What Goes Up Must Come Down…

Throwing a wrench into CNN’s recent carefully choreographed pitch to advertisers about having a plan to retain viewers, The New York Times’ Bill Carter writes about CNN’s previously lofty ratings dropping the network back into 3rd place in primetime…

In a repetition of a pattern that has become familiar for CNN, the surge of interest in breaking news that helped drive up its audiences has faded – and so have CNN’s ratings.

The cable news network’s prime-time lineup has not capitalized much on the attention its news coverage gained, returning for the most part to a steady finish in third place behind Fox News and MSNBC. The decline was illustrated by ratings from Wednesday night, when CNN lost across the board, finishing third in each of the three hours from 8 to 11 p.m.

Even Anderson Cooper, who saw his ratings and reputation revived by his widely praised reporting first from Egypt during the political rebellion and then from Japan after the earthquake and tsunami, dropped behind both Greta Van Susteren on Fox and Ed Schultz on MSNBC on Wednesday night.

Juliet Huddy to Return to FNC’s Airwaves…

Putting an end to one of the most mystifying storylines in all of cable news (well…ok…not really), Juliet Huddy has tweeted a return to air date…

Yes! And I will be on in the next week or so. See you all soon.

Bret Baier Profile…

NPR’s David Folkenflik profiles FNC’s Bret Baier…

I reviewed six months worth of Baier’s panels, and same mix typically prevailed: two clear-cut conservatives and one other analyst. That other person was sometimes a Democrat or liberal, say, former Democratic strategist Kirsten Powers. But usually it was a journalist from a nonideological news outlet, such as the Hill, Politico, the Washington Post or NPR. (Mara Liasson is a news analyst for Fox.)

As I told Baier, that would seem both to under-represent the left and also to cast reporters as though they’re surrogate liberals.

“I understand your point,” Baier said. “I think numerous people can make the case what the administration is trying to do (or) trying to say. That provides a perspective. Not advocating for that position but analyzing it.”

Baier and his boss, Clemente, also say they open to tinkering with the format of the panels.

McIntyre, the former CNN reporter, says Baier has prospered in his two years as an anchor.

“He’s cracked the code,” McIntyre says. “He’s figured out what it is he needs to do with the employer he works for, and I think he’s also trying to uphold his personal standards. And I think he does that pretty well.”

Free for All: 04/07/11

What’s on your mind?