Anderson Cooper to CBS?

The New York Times’ Brian Stelter writes about Anderson Cooper meeting with CBS Execs as an update to this Stelter/Bill Carter story on Broadcast News and Cable News…

The meeting took place months ago, well before Mr. Cooper was dispatched to cover the devastating earthquake in Haiti in January.

The silver-haired Mr. Cooper has worked at CNN since 2001, and has anchored the channel’s 10 and 11 p.m. hours since 2005.

It is unclear whether Mr. Cooper was (or is) being considered by CBS executives as a replacement for Ms. Couric, the anchor of the “CBS Evening News.” Her five-year contract ends in mid-2011.

Representatives for CBS and CNN had no comment on the report Sunday evening. One of the TV veterans informed of the meeting noted that it is not uncommon for TV stars to meet with executives at other networks, particularly ahead of a contract renegotiation.

Update: TVNewser has CNN trying to tamp down the story…

A CNN spokesperson tells us, “Reports that Cooper has recently met with CBS News re: an anchor position are false. He is not engaged in any additional conversations with them beyond those necessary for his continuing role on ’60 Minutes.’”

What’s Hot/What’s Not: 02/28/10

What’s Hot:

Chile Earthquake and Pacific tsunami coverage – Chile’s earthquake and the Pacific wide tsunami alert kept the cable nets busy Saturday.

What’s Not:

Olbermann vs. Mediaite – There’s a lot to say about both sides on this spat. Mediaite shouldn’t have bothered responding to Olbermann. And Olbermann should have known better, and probably did know better but went ahead anyways, when he dragged Dan Abrams into it.

Health Care Summit coverage – Waste. Of. Time.

Punked – MSNBC was had when a fake Ryan Miller was interviewed during its Olympic wrap up show.

Just call me “primetime” – Rick Sanchez had another Rick Sanchez moment yesterday when he did what could be characterized as a hostile interview…of a CNN analyst regarding the tsunami. Coincidentally, or maybe not, Sanchez was not seen anchoring on CNN the rest of the day while his co-anchor Fredricka Whitfield stayed on the air for hours.

The Hazards of Live TV: #25,049

Thank you for calling FNC. All our news anchors are currently busy assisting other guests. Please hold. A TV news anchor will be with you shortly…

What’s Hot/What’s Not: Your Submissions…

Post your nominations for this week’s What’s Hot/What’s Not. I’ll post the finalists Sunday night…

Chile Earthquake/Tsunami Coverage: Your Reactions…

Post your reactions to today’s breaking news coverage of the Chilean earthquake and the Tsunami warnings here…

Update 4:50pm: Well the coverage quickly morphed from Chile earthquake coverage to Pacific Tsunami watch with the focus on Hawaii. CNN has been making extensive use of local affilliates KITV and KHON. What’s strange is that MSNBC, as far as I can tell…and I have been doing a lot of channel hopping, has not been tapping into NBC affilliate KHNL, though they have been talking to local reporters on Hawaii. I haven’t seen FNC tap into any local station either, but like I said, I’ve been channel hopping.

CNN has reported a Tsunami hit in New Zealand and MSNBC has reported a Tsunami hit in American Samoa. I worry about Tonga and the resorts on those islands, islands which only rise a few feet off the ground.

Update 5:17pm: MSNBC now showing KHNL coverage.

Update 6:03 pm: Mediaite’s Drew Grant rips CNN’s Rick Sanchez, deservedly so, for talking down and practically berating someone brought on to help explain Tsunami action. I saw this live and my jaw hit the floor. It was physically painful watching Whitfield and Sanchez paired together on the air and long time readers know I don’t usually throw that kind of commentary out regarding talent very often at all. But those two put together were Oil and water and Sanchez’s shtick, perfected over months of anchoring solo for his own show, just didn’t translate well in this breaking news environment.

Update 6:25: Well I guess the Tsunami watch is officially over. FNC airing segment/talking head debate on Reconcilliation Rule for Health Care Reform bill. Never mind that we still haven’t heard what’s exactly happened in Samoa, Tonga, The Cook Islands, and Fiji where the Tsunami has hit.

