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?

What’s Hot/What’s Not: 04/10/11

What’s Hot:

Glenn Beck and FNC Part Ways – It doesn’t matter what the circumstances leading to Beck’s departure from FNC were. He’s leaving. And that’s both good and bad for FNC. It’s good in that it takes away a lightning rod the network planted on itself when it hired him and let him run wild. But it’s bad in that now FNC has a hole to fill at 5pm and expectations for that hour are now high given what Beck was able to do in the ratings.

Andrew Napolitano – Beck annointed Napolitano as his successor. Whether that happens or not remains to be seen but it would be the smart move because Napolitano’s show would be a good fit.

The 2011 Budget – Cable News spent considerable time this week covering the 2011 budget showdown which included coverage going past 11pm several days this week.

Thomas Roberts – Roberts continues his hot ways as NBC pushes his exposure level to new heights. Roberts will be making a cameo on NBC’s 30 Rock later this year.

What’s Not:

Cable News’ Donald Trump Obsession – With Trump’s boisterous tin foil hat theories running wild, cable news just can’t ignore that big shiny metal object even though to a certain extent it legitimizes the illegitimate.

CNN’s Prime Demo – What for the past several weeks had been hot numbers for CNN prime this week came back towards earth as CNN dropped back behind MSNBC and FNC in primetime’s Demo Wednesday.

What’s Hot/What’s Not: Submissions…

Post your nominations for this week’s What’s Hot/What’s Not. I’ll post the finalists Sunday night…

Nooooooooooo…it’s Too Early!

I don’t know what’s worse; the cable nets revving up their campaign 2012 engines or Paul J. Gough writing about said engine revving in Variety…(reg. req.)

With 18 months before Election Night and no declared candidates other than President Obama, no dates for Iowa and New Hampshire voting, and only the barest announced plans for the conventions, you’d think that Campaign 2012 might be, for now, a journalistic nonstarter.

But that hasn’t kept the presidential campaign from making headlines nor the networks from laying the groundwork for a campaign season in which new media figures to play an ever greater role. The first GOP debate, sponsored by Fox News, is scheduled for next month. (NBC and Politico postponed until September what previously would have been the first debate, May 2 in Simi Valley, Calif., at the Reagan library, due to a lack of declared candidates.) And last week, CNN scheduled another GOP debate for Oct. 18 in Las Vegas, one of three they’ve planned so far this year.

Each network has been following prospective GOP candidates in the early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

“As far as I’m concerned, the campaign is under way,” CNN political director Sam Feist says.

Behind the scenes, each net has been meeting about political coverage, making plans on who and what to cover through the GOP primaries and beginning to hire off-air reporters whose work will supplement the on-air correspondents in key states. With the recent Chicago mayoral election, CNN called into action the “decision desk” that will work during the primaries and Election Night.

Press Releases: 04/08/11

CNBC (1), CNN (1)

CNBC

CNBC.com sets new records for both unique visitors and page views; CNBC Mobile sets multiple records

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J. – April 8, 2011 – March was a record-shattering month for CNBC Digital. CNBC.com, the online destination for global business news and expert analysis, had its best month ever in both uniques and page views. According to the latest data from comScore Media Metrix, the site was visited by 7.8 million unique users last month, an 83% increase compared to the same time period last year, and recorded 381 MM page views, a 64% increase year-over-year.

CNBC Mobile Web had its best month ever in terms of both monthly unique visitors and page views. The site attracted more than 2 million uniques and scored over 76 million page views, a 50% increase compared to the same time period as last year (Source: Omniture). CNBC iPhone App had its best month ever in terms of both monthly unique visitors and page views. Year-over-year, the App grew uniques by 45% and page views by 91% (Source: Omniture).

Free for All: 04/08/11

What’s on your mind?

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?

And Yet Still More Beck…

The New York Times’ Bill Carter and Brian Stelter write about Glenn Beck’s departure from FNC…

Notably, descriptions of Mr. Beck’s future plans drew derisive comments in some quarters of Fox News, where they argued that Mr. Beck needed the huge platform of his Fox show to build his media empire.

At times, Mr. Beck and his managers said they sensed that Fox was retaliating in public, although they did not prove it.

Last month, when Mr. Cheatwood was first said to be moving over to Mercury, his Fox salary was suddenly leaked to a reporter. That day, a staff member who had been working with Fox on Mr. Beck’s show was asked if he could imagine working at an institution that would leak a salary figure. The staff member replied, “Not only can I imagine it, we’ve done it for 27 months,” referring to the precise number of months Mr. Beck had been at Fox. “It’s not fun.”

