Halperin: Repeat Offender?

An emailer clued me in to the fact that Mark Halperin has used questionable language (and therefore questionable judgement) in the past. This adds a new context to Halperin’s “Richard” comment (think about it) yesterday.

In 2008 Halperin associated Obama with a feline on a Sirius radio program. Ok, not really a feline but you know what I really mean. And yes, Halperin was characterizing John Edwards’ thoughts of Obama but he didn’t have to go this route…

HALPERIN [discussing John Edwards' potential endorsement of Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama]: I can tell you, he’s really skeptical of her ability to be the kind of president he wants. But, he kinda thinks Obama is…he thinks Obama is kind of a pussy…He has real questions about Obama’s toughness, his readiness for the office.

Halperin issued a statement a few days later apologizing for the comment…

I’m sorry. In a live radio interview this week, I used a word I shouldn’t have. The fact that I was conveying other people’s words is no excuse for my lapse in judgment. It won’t happen again. — Mark Halperin

More on Halperin

The Washington Post’s Greg Sargent has more details on what the thinking was that led to Mark Halperin’s suspension.

New details on Mark Halperin’s suspension: An MSNBC source tells me that MSNBC preident Phil Griffin’s initial response to Halperin’s “dick” crack was that he should be suspended for two weeks, in keeping with Ed Schultz’s recent limited suspension. But the volume of emails flooding in demanding Halperin’s firing persuaded him the suspension should be indefinite, the source says. That’s what MSNBC announced this morning.

But the White House has been privately sending MSNBC a similar message to what David Axelrod said earlier today, the source says: That they view Halperin’s move as stupid and distasteful, but ultimately a mistake that should not be a defining one. That, plus the commentary today saying it was an overreaction, likely means that Halperin will be ultimately allowed back on the air at some point, the source says.

There are indefinite suspensions and there are indefinite suspensions. In MSNBC’s history the only one that was “fatal” was David Shuster’s. Most of MSNBC’s “indefinite” suspensions aren’t very long. That’s the beauty of the indefinite suspension. It’s ambiguous which means you can make it as long, or as short, as you want to.

Betty Liu Interview…

Tara Williams inteviews Betty Liu in Baristanet…

Q: What made you make the move from print to broadcast journalism?

When I was in Atlanta for the Financial Times I was doing guest segments on CNN and MSNBC and some of the other local stations, and I guess you can say I got bitten by the TV bug. I just thought it was really—the whole television experience, the real-time; the adrenaline rush—just got to me. I thought this was great.

So I thought why not use my background in business and background in print and try my hand in television. I took some classes in broadcast journalism and made that jump by essentially using my background in business and my background in Asia. I had my kids, went on maternity leave. While I was on maternity leave, CNBC Asia called me and said, “Look you’ve got the perfect background—you’ve got the business news, the Asia experience because you’ve been in Hong Kong before—you just don’t have the TV experience, but we’re willing to take the risk. So, if you’re willing to come out here for two and a half months, bring your kids with you, then we’ll do it.” I said, “Fantastic.”

It’s one of those moments where you either do it and you move onto another path or you don’t do it and you stay where you are.

The Hazards of Live TV: #25,107

NewsBusters’ Ken Shepherd writes that MSNBC’s Chris Jansing reported on a first tweet from Pope Benedict XVI. But, MSNBC showed a screen grab of something else entirely…

Jansing read off that tweet, but MSNBC producers showed on screen an account under the name @PopeBenedictXIV (first picture shown below), which would be Pope Benedict the 14th. The current bishop of Rome is Benedict the Sixteenth (XVI).

In truth, the Pope has no official, personal Twitter account.

To be fair to MSNBC, their producers may have been duped by a fake “Verified Account” listing in the heading of the @PopeBenedictXIV account.

Still one would expect MSNBC to know which account is the real Vatican account and which isn’t.

Question to Shepherd and NB: What exactly does this particular story have to do with “Exposing & Combating Liberal Media Bias”? The fake Pope account is a liberal front? Putting up the fake Pope account instead of the real Pope account was a clever way to embarrass the Pontiff? Sorry but I’m just not seeing how this fits in with your mission statement AT ALL. On the other hand I didn’t spot this and I should have so I do have to thank you for posting it even though it seems like a total non-sequitur to your core mission.

Press Releases: 06/30/11

CNN (1)

CNN’s John Zarrella Reports on the End of the Space Shuttle Program Beyond Atlantis: The Next Frontier premieres Sunday, July 3, 8:00 p.m. ET

Having covered more than 80 U.S. Space Shuttle missions, CNN correspondent John Zarrella delivers a special report on the end of the Space shuttle program and the future for NASA, as the glorious and sometimes tragic era comes to end. CNN Presents – Beyond Atlantis: The Next Frontier debuts Sunday, July 3 at 8 p.m. (ET) on CNN/U.S. and it replays on Friday, July 8 at 10 p.m. (ET) after the final space shuttle launch.

