Press Releases: 03/04/11

CNN (1)

Getting Back to Real Exceptionalism the Focus of New “Restoring the American Dream” FAREED ZAKARIA GPS Primetime Special Restoring the American Dream: Getting Back to #1 – A FAREED ZAKARIA GPS Special debuts Sunday at 8:00pm ET and PT

America used to be on top of the world across the board, besting the rest in education, innovation, wealth, and life expectancy – but now it’s falling behind other nations, in some instances way behind. America is now number 49 among the world’s nations in life expectancy, number 79 in elementary school enrollment, number 23 in infrastructure, and only the fourth most competitive economy.

Free for All: 03/04/11

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CNNI Unveils ad for “Freedom Project”…

CNNI has done an ad for its “Freedom Project”….

Press Releases: 03/03/11

CNBC (1)

CNBC TO RETURN AS OFFICIAL BROADCAST PARTNER FOR INTERNATIONAL CTIA WIRELESS 2011®

Englewood Cliffs, NJ, March 3, 2011 – CNBC, First in Business Worldwide, will serve as the “Official Broadcast Partner” at the upcoming International CTIA WIRELESS 2011® trade show and conference for the second year in a row. Taking place March 22-24 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, the network will broadcast live from the exhibition floor on the first two days of the conference, covering all of the breaking news and speaking exclusively with the hottest companies in the space.

“CTIA is the main event for cutting-edge technologies of the wireless world,” said Nikhil Deogun, Managing Editor, CNBC Business News. “We look forward to returning to this pre-eminent show and providing our viewers with a close-up look at the high-stakes battle for consumer loyalty in this $1 trillion market.”

“We are delighted to have CNBC return as our official broadcast partner,” said Robert Mesirow, CTIA Vice President and Show Director. “We expect a lot of news at the show, and CNBC’s coverage of International CTIA WIRELESS will provide viewers with access to newsmakers and a first-hand look at the rapid pace of innovation and growth in the mobile industry.”

Lou Dobbs Starts on FBN March 14th…

Mediaite’s Mark Joyella writes that Lou Dobbs will start his new FBN show at 7pm on March 14th…

Free for All 03/03/11

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Free for All: 03/02/11

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Pilot Mania…

Page Six continues its assault on CNN…

Is CNN trying to cover politics with a showbiz twist? The network, which has been shooting pilots with fresher faces and flashier formats, did one yesterday in TMZ-like style with chatter from producers. “John King USA” executive producer Michelle Jaconi audi tioned along with producers Paul Steinhauser, Peter Hamby, Mark Preston and Shannon Travis. Sunday, it taped a revival of “Capital Gang,” a political roundtable canned in 2005. Bubbly correspondent Jessica Yellin tried her hand as an anchor. A CNN rep said, “This reinforces the fact that we shoot pilots all of the time.”

Lanny Davis vs. Rachel Maddow and Ed Schultz…

FishbowlDC’s Matt Dornic writes about a dust up between Lanny Davis and some of MSNBC’s prime time hosts… (via J$)

Lanny Davis raised some eyebrows today by calling out a number of high-profile reporters and commentators in an interview on Sirius XM’s P.O.T.U.S. channel. President Clinton’s former special counsel, now partner at Lanny J. Davis & Associates, spoke out for the first time against a series of stories criticizing his professional relationship with two African dictators, directing his remarks at the New York Times and MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow and Ed Schultz. “Ms. Maddow went after me as being the defender of dictators and corrupt people and whatever the dark side is,” Davis told Sirius XM’s Joe Mathieu. “So I called the next day to say it would be nice if Ms. Maddow allowed me to offer the other side of the story. And I never heard back. And then I called my friend Ed Schultz, I sent him an email, saying could you have me on to tell my side of the story. And he said, ‘You criticized Rachel Maddow; I’m not having you on anymore.’”

CNBC in February…

Street Insider writes about CNBC’s numbers in February… (via J$)

Despite the unrest in the Middle East during the month, data today showed that CNBC’s viewership fell 25 percent during the business day in February.

For the CNBC business day, Monday-Friday 5:00AM-7PM, average viewers fell to 221,000 from 294,000 last year, according to data from Nielsen Media Research. In the key 25-54 advertising demo, average viewers are down 37 percent to 53,000.

