Blogging resumes Monday afternoon…
What’s Hot/What’s Not: 11/29/08
Posted in What's Hot/What's Not on November 29, 2009 by icn2It’s an all Hot week…
What’s Hot:
Tiger Woods – You can bet with Wood’s apparent attempts to keep the long arm of the law away from his house and the lack of information that’s come out, that the mystery of his car accident will continue to dog him.
White House Party Crashers – This was a hot story this week but mostly because it was Thanksgiving week. If it had been a heavy news cycle this story would have been faded to a lower level.
Climate Change-Gate? – Against my better judgment I’m including this in the hot category because it has the potential to really blow up into something depending on what happens next. As of now, FNC is all over this story. Whether it’s too far out in front or it’s trailblazing a path as it did during the UN Oil for Food scandal, it’s too early to say.
“The Body” Muzzled?
Posted in MSNBC on November 28, 2009 by icn2The LA Times’ Scott Collins interviews Jesse Ventura. There’s only one part of the interview that really matters…(via Mediaite)
This is not your first venture into TV hosting since leaving the governorship. What happened to “Jesse Ventura’s America,” which ran briefly on MSNBC in 2003?
It was awful. I was basically silenced. When I came out of office, I was the hottest commodity out there. There was a bidding war between CNN, Fox and MSNBC to get my services. MSNBC ultimately won. I was being groomed for a five day-a-week TV show by them. Then, all of a sudden, weird phone calls started happening: “Is it true Jesse doesn’t support the war in Iraq?”
My contract said I couldn’t do any other cable TV or any news shows, and they honored and paid it for the duration of it. So in essence I had my silence purchased. Why do you think you didn’t hear from me for three years? I was under contract. They wouldn’t even use me as a consultant!
When you live in Mexico, your houses all have names. I almost named my house Casa MSNBC because they bought it. I was paid like a professional athlete, and I got very wealthy. For doing nothing.
What’s Hot/What’s Not: Submissions…
Posted in What's Hot/What's Not on November 28, 2009 by icn2Post your nominations for this week’s What’s Hot/What’s Not. I’ll post the finalists on Sunday night…
Coma scam?
Posted in Miscellaneous Subjects on November 27, 2009 by icn2True/Slant’s Michael Shermer argues the coma man story that’s been in the news recently is BS. If true, some high profile TV doctors are going to have egg on their faces…(via J$)
“Communication” by Coma Man is just “ideomotor” Ouija Board effect
It’s a hoax, folks. Sorry to be the spoiler of a feel good story—that of Rom Houben, the Belgian man who allegedly “woke up” from a 23-year long coma—but the hard truth must win out over hopeful emotions. Houben’s “communications,” his “statements” about how he’s been aware all along of his condition, his “talking” to reporters (all descriptive terms used by hardened journalists softened into bleeding heart jelly) is nothing more than the “ideomotor” effect, where the brain subtly and subconsciously guides the hands and fingers over a keyboard, or a Ouija board, or directs the movements of dowsing rods in search of underground water. You think it, the hand will move there. Dr. Sanjay Gupta missed it on CNN, Dr. Nancy Snyderman missed it on MSNBC. And neuroscientists untrained in skepticism and the history of facilitated communication all missed it.
Watch the video again here and here and note what the reporters say about how Houben was speaking, saying, talking, etc. For example:
Not a great day for Business News…
Posted in CNBC, FBN on November 27, 2009 by icn2Today markets endured serious declines all over the world because of this story. Problem is this is the day after Thanksgiving and neither FBN or CNBC put their best foot forward.
In the morning, if you didn’t want to sit through jokes waiting for more news, you had to switch from FBN to CNBC. FBN kept telling people that for those who wanted more analysis they should tune in to their live webcast. Not good enough. Not everyone wants to tie up their computer bandwidth in the morning like that. But it wasn’t a massively bad day in the offing. People were already speculating that US markets would not get hit as hard. One wonders what FBN would do if it was a really bad day in the making. Would it really stick with Imus and send business viewers packing to either CNBC or the FBN webcast, or would it bump Imus and go wall to wall? We’ll have to wait and see if that day ever comes and what the network ends up doing. But, for whatever shortcomings FBN had in handling the story early, it made up ground later in the day. It stayed live long past the point that markets closed and CNBC went to tape.
