How to Fix CNN?

You simply must read Michael Calderone’s excellent CNN survey in Politico. It’s chock full of interesting ideas. It’s also chock full of some either not good or unrealistic ideas but that illustrates the problem: there’s no consensus on what to do.

I don’t like this being put in the terms of CNN must overhaul or it will die. I think it’s a false choice. It won’t die. The long term numbers bear this out in Total Day. Taking the numbers I cited last night from July 1997 and comparing them to last Quarter we see CNN, long term, Total Day may be either slowly rising or stagnating, but it’s not dying…

July 1997 Total Day – 408,000 P2+
2010 Q1 Total Day – 507,000 P2+

Primetime is another matter, long term it’s gone down in Total Viewers

Press Releases: 03/31/10

MSNBC (1)

MARKING THE 15TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING, MSNBC FILMS PRESENTS “THE MCVEIGH TAPES: CONFESSIONS OF AN AMERICAN TERRORIST”–WITH RACHEL MADDOW—MONDAY, APRIL 19 AT 9PM

The Two-Hour Film Includes McVeigh’s Confession In His Own Words Heard For the First Time

(NEW YORK, NY) — MARCH 31, 2010 — Fifteen years after the Oklahoma City bombing, Rachel Maddow brings viewers the inside story on the deadliest terror attack on U.S. soil prior to the events of Sept. 11. 168 lives were lost and more then 500 people were injured that day and now, on Monday, April 19 (9-11 PM/ET), MSNBC viewers will hear Timothy McVeigh’s chilling confession in his own words for the first time in “The McVeigh Tapes: Confessions of an American Terrorist.” Drawing from 45 hours of never-before-released interview audiotapes recorded during McVeigh’s prison stay, the film reveals the bomber’s descriptions of the planning and execution of the horrific attack and offers insight into how a decorated American soldier became a dangerous, anti-government terrorist.

CNBC Ratings Leak?

It’s been a while since we’ve heard a shot fired between FBN and CNBC. Well that silence may have ended courtesy of Zero Hedge… (via J$)

Just like with Cramer, after a brief blip higher in February, CNBC captured just 58 of its target demographic audience (25-54): the lowest in over three years of data (once again according to Nielsen Media Research). Could it be, that just like 89% of readers believe Rick Santelli is more trustworthy than Steve Liesman, that the broader population is getting simply sick and tired of propaganda covered up with props such as loud moo noises, turtles, 3D charts, “victory for the bulls” soundbite and other hollow instruments designed to keep the audience’s attention for just one extra minute even as the underlying content deteriorates progressively. Ultimately, the bottom line will most certainly decide. We are very curious if Comcast’s deal with GE for CNBC et al has a sliding revenue/net income consideration scale.

Misleading headlines…

The Independent’s Stephen Foley has this breathtaking headline “CNN considers big changes to fight back in ratings war” followed by this lead paragraph…

CNN, the pioneering 24-hour news channel, is considering an overhaul of its schedule after haemorrhaging viewers in its core United States market.

This is followed by exactly zero evidence to support said headline or lead paragraph. No quotes from CNN. No anonymous quotes from CNN. Not even “sources say”. To quote an infamous Wendy’s commercial, “Where’s the beef?”. If you’re going to assert CNN is considering to make “big changes” or “overhaul” its programming you owe it to your readers to show what, where, and how and not write about crummy ratings and the changing cable news primetime landscape.

CNN may indeed be mulling changes. But don’t look to this article for what they are. Because it doesn’t say. It just throws out the allegation and then leaves it twisting in the wind. Even The New York Post wouldn’t go this route…

LL Cool J vs. FNC?

Looks like there may a bit more to Thursday’s Palin special on FNC than we thought…LL Cool J tweets the following (via J$)

Fox lifted an old interview I gave in 2008 to someone else & are misrepresenting to the public in order to promote Sarah Palins Show. WOW

Update 2: TVNewser has an FNC statement on the matter…

A Fox News spokesperson tells TVNewser, “Real American Stories features uplifting tales about overcoming adversity and we believe Mr. Smith’s interview fit that criteria. However, as it appears that Mr. Smith does not want to be associated with a program that could serve as an inspiration to others, we are cutting his interview from the special and wish him the best with his fledgling acting career.”

