Michele Steele Interview…

Sports Crackle Pop interviews Bloomberg TV’s Michele Steele about yesterday’s Super Bowl…

SCP: Who had the best day yesterday from a business standpoint? Was it a player, a company, a network?

MS: A lot of people would say Drew Brees – and this win is going to translate into larger and more national endorsements for him. A lot of other people might say the Saints, because now they can charge more for luxury boxes and get bigger deals from sponsors. But I say the NFL – ratings for yesterday’s game are expected to be HUGE, the league is coming off its best-rated regular season in 20 years – and let’s not forget, from a merchandising point of view, the win for the Saints is going to result in much larger sales than the Colts for two reasons – one, the Colts don’t have a lot of appeal outside of Indianapolis, two, everyone that wanted Colts-related Super Bowl gear got it the last time. (As a Bears fan, I’m still a little sore about that loss.) And all that merchandising revenue is shared.

Press Releases: 02/08/10

CNN (1)

Anderson Cooper will anchor Anderson Cooper 360° live from Haiti this week. Almost a month since the 7.0-magnitude earthquake rattled the country, Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta return to Haiti and will report on how Haitians are finding relief, how aid is trickling in and what the government is doing to help its people.

Watch AC360° at 10pm ET on CNN

Free for All: 02/08/10

What’s on your mind?

Feb 4th Numbers…

NewsBusters’ Tom Blumer got his hands on some ratings info showing February 4th 2010 vs. February 4th 2009…

CNN and MSNBC both declined over 50% in the 25-54 demographic, while both networks also suffered seriously in total audience.

Much more detail is in this graphic. Some highlights/lowlights from that graphic:

* MSNBC’s first two hours of prime time, with Chris Matthews and David Shuster, each had fewer than 100,000 viewers in the 25-54 demo last Thursday .

* Every single one of CNN’s prime time shows came in with fewer than 200,000 viewers in the 25-54 demo on Thursday. Last year, every one was above 200,000. Anderson Cooper’s 10 p.m. show cratered, dropping from 528,000 to 178,000.

* HLN significantly outdrew both CNN and MSNBC in the 25-54 demo during both prime time and the entire day; it was a distant third in each category a year ago.

* The results were not entirely peachy at Fox News. Sean Hannity’s and Greta Van Susteren’s audiences were both down by single digits from a year ago in the 25-54 demographic and total viewers.

Correction: Ok, I blew it. I thought these were Jan 2010 vs. Jan 2009 numbers. They’re not. They’re only for one day. I have since corrected the posting to reflect that. Not sure why NewsBusters’ is wasting its time doing one day year to year comparisons. Did someone tip them off?

What’s Hot/What’s Not: 02/07/10

What’s Hot

FNC’s January – FNC’s numbers for January were astounding…

Robin Meade – Meade’s show did well in January. It came in 2nd in the Demo, continuing a streak going back to September…

Stewart on The Factor – The media tends to drool over anything Stewart touches and when he touched The O’Reilly Factor for two nights it was written up to death…

You’re in trouble little mister – Seemed like this was “get in trouble” week on cable news. NBC’s Cafeteria got in trouble for a menu celebrating Black History Month. Chris Wallace got in trouble with some conservatives for playing Don Imus’ foil on a Sarah Palin joke. Countdown got in trouble for a graphic which misspelled the word “Republican”.

What’s Not

Piling on Olbermann – To paraphrase a famous quote, “The news of Countdown’s death are greatly exaggerated”. That didn’t stop a handful of media types and the red spectrum of the blogosphere from writing off Countdown based on its January numbers. Here’s the thing, even if it is slumping Countdown still turns in numbers MSNBC could have only dreamed about three years ago. It’s not going anywhere. If it starts getting beat by Campbell Brown, then that’s a different matter…

CNN readies “up front” presentation…

Mediaweek’s Anthony Crupi writes about CNN’s new up front presentation…

Greg D’Alba, evp and COO of CNN ad sales, is taking an unprecedented first step, telling buyers he’ll guarantee away-from-home deliveries in this year’s upfront. If CNN gets any takers, it will mark the first time a network will write business based on its viewership in bars, restaurants, hotels and third-party residences.