So it wasn’t a great day all around for the business nets. FBN kept Imus on while the story was breaking all over the world while CNBC was in full business news coverage mode. But later on in the day CNBC closed up shop while FBN stayed live. Nobody won this day. Both sides need to do some re-thinking.
CNN’s “undistinguished roster of talent”?
Posted in CNN on November 26, 2009 by icn2I would say that Variety’s Brian Lowry offers up a devastating critique of CNN. Except it’s one he’s already offered up before, at least in part.
What CNN needs, perhaps desperately, is an interviewer with the stature and gravitas of Ted Koppel, who in his “Nightline” days was able to cut to the heart of issues, without ever raising his tone of voice. Instead, CNN trots out a mostly undistinguished roster of talent — especially during the daytime hours, when news, or something like it, reigns on its competitors — then enshrouds them with distracting technological toys, from King’s “magic wall” to holograms to the new infatuation with gleaning viewer reaction from Twitter and comments posted online.
As for King, watching him interview newsmakers and travel the U.S. engaging in unenlightening chats with local folks hasn’t inspired much faith that the network’s “great hope,” as Marketwatch’s Jon Friedman proclaimed him, has a puncher’s chance of succeeding. He raised similar doubts at last summer’s TV Critics Assn. tour, when he defended CNN’s coverage of bogus controversies — usually percolating up from talkradio, such as the “birther” movement — by saying that journalists “don’t get to decide” what conversations are legitimate.
Such mealy-mouthed practices, along with CNN’s reliance on gadgets and gimmickry, have made the channel a frequent object of derision among those who should be in its corner — critics hungry for smarter, less politically tainted news. “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” has been especially brutal in dissecting CNN’s shortcomings when the channel doesn’t fulfill its stated journalism-first mandate, exhibiting disappointment with CNN because, based in part on its lengthier history, less is expected of its rivals.
Ok, This was Funny…
Posted in FNC on November 25, 2009 by icn2
When I read about “Spill O’Reilly” last night appearing on the Factor, I wasn’t sure how well that would go down. But I have to say it was pretty funny…
Tweet of the Day…
Posted in MSNBC on November 24, 2009 by icn2The Washington Post’s Howard Kurtz…
Chris Matthews to Kate Obenshain: I bring you on, unlike some MSNBC shows w/o GOP guests, “so people can see what a Republican looks like”
Delusions of Grandeur…
Posted in FNC on November 24, 2009 by icn2
Let me get this straight. O’Reilly believes that a two year old ambush interview everyone except O’Reilly has long forgotten is the reason Bill Moyers is leaving PBS? OOOOOOOOOOOOOkay…(via Gawker)
Fireworks on Hardball…
Posted in MSNBC on November 24, 2009 by icn2The Providence Journal’s Richard C. Dujardin writes about a terse interview between Chris Matthews and Bishop Tobin over abortion. The red blogs are already screaming that Matthews went over the line…
Bishop Tobin’s debate with a Rhode Island congressman was the subject of a testy exchange Monday night in a live interview with the bishop on MSNBC’s “Hardball with Chris Matthews.”
Matthews asked the bishop what kind of laws he would write if he were a member of Congress.
“I am not a member of Congress, but if I were, I would never be in a position of supporting any abortion legislation that encourages abortion,” Tobin replied.
Update: Video…
FNC Wants Quality Control?
Posted in FNC on November 23, 2009 by icn2FishbowlDC has an internal memo from somewhere inside FNC (odd that the sender’s name is not mentioned. This is atypical for leaked memos to not properly source them) regarding “getting serious” about gaffes like the wrong Palin B-Roll video incident.
The memo warns that those involved in future “mistake chains” will receive “warning letters to personnel files, suspensions, and other possible actions up to and including termination.”