Update 7pm: MSNBC, CNN, and FNC all still live and attention back to Chile earthquake now the Hawaii Tsunami watch is over…

Chile Earthquake: CNN Deployment…

Here’s the latest on CNN’s staffing deployment to Chile to cover the earthquake. Update: Revised at 1pm ET…

CNN teams heading to the area:

CNN/U.S.
Soledad O’Brien, anchor and special correspondent
Dan Simon, correspondent (coverage in Hawaii)
John Zarella, Miami correspondent

CNN International
Hala Gorani, CNNI anchor and reporter
Sara Sidner, international correspondent
Karl Penhaul, correspondent

CNN en Espanol
Daniel Viotto, anchor

CNN Chile is a joint-venture between CNN and Liberty Global’s VTR, CNN Chile launched in December 2008. In addition to a fully staffed local news production center based in Santiago, CNN Chile has complete access to CNN Worldwide’s newsgathering resources including the
support of 4,000 journalists based around the globe.

CNN.com/live is streaming live coverage from CNN Chile and from affiliates in Honolulu http://live.cnn.com

CNN TELEVISION PROGRAMMING UPDATES FOR SATURDAY, FEB. 27

~ Live until 1pmET ~ CNN Breaking News with Fredricka Whitfield and Rick Sanchez
~ 1pm-3pmET ~ Simulcast CNNI
~ 3pm-7pmET ~ CNN Breaking News with Fredricka Whitfield and Rick Sanchez
~ 7pm-9pmET ~ CNN Breaking News with Don Lemon
~ 9pm-10pmET ~ Live Larry King Live
~ 10pm-Midnight ET ~ CNN Breaking News with Don Lemon
~ Midnight to 6amET ~ Simulcast CNNI

Press Releases: 02/26/10

CNN (1)

In a worldwide exclusive interview on CNN and CNNI, Christiane Amanpour sits down with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak to discuss Israeli security in the wake of the latest reports from Iran and whether the U.S. efforts to resolve the conflict with the Palestinians will work. Additionally, Barak will address the Goldstone Report on accusations of war crimes against both sides during the Gaza conflict last year.

Amanpour airs on CNN/U.S. on Sundays at 2:00 pm ET and on CNNI Monday thru Friday at 3p ET. Selections of this interview will be made available in advance on Sunday morning.

The Hazards of Live TV: #25,048

From an emailer…

Willie Geist just broke into Hardball to say they interviewed a fake Ryan Miller from the US Hockey team earlier, then brought the real one on. I guess Fake Miller gauranteed a gold this weekend.

I’ll add some color to this. I watched that interview with ‘Miller’ and Willie Geist during MSNBC’s Olympic Post Game Show. In fact, I have it on DVR but I’m not posting it online because the NBC/IOC police will probably just yank it down again. As I was watching it and listening to ‘Miller’ talk about the team figuring that they’d be playing Canada, how they were already watching Canada game film, and how he expected a repeat of their last matchup, I was saying to myself, “What the hell is ‘Miller’ doing? He’s putting all sorts of bulliten board material up for Team Canada.” Now I see why ‘Miller’ was being so reckless. It wasn’t him. I should have known. His voice sounded off and I’ve heard the real Miller’s voice numerous times as he did a hilarious insult laden commmercial with a fake NHL player as his opponent.

An oddity of this punking is that the punker didn’t out himself as typically happens when they manage to succeed breaking through to on air territory. So one wonders who tipped MSNBC off to this? Team USA?

Update: TVNewser has some more info on how the real Miller wound up being interviewed during Hardball…

Fisking Norah O’Donnell?

The Washington Examiner’s David Freddoso claims MSNBC’s Norah O’Donnell is giving out incorrect information…

On today’s Morning Joe, MSNBC’s Norah O’Donnell has now twice mischaracterized the Congressional Budget Office report on ObamaCare. After stating that she has been “truth-squadding” the claims made in yesterday’s health summit, she stated twice that it does not, in fact, say that the bill would cause insurance premiums to rise, but rather that they would fall by 10-13 percent.

That’s just dead wrong. The 10-13 percent number is the amount that CBO says the premiums will rise, not fall.

Here is what the report actually says:

CBO and [the Joint Committee on Taxation] estimate that the average premium per person covered (including dependents) for new nongroup policies would be about 10 percent to 13 percent higher in 2016 than the average premium for nongroup coverage in that same year under current law.

Free for All: 02/26/10

What’s on your mind?

