NBC/MSNBC Election Night Coverage Plans…

NBC News announced its election night coverage plans for its various platforms…

NBC NEWS, MSNBC, TELEMUNDO, MSNBC.COM, NBC NEWS RADIO AND NBC NEWS MOBILE TO OFFER COMPREHENSIVE COVERAGE OF THE 2010 MID-TERM ELECTIONS ON TUESDAY, NOV. 2

Brian Williams to Anchor NBC News Coverage, Joined by Tom Brokaw, David Gregory, Savannah Guthrie, Lester Holt, Andrea Mitchell, Chuck Todd and Mark Whitaker

MSNBC Coverage to be Led By Keith Olbermann, Chris Matthews, Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O’Donnell and Eugene Robinson — Ed Schultz to Report from Nevada — Special “Morning Joe” on Wednesday, Nov. 3 From Studio 8H

Msnbc.com Coverage To Be Embedded on Twitter for the First Time

New York – October 18, 2010 – NBC News will offer comprehensive coverage of the upcoming 2010 mid-term elections on Nov. 2 across all its platforms, including msnbc, Msnbc.com, Telemundo, NBC News Radio and NBC News Mobile. Live from NBC News’ headquarters at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York, Brian Williams will anchor “Decision 2010,” and will be joined by “Meet the Press” moderator David Gregory and NBC News Special Correspondent Tom Brokaw. Correspondents Andrea Mitchell, Savannah Guthrie and NBC News Washington Bureau Chief Mark Whitaker will also offer reports and analysis. In addition, NBC News Political Director and Chief White House Correspondent Chuck Todd will conduct live results analysis for both NBC News and MSNBC; and Lester Holt will report on exit polls for both NBC News and MSNBC as well.

Free for All: 10/19/10

What’s on your mind?

Liz Claman in Silicon Valley

Venture Beat’s Dean Takahashi interviews FBN’s Liz Claman who is in Silicon Valley this week…

VentureBeat: Why do you come to the Valley for these whirlwind visits?

Liz Claman: Why wouldn’t we want to come to what is easily the most optimistic, creative and strong job engine in America? Particularly at a time when the U.S. is struggling to dig itself out of this economic nightmare, we need to show that the stories aren’t all dismal. In fact, they’re positively inspiring in the Valley. It’s the best business story going, and Fox Business has, since day one of our existence, put the highest priority on covering it.

Soledad O’Brien Interview…

The New York Daily News’ Richard Huff interviews CNN’s Soledad O’Brien about her upcoming “Almighty Debt” documentary…

Black churches have always been different than others, says CNN’s Soledad O’Brien.

And never have those differences been more pronounced than during the economic crisis.

“As much as it’s bad for everybody, it’s devastating for the black community,” O’Brien says.

That’s the clear message throughout “Almighty Debt,” a 90-minute documentary airing Thursday at 9 p.m. on CNN. The show is the latest in her “Black in America” series.

CNN Nabs Exclusive Interview with FNC Contractual Contributor Sarah Palin

Politico’s Keach Hagey chronicles how FNC’s under contract contributor Sarah Palin wound up giving an interview that aired on CNN…

Travis was actually at the rally filming a documentary called “Boiling Point: Inside the Tea Party Movement,” that’s airing on Oct. 30th. He interviewed the former governor while she signed autographs at a rope line, and though she’s engaged and enthusiastically delivering her talking points, the exchange has the feel of a buttonholing. There’s no CNN logo on his mic, and it’s not entirely clear Palin – who recently advised Christine O’Donnell to “speak through Fox News” — realizes who she’s talking to.

Probably true. But you gotta figure the folks at FNC are chafing a bit that Palin did an interview that wound up on CNN…

Tamron Hall’s NewsNation: What’s Changed Besides the Name?

Last week, MSNBC unveiled the second third of it’s three part dayside reboot; Tamron Hall’s NewsNation at 2pm ET (Part 1 was Jansing & Co.)