Well I’m all for quality control but this is bullying people for accidents that you can’t completely stamp out no matter how hard you try. It’s live TV. Mistakes have always happened and always will happen. Intimidation and threats are not the solution. Cleaning up the process is. I disagree that the number of “mistakes” have increased greatly in the past few months as the mysterious memo writer states. I see no marked uptick. I do see a marked uptick in the high profile nature of the gaffes, meaning they got wider media circulation, but that’s not the same thing.
I’d really love to know why FishbowlDC redacted the sender’s name. This suggests this is an unofficially official leak.
CNN talents Pilgrim and Tucker Facing Unemployment?
Posted in CNN on November 23, 2009 by icn2The New York Post’s Michael Shain writes about what’s to happen with Lou Dobbs’ former staff at CNN…(via J$)
Late Friday, the CNNers were told that they could start applying for new jobs at the all-news network — with the clear implication that their old jobs were going to end shortly.
In his years at CNN, Dobbs amassed the largest single staff at the network, according to insiders, operating independently from the rest of the network in a closed-off area of the network’s new headquarters in the Time Warner building on Columbus Circle.
Many of the long-time “Lou Dobbs Tonight” staffers, including on-air reporters Kitty Pilgrim and Bill Tucker, are facing unemployment unless they can find spots elsewhere on CNN.
MSNBC.com to take over Breaking News On Twitter feed…
Posted in MSNBC on November 23, 2009 by icn2Wow…Paidcontent’s Rafat Ali reports that MSNBC.com will be taking over Breaking News On’s Twitter feed. BNO has come a long way from the days when it couldn’t even get CNN’s attention with a brand new Bin Laden video.
Well, it isn’t exactly the acquisition I was hoping for, but close, and probably for the better: BNO News, of the popular @BreakingNews Twitter feed and the BNO iPhone app, is launching its business syndication venture, called BNO News Wire, and MSNBC.com has signed on as the first client. Along with that, MSNBC.com will take over the management of the @BreakingNews Twitter feed starting next month, while BNO and its 20-year old Dutch founder Michael van Poppel will now focus on developing its subscription-based wire service to sell to news companies.
BNO’s new wire-service headlines will now be fed into the Twitter feed, along with the usual third-party headlines that it aggregates. The wire service will formally launch in January and will build on some of the original stories that BNO has started doing of late, such as this and this. The BNO premium subscription-based iPhone app is not part of the MSNBC.com deal; some wire-service stories will go on the iPhone app but the ull slate will only be for the paid news media clients.
CNN’s Future…
Posted in CNN on November 22, 2009 by icn2Crain’s Matthew Flamm writes about CNN’s future plans…
Fox News’ revenue will come to $1.3 billion, a 19% spike over the prior year. MSNBC, which has also seen ratings drop since its white-hot 2008 election streak, will be roughly flat at $365 million.
Mr. Walton says CNN’s profits have grown by more than 10% every year since 2003, and the organization is “very close” to achieving double-digit profit growth in 2009. Worldwide revenue for 2009 will be flat or slightly down, he says, but he would not reveal those numbers.
Profit growth this year can be partly attributed to not having to cover a presidential election. But Mr. Walton says that CNN recently opened a production facility in Abu Dhabi and has continued to add employees.
CNN’s lagging prime-time ratings are not for lack of trying, as was clear from the hours spent on the Balloon Boy hoax. CNN maintains that was a legitimate story, but its presence points to a basic problem with round-the-clock coverage: It leads to stories that are not always important or compelling.
“The issue is not, is there an audience for down-the-middle news?” says Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism. “But is there an audience for down-the-middle news that is just momentary?”
What’s Hot/What’s Not: 11/22/09
Posted in What's Hot/What's Not on November 22, 2009 by icn2What’s Hot:
The 8 Million Dollar Kiss-off? – The New York Post reported that CNN paid Lou Dobbs 8 million to go away…
Major Garrett interviews Obama – Though the significance of this was overstated by the blogs in my opinion, it was still a major deal.
