Bret “Duffer” Baier

Golfweek’s Martin Kaufmann profiles FNC’s Bret Baier…

Baier grew up in Atlanta playing American Junior Golf Association tournaments. In high school, he’d often play 36 holes per day at Dunwoody Country Club in Atlanta, then chip and putt well into the night, the lights of his Ford Granada illuminating the practice green. Though he fought a nagging hook, he arrived at DePauw with a fearless, Seve-esque flair – the sort who “would do or try anything,” says former teammate Rob McCormick, now the general manager at Crawfordsville (Ind.) Country Club.

“My coach at DePauw (Ted Katula) used to (say), ‘Baiersy, I can’t go out with you unless I have a flask of vodka,’ ” Baier recalls.

“His game matched his personality. He had a way of making something out of nothing,” says former teammate, Jon Stutz, head professional at Purgatory Golf Club in Noblesville, Ind.

“He was a scrambler, a grinder. He never seemed to be too taken aback by a bad shot. He just focused on how to make something out of the next shot.”

A self-described “ham,” Baier chased his television dreams in various small- and mid-sized markets after graduating in 1992.

Team Play?

Gawker’s Ryan Tate writes about a going away party for the Wall Street Journal’s Dan Herzberg. That’s not what makes this story interesting. What makes it interesting is comments allegedly made by WSJ Managing Editor Robert Thompson in regards to a new room that has a lot of TVs in it…

The line that pricked up reporters’ ears was when Thomson joked that the real reason the Hub was built was actually to “double the viewership of Fox Business Network,” or words to that effect. Zing!

The Journal, like FBN, is part of the News Corp. empire so this alleged comment is the kind of thing that drives PR people crazy…

Shannon Bream Q&A…

The Hill’s Kris Kitto interviews FNC’s Shannon Bream…(via J$)

When did you become interested in politics?

I grew up in a household that was very politically involved and plugged in, and I feel like I was around that my entire life. I remember trying to watch returns to elections as a child … I just was wired that way as a kid. I was kind of like an Alex P. Keaton, female version.

What has been the most memorable Washington-based news story you’ve covered?

I think last year when we got the Second Amendment decision on the D.C. guns case. The court had actually extended the term for a couple of days … the day that it finally came, I was determined — I wanted to be the first person on the air with it. People from all over the country were here picketing … there was so much electricity there that day in the court. As I grabbed the opinion, it was really thick. I just went running for the camera, and I had no idea what I was going to say. I looked down to see that Justice Scalia had authored the opinion, and I knew that it would be a big win for the gun-rights advocates. And I was the first person to get on air with that.

What are your plans for August recess?

I’m going to try to get away and do some fly-fishing with my husband — if he remembers what I look like … We go to Colorado or Canada to fly-fish. It’s the antithesis of Washington, because I like to go where I can turn off my BlackBerry.

Another Conflict of Interest?

Gawker’s John Cook reports on an off the record get together between White House staffers and White House reporters on the 4th of July…

We reported yesterday that Politico’s Mike Allen was spotted milling about as a guest at the White House’s “backyard bash” by the pool reporter, who was allowed into the event for 40 minutes and kept in a pen before being ushered out. When Allen quoted from the pool report in his Playbook column the next day, he deleted a reference to his own name and didn’t bother to tell his readers that he was actually at the party.

Well, he wasn’t alone. Gawker has learned that the White House gave tickets to virtually every major news organization that covers the president—the New York Times, Washington Post, Newsweek, Time, ABC News, NBC News, CNN, CBS News, and so on, about 30 in all. The reporters were invited to attend on the following condition:

“You are being invited to attend this event as a guest. Blogging, Twittering or otherwise reporting on this event is not permitted. If you feel that you cannot agree to abide by these ground rules, please don’t claim a ticket.”

That’s right: Much of the White House press corps spent the Fourth schmoozing with White House staffers, catching performances by the Foo Fighters and Jimmy Fallon, and watching the fireworks from the most exclusive vantage point in the D.C. metro area, all off the record—not to mention off-the-Facebook and off-the-Twitter. These are the same people who just a week ago were whining in the press briefing about Obama’s malicious and dastardly attempts to “control the press.” (Well, not the self-same people—we’re not sure if Chip Reid and Helen Thomas, the primary antagonists in that exchange, were in attendance.)

