FNC’s Royal Wedding Plans…

TVNewser had an earlier post on this subject but this press release gives a lot more detail…

FOX News Channel (FNC) will present extensive live coverage of the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton throughout the week leading up to the celebration. The main event will be co-hosted by Shepard Smith and Martha MacCallum from Buckingham Palace on Friday April 29 th beginning at 4 AM/ET.
More on Press Releases

On the wedding day, Shepard Smith and Martha MacCallum will be joined by Gretchen Carlson and Jonathan Hunt reporting live from Westminster Abbey, while Happening Now co-anchors Jenna Lee and Jon Scott will provide analysis from New York. Event coverage will run commercial-free from 5:30-8 AM/ET. Additionally, Royal experts providing commentary throughout include: former Royal butler Paul Burrell; Christopher Anderson, author of William and Kate: A Royal Love Story; and former Good Morning America host Joan Lunden, who covered the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana in 1981. During primetime hours, FNC will highlight special moments from the ceremony and the day’s events.

Additional FNC coverage plans for the week of the Royal Wedding include:

Press Releases: 04/11/11

CNN (1)

What Happened in Waco

‘CNN Presents – Waco: Faith, Fear, and Fire’ debuts Sunday, Apr. 17 at 8:00pm ET & PT on CNN

More than 18 years after the conflagration that virtually wiped out the Branch Davidian Christian religious sect, a handful of followers still believe their spiritual leader, David Koresh, will be resurrected as a messiah.

On Feb. 28, 1993, agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) tried to serve search and arrest warrants for allegedly illegal weapons at the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Tex. A gun battle with church followers ensued with casualties on both sides. The FBI took over efforts to negotiate Koresh’s surrender to authorities, but he refused, leading to a seven-week stalemate. By the time it was all over, 82 Branch Davidians (including 24 children) and four federal agents lost their lives.

Survey Says…

ICN hears there’s a new NBC News: VIPs survey making the rounds. This one is rather odd as it doesn’t seem to have any particular direction to it. Usually these surveys cover a particular topic or area. This one seems to go everywhere. Among the highlights…

- A strange question about how interested you are in coverage of the following topics: The US Economy, The 2012 Election, Charlie Sheen’s Meltdown (!), Libya, The Royal Wedding, Japan Earthquake/Tsunami/Nuclear Reactors stories.
- A question about whether the country is headed in the wrong or right direction.
- A question about whether you approve or disapprove of the job President Obama is doing.
- Asks whether you’ve downloaded a network news app for your smartphone or pad lists all the networks, broadcast and cable and also lists The Today Show.

I find the politics questions very odd. I can’t recall the News: VIPs survey ever venturing into the territory of the political pollster before.

There’s also the usual viewership questions (what channels do you watch and how often) but there’s also questions about social media; specifically Twitter and Facebook. I believe this is also new territory for News: VIPs to cover. Based on what I’ve been told however the questions are neither very deep nor specific and are too generic to give anything other than general information on viewers’ Social Media habits as relates to news reception.

Keith Olbermann Comments on CNN Ratings Surge…

Someone from CNN’s PR wing put out a tweet concerning a Mediaite article on CNN’s ratings, which was kind of a response to Bill Carter’s monkey wrench of an article last week.

Mediaite: Rtgs for #CNN in 2011 are still up +57% from the second half of 2010 & +46% compared to 2010 as a whole http://bit.ly/hxqRnU

This brought about an unexpected tweet from one Keith Olbermann…

@BlevinCNN you’re welcome

So, what’s Olbermann saying here? That his departure from MSNBC is the reason CNN’s ratings in prime this year are up from last year? Is Olbermann being serious here of is his tongue planted in his cheek? Just what has MSNBC been doing in prime in 2011 since Olbermann left, especially at 8pm?

Free for All: 04/11/10

What’s on your mind?