As 2009 ends and 2010 begins ICN wishes you a Happy New Year. The blog will be down tomorrow but up again on Saturday.
Archive for December, 2009
Sanchez vs. Ensign…
Posted in CNN on December 31, 2009 by icn2This afternoon CNN’s Rick Sanchez asked quite a few pointed questions for Senator John Ensign that the Senator maybe wasn’t expecting. TPM’s Josh Marshall has the video. Fair game? or ambush interview?
MSNBC’s “news avoidance” issues?
Posted in MSNBC on December 31, 2009 by icn2The Wrap’s Frankie Stone rips MSNBC with a snarkily laced piece on the network’s news operation…and in my opinion incorrectly singles out MSNBC PR for criticism…
First, the most obvious: After the first few times when news viewers discover a network isn’t covering the moment’s big story, it’s tough to bring them back.
I have recent first-hand experience: While spending Christmas with my parents, avid TV news junkies with non-denominational viewing habits, intently following the terrorism situation, not one of us thought to switch over to MSNBC.
As viewers vanish, so do advertisers. But newsmakers do too. What official, expert or politician wants to appear on newscasts that audiences don’t know exist? Most networks wage quiet PR campaigns to woo such bookings to their shows. A series of decisions such as last week’s can set these efforts ’way back.
And a big news story is the single best place for networks to promote their stars. One reason the top anchors are paid so well is because they are, in essence, firemen: on hand mainly for showing off their incredible skills when the big fire erupts. No coverage? No starmaking.
Bad PR trickles down to broader employee relations. It’s tough for journalists to stay competitive or even enthusiastic when they’re not called in for the breaking big ones. It’s worse when they see what should be their airtime turned over to the residents of a Tennessee women’s prison, the 40th repeat of the Jeffrey Dahmer interview or “The Vampire Killings,” a documentary where “a self-described leader of a vampire cult murders a couple in Florida” (coming Saturday, Jan. 2 at 3 p.m. on MSNBC).
One of a publicist’s toughest tasks is convincing management that the best spin in the world can’t erase bad executive judgment.
PR doesn’t operate in a vacuum. PR is a reflection of the thinking of management. Has anyone read a story where PR goes off the reservation and departs from the official “company line”? I don’t think so. Anyone who does that gets fired. So blaming MSNBC PR for putting out a story that nobody buys, particularly in this industry where such incidents happen more often on all the networks than one would like to believe, is like blaming a quarterback for running a bad play the coach called. It’s the coach’s fault the play was run.
2009 Media Blunders…
Posted in Miscellaneous Subjects on December 31, 2009 by icn2Politico’s Michael Calderone lists his 2009 top 10 media blunders of the year…
Upheaval in the media world continued in 2009, with 15,000 newspaper jobs lost, some glossy magazines killed and Washington bureaus either cut back or shuttered completely. And yet, online outlets sprouted — a few beefing up the ranks in D.C. — while more journalists embraced Twitter, blogs and platforms that don’t require ink on paper. While a number of this year’s more noticeable media blunders occurred through simple carelessness, some could be also considered growing pains is adjusting to changes in the media, such as reporters jumping the gun on Twitter, experimenting in video, cutting-and-pasting text from a blog or getting caught when homemade video surfaces on YouTube.
Limbaugh Hospitalized with chest pains…
Posted in Miscellaneous Subjects on December 30, 2009 by icn2Breaking news going on tonight with word that Rush Limbaugh has been hospitalized with chest pains. Limbaugh is vacationing in Hawaii where Obama is…and where a sizeable chunk of the White House press corps is. CNN’s Ed Henry is already at the hospital and tweeting photos…
Update: From an emailer…
CNN did a live update at 1am ET on Rush Limbaugh being hospitalized. Erica Hill was live from NY and Ed Henry was reporting from Hawaii.
Seems CNN is keeping Erica Hill in studio for the whole 1am hour as they wait for an update on Rush. Erica is doing live intros to the taped AC360 interviews from the 10pm ET hour.
I’ve seen updates on MSNBC and FNC but since there’s not a lot to report beyond the early news, there’s not much to talk about.
What’s Hot/What’s Not: 2009
Posted in What's Hot/What's Not on December 30, 2009 by icn22009 saw a lot of hotness and notness. Here’s the best (and worst) of the best (and worst)…
What’s Hot
Glenn Beck and FNC – Beck was seen by many as the new face for FNC and its ratings surge in 2009, a year many predicted would result in a ratings drop off for everyone since it wasn’t an election year.