Translation: Yes we got caught with our hands in the cookie jar so we’re dropping the interview while making it look like LL Cool J is losing out so that the focus is on him.

Update: Mediaite’s Steve Krakauer offers up a somewhat different opinion…

Me: Recycling an old interview, even if it was on an FNC website, is still recycling an old interview. FNC could have avoided this PR problem by not putting LL Cool J’s name in the press release, which suggests to readers that the interview is new regardless of whether FNC says it is new or not, and noting in the special that the interview was from two years ago. I would have considered that approach appropriate. The way the network did go in its approach to this however needlessly added an air of illegitimacy to the interview’s use. In other words, instead of the issue being “LL Cool J doesn’t want to be associated with Palin”, which would be a winning issue for FNC, the issue is now “the propriety of how FNC goes about doing its specials” which is not something FNC wants.

In Depth: Jon Klein’s time may or may not be nearing an end at CNN. But would a replacement make a difference?

Mediaite’s Colby Hall writes about CNN President Jonathan Klein’s future at the network given its recent ratings issues.

Insiders have long whispered about what’s going on at CNN, and alas, the continued and consistent poor ratings mean that its finally time to openly question Jon Klein’s future in his role as President of CNN.

Hall put a lot of thought into this piece and it deserves serious consideration because the points it raises should not be dismissed out of hand. That said, at the same time I feel that the article is too narrow in its approach and restrictive in its conclusions. I believe a wider examination of Klein, CNN, and its purpose is needed to properly put the Klein situation in perspective.

Klein being “on the bubble” isn’t exactly a new subject being talked about, even publicly. I first stated ten months ago that while the clock may not be ticking yet, it’s definitely being wound. And the leaks from the shop that traditionally hasn’t leaked much over the dismal primetime ratings are a sign that morale is increasingly an issue. Happy shops don’t leak. Unhappy shops leak.

MSNBC and the White House Correspondents Dinner After Party…

White House Correspondents Insider blogs about MSNBC’s correspondents dinner after party plans…

WHCInsider has the exclusive news: Party powerhouse MSNBC, coming off an already legendary 2009 Radio and TV Dinner after party, is taking on the Bloomberg | Vanity Fair juggernaut in 2010 for the White House Correspondents Dinner on Saturday, May 1.

And then there’s this…I’ve bolded the…uh…interesting part…

MSNBC, which has enjoyed much ratings success and made itself a primary player in the Washington political media culture, will give everyone a run for their money this year.

MSNBC’s party will be created by top event producer, Philip Dufour, mastermind of the Radio and Television after party. If you are one of the lucky few to receive an invitation, we’ll see you at the Mellon auditorium.

Branding Run Amok: Example 1,003

From an emailer…

In the 2pm hour FBN actually wasted time covering a stuck county fair ride in Miami-Dade. What does this have to do with business news? The story was already being covered by FNC, CNN, and MSNBC from the same WSVN chopper feed.

Indeed.