Still More on Beck…

The Daily Beast’s Howard Kurtz adds more color to the Beck story…

Despite his monster ratings, Fox News is bidding farewell to Glenn Beck as tensions between the incendiary host and the top-rated cable news channel have led to a near-total divorce.

I say near-total because the two sides announced a deal today in which Beck’s production company will produce occasional content for Fox. But insiders say this will amount to a handful of specials and that many senior Fox executives are relieved to be rid of Beck, whose ratings have dropped 40 percent.

Beck, too, has tired of the friction with Fox and is said by people close to him to be happy to end the partnership.

Whatever the genesis, for Beck to give up his daily 5 p.m. program, which at its peak drew more than 2.5 million viewers, is a case study in how even the most successful broadcast personalities can become too hot to handle.

The Business Insider’s Glynnis MacNicol offers up more color…

One person who has worked with Ailes before told us that when Ailes says ” I look forward to continuing to work with him” what he really means is “don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”

They also relayed to us the rumor (entirely unconfirmed) that it was Wendy Murdoch who was most uncomfortable with Beck and pressured husband Rupert to make a move.

More on Beck…

The AP’s David Bauder writes about today’s Glenn Beck news…

Beck said that he went to Roger Ailes, Fox News chairman and CEO, in January to discuss ways they could continue to work together without the daily show.

“Half of the headlines say he’s been canceled,” Ailes said. “The other half say he quit. We’re pretty happy with both of them.”

Beck said he noted on his show Tuesday that “how many times can I tell the (George) Soros story,” referring the liberal donor that Beck has made a target of attacks.

“We felt Glenn brought additional information, a unique perspective, a certain amount of passion and insight to the channel and he did,” Ailes said. “But that story of what’s going on and why America is in trouble today, I think he told that story as well as could be told. Whether you can just keep telling that story or not … we’re not so sure.”

More than 400 Fox advertisers told the company they did not want their commercials on Beck’s show. Beck’s advertisers were dominated by financial services firms, many touting gold as an investment.

Ailes dismissed the financial impact of the boycott but expressed some frustration with it.

“Advertisers who get weak-kneed because some idiot on a blog site writes to them and says we need to stifle speech, I get a little frustrated by that,” he said.

Press Releases: 04/06/11

CNN (1)

CNN to Produce Republican Presidential Primary Debate in Nevada

The Western Republican Leadership Conference (WRLC) announced Wednesday that it has selected CNN to host a Republican presidential primary debate in Las Vegas on Tuesday, October 18, 2011. Nevada has been chosen by the Republican National Committee (RNC) to be one of the first states to vote in the Republican presidential primary process in 2012.

Republican leaders and activists from 16 states and territories that make up the RNC’s Western Region will meet at the The Venetian Resort in Las Vegas during the week of October 17 for the “Western Republican Leadership Conference.” The debate will take place as part of the WRLC’s four-day conference and will provide voters from across the nation an opportunity to hear Republican presidential candidates offer their visions for the future.

“Republicans in Western States will play an important role in determining the next Republican nominee for president,” said former Nevada Congressman Jon Porter, chairman of the Western Republican Leadership Conference. “On behalf of the Western Republican Leadership Conference, I am excited to be working with CNN on this important debate. I look forward to hosting our 2012 Presidential candidates, and showcasing their ideas on Western and national issues.”

Glenn Beck and FNC Part Ways…Sort Of

Business Insider’s Jay Yarrow has the release announcing that Glenn Beck’s TV show will end later this year but will be producing shows and content for FNC. It also announces Joel Cheatwood’s departure from FNC as Cheatwood joins Mercury Radio Arts, Beck’s production company. An oddity of Yarrow’s story is it references a story in The Blaze which has now been yanked…

FOX NEWS AND MERCURY RADIO ARTS ANNOUNCE NEW AGREEMENT
(New York, NY) Fox News and Mercury Radio Arts, Glenn Beck’s production company, are proud to announce that they will work together to develop and produce a variety of television projects for air on the Fox News Channel as well as content for other platforms including Fox News’ digital properties. Glenn intends to transition off of his daily program, the third highest rated in all of cable news, later this year.

Roger Ailes, Chairman and CEO of Fox News said, “Glenn Beck is a powerful communicator, a creative entrepreneur and a true success by anybody’s standards. I look forward to continuing to work with him. ”

Glenn Beck said: “I truly believe that America owes a lot to Roger Ailes and Fox News. I cannot repay Roger for the lessons I’ve learned and will continue to learn from him and I look forward to starting this new phase of our partnership.”