Like J&Co., NewsNation is another publicity free soft launch. I find it strange that MSNBC is “remaking” (I’ll get to why I put that in quotes shortly) four of its six dayside news hours but so far has issued nary a press release on any of it, outside of Martin Bashir’s hiring announcement. J&Co wasn’t announced – in fact there was never an announcement that Chris Jansing had returned to MSNBC (one could understand why since NBC put out a release of her “exile” to Los Angeles two years earlier so it wouldn’t look so good for a second release to come out basically announcing that a mistake had been made…it would take a network with a cast iron stomach to put itself through that kind of indigestion inducing admission and no network is like that). And now NewsNation debuts without an announcement. One wonders why MSNBC is sending out mixed signals here.

Anyway, without any sort of public statements on the matter there’s little to go on concerning what NewsNation is supposed to be about. The only thing I could find was that MSNBC pushed out new channel grids to its providers and the description for NewsNation reads as follows:

Lisa Murphy Joins Bloomberg TV…

Business Insider’s Joe Pompeo writes that Bloomberg TV has hired Lisa Murphy as an anchor…

BloombergTV has a new face for its 1 p.m. hour: Lisa Murphy, who joins the network from New York’s Fox 5, where she covered business and consumer news. Today was her first day on the air as an anchor.

Brian Kilmeade Apologizes for “All Terrorists are Muslims” Comment

I really wasn’t paying too much attention to Brian Kilmeade’s comments on Fox and Friends last week because once I saw the non Media Matters version of the incident, it became pretty clear to me that Kilmeade just didn’t phrase what he was trying to say properly. But Kilmeade did issue a clarification this morning. In fact he did it twice, once on Fox and Friends and once on his radio show…which suggests this clarification was ordered from on high. (video via J$)

More White House Communication to Morning Joe…

Real Clear Politics writes that “The White House” emailed Morning Joe’s Mika Brzezinski who read the email on the air. I don’t see that big a deal about it as long as it’s disclosed where the information comes from. I would be a lot more concerned if they didn’t reveal where this information was coming from.

MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski receives an email from the White House only one hour after she reported Democrats have received over $1 million in donations from foreign sources.

Brzezinski tells the audience, verbatim, what the White House emailed to her about the “campaign contributions thing”:

Free for All: 10/18/10

What’s on your mind?

What’s Hot/What’s Not: 11/17/10

What’s Hot:

Chilean Mine Rescue – Cable News was fixated by the mine rescue in Chile.

O’Reilly on The View – Much as it pains me to put this one up here, the O’Reilly appearance on The View and the ensuing fireworks did distract cable news for a while.

David Doss out at AC360 – If you believe the official story that Doss’ expertise was needed for more of CNN than just 360, this is a win. If you don’t believe the official story and think Doss got removed from 360 because of either a) conflicts with the show’s host or b) 360s ratings, this is not a good sign for 360.

Dennis Kneale to FBN – It still hasn’t been officially announced yet but Dennis Kneale jumping to FBN was a bit surprising news for some.

What’s Not:

No Plan B – Rachel Maddow’s show was pre-empted on Friday by an episode of Lockup. The official story, and by official I mean Keith Olbermann tweeted on the subject, was that Maddow was under the weather. I have no reason to doubt the story but my question would be why cancel the show? Couldn’t they get a fill in to do the show?

What’s Hot/What’s Not: Submissions…

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

David Doss Out at AC360

AC 360 EP David Doss is leaving the show according to TVNewser’s Alex Weprin…

He will remain with CNN, and will work in the network’s program development group under Sue Bunda. CNN/U.S. executive VP Ken Jautz made the announcement to staffers this morning.

“Ken wanted to tap into David’s talents on behalf of more shows,” a CNN insider says.

Dennis Kneale to FBN…

TVNewser’s Alex Weprin is reporting that Dennis Kneale will be joining FBN…

TVNewser hears that Dennis Kneale is expected to join Fox Business in an on-air role covering media and advertising.

Free for All: 10/15/10

What’s on your mind?

