Keith Olbermann “suspends” WPiTW…

I’ve been too busy basking in the glow of San Francisco’s first and long overdue World Series win so I’m going to direct your attention to Mediaite’s Colby Hall who writes about Keith Olbermann deciding to suspend and possibly retire the WPiTW segment. Hall tries to draw a connection between John Stewart and Stephen Colbert’s rally last weekend and this move. I hope Hall’s wrong. Sacrificing the WPiTW segment is probably the the least effective way to respond to Stewart, particularly when you consider that WPiTW is not always political (mostly, but not always). If you buy Stewart’s argument that Countdown and shows like it are part of the problem with our society, our nation, and our politics, retiring WPiTW as an answer would be akin to trimming your nose hair when what you really need is a facelift.

Photos from MSNBC’s Lean Forward Party…

Last Thursday MSNBC held its Lean Forward party down at 7 World Trade Center. Considering who showed up for the event I would have expected more write ups coming out of this party. After all this was the biggest party in MSNBC’s 14 year history in terms of sheer significance, bigger than the 30 Rock unveiling which was held inside 30 Rock. That made this more than just your run of the mill news network shindig (Note: I’m excluding the WHCD parties MSNBC has done two years in a row, which arguably probably were more famous but they aren’t exactly the same thing nor done for the same reason). But the write ups have been few and those that were, with the exception of The New York Observer’s, tended to stay on the superficial and/or brief end of the spectrum.

Obviously I wasn’t there so I can’t write about what happened. But what I can do is show you some pictures from the event, which I know most of you TV news viewers who might have been interested in this event would have wanted to see (and haven’t). All photos are enlargeable…

Jonathan Wald Interviews…

Mediaite’s Steve Krakauer interviews newly minted Piers Morgan EP Jonathan Wald…

Mediaite: How familiar are you with Piers? People mostly know him in America as a judge on America’s Got Talent and winner of Celebrity Apprentice.

Wald: I know his history. I know he ran newspapers in England. I’ve seen Life Stories shows in England. And I’ve known him about a year. I think he’s a great talent, he’s going to be aggressive, spirited, opinionated without being partisan. He really wants to be a part of the conversation, and to win.

Mediaite: Your lead-in will be another new show, Parker Spitzer. Have you watched it? What do you think?

Wald: I have nothing to say about that at this time.

I don’t know which is more incredible; that Wald actually put his answer in those terms, which are bound to be mis-construed, or that Krakauer had the balls to put that answer up knowing how it might get mis-construed.

Update: Forbes’ Jeff Bercovici also interviews Wald…

Press Releases: 11/01/10

CNN (1)

CNN Digital No. 1 in Online and Mobile News

CNNPolitics.com and The Political Ticker Increase Traffic as CNN Gears Up for Midterm Elections

In September, CNN Digital held its No. 1 position in total minutes, mobile and other key metrics, beating sites such as MSNBC Digital, Yahoo! News and Fox News Digital. (See below for detailed data and charts)

In particular and in anticipation of the Midterm Elections, CNN.com redesigned CNNPolitics.com and The Political Ticker to provide online users the latest information from the Best Political Team. On the first full day of the redesign, Sept. 28, CNNPolitics received 2.7 million page views, 70% above last year’s daily average. The Political Ticker received 1.6 million page views, an increase of 200% since last year. (Source: Omniture SiteCatalyst, October 2009 – September 2010; release date: September 28, 2010).

Free for All: 11/01/10

What’s on your mind besides the fact that if you look above and subtract the second number from the first number you get the third number?

Jonathan Wald to Helm Piers Morgan Program…

TVNewser’s Chris Ariens scoops that Jonathan Wald has been tapped to helm CNN’s program to replace Larry King Live…

TVNewser has learned Jonathan Wald, former SVP at CNBC, has been named executive producer of Piers Morgan‘s new CNN show. The announcement was made by CNN EVP Ken Jautz in his morning editorial meeting, insiders tell us.

Update: The release…

Jonathan Wald Named Executive Producer of CNN’s Piers Morgan Tonight

Jonathan Wald, former executive producer of NBC’s Today and Nightly News, and former senior vice president of CNBC, has been named executive producer of CNN’s Piers Morgan Tonight debuting in January 2011, it was announced today by CNN executive vice president Ken Jautz. Wald’s appointment is effective immediately.

“Jonathan has spent more than 20 years as a top producer in broadcast and cable television news and has the unique ability to produce television that is smart and provocative,” said Jautz. “We are thrilled that he’ll be joining the CNN family.”

More Rumors Swirl Around American Morning…

Now Page Six is getting into the act…

CNN anchor Kyra Phillips’ pregnancy with John Roberts could bring big changes at “American Morning,” insiders say. Roberts, who broadcasts from New York, is likely to move to Atlanta to be with his fiancée, who’s expecting twins. Since CNN ex-president Jon Klein recently rebuilt the prime-time lineup, insiders say his replacement, Ken Jautz, will focus on daytime, and his first step will be to dismantle “American Morning,” the lowest-rated cable morning show. We hear the staff is frustrated with co-anchors Roberts and Kiran Chetry. “John is a tyrant, freaking out over stories and guests, and Kiran is dumb as a rock,” a staffer said. “He has a chip on his shoulder because he was considered the heir apparent to Dan Rather at CBS.” During an interview with David Axelrod last month, Roberts snapped at Chetry on-air for typing too loud. Chetry could be the first go. A CNN rep said, “There are no plans in place to change ‘American Morning’ at this time.”

Ok, how many people out there raised an eyebrow at the “at this time” part the CNN statement? CNN just left the door wide open for a change to the show.

Getting MSNBC Worldwide…

Variety’s Sam Theilman writes about MSNBC trying to push its reach the world over…

To do this, the news division has enlisted NBC’s veteran newser Jeff Gralnick, who spent 24 years at ABC News and has acted as exec producer of World News Tonight, NBC Nightly News, and exec veep of financial news at CNN.

Gralnick’s mission has been to ink as many international carriage agreements as he can to catch MSNBC up to its competitors. “We were late to the market,” Gralnick conceded. CNN Intl. has a huge international footprint and Fox News Channel, the top-rated newsie, has serious distribution chops, too, especially with help from corporate sibling-to-be BSkyB — a major British feevee majority-owned by News Corp., which is in the process of acquiring it outright.

Gralnick said his initiative got off the ground after a conversation with NBC News prexy Steve Capus.

“I said to Steve, ‘As I travel, MSNBC is invisible,’” Gralnick told Daily Variety. “‘And the MSNBC linear programs are less visible than they ought to be.’” “See if you can fix that,” was Capus’ reply.