Margaret Brennan Profile…

The University of Virginia’s Myung Joh profiles Bloomberg’s Margaret Brennan…

At a quarter to 10 on a Thursday morning, in one corner of Bloomberg L.P.’s vast multimedia floor in New York, Margaret Brennan (Col ’02) is having makeup applied before the start of her daily show on Bloomberg Television, InBusiness with Margaret Brennan. Even though she has recently returned from a trip to Dubai, she shows no trace of exhaustion as she launches into the show, the big news of the day being the U.S. Senate hearing on the reappointment of Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke.

After taping is over, she slips off her shoes in a conference room and elaborates on her recent reportage in Dubai. “I was there for the World Economic Forum, at the Summit on the Global Agenda, which basically sets the agenda for Davos [Switzerland, where the WEF meets annually]. We were there to interview a number of key decision makers.” Coincidentally, while Brennan was visiting, there was a major shakeup by Sheikh Mohammed of Dubai in an attempt to address the nation’s massive debt problems. Sheikh Mohammed removed three leaders who played a large role in the real estate and construction industry in Dubai, and dismissed and replaced the head of the Dubai International Financial Centre, Omar bin Sulaiman. “It was really great to be there as things were sort of bubbling up, and we’re going to continue to follow that,” says Brennan. “It’s exciting!”

Campbell Brown’s downward trend (Update: Not so downward after all)

TV by the Numbers has a must see pair of graphs going back to October of 2008 showing a clear downward trendline for Campbell Brown’s program. The lead story in this entry was that last night was Campbell Brown’s lowest night ever but, with all due respect, I think they buried the true lead. The jaw dropping pair of graphs are simply stunning. These are Total Viewer numbers. I’d really like to see graphs for Demo viewers for the same time period. A further thing to note is these charts don’t filter out the time she was out on maternity leave. Not that that would change the trend line any though.

I had figured CNN would give Brown a pretty long run, regardless of ratings, before even thinking of making any changes. I’m going to change that prognosis based on these graphs. CNN cannot afford to ignore this trend much longer without taking drastic action, similar to how MSNBC was forced to abandon its July reboot last year in the face of horrid dayside ratings. Ergo, Campbell Brown’s show at 8pm is on borrowed time at CNN. That doesn’t mean CNN would part company with Brown completely or wouldn’t consider moving her hour to another timeslot. But something is going to have to happen soon to try and reverse the direction of that downward spiral.

Update: TV by the Numbers has revised their charts. I wish I still had the originals to compare to but the downward trend of the earlier charts appears to not be so downward now. Now it appears the downward trend line broke in the middle of last year and since then the show has been oscillating within a specific range, if you eliminate the short term spikes and dips. I therefore withdraw my earlier prognosis based on these revised charts.

Press Releases: 02/25/10

CNN (1)

Victor Kong Joins CNN Radio as Vice President

Victor Kong, an executive with a range of multi-media experience, will lead CNN Radio as vice president, it was announced today by Susan Grant, executive vice president of CNN News Services, a division of CNN Worldwide which encompasses the company’s digital and affiliate businesses. Kong will manage CNN Radio in developing new audiences, partnerships, and content for digital platforms, and continue providing the best original audio news content to CNN’s terrestrial radio affiliates. He will be based in CNN’s Atlanta offices and will report to Grant.

“We are excited to have Victor lead CNN Radio’s original audio news content in the media landscape,” said Grant. “Victor will expand CNN Radio into the digital world and develop audio content for consumer demand. He brings a dynamic skill set from his multimedia career and a proven track record building partnerships, growing audiences and integrating digital media.”

Free for All: 02/25/10

What’s on your mind?

Being a CNBC guest…

Barry Ritholtz writes about the inclination to be a guest on CNBC…

I had lunch the other day with several other analysts, strategists, money managers and economists, all of whom shall remain nameless.

All make frequent media appearances.

The conversation drifted over to CNBC. The consensus is everyone at the table wants to do less of it.

In Depth: Olbermann vs. Mediaite…

Last night I started typing up a blog post regarding this Colby Hall Mediate entry answering Keith Olbermann’s “gullible” accusation directed at the site for noting a Tea Party video attacking Olbermann. I wrote that, yes indeed, Mediaite was gullible, but not for noting the Tea Party video but for falling into Olbermann’s trap and taking the bait he laid out, which sat there pleading for a response. It was typical Olbermann shtick, right down to Keith having to fake looking down at his notes and stumbling through pronouncing the word “Mediaite” as if he’d never heard of the site before.