Jonathan Wald departs CNBC – This caught many people by surprise.
Smoking Gun – When news broke that FNC got caught using Republican talking points in a story on the backgrounder for the Stimulus package, a lot of skeptics thought this was the smoking gun that they’d been looking for. FNC didn’t make matters any easier for itself when it issued an on air apology…for a typo in the graphic. FNC didn’t apologize for or explain how Republican talking points wound up in a backgrounder on the Stimulus package.
Twitter – Cable news embraced Twitter this year. If you were a cable news talent and you didn’t have your own Twitter account, you just weren’t cool enough. (that was sarcasm btw)
Dylan Ratigan – Ratigan’s abrupt departure from CNBC was even more jaw dropping than Jonathan Wald’s. What came next was totally out of left field; Ratigan joined MSNBC. So far though, the jury is still out on the Ratigan experiment. I can’t say for sure yet whether it will be a success or a failure.
CNN drops to 3rd in primetime Demo – This was the story CNN didn’t want to deal with. Its current argument is that news is its brand and not opinion and news ratings are cyclical depending on what’s going on. That may or may not be true (see Campbell Brown’s on again off again sometimes opinion show), but headlines, accurate or not, count for a lot. And this is a headline CNN hates, whether they publicly admit it or not.
MSNBC takes 2nd in primetime Demo – It doesn’t matter how the network got there, it got there. You can’t put a price on the kind of publicity a #2 finish does for the network in terms of prestige and morale.
Shepard Smith – Smith had a banner year in 2009. Ratings are one thing but what made the year notable for Smith was the anchor’s penchant for voicing opinions that…shall we say…run counter to a large number of viewers of his network…
Read more »
What’s in a name?
Posted in MSNBC on December 30, 2009 by icn2Well, I guess plenty if you’re Contessa Brewer who interviewed her mom on the internet about why she has the name she has. This video is internet only and hasn’t aired on TV…
Cable News Resolutions?
Posted in Miscellaneous Subjects on December 30, 2009 by icn2The Examiner’s Rich Shumate comes up with a list of New Years Resolutions he thinks cable news should keep in 2010…
1. All anchors, be they left or right, will stop taking on-air potshots at each other, thus ending the incestuous cycle of self-generated pissing matches that are of little or no value to viewers. (Added benefit: We’ll find out whether Keith Olbermann actually has anything more interesting to say than whining about Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Beck.)
2. The words “breaking news” will be used sparingly, i.e. they will only be displayed on the screen or uttered on air when news is actually breaking – right then, not 12 hours earlier or the week before. (And no, Nancy Grace, that mere fact that a missing person is still missing, absent any timely developments in the case, is not a good enough reason to excuse you from this resolution.)
MSNBC should end its “penny pinching ways”?
Posted in MSNBC on December 29, 2009 by icn2The Wrap’s Josef Adalian looks at MSNBC’s reliance on doc blocks on the weekend and suggests they’re retarding the network’s mojo…
Now that newsies (especially those with left-leaning tendencies) have adopted MSNBC as their own, there’s growing frustration among the network’s fans over MSNBC’s erratic coverage.
As one newshound tweeted over the weekend, out of frustration over MSNBC being MIA: “Don’t make me watch Fox News!”
So why is MSNBC seemingly oblivious to the complaints? In a word, money.
In a quest to improve bottom line profits for parent company GE, MSNBC’s ultimate boss, Jeff Zucker, years ago decided to add more longform programming to MSNBC’s lineup, thus cutting back on live news.
After all, it’s far cheaper to repurpose old “Dateline” episodes or snap up a cheesy prison special than to keep a newsroom staffed with actual reporters/anchors.
This might have made sense back when MSNBC was struggling. But post-2008, the network is back in the game — if not as a threat to Fox News than as a viable rival to CNN.
It’s time for NBC to stop pinching pennies when it comes to MSNBC. There’s nothing wrong with including long-form specials in the programming mix, even the sleazy, sensational ones like “Lockup.”
