MSNBC’s sudden decision to air Haiti Telethon…
In a must read, the New York Observer’s Felix Gillette writes about several Haiti related subjects, one of which is MSNBC’s sudden decision to air the Haiti telethon, which it hadn’t planned on doing…
On the morning of the telethon, MSNBC executives woke up planning to stick with the network’s usual programming. As the day progressed, according to multiple sources, a vocal group inside the network began lobbying MSNBC president Phil Griffin to turn over the MSNBC airtime to the worthwhile cause.
One of the Newtonian laws of television journalism is that anchors never willingly preempt their own airtime. But according to sources, it was Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow who led the charge, despite the fact that the event with Mr. Cooper and company would push them out of prime time.
Mr. Griffin soon agreed to put on the telethon. However, there was one problem. MSNBC didn’t have the rights to air it. In the subsequent scramble to secure the rights from MTV Networks, which was coordinating the production of the event, Mr. Griffin picked up the phone to enlist the help of a longtime acquaintance with some sway in the telethon—Anderson Cooper’s boss, Jim Walton, with whom Mr. Griffin had worked in the early, primordial days of CNN.
January 27, 2010 at 9:17 am
This is the reason FOX beats CNN & MSNBC in the ratings all the time. They always give their viewers what they want. FNC crushed CNN & MSNBC over the two hours of the telethon coverage. I’m sure they would have not have won by nearly as a big a margin if O’Reilly & Hannity with Ailes blessing had delayed their broadcasts and decided to broadcast the Haiti Telethon instead. Olbermann,Maddow & Griffin need to learn from this experience that giving up air time to air a telethon will never be a ratings booster.
January 27, 2010 at 9:23 am
I don’t think they pushed for the telethon because they thought it would bring ratings. OTOH there may have been more at work than just an impulse for philanthropy. Olby and Maddow apparently waited until the day of the telethon before expressing their concern about airing it on MSNBC. That would have been after other channels line-ups had been announced and the list of who was airing the telethon–and who wasn’t–was pretty much finalized. They may have thought a one-day ratings hit (on a Friday) was a good investment. Instant High Moral Ground to attack others.
January 27, 2010 at 9:26 am
You need to get out of your conspiracy theory bunker more often J$…
January 27, 2010 at 9:41 am
Hey, I said “may”, not “did”!
The question still remains why this realization suddenly only dawned on them 12 hours before the telethon was to air. And of course there was Olbermann’s expected comeback: “Instead of two hours to help Haiti, Fox gives us Bill-O”, followed by a few more paragraphs of invective. He could not have launched that attack if MSNBC had not aired the telethon. Just sayin’.
January 27, 2010 at 10:24 am
J$: Spuds right.
I was being facetious when I made my comment. Not people many can seriously think that ratings played a role in either networks decision making process with the telethon broadcast.
My guess; KO & RM got a lot of flack from their viewers and pushed Griffin to show the telethon. It took a long time to get permission as the Observer story indicates.
FNC never considered the idea and got caught with their pants around their ankles when MSNBC announced it just before the telethon started. MSNBC must have known they would get killed in the ratings and FNC was spared having to make the decision.
And when did Olbermann ever need an excuse to go after FOX or Billo?
January 27, 2010 at 10:47 am
Maybe it’s just me, but what’s the point of airing an exact duplicate of something that is already appearing on a number of other channels that everyone with a telly can watch? Discovery & History Channels didn’t air the telethon, either. So what?
January 27, 2010 at 1:43 pm
“It took a long time to get permission”
Not that long since they didn’t even try until the morning of the telethon. They got permission the same day.
“FNC never considered the idea…”
I missed that part of the Observer article. Or do you have another source for what FNC did and did not consider?
January 27, 2010 at 2:49 pm
^ “It took a long time to get permission”
J$: OK, your right,i guess. “took ‘some’ time to etc.” It doesn’t change my idea of what might have happened leading up to the decision.
“I missed that part of the Observer article. Or do you have another source for what FNC did and did not consider?” Nice snark.
Your sort of right here. I should have said: “If they considered the idea they rejected it and got caught etc.”
I suppose if they ever considered the idea seriously (I’m sure at some point it was discussed as an option by powers that be) it was rejected.
It doesn’t change to point of my comment which was that they knew they would take a hit in the ratings and FNC would not have time to change their mind and follow their example.
Neither “error” has any real effect on the substance of the comment that I can see.
January 27, 2010 at 4:01 pm
NBC and FOX Network showed it, right? That would explain why MSNBC and FNC didn’t feel the need to. I actually believe that KO and RM balked at the last minute, deciding that it didn’t matter that NBC had it covered already, it still would seem lame to go on with competing shows.
January 27, 2010 at 5:08 pm
J$ makes an excellent point. Olbermann attacks FNC for not airing the telethon. As if this douchebag needed another excuse. Everything with Olbermann has an ulterior motive, including this.