A glance at CNN’s fourth-quarter deliveries suggests that there’s a good chunk of money to be made in nontraditional venues. According to Arbitron’s ARB-TV service, away-from-home viewing gave CNN a 40 percent lift in the core news demo (adults 25-54), while boosting the network’s delivery of viewers 18-49 by 47 percent. The lift for the younger demo was predictably amplified, as CNN’s overall draw among adults 18-34 grew by 59 percent.

Certainly it’s to CNN’s benefit to steer the conversation away from prime. The network’s struggles in the daypart are well documented, but even in the midst of a particularly robust news cycle, CNN’s linear deliveries have raised a few eyebrows. In a month that witnessed the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti, the special election in Massachusetts and President Obama’s first State of the Union Address, CNN fell 34 percent in prime, with an average draw of 843,000 viewers. The news demo was down 37 percent to 259,000, just half that of Fox News Channel.

More “R word” shenanigans…

In what seems to me to have become an overblown game of gotcha, the latest entrant into the “R word” derby is Ed Schultz…

You can add MSNBC and radio talker Ed Schultz for using the dreaded “R” word. The word got Rush Limbaugh and Rahm Emanual in trouble. Olbermann even did a segment the other night asking if Sarah Palin would go after Rush-and if she didn’t-she would be a hypocrite.

What’s Hot/What’s Not: Submissions…

I should have started this last night given that I was going to be out until late today. Post your nominations for this week’s What’s Hot/What’s Not. I’ll post the finalists on Sunday night…

Chris Wallace in hot water over Palin joke?

Politico’s Ben Smith writes about FNC’s Chris Wallace making a joke on FBN’s Don Imus show and the resultant fallout…

Jeri Thompson blasted Fox News host Chris Wallace on the Fred Thompson show today, calling his joke that he hoped Sarah Palin would sit on his lap during an interview with him “inappropriate” and “insipid,” and demanding “action from Fox.

Thompson, the wife of the former senator and presidential candidate, told POLITICO’s Jonathan Martin that the remark, to Fox Business’s Don Imus, amounted to misogyny, and that she was tired of seeing it from “these dirty old men” on Fox, a network that she said ought to be respectful of conservative women.

“Sarah Palin is now part of the Fox family,” Thompson said on the show. “She deserves you all watching her back — and I do not mean it literally.”

Update: Video. The joke occurs near the end…

Press Releases: 02/05/10

MSNBC (2), CNN (1)

MSNBC

PROGRAMMING NOTE: MSNBC TO AIR SARAH PALIN’S SPEECH TO THE NATIONAL TEA PARTY CONVENTION

NEW YORK-Feb.5,2010-On Saturday, February 6, MSNBC will provide special coverage of Sarah Palin’s speech to the first National Tea Party Convention in Nashville. MSNBC’s Ed Schultz, host of “The Ed Show,” will anchor the live coverage from 9:00-10:30 pm ET.

_____________________

INVESTIGATIVE REPORT: Sarah Palin e-mails reveal her spouse was active in state business

REDMOND, Wash. – February 5, 2010 – Msnbc.com’s Investigative Reporter Bill Dedman reviewed nearly 3,000 pages of recently released emails from the Sarah Palin administration. The e-mails were released to msnbc.com and NBC News by the state of Alaska under its public records law. The e-mails show the governor’s husband got involved in a judicial appointment, monitored contract negotiations with public employee unions, received background checks on a corporate CEO, added his approval or disapproval to state board appointments, and passed financial information marked “confidential” from his oil company employer to a state attorney.

For the complete story: Palin e-mails reveal a powerful ‘first dude’ (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35238034/ns/politics/).