Zarrella talks with NASA Administrator Charles Bolden about the Space Shuttle program and NASA’s future, and takes viewers for a tour inside the Space Shuttle Discovery, exclusively, with former Commander Robert Cabana.

Beyond Atlantis: The Next Frontier will examine the commercialization of space, through the eyes of visionaries like Richard Branson of Virgin Galactic, and Elon Musk of SpaceX, as they strive to make space travel more affordable, and dare to do what only governments could afford to do previously.

FNC Shows Rare Example of “Scramble Mode”…

TVNewser’s Chris Ariens writes about FNC’s Beck replacement show called “The Five”…

The show, a “The View”-like ensemble program, will feature a roundtable of five Fox News personalities from among the network’s deep bench of hosts and analysts, including Greg Gutfeld, Juan Williams, Dana Perino, Judge Andrew Napolitano, Geraldo Rivera, Andrea Tantaros, Eric Bolling, Monica Crowley, Bob Beckel and Kimberly Guilfoyle.

In a news release, FNC says the program will also feature added guests, including politicians, celebrities, sports figures and key newsmakers. The show is expected to run at least through the summer.

It’s going to be airing on FNC so it should debut at the #1 position for the hour by default and probably stay there. Such is the power of the network and its ability to retain large numbers of viewers. But, having said that, this is probably the most uninspiring offering FNC has put on the air since…well I was going to say The Pulse…but that didn’t actually air on FNC.

FNC is apparently out of new ideas and unsure of a future course of action regarding 5pm. Why else take the equivalent of The Strategy Room and put it on TV with a wider subject spectrum but only guarantee that it will run through the summer? FNC had months to prepare for the day it would be without Beck and this is the best it could come up with? The TV programming equivalent of a band-aid? Talk about a half hearted endorsement. Nobody involved in this project should feel too secure about its future when the press release announcing it spells out that it has a short shelf life. This is FNC in a rare public manifestation of scramble mode…coming up with something to fill the space without regard to the suitability of that kind of programming at that time of day.

What’s more noteworthy is what’s not said in this release. What’s not said is that FNC wants to move Napolitano off of FBN and into what many, myself included, would consider to be the best slot for him at FNC as the replacement show for 5pm. Either FNC is not convinced its a good fit (highly doubtful) or that Roger Ailes doesn’t want to upset FBN’s prime time at this juncture – a not insignificant point. Whatever the reason, the obvious choice for 5pm on FNC is not, as of now, the choice for 5pm on FNC.

And while we wait to see what FNC does end up doing at 5pm after the summer ends, we get “The Five”. A freewheeling roundtable View like show sandwiched between a business news/politics show (Your World) and another politics show (Special Report). Remember that old Sesame Street bit “one of these things doesn’t look like the others”? Well that would be The Five. It’s an oddball fit for that time period…so oddball it sticks out like a sore thumb. I don’t think it will last. Oh sure, it’ll probably still win its timeslot going away but I think FNC will come up with something else, something better, to replace it.

Update: The New York Times’ Brian Stelter tweeted the following…

By bringing on a rotating cast at 5 p.m., Fox News avoids any direct ratings comparisons between Glenn Beck and a single replacement.

True. But that’s an awful lot of legwork to go through just to avoid direct comparisons between Beck and a single host replacement…especially when Beck himself was already under assault with direct ratings comparisons to his show from a year ago.

Free for All: 06/30/11

What’s on your mind?

The Hazards of Live TV: #25,106

Morning Joe, 7 second delay only works if you use it…

Update: MSNBC has suspended Halperin for the Hazard. Chris Jansing just read a statement from MSNBC apologizing for the incident. Here are print versions of MSNBC’s and Halperin’s statements…

Statement from MSNBC:

Mark Halperin’s comments this morning were completely inappropriate and unacceptable. We apologize to the President, The White House and all of our viewers. We strive for a high level of discourse and comments like these have no place on our air. Therefore, Mark will be suspended indefinitely from his role as an analyst.

Statement from Mark Halperin:

I completely agree with everything in MSNBC’s statement about my remark. I believe that the step they are taking in response is totally appropriate. Again, I want to offer a heartfelt and profound apology to the President, to my MSNBC colleagues, and to the viewers. My remark was unacceptable, and I deeply regret it.