I also wrote that Olbermann’s attack probably had little to do with the Tea Party thing but more to do with this Hall article which, somewhat shophisticly in my opinion, put Rachel Maddow over Keith Olbermann in terms of importance and credibility. Maddow is certainly a “safer” alternative to Olbermann, who is definitely more in the bomb thrower mold, but has shown some of the same reckless sweeping generalization tendencies in her show that Olbermann has…not to mention other talking heads like Beck, O’Reilly, Hannity, etc. And for pure power Olbermann still can move the base more than Maddow precisely because he is of the firebrand mold which tends to agitate the base more than the more reasoned nuance of Maddow. And to argue that Maddow being more politely recieved at CPAC than Olbermann ever could be means she’s more powerful ignores a fundamental truth; Olbermann’s bomb throwing pisses off those that would go to CPAC a hella lot more than the more sublte, principled arguments that Maddow tends to use. CPAC goers hate Olbermann because he’s made it easy for them to do so. It’s tougher to muster that kind of hate at Maddow because she hasn’t given them the ammunition to do so other than taking stands in total contradiction to what they hold dear. Similarly, the idea that political movers and shakers would tend to follow Maddow more than Olbermann is similar to the notion that David Brooks’ pieces in the New York Times are more sane and rational than say Rush Limbaugh’s. In this scenario Maddow is to Brooks what Olbermann is to Limbaugh. Both are powerful but in different ways. You could argue that either is more powerful but it all boils down to what your criteria for your power measurment is.

Gibson ridicules Zahn…

J$ has audio of John Gibson doing a poor man’s Tony Kornheiser on Paula Zahn…

Larry King gets Toyota CEO…

CNN announced that the CEO of Toyota will be appearing exclusively on Larry King Live tonight at 9pm.

WORLDWIDE EXCLUSIVE

LARRY KING INTERVIEWS TOYOTA MOTOR CORP. PRESIDENT & CEO AKIO TOYODA TONIGHT

In a worldwide exclusive tonight on CNN, Larry King interviews AKIO TOYODA, President and CEO of Toyota Motor Corporation, and grandson of the founder of Toyota, in Toyoda’s first interview since taking full responsibility for the carmaker’s safety defects. The live interview can be seen on CNN’s Larry King Live tonight, Wednesday, February 24, at 9 pm ET (US).

More Health Care Summit Coverage Notes…

The Orlando Sentinel’s Hal Boedeker wraps up who’s covering what with the Health Care summit…

On CNN, Wolf Blitzer will lead the coverage from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Candy Crowley and John King will discuss the summit; Ali Velshi will offer fact checks.

Fox News Channel starts at 9:50 a.m. with a program titled “Health Care Summit” anchored by Bret Baier. There will be more coverage in “America Live with Megyn Kelly” at 1 p.m. and a special “Studio B with Shepard Smith” at 3 p.m.

MSNBC covers the summit from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Then the channel breaks for hockey at the Winter Olympics from 2 to 9 p.m. The channel offers a special edition of “Countdown With Keith Olbermann” from 9 to 11 p.m. Thursday. Olbermann and Chris Matthews will analyze the summit and play highlights.

Press Releases: 02/24/10

MSNBC (1), CNN (1)

MSNBC

SPECIAL EDITION OF “COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN” 9-11 PM ET

LIVE COVERAGE OF BIPARTISAN HEALTH CARE SUMMIT WITH PRESIDENT OBAMA, 10AM – 2PM ET

NEW YORK – Feb. 24, 2010 – Thursday evening, MSNBC will present a special edition of “Countdown with Keith Olbermann,” with Olbermann and Chris Matthews analyzing and presenting highlights from the bipartisan healthcare summit with President Barack Obama and congressional leaders, 9-11 p.m. ET.

MSNBC will present special live coverage of the summit, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. ET.

Thursday, 2 p.m.-4:30 p.m. ET MSNBC will be in live Olympic coverage of the women’s bronze medal hockey game (Finland vs. Sweden), followed by the gold medal game between the United States and Canada (6-9 p.m. ET).