_____________________

CNN

FAREED ZAKARIA GPS AIRS AT 10 a.m. ON CNN U.S. BEGINNING THIS SUNDAY

The Hazards of Live TV: #25,042…

This is going to give MSNBC some headaches. But was it really a typo? Or was it deliberate?

Update: Unlike the conspiracy theory anti-Olbermann types like Olbermannwatch, I think this was a typo. Keith didn’t enter the text on the graphic. It was done by a grunt. MSNBC’s Editorial would never condone such crude behavior. This was a gaffe.

Free for All: 02/05/10

What’s on your mind?

The Hazards of Live TV: #25,041

This is really a Hazards two-fer. First we have bad choreography/lighting. This is immediately followed by bad spelling…

So much for diversity…

This isn’t going to play out well. I first thought this had to be someone’s idea of a joke but it’s too crass to be a joke. Will FNC be all over this? Will O’Reilly ignore it? I sense a poll question…

Update: The sign has been removed and NBC has apologized for it…

Update 2: The Chef behind the menu reacts…(via TVNewser)

Press Releases: 02/04/10

Bloomberg (1)

BLOOMBERG TELEVISION PRESENTS ‘IN THE LOOP’ LIVE FROM THE LABOR DEPARTMENT

This Friday, February 5th, 2010, BLOOMBERG TELEVISION® anchor Betty Liu will present a special two-hour edition of ‘In the Loop with Betty Liu’ (8AM – 10AM ET) live from the Labor Department in Washington D.C. Washington anchor Peter Cook and correspondent Lizzie O’Leary will add to Bloomberg’s team coverage of the January non-farm employment numbers and the impact on the nation’s economy and markets.

Guests include U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis as well as leading economists and business analysts including:

* Ethan Harris, chief economist, Bank of America
* James Glassman, senior economist, senior economist, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
* Michael O’Rourke, chief market strategist, BTIG
* Anthony Crescenzi, market strategist, PIMCO

Free for All: 02//04/10

What’s on your mind?

Jon Stewart on The Factor…

The LA Times’ Matea Gold writes about Jon Stewart’s appearnce on The O’Reilly Factor…

The “Daily Show” host delivered his message in an somber tone, occasionally fading into a look of exasperation as the two men wrangled. O’Reilly challenged his arguments, but with equanimity. The result was a forceful but amiable exchange.

“All I hear on your network is tyranny and socialism,” Stewart said, adding: “How is Barack Obama a socialist? As far as I can see, the majority of the billions of dollars he’s given, he’s given to banks. So if he’s a socialist, he’s dyslexic.”

“He does believe in redistribution of income, and that is a socialist tenet,” O’Reilly countered.

In an interview afterward, O’Reilly said he was struck by Stewart’s mood.

“It was more serious than I expected him to be,” the commentator said. “He wanted to make some points about Fox News, and he made them. I let him make them. And I told him, I’m not offended that he believes that or sees it that way. I’m not. But I think if he would sit down and watch Bret Baier, Shepard Smith, the way our hard news guys cover the White House and Congress and the Supreme Court, he would not see a rooting interest in the GOP.”

Free for All: 02/03/10

What’s on your mind?

CNBC Ratings Leak…

It seems like nary a month goes by without someone posting leaked CNBC ratings. This time it’s Wall St. Cheat Sheet…

Once again, CNBC has continued to lose viewers after failing to help anyone save money during the Great Crash of 2008. The newest Nielsen Media Research numbers show Business Day (5am-7pm) down 24% P2+ (total households) and down 37% in the A25-54 demographic. Primetime, CNBC is down 34% P2+ and down 25% in the A25-54 demo (Monday through Friday).

That’s a significant drop. Is it those pesky video games? Maybe it’s iPhone apps. Nah. It’s definitely correlated to the value CNBC offers to our investment accounts.