Joel Cheatwood, SVP/Development at Fox News, will be joining Mercury Radio Arts effective April 24, 2011. Part of his role as EVP will be to manage the partnership and serve as a liaison with the Fox News Channel.

Roger Ailes said: “Joel is a good friend and one of the most talented and creative executives in the business. Over the past four years I have consistently valued his input and advice and that will not stop as we work with him in his new role.”

“Glenn Beck” is consistently the third highest rated program on cable news.

Free for All: 04/06/11

What’s on your mind?

Nick Charles’ Terminal Cancer Battle…

CNN’s Wayne Drash profiles Nick Charles, CNN’s first sports anchor, as he battles terminal cancer…

On August 4, 2009, Charles was told he had incurable bladder cancer. He was given four to six months to live if he opted for no treatment. With treatment, he could expect about 20 months.

“I want the biggest guns you can fire at me,” he told the doctors.

He’s into his 21st month now. Each day, each hour, each breath is a gift.

He’s fought this hard for Giovanna and Cory, to build a foundation for them after he’s gone. He knows what it’s like to long for a father’s love. He only has a dozen or so memories of his own father.

“My little girl needs a good daddy more than anything right now,” he says. “This is a gift from God where I need to build these memories for her, so that I’m not a blur.”
Former CNN sports anchor Nick Charles shares breakfast with his daughter, Giovanna, who is 5.
Former CNN sports anchor Nick Charles shares breakfast with his daughter, Giovanna, who is 5.

The family has begun making preparations. They meet with a counselor regularly. When he was diagnosed, Charles told Giovanna he was sick — that his hair would fall out.

This time last year, she looked at him with her big brown eyes and asked: “Are you going to die?”

“Everybody will sometime,” he told her, “but we will always be together. But I’m not going anywhere today. I feel great. Now let’s go out and play.”

CNN en Espanol Hires Elizabeth Perez…

CNN en Espanol annouced that Elizabeth Perez is joining the networks sports team…

Elizabeth Pérez joins CNN en Español’s sports team

CNN en Español continues to expand its team of journalists, and as part of this process announces the hiring of Elizabeth Pérez as part of the network’s Sports team. Perez will be covering the latest and most relevant news in the world of sports throughout the daytime programming. This, in addition to the daily sports appointment Deportes CNN, hosted by Diego Bustos, airing Monday to Friday at 10:00 pm and 12:00 am (ET) and Saturdays and Sundays at 11:00 pm (ET)

“With the expansion of the network’s sports journalist team, now sports fans will not have to wait to receive the latest news about their favorite team or player,” said Cynthia Hudson, senior vice president and general manager of CNN en Español and Hispanic strategy for CNN/U.S. “Our viewers are assiduous sports fans, and we are pleased to bring, throughout the day, everything they want to know about this fascinating world with the hiring of a dynamic journalist such as Elizabeth.”

Pérez joined CNN en Español after working as TV presenter for the sports segments on Telemundo News, based in Miami, where she was also invited as a guest reporter on the extreme sport show, Ritmo Deportivo.

Free for All: 04/05/11

What’s on your mind?

Jim Walton Interview…

The Atlanta Journal Constitution’s Henry Unger interviews CNN Worldwide’s Jim Walton…

Over the past few years, as many media outlets cut international staffs and closed bureaus, CNN has beefed up overseas. Walton said “significant investments” were made to expand coverage in places like Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, Nigeria, Kenya, Chile and India.

Here’s his strategy in a nutshell: Build the CNN brand around the world by providing original news content that attracts viewers — and advertisers. Go after the key demographic advertisers want to reach on TV news networks — the 25-to-54-year-olds with above-average education and money.

On the website, Walton said, CNN advertisers are seeking “lots of viewers who come frequently and spend time.” With original content, he said, they spend more time. That’s one of the reasons CNN.com no longer uses the Associated Press stories that are common on many websites.

More original content has helped the bottom line, he said. Despite the recession, CNN’s operating profit worldwide grew an average of 14 percent a year from 2006 to 2010, Walton said.

Thomas Roberts to Make 30 Rock Appearance…

Two Sundays ago, Thomas Roberts made the Hot list because his profile is sky high right now. Well, he’ll probably make it on the Hot list again this week for the same reason. Now Roberts is going to make an appearance on NBC’s 30 Rock. To say that Roberts is getting a “push” is putting it mildly. Nobody from MSNBC’s dayside anchor rotation has ever gotten this level of exposure after being with NBC News for such a relatively short amount of time. Nobody. We’re in uncharted territory here. Feel free to extrapolate on the reasons why this is happening in the comments. I could use the help because I’m at a loss to understand it.