Conflict of Interest?

CJR Daily’s Ryan Chittum writes about the investment seminar and how it uses CNBC and Rick Santelli in its promotional materials. Chittum also has a response CNBC spokesman Brian Steel…

Steel told me CNBC policy prohibits its journalists from “accept(ing) appearance or speaking fees to participate in for profit seminars or conferences nor are they allowed to accept speaking or appearance fees to attend events sponsored by for profit companies or companies that engage in lobbying activities.” He says Santelli wasn’t paid for his appearance.

When asked if Santelli’s appearance was vetted by CNBC and if it approves of its reporters appearing at events like this, Steel said he doesn’t comment on internal discussions.

I also pointed out that CNBC’s brand name was being used to hawk Levin’s product and asked if that was okay with CNBC and was the product something it wanted to be associated with. Steel said “Larry Levin is in the process of removing any mention of Rick’s appearance or his likeness from his website nor will he be selling DVD’s that contains footage of Rick.”

As of right now, Levin’s entire website, sotseminar.com, has been taken down. I had already taken a couple of screen shots, so you can get a feel for the site:

Talking Head Primetime Invades Daytime: Chapter 7

NewsBusters’ Kyle Drennen catches MSNBC’s David Shuster weighing in on Sarah Palin’s future and Tamron Hall taking one for the home team…

On Wednesday, MSNBC anchor David Shuster made a bold prediction about Sarah Palin’s political future: “I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, Sarah Palin will never recover from this…No matter what people say, no matter what these polls, she has no future.”

Press Releases: 07/09/09

CNN (1)

Anderson Cooper 360° with Exclusive Access to President Obama

Cooper joins the President during his trip to Africa

As President Barack Obama makes a historic visit to Africa, CNN’s Anderson Cooper sits down with the President for an extensive interview and joins him exclusively as he visits Cape Coast Castle, Ghana, the site of an overcrowded dungeon where slaves were held before they were shipped west. Interview topics will include domestic and international issues as well as the President’s own close connection with Africa and the significance of his trip for African-Americans today. CNN’s chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta will join Cooper from Haiti, where he will report on the slave trade that continues to thrive in that country. The interview will air on Monday, July 13th and Tuesday, July 14th. Anderson Cooper 360° airs weeknights at 10pm ET on CNN.

Sotomayor Hearings: CNN coverage plans…

Here are CNN’s coverage plans for the Sotomayor hearings…

CNN Plans Comprehensive Coverage of Sotomayor Hearings

CNN’s Wolf Blitzer will anchor special coverage of the confirmation hearings on Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination to be associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court during the week of July 13. Beginning Monday at 10 a.m., CNN will provide comprehensive coverage during the opening statements as well as the days when Judge Sotomayor faces questioning from senators on Capitol Hill.

Blitzer will be joined by members of the Best Political Team on Television including senior political analyst Gloria Borger, senior political correspondent Candy Crowley, chief national correspondent John King, senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, and national political correspondent Jessica Yellin. Senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash and congressional correspondent Brianna Keilar will report live from Capitol Hill to provide updates and reaction from members of Congress. In addition, CNN contributor Alex Castellanos and guest contributor Maria Echaveste will provide analysis and commentary throughout the coverage.

MSNBC/Cablevision/Verizon FiOS: Update…

As longtime readers know, for years I’ve been chronicling the MSNBC carriage deal with Cablevision and how it has blocked Verizon FiOS and ATT U-verse subscribers from receiving the network in areas where Cablevision serves. Well here’s the latest development. The Hartford Courant’s Lynn Dolan writes about the Connecticut Attorney General asking the FCC to look into the agreement.

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal asked the Federal Communications Commission today to investigate an agreement between Cablevision and MSNBC TV that gives the cable provider exclusive rights to air the channel in its service areas.