Q1 2010 Numbers: CNN…

CNN is noting its Q1 numbers…

CNN TOPS MSNBC IN TOTAL DAY AND DAYSIDE (9a-5p) IN TOTAL VIEWERS AND DEMO FOR Q1

CNN GROWS COMPARED TO LAST QUARTER AND INCREASES MOST IN PRIMETIME IN MARCH VS PRIOR MONTH

HLN POSTS BEST QUARTER IN NETWORK HISTORY FOR TWO KEY TIMESLOTS: MORNING EXPRESS WITH ROBIN MEADE AND THE JOY BEHAR SHOW

CNN Digital No. 1 News & Information Site for Video and Traffic

CNN

First Quarter 2010

For the first quarter 2010, CNN outperformed MSNBC in both total day (M-Su/6a-6a) and nearly doubled MSNBC during the day (M-F/9a-5p) among total viewers and the key demographic adults 25-54. During the quarter — in total day, CNN averaged 507k total viewers, a 27% advantage over MSNBC’s 398k, and posted 150k in the demo 25-54, 9% more than MSNBC’s 137k. During non-opinion programming (M-F 9a until 5p) in head-to-head comparisons, CNN attracted 578k total viewers and 139k among adults 25-54, easily topping MSNBC’s 305k and 74k respectively. MSNBC placed 4th or 5th each hour of the day during the first quarter among adults 25-54.

Palin Special Thursday…

Mediaite’s Steve Krakauer reports that FNC’s first Sarah Palin special will air Thursday night at 10pm ET. My guess is the show was taped in advance. I would love to see the footage on the cutting room floor.

Update: J$ speculates on Twitter that Palin may just be fronting intros to segments for the special. If that’s the case, then this is will be an overhyped rip-off. People tuning in expecting Palin doing a special, and all that a special entails, will be very disappointed.

Update 2: The LA Times’ Matea Gold has more information…

The first installment, which airs Thursday at 7 p.m. Pacific time in place of “On the Record with Greta Van Susteren,” will feature stories about a Marine who died to save his fellow soldiers and a stock broker who helps underprivileged students pay for college. The series is part of the deal Palin struck in January to join the network as a contributor. The extent of her role on the program is unclear, but she interviewed people in studio for some of the segments.

Q1 2010 Numbers: FNC…

Mediaite’s Steve Krakauer writes about FNC’s Q1 numbers…

While CNN continues to decline in prime time (as detailed today in the New York Times) and MSNBC’s signature programs fall off as well (post coming), Fox News remains unaffected. In fact, with health care passing, there’s no reason to doubt the second quarter of 2010 will be any different. With midterm elections just around the corner, Fox News could conceivably be headed for another year of stronger ratings than the one before.

March Numbers/Q1 2010 Numbers: MSNBC…

MSNBC is noting it’s March/Q1 numbers…

MSNBC Beats CNN in 1Q 2010 In Primetime

MSNBC Beats CNN in Total Day Among Adults In March, First Time Since 2001

“Morning Joe” Beats “American Morning” for First Time Ever

NEW YORK – March 30, 2010 – MSNBC beat CNN in primetime in the first quarter of 2010, finishing well ahead of the formerly dominant news network among both total viewers and in the key adult demographic. MSNBC also beat CNN in total day in March among adults for the first time since August 2001. “Morning Joe” edged out CNN’s “American Morning” for the quarter in total viewers and finished the month 15 percent ahead of CNN’s “American Morning,” the first time that “Morning Joe” has topped CNN since launching in 2007. “The Ed Show” also beat CNN’s “The Situation Room” for the first time in March among total viewers. MSNBC bested CNN at 6, 7, 8 and 9 in total viewers in March, and at 10 p.m. in A25-54. March marked the seventh month out of the last eight that MSNBC has beaten CNN in primetime. Following are ratings highlights for 1Q 2010 and March 2010:

Betty Liu Interview…

Mediaite’s Steve Krakauer interviews Bloomberg TV’s Betty Liu…

3. What’s the biggest story the media missed in 2009?

I think in this economic crisis, so much has happened that the media has been overwhelmed. Some stories unfortunately get dropped or overshadowed. For instance, in the beginning of this crisis, everyone was talking about all these “toxic assets” at banks. What were they? How much did “Bank A” or “Bank B” own, and so on. Eighteen months later, we’re not a lot closer to understanding what these assets are. And if you can’t understand them, how do you know any bank is really out of the woods – and that this crisis won’t happen again?

Free for All: 03/30/09

What’s on your mind?

Rima Maktabi joins CNNI…

CNN International announced that Rima Maktabi has joined the network… (via CNN Observations)

CNN International today announces Rima Maktabi as the new host of its popular ‘Inside the Middle East’ programme and a key addition to CNN’s roster of anchor/correspondents covering the Middle East.

