Cable News 2011 New Year Resolutions…
ICN, being the forward looking blog that it is, wonders what the cable news networks will do in the new year. More importantly, ICN, being the stick in the eye blog that it sometimes is, isn’t going to wait for the networks to figure it out for themselves. Therefore here are the 2011 Cable News Network Resolutions…presented in absetntia by moi…
ICN resolves on behalf of CNN…
- To give Parker Spitzer a very short lease on life. Either it turns itself around quickly or it’s gone…
- To decide what American Morning is supposed to be about.
- To stop using nex-gen technology as a gimmick when that nex-gen technology isn’t ready for TV.
- To not overthink the Piers Morgan rollout. Yes, the stakes are high but too many fingers in the pie could be a recipe for disaster. And let Piers be Piers. He’s your best selling point for that hour.
- To stop acting like it’s hiding behind Jay Rosen’s View from Nowhere when too many times what goes out over its air is the exact opposite. It’s not a crime to have a point of view, you know…
- To stop pussyfooting around and make Brooke Baldwin the official anchor of the 3-5pm block.
ICN resolves on behalf of CNBC…
- To realize that primetime tape is not going to work long term when your chief competition is gearing up with a full slate of live programming tailor made to hold on to an audience.
- To build a Magic Wall which matches what its competition has.
- To finally get some real HD cameras and stop with this lame SD upconverting with a graphic wing and ludicrously call it High Definition TV.
ICN resolves on behalf of FBN…
- To make a more serious effort at pre-market open business coverage. The first 10 minutes of Varney & Company are not an acceptable substitute.
- To get itself officially rated by Nielsen so that when it stomps all over CNBC on election night the numbers will actually mean something.
ICN resolves on behalf of MSNBC…
- To get a real Magic Wall and lose the silly iPads.
- To take The Last Word to five nights a week.
- To brand Contessa Brewer’s 12pm hour.
- To fix the visually moribund pacing of Jansing & Company.
ICN resolves on behalf of FNC…
- To stop acting like and saying it’s still the underdog when it has reigned supreme for nearly a decade. That’s not an underdog mentality. That’s a bunker mentality. And it doesn’t behoove the Leader in Cable News.
- To put some teeth in its “Fair and Balanced” mantra and hire a raving loon leftie to host a show, even if it’s just a weekend show. If lefties can tune in to O’Reilly just to yell at the screen, imagine what you could get out of righties by putting a Socialist on.
ICN resolves on behalf of Bloomberg TV…
- To get itself rated by Nielsen. You have big league aspirations, but you can’t compete in the big leagues if you aren’t rated.
- To fix primetime with some consistent programming. Having Charlie Rose be your only consistently airing show in 2010 is not a winning strategy.
Finally ICN resolves on behalf of all the cable news channels to present more news less politics and no tabloidism, to look beyond our borders, to cut down on the graphical clutter, to lose the crawl, and be prepared to properly cover breaking news when it happens late at night. Actually that’s more of a pipedream than a resolution…
December 29, 2010 at 11:44 am
I especially like your last resolution (getting rid of all the screen cr*p; cover breaking news, whenever it happens!). Let’s hope they all listen.
December 29, 2010 at 12:01 pm
On the note about a “Socialist” on FNC, that seems like a void that definitely needs filled. As much as some on the left berated Colmes, at least Hannity & Colmes lived up to the Fair and Balanced slogan to some extent, with both sides screaming. Eh, maybe Ed over on MSNBC will go nuts one more time and they can corner him for a two day weekend show.
Otherwise, CNBC – completely agree. They seem to be in need of set refreshes considering it’s still a mish-mash of the blue era, and HD would make it that much better, especially if they made use of the space with larger charts on the HD channel maybe?
That and the death of the ticker seems closer than ever though. CNN has killed it in late primetime, and it’s only a flipper otherwise. MSNBC doesn’t use one all afternoon. CNBC during late evenings. One can wish. Oh, and tabloidism, it’s just getting disgusting, I mean, FNC literally used “before you do this, what could kill you” more or less in the last five days, seriously?
December 29, 2010 at 12:51 pm
I’m not sure why you think CNBC should get rid of their taped programming after 8pm, when CNBC was the only network in 2010 to increase their primetime ratings (by +16%). In addition, those taped programs serve them well, since they’re replayed on CNBC Asia/Europe/World, and are quite cost effective while allowing them to get decent ratings (for them, anyways). And given the crap that FBN puts on at night time (which isn’t even live, btw), I think the docs are just fine.
As for CNN – they’re a lost cause.
December 29, 2010 at 1:55 pm
As one would suspect, I totally disagree as to the use of the term “moribund pacing”. Prefer the term “conducted with disciplined, yet graceful, professionalism”.
December 29, 2010 at 2:13 pm
To put some teeth in its “Fair and Balanced” mantra and hire a raving loon leftie to host a show, even if it’s just a weekend show. If lefties can tune in to O’Reilly just to yell at the screen, imagine what you could get out of righties by putting a Socialist on.
