lucky to have the best anchor team in the morning — but they can't work 52 weeks a year. So, from time to time we will try something interesting and a little unpredictable to keep up the momentum even when one of our main anchors is off."

-- Re: that momentum: "CBS This Morning" is up year-over-year while its broadcast rivals "Today" and "GMA" are down. Last week CBS had 3.9 million viewers. Back when I was writing my morning TV book in 2013, 2.8 million was more typical...

Jay Yarow's new title: CNBC Digital exec editor

When Henry Blodget said last night that Business Insider executive editor Jay Yarow was leaving for a "network" job, the smart money was on CNBC. And this afternoon, chairman Mark Hoffman confirmed that Yarow is coming on board as a SVP and executive editor of CNBC Digital.

Hoffman has been trying to fill this job for a long while. Yarow will run the editorial side of CNBC.com and try to build new bridges to the TV operation. He starts on March 28. What does it say about the state of media that Yarow's predecessor Joe Weisenthal jumped to Bloomberg, and now Yarow is leaping to CNBC? "New media" talent is in demand and "old media" is still lucrative...

For the record, part one

-- "Reliable" executive producer Jon Auerbach flagged this story: "Hugh Hefner Saves Embattled School Newspaper." The Playboy founder still values print: He has pledged $37,500 over five years so his high school alma mater's paper can keep printing... (DNAInfo)

-- Editor Mark Mooney emails: The financial woes of small papers have been a rich source of investment for the New Media Investment Group, which has bought more than 100 small dailies in the last two years and is turning a profit with them. This WSJ story tells you how... (WSJ)

-- Speaking of papers and profits: WSJ's parent News Corp is looking for more areas to cut costs... (Sky News)

-- Via the NYT's Alexandra Alter: Simon & Schuster is creating a new imprint for "Muslim-themed children's books" (NYT)

-- WSJ's Mike Shields: "Snapchat is teaming up with Nielsen to supply marketers with third-party data measuring their ad campaigns..." (WSJ)

Episode 4 of 'Toobin Talking O.J.' is here

Every week after a new episode of FX's "The People vs O.J. Simpson" debuts, I record a conversation with CNN's Jeffrey Toobin, whose book "The Run of His Life" formed the basis of the TV series.

I'm biased, but I think this week's podcast episode is the best one yet. We delve into the jury selection process, Cochran v. Shapiro, and how Toobin came up with the title of his book. Listen to the podcast here...

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Melissa Click fired

"Melissa Click, the University of Missouri professor who was filmed trying to intimidate journalists during a campus protest, has been fired," Tom Kludt reports. The Board of Curators vote was 4-2. She has the right to appeal. For now, she's not commenting. Read more from Tom here...

Al Jazeera America digital staff packing up

Tomorrow is the last day of work for Al Jazeera America's digital staff; a spokeswoman confirms that only a "very small number" of staffers will be sticking around for social media tasks. The TV network will shut down on April 12.

On the way out, the Al Jazeera site suffered a big embarrassment today -- the publication of an online opinion piece that was removed within hours and deemed "inappropriate." It was a parody that listed six "hot media startups," including AJAM, and mocked the channel's Qatari owners. Tom just filed a story about what happened... click here to read it...

Quote of the day

"Although some of us are coming around to the possibility he could be the nominee and even win a general (election), many believe we are watching a horror movie where we have to suspend our disbelief or that God is punking us."

--Veteran Nevada journalist Jon Ralston, speaking to Dylan about the political media's evolving views of Donald Trump...

Countdown to the Academy Awards

Chris Rock silent 'til Sunday

Normally the host of the Academy Awards would be doing some pre-show interviews to promote the telecast. But not Chris Rock.

"After #OscarsSoWhite struck again, the show's emcee went silent, cancelling all press interviews," THR says. "Now, he's set to unleash his take for the first time only on TV," which just heightens the anticipation for his monologue...

Why Leonardo DiCaprio doesn’t need an Oscar

One of this year's biggest Oscars storylines is Leo. Will Leonardo DiCaprio finally win an Oscar? He's nominated in the Best Actor category for a fourth time.

In this story, Frank Pallotta asks a different question: Does it really matter if he doesn't win? DiCaprio is such a star that if he does go home empty-handed on Sunday (not gonna happen), his career wouldn’t be greatly impacted. Frank spoke with Variety’s awards editor Tim Gray about DiCaprio's quest for the Oscar...

How 'Spotlight' has been a 'shot in the arm'

Yesterday I interviewed "Spotlight" director Tom McCarthy and co-writer Josh Singer about how 2 groups of moviegoers, journalists and the survivors of priest sex abuse, have been affected by the movie in different ways. The film has given both groups a "platform," McCarthy said. For the beleaguered newspaper industry, Singer said, the movie has been a "shot in the arm." Check back tomorrow to hear more from them...

For the record, part two

-- "Bones" will have a farewell season. "When 'Bones' ends its run, the series will have completed 246 original episodes, making it one of the longest running Fox series ever..." (EW)

-- This is an (unintentionally?) funny NYT story about the life and death of a meme, in this case "Damn, Daniel." "A tweet from a major brand signals the point where a meme is reaching the beginning of the end of its life span..." (NYT)

-- I missed this yesterday: Genius hiring former Gawker features editor Leah Finnegan, "part of a renewed push by Genius into general news content" (Politico)

-- DuJour profiles "straight shooter" Kathie Lee Gifford... (DuJour)

-- An early look at Sunday's "Reliable Sources:" I'll be joined by editors of three newspapers in Super Tuesday states, plus former MSNBC host Ed Schultz, who's now at RT America...

Correction to yesterday's HBO item

In yesterday's newsletter I plugged Kim Masters' THR story about HBO. I screwed up the attribution of a quote at the end: it was actually "Leftovers" creator Damon Lindelof, not Michael Lombardo, who said this: "The first Game of Thrones pilot was disastrous. They spent and they retooled and, lo and behold, Game of Thrones."

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