Blumenthal, who described the agreement as “anticompetitive,” said it prevents cable competitors, like AT&T’s U-verse, from carrying MSNBC in Cablevision’s service areas, which include the Norwalk, Bridgeport and Torrington areas.

The exclusive partnership could violate a federal law that prohibits cable companies from coercing program providers into exclusive agreements or retaliating against them for refusing to do so, he said.

This will probably go nowhere. I think if the FCC was going to act on this it would have already given how long this has been going on. I first reported on the existence of this deal over two years ago.

Dish Network to carry MSNBC HD…

The Denver Business Journal reports that Dish Network will be carrying MSNBC in HD…

Dish Network Corp. said Thursday it was adding MSNBC HD to its channel lineup and would be the nation’s only pay-TV service to carry MSNBC’s high-definition channel across the country.

MSNBC HD is offered on the Dish Network’s Channel 209 in its Classic Silver 200 with HD package and above.

I saw this story via J$ which labeled it as an “exclusive”. The Journal’s headline calls the deal an “exclusive”. But what’s interesting is that the story itself doesn’t use the term “exclusive”. Exclusivity in this case should mean Dish has the only rights to air MSNBC HD nationwide and nobody else can. I have a feeling that’s not an accurate statement and that this is only “exclusive” because nobody else (read: DirecTV) has started carrying MSNBC in HD yet. If that’s the case, the Dish announcement will likely force DirecTV to start carrying it sooner than planned.

Update: It’s not an exclusive deal and the Journal was doing a bit of embellishing with that headline. Dish was just the first national carrier to air MSNBC in HD.

Update 2: After being shown the original Dish release, it’s readily apparent that the Biz Journal was not the source for the “Exclusive” characterization. It was Dish itself.

Free for All: 07/09/09

What’s on your mind?

Allison Gollust upped at NBC Universal…

Media Post’s Wayne Friedman writes that Allison Gollust has been named Vice President of Corporate Communications at NBC Universal…

Gollust will become executive vice president of corporate communications for NBC Universal, reporting directly to Jeff Zucker, president and CEO of NBC Universal.

Senior vice president of NBC News Communications since 2005 and key to its communication strategy since 2002, she has worked with various shows, including “Today,” “Nightly News with Brian Williams,” “Dateline” and “Meet the Press.” Gollust also oversaw communications efforts at MSNBC, CNBC and The Weather Channel.

“Allison is an accomplished communications strategist who I’ve had the good fortune of working closely with for more than a decade,” Zucker said in a statement.

CNN Falls for Hoax?

Le-gal In-sur-rec-tion’s William A. Jacobson writes about CNN reporting about a Honduran protester…(via J$)

It is unclear if a child died at the protests, as most reports state only one adult died. Regardless, Hunter’s first hand observation of Atunez wiping blood on himself prior to being photographed and videotaped shows that Atunez staged his appearance and story for dramatic effect, which both Reuters and CNN buying into it.

Willie Geist Show Announcement Coming…

Back in the end of May, TVNewser reported that Willie Geist would be getting his own TV show on MSNBC at 5:30 am and the show would premiere the day MSNBC launched in HD. Well, obviously that day passed and no show debuted. So did the plug get pulled? No.

I’ve heard an announcement regarding the launch date is coming soon. It should be noted that the TVN story never had an official announcement attached to it, just the ubiquitous insiders talking, so you can’t really accuse MSNBC of “blowing” or “changing” a launch date since no date was ever officially announced before the TVN June 29th date.

But this may have been a factor if there was a delay: Willie Geist became a proud papa today when his wife gave birth to George William Geist. Geist will be off of MSNBC until next Tuesday. Given the TVN launch date of Jun 29th, having a baby a week after the debut of a show would have caused all sorts of traction and branding headaches when the star of the show takes a family break so soon (see: CNN; Brown, Campbell). Better to push the date. If that was a factor.

Tweet of the Day…

David Shuster isn’t up on his TV industry history apparently…

By the way, for all of you watching on DirectTV and wondering why MSNBC is not in HD, ask mr. Murdoch/newscorps, the owner of DirectTV.