Bill Clinton vs. Keith Olbermann – Though one writer on Mediaite swallowed the Blue Kool Aid and posted an over the top attack on Clinton; thus damaging Mediaite’s reputation as a serious alternative to The Huffington Post, the news that Bill Clinton bailed on a Free Clinic event in Little Rock because of Olbermann’s alleged “politicization” of the event was widely read as another Clinton Sister Soujah moment. We’re still waiting on Olbermann’s response to this.
Health Care Reform – Whether you’re for it or against it, it dominated the news cycle this week.
Norah O’Donnell questions a Palin supporter – Whether you agree with the line of questioning or not, and I thought there was over-reaching on both sides of that issue, it became a big topic on the internet this week.
FBN on Cablevision – No doubt about it, this is a big piece of the puzzle for FBN in the nations #1 market. FBN needed to be on Cablevision.
What’s Not:
MSNBC still not on Verizon FiOS in NYC – Amazing that a less than three year old network that isn’t officially rated by Nielsen can prod Cablevision to put it on its grid but a 13 year old network with a heckuva lot more ratings can’t prod it to drop its exclusivity deal that’s keeping the channel off Verizon FiOS in Cablevision markets.
O’Reilly vs. Hannity – The Wrap reported that Bill O’Reilly’s YouTub clip of his Sarah Palin interview was put up in a fit of pique; to upstage Sean Hannity’s Palin interview which would air first.
When’s the FNC janitor’s Palin interview going to air? – Let’s see, Hannity interviews Palin Wednesday. O’Reilly airs a two part Palin interview after that. Now Greta Van Susteren will interview Palin on Monday. Sheesh. How many more Palin interviews is FNC going to do?
Update: Well at least one more. Gretchen Carlson will interview Palin next after Greta’s interview airs. What about Cavuto? He hasn’t had his Palin interview yet. He’s being left out!!!
Four-peat – GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR…. (some of you will know what this refers to)
What’s Hot/What’s Not: Submissions…
Posted in What's Hot/What's Not on November 21, 2009 by icn2Post your nominations for this week’s What’s Hot/What’s Not. I’ll post the finalists on Sunday night…
Bill Clinton vs. Keith Olbermann?
Posted in MSNBC on November 20, 2009 by icn2Firedoglake’s David Dayen writes about Bill Clinton deciding to skip a free medical clinic event in Little Rock tomorrow because of the actions of Keith Olbermann…
Eve had met Clinton before, most recently at the Clinton Global Initiatives event in September, and President Clinton remembered her.
Eve told Clinton that she was in town for the clinic, which at least 1,500 patients are expected to attend. Clinton said that he had heard about it.
“I really wanted him to come,” she said. “So I made my pitch.”
She also said she planned to meet with Arkansas Lt. Governor Bill Halter, who had been instrumental in finding a venue for the event.
Clinton responded that Olbermann was politicizing the clinic, and that it wasn’t helpful for Olbermann to do that. He said he did not feel he could show up now, because the event had turned political.
Eve said that Halter had been very helpful, and that the event was not political. She said that Halter’s intercession had been key in getting the Convention center to give the clinics space.
Clinton replied that the event was becoming political, and that it was clear what was happening: a primary of Blanche Lincoln.
Press Releases: 11/20/09
Posted in Press Releases on November 20, 2009 by icn2CNBC (2)
CNBC PRESENTS “MEETING OF THE MINDS: REBUILDING AMERICA” ON WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2ND AT 8PM ET
CNBC Assembles Some of the Biggest Names In Manufacturing and Government To Explore The Big Issues Affecting Americans In This Economic Crisis
Maria Bartiromo to Lead Unprecedented One-Hour CNBC Special Event From Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA
ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J. – November 20, 2009 – Manufacturing led the United States to become the richest nation in the world and has been the backbone of this country. But times have changed and today’s economy values innovation and design over manual labor — emphasizing mind over matter. This sea change has spurred many questions: Are the manufacturing jobs in the U.S. gone forever? Does an economy that doesn’t produce anything have any real value and has ‘Made in the USA’ died, taking with it the soul of our country?
Read more »
Inside FNC’s Obama Interview…
Posted in FNC on November 19, 2009 by icn2The AP’s David Bauder writes about yesterday’s Major Garrett interview of President Obama…(via TVNewser)
It was the president’s first interview with Fox since the summer. In the meantime, the network and administration were in a well-publicized fight after the White House’s then-communications director, Anita Dunn, called Fox “a wing of the Republican Party.”