2009: MSNBC…
Posted in MSNBC on December 29, 2009 by icn2MSNBC is noting its Q4 and 2009 numbers…
MSNBC BEATS CNN FOR THE YEAR IN PRIMETIME, FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER AMONG A25-54 – NETWORK’S SECOND BEST RATINGS YEAR EVER
MSNBC Beats CNN in 4Q at 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 PM in A25-54
NEW YORK – Dec. 29, 2009 – MSNBC ends 2009 on a historic high note, beating CNN in primetime for the year for the first time ever among A25-54. MSNBC also finished the year as the #1 news network among younger adults, A18-34, and had its second best ratings year in the network’s 14-year history, behind only last year’s historic election year high.
MSNBC finished 2009 especially strong, beating CNN in 4Q from 6-11 p.m. among A25-54; the repeat of “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” at 10 p.m. edged the live “Anderson Cooper 360” at 10 p.m. for the first time ever for the quarter.
Read more »
FNC 2009: Best Year Ever…
Posted in FNC on December 29, 2009 by icn2The Huffington Post’s Danny Shea writes about FNC’s 2009 ratings bonanza…
2009 was a record year for the Fox News Channel.
The News Corp-owned cable news outlet has just finished its best year among total viewers in its 13-plus year history.
Fox News averaged 2.187 million total viewers in primetime for the year, up 7% from 2008. In total day, the network averaged 1.192 million total viewers, up 13% from 2008. In the A25-54 demo, the network was up as well: its 540,000 A25-54 total in weekday primetime is up 9% from 2008, and its 319,000 A25-54 weekday total-day average is up 16% from 2008.
Both CNN and MSNBC, meanwhile, are down significantly in all categories.
The Hazards of Live TV: #25,034
Posted in Hazards of Live TV on December 29, 2009 by icn2Apparently the MSNBC control room got a new toy for Christmas…
Martin Fletcher to depart NBC News…
Posted in MSNBC on December 29, 2009 by icn2TVNewser scoops that long time NBC veteran Martin Fletcher is leaving NBC News…
NBC News Tel Aviv bureau chief and correspondent Martin Fletcher is leaving the network, TVNewser has learned. Fletcher has been with NBC for 32 years.
“Frankly, I’m rather shocked at the idea, even though I initiated it!” Fletcher tells TVNewser. “At the same time, I’m looking forward thoroughly to getting on to something I want to do, which is writing my third book, a novel.”
Alisyn Camerota Interview…
Posted in FNC on December 29, 2009 by icn2MSNBC’s NWA 253 Coverage (or lack thereof)…
Posted in MSNBC on December 28, 2009 by icn2The AP writes about MSNBC’s coverage on Christmas day, criticized in some circles, of NWA 253…
Competitors CNN and Fox News Channel gave much more extensive attention to the story on Christmas night as MSNBC stuck with taped programs on a murder mystery and environmental issues, along with an ”undercover” report on the teenage sex trade.
MSNBC has been criticized in the past for failing to respond quickly to breaking news during off-hours, a choice that may complicate its efforts to be seen as a go-to news source. The network is revamping its daytime schedule to be more news-oriented than personality-driven, since the latter approach has proven to be a ratings failure.
On Christmas, an anchor did live cut-ins about once an hour to pass on news of the attempted terrorism, said Jeremy Gaines, network spokesman.
Fox mixed live coverage of the story Friday night with a taped year-end retrospective show with Bill O’Reilly. CNN devoted virtually all of its prime-time hours to the incident, its coverage anchored by Ali Velshi.
Neither Gaines nor Phil Griffin, MSNBC’s top executive, would discuss the judgment call on Monday.
“New” MSNBC Dayside Schedule on Wikipedia Erased…
Posted in MSNBC on December 28, 2009 by icn2A few days ago I noted that Wikipedia had an alleged new schedule posted for MSNBC dayside starting January 11th. Whether the schedule was accurate or not, we don’t know. What I do know is that schedule has now been erased from the Wiki page. A quick check of the history shows MSNBC PR scrubbed it this afternoon.
Update: TVNewser has backstory…
But a spokesperson for MSNBC tells TVNewser that the line-up posted on Wikipedia is incorrect and that the network has not completely finalized a 2010 schedule.
Dagen McDowell Profile…
Posted in FBN on December 28, 2009 by icn2Y’all Magazine has a profile of FBN’s Dagen McDowell…(via J$)
McDowell’s self-taught expertise into the broad and complicated field caught the attention of Fox News Channel producers who invited the writer on various programs to explain (and sometimes argue) business and financial-related news items. After a year as an occasional guest she became a regular contributor. Two years later, the Fox News Channel senior vice president of business news, Neil Cavuto, invited McDowell to join the full-time news team.