Ownership of DirecTV changed in 2006 when News Corp. gave majority control to John Malone’s Liberty Media as part of a stock swap deal because Malone had acquired more News Corp. stock than Rupert Murdoch was comfortable with…

A stock swap exchange between Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. and John Malone’s Liberty Media, predicted two weeks ago by The New York Times, is on its way to fruition today, as both companies announced their intent to make a stock swap. The deal will give Malone the most sizable stake – 38.4% – in DirecTV, the US’ largest satellite service provider, which has lately been giving broadband Internet service a second try.

News Corp. will receive 16.3% of its own stock back, solidifying the Murdoch family’s hold on the company and removing what Murdoch has considered an obstacle to progress. To even things out, Malone will receive about $550 million USD in cash, meaning Murdoch is essentially paying Malone over half a billion to take away a property he paid $6.6 billion USD just three years ago. That is, if Malone will also promise to go away and leave him alone.

The fact that MSNBC isn’t in HD on DirecTV really has nothing to do with News Corp. I think it has more to do with DirecTV running out of bandwidth to add lots of new HD channels (WGN has been HD for a while now but the DirecTV feed is still SD), coupled with MSNBC’s relatively late entry into the HD world. I expect MSNBC will go HD on DirecTV eventually, probably well before the end of the year. If memory serves, even FNC didn’t show up in HD immediately on DirecTV.

No Macke to FBN…

Clusterstock’s Joe Wiesenthal writes that rumors that former Fast Money guy Jeff Macke might be joining FBN are greatly exaggerated…

We got our hopes up for a second when we saw a rumor on Dealbreaker that Jeff Macke was going to Fox Biz. We like Macke — even with his on-air theatrics — and we think he’d be a great addition to Fox Business Network.

But an insider at the network says there’s “no truth” to the rumors.

MJ Ratings Hoopla…

Reese Schonfeld writes on the Huffington Post about last week’s MJ numbers and then issues a challenge which I quote below…

I suggest that CNN and the other cable news networks spend some time thinking about how they can make it clear to Americans that the dire straits of our economy and the deep divide between us and Islamic Fundamentalists is much more meaningful to them then the death of any celebrity. It’s about time the networks found ways to do interesting stories about truly serious situations. If CNN can’t do that, the Michael Jackson story will remain a lonely exception.

The Hazards of Live TV: #25,007

Not much one can say about this… (via TVNewser)

Dueling Numbers…

Mediaite’s Steve Krakauer takes a look at a pair of ads for MSNBC and CNN and how they rate themselves. Krakauer does a good job of breaking down the numbers and correctly dings MSNBC for trying to imply Hardball had anything to do with MSNBC’s primetime demo placement. But Krakauer spends most of the article dancing around the obvious point: If CNN were still #2 in the primetime demo, it wouldn’t be spending so much time padding its resume with a bunch of technical points that, while true, don’t pack the PR wallop of MSNBC beating CNN in the primetime demo for Q2 and that this CNN ad is a defensive one. That should be the major point. But it’s not one that Krakauer makes.

Press Releases: 07/08/09

MSNBC

Msnbc.com Sets New Video Stream Record

Nearly 19 million online video streams for Michael Jackson coverage sets new record

Tops site’s previous record set during Presidential Inauguration

REDMOND, Wash. – July 8, 2009 – Msnbc.com shattered its online video stream record yesterday with nearly 19 million total streams from its coverage of the Michael Jackson memorial service.* The new milestone surpassed the site’s previous video stream record set during the 2009 Presidential Inauguration. Msnbc.com also experienced a massive spike in traffic with a record-breaking number of page views and video streams to the site’s popular Entertainment Section. Consumers were engaged with NBC News’ and MSNBC’s compelling video content, spending an average of 12.1 minutes per visit viewing Michael Jackson-related video.*

Free for All: 07/08/09

What’s on your mind…besides today’s date which won’t happen again for a hundred years…

Reboot…

I’m back. Operation Snorkel Retrieval was a success. Sort of. More on that at a later date. Meanwhile the blog won’t be back to full operation until later this afternoon. Operation Dentist Appointment will interfere with morning blogging.