Press Releases: 10/14/10

Bloomberg (1)

STEVE JOBS, FOUNDER OF APPLE – ‘BLOOMBERG GAME CHANGERS’ Airs Thursday, October 14th at 9 PM/ET

This evening, October 14th at 9:00 PM/ET, Bloomberg Television will feature the “Bloomberg Game Changers” profile of Steve Jobs – superstar of Silicon Valley.

How did this college dropout create what has been called the most admired company in the world? Tonight, Bloomberg Television reveals the many layers of the intensely private Steve Jobs – from his management and leadership style to his creative process at Apple.

Moving from the start-up years in the Jobs’ family garage to his recent transplant surgery and release of the revolutionary iPad, Bloomberg Television’s one-hour special examines Job’s early success and subsequent exile from Apple, his failure at NeXT, his redemption at Pixar and his triumphant return to the company he created.

Featuring interviews with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak; former Apple CEO John Scully; journalist turned venture capitalist Michael Moritz; Dreamworks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg; former Apple “Mac Evangelist” and Silicon Valley entrepreneur Guy Kawasaki and Robert X Cringely, technology journalist and former Apple employee.

Behar on O’Reilly…

I wasn’t going to write about the O’Reilly incident on The View. It happened off of cable news and, honestly, I hate the idea of giving The View the time of day when it’s so obvious that this is exactly what that show craves by doing stuff like this. But it appears Joy Behar is going to address this incident tonight on her HLN show, which of course sets up the possibility of some HLN/FNC crossfire between the two prognosticators and that’s definitely in my domain. Here’s a preview video via CNN…

CNN’s Debate Ratings…

CNN is noting its ratings from last night’s Delaware Senatorial Candidate Debate…

CNN RATINGS ON WEDNESDAY INCREASED FROM THE NIGHT BEFORE FOR THE DELAWARE CANDIDATES DEBATE AND PRIMETIME COVERAGE. CNN TOPPED MSNBC THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT AND OUTPERFORMED FOX NEWS AT 11:00 PM.

* CNN RATINGS ON WEDNESDAY INCREASED FROM THE NIGHT BEFORE FOR THE DELAWARE CANDIDATES DEBATE AND PRIMETIME COVERAGE. CNN TOPPED MSNBC THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT AND OUTPERFORMED FOX NEWS AND MSNBC AT 11:00 PM.
* ON WEDNESDAY, CNN ALSO TOPPED FNC AND MSNBC IN TOTAL DAY AMONG 25-54. CNN AVERAGED 507K, FNC HAD 497K AND MSNBC HAD 160K.
* CNN TOPPED FNC FOR 21 CONSECUTIVE HOURS AMONG 25-54 (Tuesday 10 pm – Wednesday 7 pm).

Primetime (8-11 pm) CNN topped MSNBC by wide margins:

CNN – total viewers 2.364mm/demo 25-54 705k
MSNBC – total viewers 920k/demo 25-54 293k
(FNC – total viewers 4.862mm/demo 25-54 1.254mm)

Free for All: 10/14/10

What’s on your mind?

Bloomberg vs. Comcast/NBCU: Channel Positioning…

Radio Business Report/TV Business Report has a story on Bloomberg TV angling with the FCC to have itself positioned in the same tier and channel real estate CNBC when Comcast takes over NBCU.

In a meeting with a key staffer of FCC Commissioner Michael Copps, representatives of Bloomberg LP said it was only reasonable that its cable financial news network be housed in the same tier and channel neighborhood as CNBC in the event that Comcast and NBCU are allowed to merge.

The meeting was with Copps media advisor Joshua Cinelli, and included Bloomberg’s Gregory Babyak and three employees of Patton Boggs, including Stephen Diaz Gavin, Matthew Berry and Janet Moran.