The appointment of Lebanon-born Maktabi, one of the Middle East’s most dynamic and well known prime time presenting talents, signals CNN’s deepening commitment to the region and continued investment in its Abu Dhabi production hub.

The hiring of Maktabi – a prime time news anchor on Arabic news channel Al Arabiya who brings with her a wealth of experience in the region – follows the recent launch of CNN Abu Dhabi, the debut of the nightly primetime show ‘Prism’, and the decision to fully localise the production staffs of the high profile ‘ Inside the Middle East ‘ and ’CNN Marketplace Middle East’ shows.

The expanded CNN output is further bolstered by an extensive regional newsgathering infrastructure which today includes bureaux in Baghdad, Beirut, Cairo, Islamabad, Jerusalem and Kabul.

March numbers not so hot for CNN…

Getting the jump on tomorrow’s monthly ratings dump, The New York Times’ Bill Carter writes about March with an emphasis on that building down in Atlanta…

The trend in news ratings for the first three months of this year is all up for one network, the Fox News Channel, which enjoyed its best quarter ever in ratings, and down for both MSNBC and CNN.

CNN had a slightly worse quarter in the fourth quarter of 2009, but the last three months have included compelling news events, like the earthquake in Haiti and the battle over health care, and CNN, which emphasizes its hard news coverage, was apparently unable to benefit.

The losses at CNN continued a pattern in place for much of the last year, as the network trailed its competitors in every prime-time hour. (CNN still easily beats MSNBC in the daytime hours, but those are less lucrative in advertising money, and both networks are far behind Fox News at all hours.)

Carter also answers a question I had last week regarding Morning Joe and American Morning…

Its “American Morning” show dropped behind “Morning Joe” on MSNBC in total viewers for the first time; it still beat the MSNBC show among 25- to 54-year-olds, though it was down 29 percent from a year earlier.

So that explains that blurb in The New York Daily News about Morning Joe “pulling ahead” of American Morning. Someone at MSNBC leaked the numbers early. But as I postulated last week, Morning Joe hasn’t cemented its 2nd place position. How could it? This was just the first time it came out ahead. But we’ll all be watching more closely going forward. This also adds new fuel to the rumors of CNN mulling a new morning show that leaked out to The Wrap.

Carter also manages to talk about the Anderson Cooper specials and the possibility that he could take over at 9pm without dropping the words “Krakauer” or “Mediaite”…

Bill O’Reilly Interview…

NewsMax’s Jim Meyers interviews Bill O’Reilly…

“CNN was at the top of the hill when we came in 13 1/2 years ago,” he tells Newsmax. “What happened to CNN? Basically they stayed where they were 10 years ago. They did not change with the times.

“We live in a very intense country, a very difficult time. CNN does not reflect that urgency. They basically report the news. And they do a good job.

“But people in the United States now, they know the news already, because they have the Internet, they have talk radio, a lot of vehicles, so they want analysis and perspective from a cable network, particularly in prime time. They don’t want to hear [the news] again. CNN doesn’t give you that, so that’s why they have fallen off dramatically.

“MSNBC made the key mistake of hiring bad people. It’s as simple as that. They’ve got a bunch of guttersnipes on their network and even if you’re a liberal, which is what they sell, you don’t like these people.”

On Fox, on the other hand, Glenn Beck is a “nice guy,” Greta Van Susteren is a “nice person,” Shepard Smith is a “good personality,” and Sean Hannity is a “Republican and identifies himself that way. So it’s real people.

“And then you turn on MSNBC and you see these people attacking personally, they’re throwing all kinds of stuff around. People go, ‘It’s unpleasant. I’m not going to watch it.’ And they don’t.”

Free for All: 03/29/10

What’s on your mind?