February Numbers: MSNBC…

MSNBC is noting its February ratings…

MSNBC BEATS CNN IN PRIME FOR THE 13TH MONTH IN A ROW AMONG TOTAL VIEWERS AND A25-54 – FEB. 2011 RATINGS

MSNBC BEATS CNN IN PRIME FOR THE 13th MONTH IN A ROW AMONG TOTAL VIEWERS AND A25-54

“THE LAST WORD WITH LAWRENCE O’DONNELL” Continues MSNBC’s Trend of Beating CNN at 8p

NEW YORK –March 1, 2011 – MSNBC beat CNN in all key primetime dayparts for the 13th month in a row with total viewers and A25-54, according to data from Nielsen Media Research. In February 2011, “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” continued MSNBC’s trend of beating CNN at 8 p.m. and “The Rachel Maddow Show” has its best total viewer delivery since March 2009. “Morning Joe” hit one year as cable’s No. 2 morning news program, beating both CNN and HLN in total viewers for the 12th consecutive month.

Following are MSNBC ratings highlights for February:

February Numbers: CNN…

CNN is noting its February ratings…

IN FEBRUARY CNN GROWS 55% IN M-F PRIMETIME COMPARED TO A YEAR AGO, THE MOST OF ANY CABLE NEWS NETWORK;

CNN OVERTAKES MSNBC AT 10 PM AND IN TOTAL DAY;

Piers Morgan Tonight is Up 50% vs. a Year Ago;

John King, USA Has Best Month Since Launch;

FNC has Double Digit Declines throughout February

TRAFFIC TO CNN.com WAS UP GLOBALLY 10% YEAR OVER YEAR

CNN

During the month of February, CNN had the most growth of any cable news network in M-F primetime compared to a year ago, increasing an impressive +55% in the key demo 25-54 (243k vs. 157k) while MSNBC grew only +8% (265k vs. 246k) and FNC lost viewers, decreasing -14% (575k vs. 666k). In total viewers, CNN also had most growth in primetime increasing +31% (766k vs. 583k) vs. a year ago, MSNBC grew +18% (995k vs. 842k) and FNC declined -12% (2.322m vs. 2.649m).

Free for All: 03/01/11

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Betty Liu Interview…

Park Place Magazine’s Jen A. Miller interviews Bloomberg TV’s Betty Liu…

Most days, Betty Liu interviews financial big wigs. She pores over newspapers, writes analyses and breaks down business news on the air. As anchor of Bloomberg Television’s In the Loop with Betty Liu, which airs from 8 to 10 am, she is a leading face of serious financial news.

But on one recent morning, her main concern was Ronald. Ronald the goldfish.

Son Dylan, 6, came charging up the basement stairs to tell his mother that he thought Ronald was dead. His twin brother, Zachary, was not far behind. Ronald was quickly forgotten, though, when the boys saw they had a reporter visiting—who they could shepherd around their house, showing off the Philadelphia Eagles flags they’d picked up on a recent trip to Philadelphia to visit their grandfather, pictures from their new digital cameras, and stamps that had their names on them.

This is Liu’s life, flipping from serious financial analysis to interacting with her two sons in their house on a hill in Millburn. She takes the two roles in stride, just like the international route she took to get here.

Train Wreck-itis…

Jeff Jarvis turns in a thought provoking blog post on the media circus over Charlie Sheen…

Far be it from me to diagnose Sheen from afar, but I agree with Howard Stern yesterday when, after playing Sheen’s clips, he said the guy sure sounds bipolar. Yes, Sheen is acting very much like the manic people I have known. Time asks whether he’s bipolar. Whatever. He’s clearly not acting sane.

So why are they interviewing him? Not because they expect him to say smart things that give insight. Neither are they trying to give a picture of mental illness, for they give no context. On Piers Morgan’s nightly exhibition of ratings neediness, the star dismissed doctors’ mentions of bipolar disease and then Morgan stepped up to give him a clean bill of mental health, telling Sheen he is “alarmingly normal.” I think in the field they call that enabling.

Bury John King…

First, the Wall Street Journal suggests CNN is looking at making changes at 7pm. Now, Page Six is on it…

John King is the next head likely to roll at CNN. We hear that former “American Morning” cutie Soledad O’Brien, who’s been contributing special reports for the network, filmed a pilot last week for a show that would replace low-rated “John King USA.” “It won’t be a straight political show,” an insider said. “It will be more a nightly news show driven by all different topics including entertainment.”A CNN rep said, “Our development department shoots pilots all of the time.”

A “nightly news show driven by all different topics including entertainment”? Doesn’t that sound a lot like just about every other news program on CNN already (especially AC 360)? Where’s the differentiator?