Personally, I’d rather that they put teeth in the “Fair and Balanced” slogan by cutting out the opinions creeping into what are supposed to be straight news programs — be it Megyn Kelly on the right or Shepard Smith on the left.
Don’t know about anyone else, but when we in the BW home want to watch a raging Socialist, we just have a few drinks and turn the channel to Olby on MSNBC. That dude is even funnier after sobriety has been slightly compromised.
December 29, 2010 at 2:17 pm
– cutting out the opinions creeping into what are supposed to be straight news programs –
Say Amen.
December 29, 2010 at 2:20 pm
Both of us have been major Megyn Kelly fans since her first days in FNC’s Washington Bureau. We thought she did a great job on that show with Hemmer, and anywhere she subbed in. Yes, her opinions came through sometimes, but they were tempered by the other people around her.
Now that she’s on her own, her worst tendencies have come out and we just don’t watch nearly as much anymore.
December 29, 2010 at 2:37 pm
Part of my lack of problem with Shep is that the ‘opinion’ shows so much more from the right side. Plus, with Beck and Cavuto, there’s really not a clean ‘dayside’ schedule. I don’t have a problem with the programming per se, but I’ll be damned if I whine and moan about Shep…especially when he’s the best anchor they have. Just sayin’.
December 29, 2010 at 2:42 pm
And Shep may opinionate, like others, but he presents both sides. I give the audience credit for being able to separate the two.
December 29, 2010 at 2:46 pm
No one can touch Shep when it comes to live-shot commentary. “It appears to be snowing..”
December 29, 2010 at 2:50 pm
– appears to be snowing –
Unlike the ones who say that, and appear to be confused.
December 29, 2010 at 2:52 pm
Huckabee’s slot will be opening up soon. I want Tucker Carlson and Juan Williams to both get weekend shows.
December 29, 2010 at 4:42 pm
Shep can make things fun, but he also makes his political opinions quite clear. Like his contempt for anyone who dares to doubt global warming. Or the way he spent much of the 2008 campaign season denigrating McCain as an old man, while vigorously defending Obama, even to the point of absurdity. Or his clear disdain for Sarah Palin, and how he once, during a Strategy Room show, started spouting all the left-wing talking points about her that had long been debunked.
December 29, 2010 at 4:53 pm
Or his clear disdain for Sarah Palin
That’s not bias. It’s a willingness to state honestly what your own two eyes are seeing: a Fox News pundit and potential presidential candidate camping with Kate Gosselin.
December 29, 2010 at 5:03 pm
No, oddball. It started while she was McCain’s running mate.
Whatever he and you think of her, it doesn’t belong in what is supposed to be a straight news show. Olby or Hannity can let us know what they think of her, but we’re not supposed to know what the likes of Smith do.
December 29, 2010 at 5:09 pm
^ If Shep reported some of the many missteps Palin made during the campaign, that’s real journalism, not some forced utter neutrality that ignores facts on the ground.
December 29, 2010 at 5:14 pm
Btw, being called ‘odd’ by people who refuse to get separate usernames so we have some idea which one we’re talking to is kinda cute.
December 29, 2010 at 5:44 pm
Pretty good list New Year’s resolutions and I bet Spud spent tens of minutes putting that together. Doubt any of those have much of a chance of being followed, but never know.
I particularly like the idea of having a self-proclaimed socialist hosting an opinion show. Libertarians are well represented on FNC/FBN so this could make for a better-rounded overview of current event topics.
December 29, 2010 at 10:25 pm
If Shep reported some of the many missteps Palin made during the campaign, that’s real journalism, not some forced utter neutrality that ignores facts on the ground.
Wrong as usual, weirdo. “Reporting” and “giving opinions” are two very different things. Perhaps one day you might learn the difference.
Also, spouting off a list of supposed Palin gaffes and errors as the truth when they’d already been debunked is not reporting. It’s cheap and unprofessional. No wonder you like it so much.
December 29, 2010 at 11:55 pm
Clearly, you don’t know the difference between reporting the FACTS. Shep gave FACTS about Sarah Palin. Just because you don’t agree with his factual opinion of her doesn’t make him biased. They are still truthful no matter how miffed it gets you.
That’s the problem with you Fox News folk… everything to you is about bias, bias, bias. All day, everyday… complaining about the terrible “liberal media”, which doesn’t exist. If you want to say Shep is biased, that’s fine, but don’t ignore his great ability of pointing out facts and overshadow it with petty complaints of “liberal bias”. Then again, what you’re implying is that facts have a liberal bias. Nothing could be more true.
You Foxies do the same thing with their ratings, too… “look, the ratings are really high, even though Glenn Beck is a raving lunatic. But LOOKIE… high ratings!” Then it’s always something along the lines of, “they must be telling the truth if their ratings are high, right?”
Pathetic.
January 2, 2012 at 6:02 pm
[...] are the 2011 resolutions and how they turned out… ICN resolved on behalf of [...]