I’ll be surprised if the FCC intervenes in Bloomberg’s favor…

Press Releases: 10/13/10

CNN/HLN (1) MSNBC (1)

CNN

CNN, HLN and Entertainment Weekly Present A Special Edition of Showbiz Tonight: Entertainment Weekly’s Great Reunions

Cast Reunions Include Lord of The Rings, Pretty in Pink, Back To The Future, The West Wing, Will and Grace and more. Airs Saturday, October 16, at 10pm (ET) on CNN and hosted by Showbiz Tonight’s AJ Hammer and Brooke Anderson

October 16th at 10pm (ET), CNN will air A Special Edition of Showbiz Tonight: Entertainment Weekly’s Great Reunions hosted by AJ Hammer and Brooke Anderson. HLN’s Showbiz Tonight is teaming up with Entertainment Weekly to present the magazine’s upcoming roster of star studded reunions of more than a dozen casts of some of the most iconic and groundbreaking television programs and films in recent years – all of which will be featured in Entertainment Weekly’s special 20th Anniversary issue hitting newsstands on Friday, October 15th. Entertainment Weekly has brought together casts from Married With Children, Alias, Northern Exposure, The Muppet Show, The Gilmore Girls, Roots and Scream among many others.

The special edition of Showbiz Tonight will feature cast interviews and behind-the-scenes video from the reunion photo shoots – many of which were the cast’s first gatherings in years. The program will also offer expert commentary from Entertainment Weekly editorial staffers Kristen Baldwin, Jill Bernstein, Dalton Ross, Jessica Shaw and Tim Stack as to why these shows, films, and characters resonated so much with audiences.

The special will be broken down into the following three segments:

Celebrating the Firsts

* Will and Grace: Television’s first show to push past the political narrative of being gay, focusing instead on friendship and humor

* The West Wing: The first TV political drama known for its accurate portrayals of Washington

* Roots: The first mini-series to deal with race and slavery

The Most Memorable Movie Characters

* Back to the Future: Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly

* Pretty in Pink: Molly Ringwald as Andie Walsh

* Lord of the Rings: Elijah Wood as Frodo

The Most Memorable Co_Starring Duos as chosen by CNN’s Facebook friends

* Will and Grace: Eric McCormack and Debra Messing

* Back to the Future: Michael J. Fox and Lea Thompson

* Pretty in Pink: Molly Ringwald and Jon Cryer

_______________________________

MSNBC

MSNBC FILMS PRESENTS “THE ASSASSINATION OF DR. TILLER,” REPORTED BY RACHEL MADDOW, MONDAY, OCTOBER 25, 9 PM ET

Mine Rescue Ratings…

Ratings for last night’s Mine rescue saga are out. CNN put out an announcement as a result…

RATINGS FOR LAST NIGHT’S LIVE BREAKING NEWS COVERAGE OF THE CHILEAN MINERS RESCUE:

11:00 pm – when the first miner came to the surface – CNN outperformed FNC and MSNBC:

CNN – total viewers 3998k/demo 25-54 1422k
FNC – total viewers 3468k/demo 25-54 1046k
MSNBC – total viewers 1083k/demo 25-54 279k

In primetime (8-11 pm) CNN topped MSNBC:

CNN – total viewers 1947k/demo 25-54 551k
MSNBC – total viewers 1016k/demo 25-54 250k
(FNC – total viewers 3222k/demo 25-54 736k)

Booking Trouble on Parker Spitzer?

The New York Post’s Michael Starr writes about alleged booking problems on Parker Spitzer…

Politicians and other newsmakers are giving “Parker Spitzer,” CNN’s new nighttime panel show co-hosted by Eliot Spitzer and conservative columnist Kathleen Parker, a wide berth, TV news insiders told The Post this week.

The cold shoulder, it seems, has as much to do with the two hosts — both new to TV — being unpredictable as with the show’s poor first-week ratings, they say.

“The booking process [on 'Parker Spitzer'] hasn’t been easy,” says an industry insider.

“It’s about the fact that the show has a new, young staff with little understanding of and connection to politics . . . and everything with ['Parker Spitzer'] being a new show with no track record and on a third-place cable network.”

And just who are those “TV news insiders”, hmmmmm?