Olbermann vs. Bercovici…

Daily Finance’s Jeff Bercovici responds to Keith Olbermann’s response to an article Bercovici wrote last week about Countdown’s “declining numbers”…

When I wrote about signs that the tide is turning against MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann, I suspected it might land me a place on his “Worst Person in the World” list, the segment he uses for most of his score-settling. What I didn’t anticipate was that he’d tell an outright lie about me and the organization I work for.

On Tuesday night’s Countdown, Olbermann, claiming he wanted to “clear up” misperceptions about his show’s ratings, called DailyFinance a “right-wing site” and lumped us in with Glenn Beck and the National Review.

Now, I’m something of an old-school journalist in that I don’t believe in broadcasting my politics in public. I guess I’m doing a decent job of keeping them under wraps if Olbermann can call me a right-winger while actual right-wingers like Michelle Malkin and Ed Driscoll seem to believe I’m a flaming liberal.

Defending Jeff Zucker…

Marketwatch’s Jon Friedman interviews NBC News President Steve Capus who goes on a tear about the way Jeff Zucker has been portrayed in the media recently…

NBC invited me to come in to talk with Capus and purportedly review research showing what Capus easily could have explained in a sentence or two: We’re No. 1, and here’s why.

Write me off as a hopeless conspiracy theorist — and I’ve been called worse — but I suspect Capus’ hidden agenda was defending Zucker — only it became less hidden throughout our lively conversation.

Capus is smart, personable and extremely thoughtful. I discourage any reporter from trying to snare him with a “gotcha” question. You’d be wasting your time.

Making NBC News’ triumphs even sweeter, Capus noted that it has remained a pacesetter while retooling on the fly. Katie Couric, Tom Brokaw and the late, beloved Tim Russert have been replaced by Meredith Vieira, Brian Williams and David Gregory, respectively. For once, the overused term “dynasty” applies.

Plus, Capus is pleased with MSNBC, “Dateline” and, yes, the Weather Channel. Capus said that while he doesn’t directly oversee CNBC, he is happy with its progress.

“Rick’s List” declines?

Politico’s Michael Calderone writes about the Rick Sanchez progam’s ratings…

So how’s Sanchez been doing with the extra hour? It’s only been a couple weeks, but so far, the second hour of “Rick’s List” is down 17 percent in total viewers, and 18 percent in the demo when compared with “The Situation Room.”

Looking at last month’s Nielsen numbers for the 4pm hour, “The Situation Room” brought in 784k total viewers and 175k in the demo, through January 17. Since Sanchez took over, the network has attracted 652k total viewers and 143k in the demo.

January Numbers: FNC…

TVNewser has a breakdown of FNC’s numbers for January which, surprise surprise, were up yet again. When is the plateau finally going to be reached?

Fox News was the number one cable news network in all categories in January, and posted big numbers during coverage of the Massachusetts Senate election, the State of the Union, and the earthquake in Haiti. This was the best January in the network’s history and continued the channel’s dominance over its competitors.

Rick Santelli Interview…

The Daily Caller’s Alex Pappas interviews Rick Santelli rehasing his tea-party outburst…

He’s been called a founding father of the tea party movement, a Paul Revere figure responsible for rallying millions of Americans frustrated with runaway government spending.

But CNBC’s Rick Santelli says he’s just an ordinary Chicagoan who never really intended to start a revolution when, during a show last February, he called on viewers to launch a modern-day tea party. A year later, the tea party movement that resulted has become one of the most significant factors in American politics.

January Numbers: MSNBC…

I haven’t seen an official ratings release from MSNBC this month but based on what CNN put out and what the New York Times’ Bill Carter writes below, it looks like January was a not a good month…

With the earthquake news breaking during many of the days in the month, CNN also widened its usual margin over MSNBC in daytime coverage. CNN averaged 658,000 viewers for the hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. to MSNBC’s 305,000. In all-day coverage, Fox was again far ahead with 1.33 million viewers to 577,000 for CNN and 369,000 for MSNBC.