“It was unbelievable,” McDowell says. “The chances that Cavuto and [Fox News president] Roger Ailes take on people are amazing. Not just me, but a whole host of people. They are willing to use different people, people that were not trained to be on TV. They give you a shot. If you do a good job, you’re in. If you don’t, you’re out. I was thankful that I was given the opportunity.”
“Roger and Neil encourage individuality and never asked me to lose the accent. Oh, and I do say ‘y’all,’” she says, proudly.
Press Releases: 12/28/09
Posted in Press Releases on December 28, 2009 by icn2CNBC (1)
CNBC PRESENTS TECH WEEK BEGINNING MONDAY, JANUARY 4TH THROUGH FRIDAY, JANUARY 8TH
ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J, December 28, 2009—CNBC, First in Business Worldwide, goes inside the cutting edge of high tech where innovation and imagination come together to create modern marvels and iconic businesses.
Beginning Monday, January 4th through Friday, January 8th, CNBC’s Tech Week will feature the following special coverage across the network.
CNBC will premiere four new documentaries:
Read more »
CNN and the NWA 253 Hero Interview…
Posted in CNN on December 28, 2009 by icn2TVNewser has a blow by blow of how CNN got the exclusive with Jaspar Schuringa…
TVNewser has gotten the play-by-play of how CNN came to acquire one of just two cell phone images from the aftermath of the terror scare on Northwest Flight 253.
Daytime is not Opinion time…
Posted in Miscellaneous Subjects on December 27, 2009 by icn2The AP writes about cable news daytime and opinion, a combination which doesn’t seem to work too well…(via J$)
MSNBC didn’t recognize this earlier this year when it gave former CNBC anchor Dylan Ratigan a two-hour show at 9 a.m. ET and Dr. Nancy Snyderman a medically oriented hour at noon.
Ratigan is not shy about spouting off; he apologized last week for being rude to a Florida congresswoman during an interview about health care reform. He proved a bad fit in the morning. MSNBC is cutting his show in half and moving it to 4 p.m. EST before Chris Matthews.
Snyderman’s show was canceled.
As replacements, MSNBC will pair Chuck Todd and Savannah Guthrie for one hour at 9 a.m. EST, in a newsy, nonpartisan look at the day’s upcoming news. For the other daytime hours, MSNBC will have general news programming anchored by David Shuster, Tamron Hall, Contessa Brewer and Andrea Mitchell, said Phil Griffin, the network’s chief executive.
“We did some experimentation to find out what the audience during the daytime wants and I think we found out they want your basic facts — give me the facts, ma’am,” Griffin said. “We can still do it with our passion and a fast pace.”
Lauren Sivan leaves FNC…
Posted in FNC on December 27, 2009 by icn2Lauren tweeted earlier tonight that tonight was her last night on FNC…
‘Tis true. Tonight’s my last night:(
NWA 253: On The Record Live Tonight
Posted in FNC on December 26, 2009 by icn2On the Record with Greta Van Susteren will be appearing live tonight from 9-11pm to discuss NWA 253…
Update: The Fox Report will stay live until 9pm…
Ali Velshi Interview…
Posted in CNN on December 26, 2009 by icn2Mediaite’s Steve Krakauer interviews CNN’s Ali Velshi after Velshi’s coverage of NWA 253 last night.
And the person who anchored CNN’s coverage until the end, Chief Business Correspondent Ali Velshi, was nearly universally praised on Twitter – with the opportunity potentially signaling bigger thing in 2010.
Velshi, and the rest of the CNN team (including Ed Henry, Kate Bolduan, Richard Quest, Deb Feyerick and others) visibly dominated the cable news coverage – at least by the time prime time hit. Jonathan Wald, former SVP at CNBC, tweeted, “Career night for Ali Velshi.”
Martin Savidge back on CNN?
Posted in CNN on December 26, 2009 by icn2Former CNN anchor Martin Savidge was seen on CNN today giving an update from Detroit on the NWA 253 incident…
Update: TVNewser says Savidge is freelancing for CNN…
Revised MSNBC Schedule leaks on Wikipedia?
