30 Years ago Today CNN Launched…

…on June 1, 1980 and this was the first broadcast…

It’s kinda surprising that CNN hasn’t done something to note this occasion but I haven’t seen a thing about this. A retrospective…reminiscing…something. Perhaps all the negative press the network has been getting recently thwarted any planned on-air event. Maybe one is still coming, but usually we get some sort of advanced notice. And we haven’t. But maybe we should. Given the recent discussion regarding the network, such an endeavor would serve as a reminder as to what this network has done, what it has meant, and what it still means…

CNN’s Primetime Struggles…

The LA Times Matea Gold writes about CNN’s primetime woes…

But the right move for CNN remains an open question. The pressure is on the network to come up with a successful program in a time slot that has been a thorny problem for the last decade. While Fox News and MSNBC showcase their top talent at 8 p.m., CNN has cycled through three hosts since Greta Van Susteren left for Fox News in 2002. She was followed by Connie Chung, whose show was canceled after less than a year by new management who viewed it as too tabloid, and then Paula Zahn, whose low-performing newscast was dumped in 2007 when Brown was lured from NBC News.

Brown was initially optimistic that a straight news program could compete against the sharply opinionated shows put on by Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly and MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann at that hour. But she sounds decidedly more pessimistic now.

“People are drawn to the echo chamber, and they want to have their opinions validated more often than they want to have their opinions challenged,” said the anchor, who has not said what she plans to do next. “And trying to present an unbiased perspective is simply harder.”

The difficulties that CNN faces at 8 p.m. are endemic of the broader challenges confronting the network. CNN/U.S. President Jon Klein has cast it as the only nonpartisan cable news channel, eschewing the bluntly opinionated hosts that dominate prime time on the other news channels.

What’s Hot/What’s Not: 05/30/10

What’s Hot:

What to do about CNN – More articles hit the press this week on CNN and its primetime fortunes. CNN responded in an uncharacteristic manner by giving a presentation covering how it makes money, which tried to underscore that primetime is only a small piece of the puzzle.

Shepard Smith makes analogy to 9/11 in regards to BP spill – And a lot of people, myself included, felt Smith’s comments went a bit too far.

Geri Willis – It was announced that Willis would host “The Willis Report” on FBN at 5pm M-Fr…

Sestak-gate – It made a lot of noise this week. Whether there’s any substance to said noise is still an open question however. That didn’t stop FNC and others from breathlessly running the story (or non-story) into the ground in short order…

What’s Not:

Much ado about nothing – A bruhaha erupted over alleged FNC tampering with a video of Obama addressing the West Point graduation. Specifically, it was claimed that FNC cut out the audio of the cadets applauding in order to make Obama look bad. ICN figured out that what happened was two pieces of video destined for on air use were spliced together, but without removing the “dead air” parts.

Dennis Kneale – Kneale gave a very forthcoming interview to The Business Insider. A little too forthcoming it seems as Kneale openly “complained” about CNBC execs maybe not even watching his show. Not very smart…

Larry King – The New York Times featured an article that was not at all favorable towards King and his future at CNN…

What’s Hot/What’s Not: Sumbissions…

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

The Hazards of Live TV: #25,058

No two ways about it, this is terrible…

Update: Yes, yes…to those who have emailed in telling me…this ain’t live TV…I know it’s not. But I put it up there anyways…

Free for All: 05/28/10

What’s on your mind?

Where CNN Makes its Money…

TVNewser’s Alex Weprin has a detailed breakdown of where CNN makes its money…

As you can see in the chart, and as we explained earlier this week, the heart of the CNN (and cable) business is subscription fees, which account for around 50% of total revenue. Advertising and ancillary revenue streams account for the other 50%.

CNN’s pitch to investors and the press is that its business is healthy despite declining ratings in primetime. While it is true that CNN U.S. primetime only accounts for about 10% of revenue, it is still responsible for a disproportionate amount of advertising revenue on the flagship network. CNN as a whole can thrive financially even if its primetime stumbles, but it has to work harder to make up for it through the other two channels or its digital division.

Primetime — across all television networks, not just CNN — is still the most valuable real estate for media companies and advertisers, because of its reach and the ease of monetizing it. It is also an important factor in carriage negotiations. If CNN’s carriage agreement with Cablevision is up for renewal, poor performance in primetime would be one of the cable company’s arguments against a higher fee, which SNL Kagan estimates is currently $0.48 cents. Considering that carriage fees are the heart of CNN’s business, it is not a fact to be taken lightly. Cablevision, Comcast or DirecTV are not interested in how well CNN.com is doing, because they are paying for the right to televise the channel and the rights to use CNN content on on-demand platforms, etc.