Maria Bartiromo Profile…

New York Magazine’s Jessica Pressler profiles CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo…

Bartiromo, 42, is all business. She’s married to Jonathan Steinberg, son of the corporate raider Saul P. Steinberg, and lives on the Upper East Side in a townhouse, but, she confesses, she doesn’t do much besides work. “I love what I do,” she says. “But I have not been able to figure out the balance in life.” Still, it’s a long way from Bay Ridge, where, she says, “growing up, my nickname was Bullet, because I was always running faster than all the other kids.” Even this family-gift run is work: She’s talking to me to promote her new book, The 10 Laws of Enduring Success. It’s a self-helpish memoir peppered with life lessons from the likes of Bill Gates and Jack Welch.

Bartiromo is efficient like that. Her conversation with Watson will be sliced into derivatives that will pay off in various ways. A clip of it aired on her live show, Closing Bell. Afterward, she leaned in and—“That was so great, thank you so much”—got a few more moments of his very precious time for her other show, The Wall Street Journal Report. And of course exposure to such prestige enhances her own brand, which is that of someone who knows, gets, and is empathetic to Big Business.

What’s Hot/What’s Not: 03/28/10

What’s Hot:

Health Care Reform – The voting may be over, the bill may be signed, but the story isn’t over on cable news…

CNN’s Multiplatform push not working? – An article came out in Ad Age hinting that FNC, despite having an anemic multiplatform strategy compared to rival CNN, is nontheless closing the CPM gap with that network.

Brown vs. Maddow – It was a somewhat silly battle but it generated some buzz…

What’s Not:

Pundits are not news anchors – MSNBC continued its habit of putting a pundit in the news anchor chair when Ed Schultz anchored MSNBC at 2pm on Monday and Tuesday.

Ties not optional – CNN’s John King and John Roberts have been showing up on air tie-less. In Robert’s case, it’s infrequent. Rick Sanchez also sometimes doesn’t wear a tie and sometimes doesn’t wear a dress shirt. I’m not liking this. Put those ties back on…

John King Profile: Update…

Last week I noted this USA Weekend proflile of John King and suggested that because Charlie Gibson’s name was mentioned instead of Diane Sawyer’s when King talked about the big three networks’ nightly newscasts that either the interview was old, when it said it was recently done, or King himself flubbed. Well lo and behold a new examination of the article shows that Gibson’s name was scrubbed and replaced with Sawyer’s. Her name is in brackets which means it wasn’t uttered. So someone at CNN had to have intervened with USA Weekend, probably after reading my original note, to get that changed. It’s looking more to me like a King flub than an older interview. But maybe not.

Money What?

The New York Post’s Richard Wilner writes about Maria Bartiromo abandoned her “Money Honey” trademark…

Records at the US Patent & Trademark Office show the eight filings for “Money Honey” were abandoned at various times last spring and summer.

The media first affixed the “Money Honey” moniker to Bartiromo in the mid-1990s, when the fast-rising 20-something, reporting during the go-go bull market, could move markets with her Big Board reports.

What’s Hot/What’s Not: Submissions…

This is going up a bit early as I have to depart and won’t return until Saturday night. Post your nominations for this week’s What’s Hot/What’s Not. I’ll post the finalists on Sunday night…

In Depth: Anderson Cooper; The Next Larry King? Don’t hold your breath…

Mediaite’s Steve Krakauer waxes at the possibility that these rumored AC specials CNN is mulling over could be tied in somehow with Larry King’s contract expiring in June…

Cooper provides the interview acumen and ability to move between types of news to fill this role. His critics will say the soft news portions of both 360 and his outside appearances diminish his serious correspondent assignments or serious political focus. But in this media world where hosts like Glenn Beck can transition from funny radio guy to serious TV show host to children’s book author, all on the same day, no one needs to be boxed into one format anymore.