Here Goes The “Erin Burnett is Replacing John King or Eliot Spitzer” Storyline Again…

Ace TVNewser Gumshoe Merrill Knox digs into the Tuner job board and comes up with this…

Time Warner, CNN’s parent company, currently has at least five job postings for the “Erin Burnett Show” on their website — a senior writer and four producers. Two of the postings (here’s one) refer specifically to the show as a “nightly” news program in the job descriptions.

CNN came out with the “We haven’t decided a timeslot” response again but it’s getting tougher to swallow. Those job postings aren’t written by some intern in the newsroom. They were written by people with direct knowledge of the position needed. The likelihood that someone just accidentally slipped in the word “nightly” into those two recs without really knowing what’s going on is all but impossible to believe.

All signs currently point to CNN being trapped in the middle of yet another “King/Morgan” PR highwire act that it can’t or won’t publicly commment on or definitively refute for reasons that will eventually reveal themselves down the road…

Hidden Camera Dateline Correspondent Gets the Hidden Camera Treatment…

Oh…the irony…The National Enquirer did a hidden camera investigation of its own on Chris Hansen…

In a WORLD EXCLUSIVE hitting newsstands today, NATIONAL ENQUIRER investigators nab Dateline NBC’s CHRIS HANSEN cheating on his wife!

Investigative star Chris Hansen – best known for exposing Internet sex perverts on “TO CATCH A PREDATOR” – has been caught in his own cheating scandal with a sexy blonde young enough to be his daughter!

And I was just at the store too and I didn’t see this in the news stands?

Free for All: 06/29/11

What’s on your mind?

CNBC Wins Loeb Award for Doc…

CNBC announced that it won a Geral Loeb Award for it’s documentary on Remington and its rifle business…

CNBC WINS A GERALD LOEB AWARDS FOR DISTINGUISHED BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL JOURNALISM

Television Enterprise Category—CNBC’s “Remington Under Fire: A CNBC Investigation”

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J., June 28, 2011 – CNBC, First in Business Worldwide, today received a Gerald Loeb Awards for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism, which recognize journalists who make significant contributions to the understanding of business, finance and the economy. The awards were presented by the UCLA Anderson School of Management today in a dinner ceremony held at Capitale in New York City.

CNBC’s “Remington Under Fire: A CNBC Investigation,” a CNBC Original reported by award-winning senior correspondent Scott Cohn, won in the category of Television Enterprise for outstanding in-depth coverage of a business news story. The documentary takes viewers inside a 10-month investigation of the world’s most popular hunting rifle and examines whether a company has gone too far to protect its signature product. CNBC’s Mitch Weitzner is the senior executive producer. Additional credits include: senior producer Jeff Pohlman; associate producer Emily Bodenberg; principal editor Steve Banton; and editor Gary Vandenbergh. Ray Borelli is the Senior Vice President of Strategic Research, Scheduling and Long Form Programming.

Q2 Numbers: HLN…

HLN is noting its Q2 numbers…

HLN POSTS STRONG YEAR-OVER-YEAR MONTHLY RATINGS GAINS – INCREASING +79% IN PRIME AND +48% IN TOTAL DAY IN THE DEMO

HLN Tops MSNBC in Total Day and Prime, Outperforms FNC at 2p, 3p & 4p in June

Prime and Dayside Programming Posting Best Month Ever; Experiencing Triple and Double Digit Gains vs. Prior Year

JUNE 28, 2011—HLN increased a substantial +86% in P2+ (982k vs. 529k) and +79% in P25-54 (292k vs. 163k) in M-Su prime and +98% in P2+ (601k vs. 303k) and +48% in P25-54 (192k vs. 130k) in total day vs. June 2010, posting its best month ever in both dayparts among total viewers. In addition, HLN topped MSNBC in M-Su prime and total day in P2+ and P25-54, and was #1 in cable news outperforming FNC at 3p and 4p in both demos and at 2p in P25-54.

HLN programming highlights include:

Bashir Bashing…

Mediaite’s Matt Schneider rips Martin Bashir a new one for his segment on the new Sarah Palin doc…

If the words alone don’t convey Bashir’s opinion of Palin, his hostile tone in the clip certainly makes it clear. In fact if anyone seems to represent a wild lion hunting its prey, in this segment Bashir licking his lips as he tries to rip apart Palin sure comes close. Bashir is certainly entitled to complain about Palin stealing the spotlight away from other Republican candidates with this movie (as he did in an earlier segment), but to use her movie as an opportunity to spend a whole segment unloading personal attacks on Palin’s values and mocking her entire political career ultimately just seems amateurish and hardly newsworthy.