While on his Asian trip on Wednesday, Obama also gave interviews to CNN, NBC and CBS.
Garrett, Fox’s senior White House correspondent, described the backstage atmosphere as “very calm, very rational, very relaxed.
“Look, I wasn’t going to litigate whatever it was that was going on between Fox and the White House,” Garrett said. “Whether it was a war or not, I was always a conscientious objector in the conflict.”
John King Interview…
Posted in CNN on November 19, 2009 by icn2Mediaite’s Steve Krakauer interviews CNN’s John King…
“We’re having a fun, lively debate about how to structure the format, the pacing of the show,” he said.
One thing he said he does expect is to have extended interviews, upwards of 8-10 minutes, to let the story breathe. This seems to be something he’ll take from his current Sunday show role, where he has the luxury of four hours. While the show will be largely a “Washington-based public affairs show,” King plans to incorporate a little sports, arts and culture as well.
Press Releases: 11/19/09
Posted in Press Releases on November 19, 2009 by icn2CNN (2)
This Sunday on CNN’s GPS, Fareed Zakaria talks exclusively to Maziar Bahari, the Newsweek journalist released after four months of imprisonment in Iran.
In addition, Zakaria travels to New Delhi for the only interview with Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in advance of his State visit to Washington, D.C. Topics will include Afghanistan/Pakistan and US-India Relations.
Full interviews air this Sunday at 1pm and 5pm (ET) on CNN/U.S. and at 8am and 3pm on CNNI.
_______________________
CNN Digital No. 1 TV News Property on the Web in October
CNN No. 1 in reach across TV and Web, beating MSNBC and Fox News for 11th consecutive monthIn October, CNN Digital beat the top TV News Properties on the web in all metrics, including unique audience and video. Additionally, CNN Digital has been the No. 1 mobile destination among all news sites for the past 33 consecutive months.
Read more »
Cablevision Finally Carrying FBN?: Update…
Posted in FBN on November 19, 2009 by icn2Following up on ICN reporting yesterday that Cablevision will begin broadcasting FBN in Connecticut, Talking Biz News writes that FBN will announce an agreement with Cablevision to carry the network in all its markets…
Fox Business Network is expected to announce Thursday morning that it has secured an agreement with Cablevision Systems Corp.
The deal will expand the business network’s distribution by nearly 3 million subscribers in the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut area.
Update: It’s official…
The deal takes effect Thursday and lands FBN on Cablevision’s channel 106 and in HD on channel 772. Cablevision operates the largest U.S. cable cluster and is in more than 4.7 million households and 600,000 businesses in the New York metropolitan area.
FBN is now available in more than 50 million homes.
Read more »
The Hazards of Live TV: #25,030
Posted in Hazards of Live TV on November 18, 2009 by icn2
Problem is, this was the wrong video. The Swamp’s Mark Silva has more…
But it turns out that Happening Now had pulled some video of something that happened last year: Displaying video today from Palin’s campaign for the vice presidency, on the ticket with the GOP’s Sen. John McCain – which also drew considerable crowds, as shown today in video of a smiling Palin before an adoring campaign crowd.
“This was a production error in which the copy editor changed a script and didn’t alert the control room to update the video,” Michael Clemente, senior vice president of news at FOX, sad this evening. “There will be an on-air explanation during Happening Now on Thursday.”
Cablevision Finally Carrying FBN? Partially…
Posted in FBN on November 18, 2009 by icn2The message board at Broadband DSL Reports.com is noting that Cablevision in Connecticut will begin carrying FBN starting tomorrow for subscribers getting the iO Package or higher. It will air on channel 106 in SD and channel 772 in HD. The question is whether this is an isolated incident or the first step in Cablevision taking FBN across its entire network? And here I thought it was going to be a real foot race to see which happens first: FBN gets on Cablevision in NYC or MSNBC shows up on Verizon FiOS in Cablevision markets? Maybe not now…