Wrong. This isn’t like 60 Minutes which Cooper appears on occasionally and the format can be about anything and everything. And it’s certainly not Regis and Kelly which Cooper subs on. This is CNN. The Beck comparison is not appropo. Beck isn’t a journalist. Cooper is. Cooper spent considerable time burying his “Mole” hosting past with years of compelling reporting in the field. Jonathan Klein did Cooper no favors by prematurely elevating him on a pedastal with the fire part of “Fire and Ice” and his “anti-anchor” label. But despite Klein accidentally working against him Cooper has established himself as a journalist with his own niche. Cooper in the field is frequently must see TV now (behind the desk, not as much…but that’s a story for another blog post). Is he now going to toss all that work overboard to assume a Larry King like role at the network?

Free for All: 03/26/10

What’s on your mind?

MSNBC using Cisco technology…

Beet.tv writes that Cisco’s TelePresence technology is being used on The Rachel Maddow Show. (via J$)

Cisco Systems, which has a $3 billion video teleconference business with a product called TelePresence, is entering the broadcast world with the MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow who is using the system to conduct remote interviews.

Unlike most conventional remote interview set-ups, where a guest listens to questions in a an earphone, the TelePresence system displays both participants on large screens, with no latency between speakers, creating the a virtual face-to-face conversation in 1080p hi-def resolution.

The “conversations” can be recorded and saved locally or streamed live.

Joe Scarborough Profile…

The New York Daily News’ David Hinckley profiles Joe Scarborough…

Disagreement is nothing new for Jarrett or Barack Obama, of course – or for Scarborough, who suspects a lot of listeners disagree with him.

He also suspects this is one reason why his shows have become an unexpected media success.

“Our goal is to present hard news and conversations on policy in a civilized manner,” says the conservative Scarborough. “I give my viewpoint, but we have a lot more liberal guests than conservatives because I don’t want just guests who echo me.

“I know it cuts against the grain of almost everything on talk radio and on cable talk today. When I started, they told me it would never work, that I had to pick a side.

“But we’ve found people like it.”

But there is this dubious prognostication…

“Morning Joe,” 6-9 a.m., has pulled ahead of “American Morning” on CNN. Last Thursday, for example, Scarborough had 366,000 viewers compared to 311,000 for CNN.

I could be wrong on this since I haven’t been tracking the morning races that closely but I don’t believe Morning Joe has cemented an over-taking of American Morning.

John King Profile

USA Weekend’s Gayle Jo Carter profiles CNN’s John King. Interesting that they used a pic of King with a tie instead of the new tieless King. Yes, I’m going to keep on this tie crusade. Also worthy of note and an open question…just how long ago was this interview conducted? USA Weekend says recently but one question and answer suggests otherwise…I’ve bolded the smoking gun…though this could have been a flub on King’s part by forgetting Sawyer’s the anchor now…

Do you watch the network news shows?

I DVR each and every one of them. I [watch] on a big news day, when I wonder how did Charlie [Gibson] do this? How did Katie [Couric] do this? How did Brian [Williams] do this?

What about your cable competition?

Fox and MSNBC have made a calculated business decision. They’re going to have what I call advocacy programs or more ideological programs. Good luck to them.

Anderson Cooper Specials?

TVNewser reports that CNN is mulling doing some 11pm specials with Anderson Cooper…

Pot Meet Kettle…

Mediaite’s Steve Krakauer accurately blasts some commentary regarding FNC and Health Care Refrom eminating from the 8pm hour of MSNBC, sans Keith Olbermann. Though I’m still scratching my head concerning how exactly the thrust of this article pertains to the headline “MSNBC and Media Matters struggle to understand Glenn Beck”…I don’t think Krakauer’s accurate analysis here supports that headline.

Burns called it a “continuing part of Glenn Beck’s ongoing campaign to destroy the progressive movement, and frankly I’m concerned, perhaps even incite a revolution in this country.” Is it true some could misinterpret what Beck says as a call to violence? Sure, but he continues to make the case against violence – as he did last night again.

The point is, Beck and his FNC colleagues are right-of-center politically and in the media, while MSNBC is left-of-center in both areas. So when O’Donnell charges “they’re not a news network, they’re a political operation” it ignores the messenger. Maybe it would mean more coming as a postcard from John King, USA.