Posted in MSNBC on December 25, 2009 by icn2We’ve seen before where someone connected to an organization posts information on Wikipedia related to said organization before the news breaks officially. Well it may have happened to MSNBC. The Wikipedia page for MSNBC lists some previously unreported changes to MSNBC dayside. Among the alleged changes “It’s the Economy” is canceled, Norah O’Donnell returns to anchoring at 2pm, Andrea Mitchell Reports moves to 3pm, and Page Hopkins and Christina Brown will be sharing anchoring duties on “First Look/Early Today”. That last one may turn out to be more conjecture by an overzealous Hopkins fan than based on actual inside info. All that said, this reputed insider who made those changes may be a wealth of information and should be contacting one of us bloggers instead. Like me for intstance…insidecablenews@gmail.com.
Here’s the alleged new M-Fr schedule…
5am-5.30am First Look” - Page Hopkins, Christina Brown
5.30am-6am “Way Too Early with Willie Geist”
6am-9am “Morning Joe”
9am-10am “The Daily Rundown” – Chuck Todd, Savannah Guthrie
10am-12pm “MSNBC Live” – Contessa Brewer and Monica Novotny
12pm-2pm “MSNBC Live” – Tamron Hall and David Shuster
2pm-3pm Mon-Thur “MSNBC Live” – Norah O’Donnell
2pm-3pm Fridays “The New York Times Edition” – Norah O’Donnell and John Harwood
3pm-4pm “Andrea Mitchell Reports”
4pm-5pm “The Dylan Ratigan Show”
Note that The New York Times Edition is still around. This is somewhat surprising because it goes against conventional wisdom to put a 1 day a week show on in the middle of the day. Also note that MSNBC is going with a two anchor format for its dayside news for most of the day except at 2pm.
The other major thing to note about this schedule is that free flow live headline news will only be airing from 10am -3pm. Andrea Mitchell Reports is more of a politics show and Mitchell’s show has been known to be averse of stories of…how shall I put it?…the more sensational variety and The Dylan Ratigan show has been (up till now) more of an interview show. Those looking for news headlines and stories will likely change channels.
(thanks to Fritz3 for pointing this out to me in the comments)
Update: As someone noted in the comments, and I should have spelled out with more emphasis earlier, this is all conjecture. It could be the schedule. But then again it may not be. It could all be some arm-chair programmer’s fantasy schedule. We’ll find out soon enough…
NWA 253: Terrorism Attempt?
Posted in Miscellaneous Subjects on December 25, 2009 by icn2Ok, it’s Christmas so I wasn’t watching TV until this afternoon when I saw that there was what the White House is calling an attempted terrorist attack on Northwest flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit. Both FNC with Jamie Colby and CNN with Ali Velshi are covering this story. As I’m getting to this late I have no idea if MSNBC has broken tape or not. NBC’s Chuck Todd has been tweeting the story however. Post your reactions to the coverage of this story here. Anyone know if MSNBC broke tape?
Update 7:45pm ET: MSNBC did a 1 minute update with Christina Brown at 7:30pm ET. CNN still live. FNC would have been live at this time since it’s the Fox Report but they’ve dumped the majority of their planned newscast to focus on this story.
Update: Mediaite’s Rachel Sklar writes about the coverage so far and, correctly, blasts MSNBC for sticking to tape…
Now Fox is interviewing a passenger, who was sitting in front of Abdulmutallab, who says that the security was pretty tight. MSNBC has some sort of jailhouse interview with bad sound. On CNN, Ali Velshi is talking to Rep. Peter King, and just switched to Peter Bergen, their terrorism expert.
Yeah, it’s Christmas. THAT’S THE POINT. If you’re going to call yourself a news network, then cover the news.
If this scenario sounds familiar to MSNBC viewers, it’s because it is. Evidence: the Mumbai massacre last year, the North Korea missle launch in 2006.
Update 8pm ET: FNC goes to O’Reilly special. MSNBC still doing docs. CNN still live…
Update 10pm ET – FNC ran an extended update for about 10 minutes before returning to O’Reilly and started another extended update at 10pm ET. CNN is still going at it. Here’s why I don’t think FNC going to tape is such a crime: the story was basically over and done with before it broke on the nets. The only new developments are of the “background info” variety; who the hijacker was, etc. At this point CNN is mostly re-hashing the story.
