Greg D’Alba Interview…

Multichannel News’ Mike Reynolds interviews CNN’s Greg D’Alba regarding CNN’s upcoming upfront…

Asked about the impact of MSNBC surpassing CNN in viewers and in the demo for the first time during the first quarter (Fox has ruled the cable news ratings roost for 87 months), D’Alba acknowledged that “TV ratings are important and we’ve certainly celebrated our share of wins over the past 18 months…But [MSNBC] is competing on a shorter playing field for any day, week or hour. We have a significant long-field playing advantage.”
Taking a macro view, D’Alba said “it’s about how you define winning. We have a tremendous reach advantage that touches more customers and gives our clients opportunities to sell more products.”

D’Alba said that CNN has already put business on hold for some of its specials, which cover such topics as diversity, financial, cause-related, health, political, thought leaders, technology, environment and women. However, he said couldn’t disclose the clients until the deals “go to order.”