David Faber Interview…

Business Insider’s Joe Pompeo interviews CNBC’s David Faber and gets the story on how Faber’s show came about…

Faber said it was because “there was a desire on the part of management to recalibrate that time period.” Simultaneously, he said, he had been interested in changing up his primary role as a reporter to do something more analysis-oriented.

That led to a conversation with “Strategy Session” creator Susan Krakower, CNBC’s senior vice president of strategic programing. They’ve been developing the show for about four months now, Faber said.

But we also hear CNBC created “Strategy Session” to seize on an opportunity to spotlight Faber’s co-host, contributing editor Gary Kaminsky, during its early afternoon roster. Kaminsky is the big shot former $13 billion managing director of Neuberger Berman, a valuable asset for a show focused on capital markets and investment decisions.

Press Releases: 05/27/10

CNN (1), Bloomberg (1)

CNN DEBUTS TOXIC AMERICA ON JUNE 2ND AND 3RD

CNN’s Dr. Gupta Leads Ambitious Investigation into the Impact of Toxic Chemicals on Health

Two-night Special includes Toxic Childhood which examines how Pollutants affect our Children

CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta helms a two-night special investigation, the result of a year-long, stunning look into toxic chemicals, health and the environment. On Wednesday, June 2 at 8pm, ET/PT Toxic Towns USA presents one town’s fight for survival amidst 14 chemical plants.

On Thursday, June 3, Dr. Gupta takes his search for answers to an all-star roundtable of experts who say widespread exposure to toxic chemicals begins even before birth. The team dissects the latest science on how to minimize risks to pregnant women and children from potentially harmful chemicals found in the air, in homes, and in common household products. The one-hour live special TOXIC CHILDHOOD debuts at 8pm, ET/PT.

Free for All: 05/27/10

What’s on your mind?

Ryan Osborn tapped to head NBC News Social Media…

I first saw mention of this news via a Michael Calderone tweet but there was no forthcoming press release that showed up in my in box. But TalkTVWorld.com has the story…(via FTVLive)

In a newly created role, NBC News Ryan Osborn has been promoted to Director of Social Media for NBC News. Osborn will oversee and execute all social media initiatives for the news division. He will manage NBC News’ usage of social media to increase awareness of show programming, interactivity with viewers, and outreach to target audience groups.

This new position within the news division will streamline its existing social media activities and initiatives, and will build upon its already strong foundation in the new media landscape.

Now it’s Larry King’s turn…

…to get the “treatment”. The New York Times’ Brian Stelter writes about Larry King (and CNN) with a “your time is over” theme. It’s a must read…

But Mr. King’s contract is up in June 2011, and there has long been speculation that the “CBS Evening News” anchor Katie Couric could slide into his chair. Her contract is up in May 2011, and she sees CNN’s 9 p.m. time slot as a possible new job, according to four of her friends and colleagues.

But two of the people said the time slot was looking less appealing now, given the ratings slide. They requested anonymity because they were describing private conversations.

Mr. King has said in the past that his first choice for a successor is the entertainer Ryan Seacrest.

Over all, CNN’s ratings in prime time are down about a third compared with a year ago. The channel’s parent company, Time Warner, is growing increasingly impatient.

“We’re not happy with the current ratings,” the Time Warner chief, Jeffrey L. Bewkes, told investors this month, adding that he expects the broader CNN company to post another record year of earnings. Mr. Klein echoed that.

Did Shepard Smith go too far?

Mediaite notes Shepard Smith’s comments regarding the BP oil spill today. But there was a point that may have caused some to squirm in their seats…

Shep spent a large part of his Studio B show talking about the procedure and trying to gauge what the fallout will be if this latest plan doesn’t work and we have to wait till August for the relief well to be dug: “Will life in the Gulf ever be the same again?”

Said guest David Biello of Scientific American: “It’s hard to say…once the marsh grasses go you’re talking about reshaping the actual, physical coast line cause they’re what are holding the land together. You could see an entirely different coast line in a couple of years.” He also noted that entire generation of shrimp and other aquatic life could be wiped out for years to come.

Said Shep: “This could end up being the story of our generation, couldn’t it? Bigger than the attacks on the World Trade Center, bigger than most anything, if 14 million people live down there and a way of life…it’s just unthinkable.”