CNN was also eager to point out that MSNBC finished fourth (behind its sister channel HLN) for many hours of the day, and even fifth occasionally (also behind CNBC).

CNN’s surge is no surprise given the Haiti earthquake. At one point I was speculating that it might have been enough to vault Campbell Brown’s show past Olbermann’s in the Demo but the last week of January reversed the trend and I backed off my prognostication. MSNBC didn’t jump on Haiti in primetime early on, certainly not to the degree CNN did, and that may have been a tactical mistake Phil Griffin may now regret. Ok, so MSNBC maybe can’t compete head to head with CNN on resource deployment to Haiti. But giving the best you got is still better than doing what happened on Countdown the first night of the earthquake.

Both CNN and MSNBC were down vs. Jan 2009 so not much to say there. CNN was keen to continue to rub MSNBC’s face in it over dayside I’m going to check my fire for the time being. No, I haven’t hit my head. MSNBC dayside did a reboot last month, which only just completed this week. You have to give them a pass for the time being as they work to right the ship.

But what’s going on with Morning Joe? A fourth place demo finish behind HLN is not a good sign for an established program like this.

Branding Run Amok: Example 1,002

From an emailer…

Today the Weather Channel is airing a report on the Academy Award nominations at the bottom of the hour. Please tell me what the Academy Awards have to do with weather? These non weather segments are getting ridiculous.

Well I suppose if there was a weather related movie, there could be some sort of tie in there…

yeah..right.

The Hazards of Live TV: #25,040

Not going there…

Press Releases: 02/02/10

CNN (1)

Geraldine Moriba Named Executive Producer of CNN’s “In America” Franchise

Award-winning producer Geraldine Moriba has been named executive producer of CNN’s “In America” unit, the network’s newly created division, which will extend the “In America” franchise anchored by Soledad O’Brien. The announcement was made today by Bart Feder, senior vice president for current programming, CNN/U.S.

With more than 20 years of journalism experience, Moriba will be responsible for leading the editorial direction of the “In America” unit, working with CNN anchor and special correspondent Soledad O’Brien and a team of producers, generating “In America” series which will run within CNN’s weekday programming, as well as long form primetime documentaries.

“Geraldine is a fantastic choice to lead the ‘In America’ unit in its reporting on communities across America,” said Feder. “Her years of award-winning production work and management experience give her the background to expand CNN’s commitment to long form journalism that reflects all aspects of the American experience.”

January Numbers: CNN/HLN…

CNN is noting its and HLNs numbers.

CNN TOPS MSNBC IN DAYTIME (9a-5p), TOTAL DAY (6a-6a) AND WEEKDAY PRIMETIME (8-11p) IN JANUARY

IN KEY DEMO 25-54, HLN OUTPERFORMS MSNBC IN TOTAL DAY; NANCY GRACE BEATS COUNTDOWN

MSNBC PLACES 4TH OR 5TH DURING THE DAY; OLBERMANN, MADDOW SLIP TO 3RD; HARDBALL, MORNING JOE ARE 4TH

In January, CNN topped MSNBC during daytime (9am-5pm), total day (6am-6am) and in weekday primetime (8-11pm) in both total viewers and in the key demo adults 25-54.

In head-to-head comparisons with MSNBC’s daytime non-opinion news programming – CNN dominated, averaging 658k vs. 305k in total viewers (+116%), and 165k vs. 75k in adults 25-54 (+120%). MSNBC placed either fourth or fifth (trailing behind CNBC) every weekday hour throughout the day (9 am until 5 pm) in the key demo 25-54. At 5pm, Hardball slipped to fourth place behind FNC, CNN’s Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer and HLN’s Prime News among adults 25-54, and also placed fourth at 7 pm, trailing FNC, CNN and HLN’s Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell.

Free for All: 02/02/10

What’s on your mind?