CNN 2010 Election Plans

CNN announced its 2010 election coverage plans and as usual it’s just about all inclusive…

CNN Provides Unrivaled Coverage of Midterm Elections Online, on Mobile and on Television

First Major Cable News Brand to Launch Mobile App Simultaneously on Android, BlackBerry, iPhone and iPod touch

Network’s Special Coverage Spearheaded by Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, John King and Candy Crowley

New CNNPolitics.com Provides Online Users Premiere Destination for Midterms on CNN.com Election Center

CNN today kicks off its special coverage of the midterm elections with the launch of the CNN Election Center App, marking the first time a major cable news brand has simultaneously launched an app for Android, BlackBerry, and iPhone and iPod touch. Additionally, tonight at 7:30 p.m., lead political anchor Wolf Blitzer co-moderates a debate in Delaware between candidates, Chris Coons (D) and Christine O’Donnell (R), vying for Vice President Joe Biden’s former Senate seat. Pervasive across all platforms, CNN’s special coverage of the midterms – whether on your mobile phone, laptop or television – channels the full strength of CNN’s resources, including CNN.com’s political reporting team, the CNN Political Unit, CNN’s Washington and New York bureaus and journalists in the field, as well as CNN’s army of iReporters.

Free for All: 10/13/10

What’s on your mind?

Morning Producer?

Variety’s Michael Schneider writes about Joe and Mika’s new Producer roles with the show Young Turks…NO!…not THOSE Young Turks…

MSNBC morning show hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski are looking to moonlight in primetime — as drama producers.

The “Morning Joe” anchors have signed on to serve as consulting producers on “Young Turks,” an hourlong ensemble drama in development at sister broadcast net NBC.

Prospect Park, the shingle run by Jeff Kwatinetz, Paul Frank and Rich Frank, is behind the show.

“Young Turks” revolves around the personal and professional lives of a group of New Yorkers in their 20s. The characters findthemselves in the high-powered worlds of finance, politics and media — which is where the expertise of Scarborough and Brzezinski comes in.

Chile Mine Rescue Coverage…

The New York Times’ Brian Stelter writes about what the cable nets are planning on doing tonight to cover this mine rescue attempt in Chile…

CNN’s U.S. channel said “Larry King Live” from 9 to 10 p.m. and “Anderson Cooper 360″ from 10 p.m. to midnight would cover the mine situation extensively. Mr. King will host another live edition of his show at midnight. Between 1 and 5 a.m., CNN will simulcast its sister channel CNN International. At 5 a.m. CNN’s morning show “American Morning” will start an hour early with more live coverage.

MSNBC also plans to stay live all night, with special hours hosted by Rachel Maddow at 11 p.m. and Lawrence O’Donnell at midnight. The news anchor Chris Jansing will take over at 1 a.m.

Fox News said the news anchor Shephard Smith would be on stand-by during its political talk shows “The O’Reilly Factor” and “Hannity” in case of developments at the mine site. At 10 p.m., Greta Van Susteren will cover the story, and in the overnight hours Gregg Jarrett will handle any developments.

Free for All: 10/12/10

What’s on your mind?

The Case for Joe Scarborough…

I haven’t dropped off the grid just yet so I can tell you that Politics Daily’s Matt Lewis writes about why Joe Scarborough matters…

It’s become fashionable for some conservatives to say that former Congressman Joe Scarborough isn’t really “one of us.”

But in my estimation, Joe Scarborough, now host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” arguably does more to advance conservative ideas than many of the most celebrated conservative voices in America today. Primarily this is because — unlike many popular conservative voices — Scarborough isn’t just preaching to the choir.

Despite the fact that conservatives now have their own media outlets, like it or not, the mainstream media still matter. And as media bias expert Bernard Goldberg has noted, while most reporters have a liberal worldview, most also attempt to report fair and accurately. For this reason, Scarborough serves a vital function, providing “insiders” with an intellectually honest and reliable conservative perspective that might otherwise go unheard.

“Joe is the conservative that all the talking heads and news producers in America wake up to,” says Erick Erickson of the influential conservative blog RedState. “If Joe has a serious concern about something the Democrats are doing, then the talking heads and news producers are willing to consider that there must be something to it.”

Blogus Interruptus…

Blogging resumes late Tuesday morning…