Shep is a passionate man but sometimes his passion can get the better of him and this may have been one of those times. I can understand what he was driving at but honestly his choice of analogies came off as tone deaf to me. Whatever damage the oil spill does to the Gulf, its inhabitants, and nature, nothing that will happen can come close to the murder of thousands of people which instigated two wars that are still keeping tens of thousands of our service men and women overseas in dangerous territory and the hardening of a nation that no longer feels as secure as it once did. But that’s how I feel. What do you think? Time for a poll question…

CNN’s Status…

The Financial Times’ Kenneth Li writes about CNN…(registration req.)

In the article Li writes that CNN is planning on combating all this speculation that swirls around it tomorrow by giving an inside peek into the news division’s financial situation. Jim Walton is interviewed and notes that while CNN is doing well financially ratings in the U.S. remain a concern.

The Hazards of Live TV: #25,057

Okay, no not really live…Rick Sanchez explains “Top Kill” (via Mediaite)

BP Top Kill Coverage: Your reactions…

All the networks were glued to BPs live underwater cameras while the “top kill” procedure was going on. This is without a doubt the “lowest” cable news has ever gone. FNC has dipped in and out of the coverage while MSNBC and CNN have continued to go wall to wall. Rick Sanchez is being Rick Sanchez and it directing the control room as to which shots of the BP video feeds (there’s more than one…there’s at least six) they should go to next. Chad Myers is there as well and asking questions, which itself raises the question about what a Meteorologist can bring to the table regarding the procedures for capping an oil leak. At 4pm MSNBC is handing off to Ratigan.

Post your reactions to the cable nets’ coverage of BP’s “top kill” attempt here.

FBN adds “The Willis Report”? Yup…

Benzinga’s Jason Raznick writes that FBN is going to launch “The Willis Report” at 5pm to replace the canceled Happy Hour. (via J$).

Is this for real? How did Raznick get this information? Nothing on TVNewser. Nothing on Mediaite. Nothing on Twitter. May be a false alarm.

Update: It’s not. The LA Times’ Matea Gold has the story…

Willis’ show, which will premiere June 7 at 5 p.m. ET, will mark a change in tone from “Happy Hour,” which was produced live out of the bar of the Bull & Bear restaurant of the Waldorf-Astoria hotel.

“Gerri brings a fresh, no-nonsense approach to complicated financial issues and her new program will be a clear reflection of that,” Roger Ailes, chairman of Fox News and Fox Business, said in a statement. The network has not yet announced how “Happy Hour” hosts Eric Bolling, Rebecca Diamond and Cody Willard will be reassigned.

Gold also confirms what ICN readers learned nearly three weeks ago. Your Questions, Your Money is gone from FBN by the end of the month.

The Hazards of Live TV: #25,056

Well this didn’t come out too well for CNN, did it?

Free for All: 05/26/10

What’s on your mind?

Update: The Case of the Disappearing footage of the disappearing Audio…SOLVED!

After making my previous entry on this subject I got an email from J$ swearing up and down that the audio dropped out and suggesting I use headphones. So I grabbed a set of headphones and he’s right. The cut out is unmistakable. It’s too subtle to be heard with your computer speakers unless you crank the volume way up. I had increased the volume on my speakers originally for just this purpose…only it turns out I didn’t crank it loud enough.

But the chance this was a technical malfunction as J$ argues is all but impossible. The odds are against it because the odds of audio accidentally cutting out twice just after Obama finishes speaking are too low to be credible. Ergo the audio was deliberately knocked out in the editing room. So Michael Moore was right and FNC tried to make Obama look bad? Not so fast…

As I showed in the previous entry, we now know that the FNC video is actually two different parts of Obama’s speech spliced together. So this is what likely happened. Someone at FNC was editing the video for select sound bites. The first soundbite was Obama talking about pulling out of Iraq. The second was Obama talking about the war on terror.

Have you ever watched the news and seen a sound bite played where someone’s talking and then you stop hearing audio for a second or two and then the camera returns to the news anchor or the news anchor starts doing a voice over? TV News routinely wipes out the audio after the end of the segment it wants to highlight. In other instances the video just freezes…that’s another way of doing it. These are meant to be used as cues.

So the conclusion is obvious. These two clips were meant to be used separately on the air and not spliced together. But someone decided to put the two together for the web but did it quick and sloppy and didn’t trim off the “dead air” parts. So Michael Moore is right that FNC cut out the audio. But he’s wrong that it was done deliberately to make Obama look bad. The only thing FNC is guilty of is having a lazy video editor and a not at all alert web staff that allowed the clip to go online in that form. This whole controversy would have been avoided if people had just done their jobs properly. Case closed.