_________________________

CNN

Health Care Summit: CNN…

CNN’s plans for covering the Health Care summit…

CNN’s lead political anchor Wolf Blitzer will lead the network’s extensive, live coverage of President Obama’s health care summit scheduled from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET on Thursday, Feb. 25. Blitzer along with Candy Crowley and John King will discuss the summit with other members of the Best Political Team on Television. Anchor Ali Velshi will do instantaneous fact-checks throughout the programming. In addition, chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta will offer analysis of the summit proceedings from Atlanta as it happens, and commentary on the real-world impact the developments will have on policies affecting all Americans. Discussion and analysis will continue before and after the summit.

Free for All: 02/24/10

What’s on your mind?

Jon Corzine to sign on with CNBC?

NJ.com has a story about former New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine which includes news that Corzine is in discussions to sign on to CNBC as a guest host and commentator. (via J$)

Corzine has arranged to be a regular guest host and commentator on the financial-news network CNBC, among other national outlets, and will be guest lecturing at Princeton University and, perhaps, Harvard, according to two Corzine confidantes familiar with the ex-governor’s plans.

The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, stressed that no formal agreements have been signed because Corzine is still finalizing the biggest part of his post-Statehouse plans: return in some fashion to the world of finance, which made him wealthy while he led Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs. Corzine spent about $130 million of that fortune on running for office.

Corzine’s decision on a full-time gig is not expected to be finalized until at least next month. But the CNBC appearances and lecturing stints illustrate Corzine’s desire to retain a public voice — especially on matters of finance and national policy — even as he distances himself from New Jersey politics

CNN’s Ed Henry off the market…

The Las Vegas Review Jounal’s Norm Clarke notes that CNN’s Ed Henry popped the question to CNN producer Shirley Hung. (via All Things CNN)

Henry, who was in town to cover President Barack Obama’s visit, got engaged Sunday to CNN producer Shirley Hung during a snowmobile ride that stopped atop a mountain overlooking Lake Tahoe.

CNBC lacks a real investigative reporter?

Zero Hedge argues that with Charlie Gasparino’s defection to FBN that CNBC is lacking a real investigative reporter…

Note: not a single mention of this on CNBC yet. Of course, nobody gives a rat’s ass about Lehman’s former CFO, or this news in particular. What is interesting, are the dynamics at play now that CNBCOMASTAGANDA (49/51) is stuck without even one investigative reporter in possession of even half a rolodex. Sure, flashing wire headlines are great, but anybody can do that, even fringe bloggers. Absent Rick Santelli (and on occasion David Faber), the network does not have a single person worth unmuting the TV for. And if we want to listen to propaganda ad nauseam we are sure someone will recreate Goebbels constant radio droning on some 24/7 stream relatively soon. And this is precisely what Bloomberg TV and Fox Business are waiting to pounce on.

Charlie Gasparino Interview…

HedgeWorld’s Rich Blake interviews FBN’s Charlie Gasparino…(via J$)

HedgeWorld: I’ve seen a few different reports as to why you left CNBC— so why did you leave, exactly?

Gasparino: First of all, I had no idea I was such an important figure—who knew? (Laughs) But you know, I see these stories, one says I was fired, one says that I clashed with my colleagues, the truth is I’ve always wanted to work for Fox Business Network. Going back to 2007 when they first launched, I immediately saw this as the place for me.

HW: Why?

Gasparino: Because I liked the idea of being part of an entrepreneurial startup, and bear in mind, FBN is very much a start-up. And in that kind of situation, there’s a lot of upside if the start-up succeeds. If it doesn’t succeed then, sure, this move in hindsight looks like the wrong one but I like to take chances. I don’t take chances with my reporting, but this is a career gamble and I think it’s going to pay off.

Free for All: 02/23/10

What’s on your mind?

The Hazards of Live TV: #25,047

This should settle once and for all the notion that FNC graphics glitches only impact Democrats or disgraced Republicans. (via Gawker)

Olbermann and Tea Parties…

Politico’s Michael Calderone has a response from Keith Olbermann to Tea Partiers regarding Olbermann attending an event…

“I appreciate their invitation but with my Dad still in intensive care all this time, I have been only able to leave New York one night in the last six months,” Olbermann tells POLITICO in an email.

Regardless of the veracity of that statement, and I assume it’s accurate, it ignores a fundamental truth – It’s not Olbermann’s shtick to take his show on the road. What is there to be gained by going to a Tea Party event anyways? I don’t see any reason for it.

Alexis Glick spotted at CNN…

TVNewser reports that Alexis Glick was seen at CNN. Make of that what you will…