Press Releases: 04/04/11

CNN (1), MSNBC (1)

CNN

Anderson Cooper 360° EXCLUSIVE – an interview with Eman al-Obeidy, woman who claims she was raped by forces loyal to Libyan leader Gadhafi on tonight 10 p.m. ET

________________________________

MSNBC

More than 213.8 million video streams in March tops previous record by 32 percent; Sets new slideshow record with 670 million slides viewed

April 4, 2011 – REDMOND, Wash. — The Msnbc Digital Network set a new site record of 213.8 million total online video streams in March, 2011 – a 32 percent increase above the previous record set in January, 2011.* Millions of consumers turn to NBC News each month to get the latest breaking news, exclusive reports, original web-only stories and updates from around the world. Viewers turned to the digital network for its comprehensive coverage and unique presentation of the breaking news on the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Viewers also turned to the digital network for the latest news and analysis about the nuclear worries in Japan.

The Msnbc Digital Network set a new record for monthly views of photojournalism, with 670 million total slideshow views in March, 2011. The new March record is 63 percent higher than the previous monthly record set in January, 2010 when the site had 412 million total slides viewed for its coverage of the earthquake in Haiti.*

Free for All: 04/04/11

What’s on your mind?

Peter Bale Joins CNN as GM of CNN International Digital

CNN announced that Peter Bale has joined the network as General Manager of CNN International Digital…

CNN names Peter Bale vice president, general manager of CNN International Digital

Peter Bale has joined CNN in the newly created role of vice president and general manager of CNN International Digital, reporting directly to KC Estenson, senior vice president and general manager of CNN Digital. Bale was most recently with Microsoft as International Programming Director for MSN, responsible for content on MSN properties outside the United States.

In this new role, Bale will lead the editorial and commercial functions of CNN Digital outside the United States, articulating the content, product, digital distribution and partnership strategy for the business. He will assume this new position in the late spring, and will be based in London.

Counter to History?

Broadcasting & Cable has an article on CNN hidden behind a pay wall. But the summary reveals a lot…

CNN Pitches Comeback Story

Network tells advertisers it will keep viewers after big stories fade

Part of me wants to say “Well what do you expect CNN to say to advertisers? ‘We’re not going to be able to hold on to the big audience we’ve gained as a result of our big international coverage?’ What perspective advertiser wants to hear that kind of loser story pitch?”

But CNN might as well have made their advertiser pitch that self-destructive because that’s what history has shown over and over again. CNN’s brand is news and the bigger the news the bigger the brand identification. But up against MSNBC and FNC, especially in primetime, when the news isn’t big and opinion and the cult of personality of the show host fills the vacuum, CNN has not been able to compete effectively by sticking with news and non-attention grabbing hosts like Anderson Cooper and John King. The jury is still out on Piers Morgan and Eliot Spitzer and their new shows which haven’t had a chance to run for extended periods during non-big news cycles. But unless Ken Jautz has got a secret new plan we haven’t heard about yet, I don’t see why things will be different this time. Remember, things were supposed to be different the last time. And the time before that. And the time before that.

What this article does do however is cue the media writers to note that CNN, at least publicly, expects things to be different. Now they’ll be watching closely and if (or when, depending on how skeptical you are) CNN again falls behind MSNBC and FNC, the writers will pounce with a bunch of “What happened CNN?” questions…

What’s Hot/What’s Not: 04/03/11

What’s Hot:

Morning Express – HLN announced that starting Monday Morning Express will expand to six hours.

FBN Ratings Are Official – Finally…

Libya – As the US allegedly draws down on its participation in the offensive in Libya, cable news continued to fixate on the the story.

What’s Not:

Nothing made the cut again. Two weeks in a row. Someone please misbehave next week…

Bob Pisani Interview

News On News’ Kevin Coy interviews CNBC’s Bob Pisani…

One of CNBC’s veteran broadcasters, Bob Pisani, has recently celebrated 15 years of reporting from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

On air throughout the business day on CNBC, Pisani took a few moments out of his busy schedule to answer some questions for News on News.

1) From Real Estate to the Floor of the NYSE, how did that transition happen?

I was the Real Estate Correspondent for CNBC from 1990 to 1995, covering the collapse of the commercial real estate market, the Resolution Trust Corporation, and all the auctions around the RTC. In 1995 the stock market started going up notably, as was the volume at the NYSE and NASDAQ. I wanted to make a change, I went on the floor of the NYSE. My colleague Maria Bartiromo had been hired in mid-1995 and was the first person to report from the floor of the NYSE; I was her substitute in 1996 and when she became an anchor in 1997 I went on the floor as well.