Update: Bingo! Mediaite confirms my theory…

Fox News explained to Mediaite what happened today (Spud over at InsideCableNews had it pretty much right on). The video editor took two clips that were meant for television individually and they included padding at the end of each. The video producer used the clips to create a segment for the web. Just like the padding in the middle, there’s more space at the end of the clip that actually includes Obama continuing to speak without any sound.

In (too much) Depth: The Case of the Disappearing footage of the disappearing Audio…

Ok this story has been percolating for a few days and I was watching it but I wasn’t going to write about it until and unless it got bigger. Today it did when The Huffington Post picked it up. The story centers around some FNC video posted on the Foxnews.com website of President Obama giving a comencement address at West Point. As with a lot of “controversies” involving FNC this one is pretty complicated.

First there is the original FNC video snippet of Obama’s speech at West Point. Then there is a video of a screengrab of the foxnews.com website that was posted by Michael Moore on YouTube. Moore then tweeted the following…

WestPt cadets applaud Obama, FoxNews alters tape 2 remove applause Fox version:0:46-56 http://j.mp/9hmQC7 Actual:10:28-38 http://j.mp/brsuLp

Naturally this was picked up by the usual suspects like Think Progress, Media Matters and the like and it’s been spreading all over the blue blogosphere. This is where things get complicated. Moore’s argument is that Fox made it look like nobody applauded for Obama. But there’s a lot more to it than that.

Free for All: 05/25/10

What’s on your mind?

Dennis Kneale Interview…

The Business Insider’s Vince Veneziani has an interview with CNBC’s Dennis Kneale…

In early June, CNBC plans to slice the daily two-hour format of “Power Lunch” in half, airing it just an hour a day to make room for a new half-hour show anchored by David Faber and a half-hour “Fast Money Halftime Report.”

It isn’t clear whether all four anchors of “Power Lunch” will hold on to their spots in the one-hour remake. Kneale himself admits he doesn’t know: “They haven’t told us,” he says of CNBC brass.

This just as Dennis’s contract is due to run out at CNBC. After a 25-year career at The Wall Street Journal and Forbes Magazine, he joined CNBC in October of 2007. Given that the average contract in television is three years, that means his contract is likely coming up for renewal this fall. So far, CNBC hasn’t told him whether it will keep him around. “All my life I’ve worked at basically three places. I’m not sure what I’ll do,” he says.

Kneale’s story of his time at CNBC is interwoven with interesting tales. He got a shot at his own show in late April of last year. CNBC asked him to solo anchor, for one week, the 8:00 PM show “CNBC Reports.” He invented his own catch-phrase – “I’m sellin’ the hope!” — and picked a nasty fight with bloggers. He also tangled with market doomsayers and recited his mantra: “We’re gonna be okay.”

Update: The tweets are flying on this story…

Yes, Dennis…this was pretty self-destructive. You taking lessons from David Shuster or what?

Another CNN article…

The New York Daily News’ Richard Huff writes about CNN…

Troubles aside, it is important to note that three decades ago next week, CNN changed the face of news.

“You feel like we deserve a little credit for that,” says Will King, senior director of news operations for CNN International.

“Even the phrase ‘news on demand,’ though it’s a phrase that’s associated with the Web – June 1, 1980 established the ability for consumers to have news on demand,” says King.

Think about it: Before 1980, the notion of news around the clock, delivered around the world, was unheard of. But a cable maverick from Atlanta named Ted Turner wanted to try. He did, barely succeeding at times, but he built the basic model for cable news.

King is one of the 14 staffers hired in 1980 who are still with CNN. He remembers the tough times early on, when payday was a concern.

In Depth: Ailes & Co. review FBN…

Last week, according to sources, Roger Ailes and FBN’s senior and executive producers all convened in a room to watch the network’s broadcast. The purpose of this gathering? To examine the programming in detail and see what was working and what might need changing or tweaking.

Given the cancellation of Fox Business Morning, Happy Hour, the cancellation of the short lived Imus in the Evening, the canceled but not yet off the air Your Questions, Your Money, the recent news of new weekday shows for Eric Bolling and possibly Geri Willis, and Andrew Napolitano’s new weekend show (I hear there’s a possibility that as many as three new weekend programs may launch), news of an in depth review of the network’s broadcast further drives home the point that FBN is in a transitional/transformational period.

Some will no doubt immediately leap to the conclusion that this is a clear sign that the network is in trouble as it makes some pretty serious changes to its programming. I’m not convinced that this is automatically a given. First of all, any network worth its salt is going to have reviews of some sort, though the sort of meeting described in the first paragraph sounds atypical. Second, some of the FBN cancellations appear to be cost related, at least in part. Your Questions, Your Money in particular was expensive to produce given that the technical staff were all weekday workers doing voluntary overtime, which costs a lot more. Third, internally, morale is good at the network. Morale is never good at a network that’s in trouble.

In Depth: To stress primetime or to not stress primetime? That is the question.

The Baltimore Sun’s David Zurawik makes a passionate case for CNN staying the course…

Here’s why I am so passionate about this: CNN is our last, best hope for a full-service, worldwide, US-based, TV news operation dedicated first and foremost to offering verified information and facts rather than opinion and commentary. Such information is crucial to democracy. If CNN fails, you tell where else we will find such information in time of crisis on TV. Jim Lehrer’s “NewsHour” aspires to the same goals, but it has a tiny staff and nothing close to the kind of funding it taakes to cover America let alone the world.

And as the networks cut back, CNN has expanded to 36 bureaus worldwide.

Here’s my rebuttal:

While it could be so argued that CNN is the “last best hope for a full-service, worldwide, US-based, TV news operation” the point that CNN is solely “dedicated first and foremost to offering verified information and facts rather than opinion and commentary” is not a totally accurate appraisal. Witness Rick’s List. Witness CNN’s foray into the Twitter-verse and bringing people’s opinions on stories to the air. CNN is not pure as the driven snow on this matter. Not anymore. It may be more pure than MSNBC or FNC but that doesn’t mean that CNN domestic isn’t already tainted.

Free for All: 05/24/10

What’s on your mind?

John Stossel Profile…

New York Magazine’s Stephen Rodrick profiles FBN’s John Stossel…

Professional contrarian John Stossel is now among his people. After 28 years at ABC, Stossel joined Fox last fall and has a new show—Stossel—on Fox Business Network. He also has an office next door to another ABC refugee, Geraldo Rivera, whom he’s often mistaken for because of their eerily similar bushy mustaches. “It’s nice to work at a place where people actually like you,” Stossel says.

Back at ABC, Stossel claims, Peter Jennings disliked his advocacy journalism so much that he refused eye contact with him for a decade. “Now people come up to me in the elevator and say, ‘We’re glad you’re here,’ ” he says, carefully choosing a jacket from a rack of clothes in his office. He’s about to talk about one of his favorite subjects—governmental bullying—on Fox Business with Stuart Varney, but he’s nervous. “I grew up with a stutter and still don’t feel completely comfortable in live settings,” he says. “I’ve made my living editing, reediting, and figuring where to put the perfect punch line; here at Fox you have people who have been on radio talking for 8,000 years.”

Press Releases: 05/24/10

CNN (2), HLN (1), MSNBC (1)

MSNBC

“GEEK WEEK” KICKS OFF TONIGHT ON MSNBC’S “THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW,” 9 PM ET

NEW YORK – May 24, 2010 – MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” celebrates “Geek Week” all this week, beginning tonight with Energy Secretary Steven Chu, the highest ranking “geek” in the Obama Administration; can the geeks rescue us from America’s dependence on foreign oil?

Other highlights of “Geek Week” include: Robert Wallace, a former CIA agent who reveals the secrets of a once-classified CIA manual written by a former magician; a tour of the Iwo Jima helicopter carrier in honor of Fleet Week here in New York City; a geek-level tour of the massive rebuilding project underway at Ground Zero; geek-rapper Baba Brinkman, whose most recent project is “The Rap Guide to Evolution”; Infrastructure! – a trip underground with the sandhogs to tour the construction of the Second Avenue subway line, an infrastructure project more than 50 years behind schedule; and Dr. Jim Mead of East Tennessee State University, who oversees the largest collection of prehistoric dung in the world.

HLN

Weather Channel and Dish reach agreement…

The New York Times’ Brian Stelter writes about the Weather Channel and Dish Network reaching a new carriage agreement…

Dish Network has reached a new carriage agreement with The Weather Channel, averting an interruption in programming.

Talks stalled last Thursday, hours ahead of a Friday deadline for a new agreement, leading to warnings that The Weather Channel would no longer be available to Dish’s 14 million subscribers. But the channel remained on Dish’s system while negotiations continued through the weekend.

On Monday morning the companies announced a “multiyear agreement for continued distribution.” They did not release terms.