Q2 Numbers: CNN

CNN is noting its Q2 numbers…

CNN POSTS STRONG YEAR-OVER-YEAR QUARTERLY RATINGS GAINS – INCREASING +29% IN PRIMETIME AND +21% IN TOTAL DAY IN THE KEY DEMO; GROWS MORE THAN ANY OTHER CABLE NEWS NETWORK VS. A YEAR AGO

AC 360 is Up +43%, Piers Morgan Tonight Grew +16% and In the Arena Increased +21% Q2 vs. a Year ago

CNN BESTS MSNBC IN TOTAL DAY AND DAYSIDE AMONG TOTAL VIEWERS AND THE DEMO 25-54 DURING SECOND QUARTER 2011

In June, CNN’s Sister Network HLN Tops MSNBC in Total Day, Primetime and Every Hour thru 11 pm, Outperforms FNC at 2p, 3p & 4P

Other than HLN, CNN is the Only Network to Grow in M-F Primetime in Total Viewers in June; FNC Down More than any other Cable News Net in M-F Prime Total Viewers

Second Quarter 2011:

Press Releases: 06/28/11

CNN (1)

CNN Presents: A Larry King Special – Harry Potter: The Final Chapter

King has first interview with film’s stars days before final Potter movie released

Larry King sits down with the cast of Harry Potter leading up to the world premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2. The one-hour special, airing July 10 at 8 and 11pm ET will feature interviews with Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Tom Felton, Helena Bonham Carter and Robbie Coltrane, as well as never before seen footage from the film days before its worldwide premiere. Additionally, James and Oliver Phelps, who play the Weasley twins, take viewers on a tour of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at the Universal Orlando Resort and interact with fans on the eve of the final Harry Potter movie. The special will also air on CNN International.

Free for All: 06/28/11

Forgot about this. So what’s on your mind?

Hannity = “Baghdad Bob”?

The Baltimore Sun’s David Zurawik is merciless in his withering dissection of Sean Hannity’s softball interviewing skills…

I went too long on Bachmann, but I have barely scratched the surface of the dance she and Hannity did under the guise of an interview.

So, let me just say this about the Gingrich interview. In characterizing what has happened to Gingrich’s campaign with 18 aides resigning as a “setback” and saying Gingrich had not let it slow him down, Hannity came as close as I have seen any American interviewer come to sounding like the Iraqi minister of information known as Baghdad Bob in 2003.

As for his chat with Bristol Palin, who is promoting a book, I actually did turn off the sound when I heard him tell her how “brave and courageous” she was. I will say no more.

In Hannity’s defense, if throwing softballs to the home team in cable news primetime was a crime, every single ideological primetime show host would be locked up behind bars. No exceptions. Hannity may be more appallingly blatant in how he goes about it than some of the others but he is by no means alone.

Q2 Numbers: MSNBC…

MSNBC is noting its Q2 numbers…

MSNBC CONTINUES TO TOP CNN IN PRIMETIME FOR FIRST HALF OF 2011 AND 2Q 2011

MSNBC Continues to Top CNN in Primetime for First Half of 2011 AND 2Q 2011

MSNBC Beats CNN at 7p, 8p, 9p, and 10p in Total Viewers for First Half of 2011 AND 2Q 2011

“Morning Joe” Tops CNN’s “American Morning” for the First Half of 2011 AND 6th Consecutive Quarter

NEW YORK – June 29, 2011 – In a year dominated by major international stories, MSNBC beat CNN in primetime in the first half of 2011, as well as the 2nd quarter of 2011, finishing well ahead of the formerly dominant news network for the 7th consecutive quarter. MSNBC continues to top CNN in the mornings as well, with “Morning Joe” beating “American Morning” for the first half of the year and for the sixth consecutive quarter. MSNBC topped CNN at 7, 8, 9 and 10 p.m. for the first half of the year and in 2Q11. Following are ratings highlights for the first half of 2011 and 2Q 2011:

CNN Taps Jessica Yellin as Chief White House Correspondent…

CNN’s announcement naming Jessica Yellin as Chief White House Corresponent

CNN Names Jessica Yellin Chief White House Correspondent

Jessica Yellin will join CNN’s White House unit, it was announced today by Sam Feist, Washington bureau chief and senior vice president. Yellin begins her new assignment as chief White House correspondent immediately.

“Jessica Yellin has emerged as one of the leading political reporters in Washington, ” said Feist. “Jessica’s assertiveness along with her clever insight made her one of the top reporters of the 2008 campaign and has already set her apart in her reporting on the 2012 campaign. We’re thrilled Jessica will now bring her outstanding political journalism to our White House coverage.”

“This is a dream assignment,” said Yellin. “I’m honored CNN is putting its faith in me and humbled by the responsibility of covering the White House during these challenging times—and as we head into an election. I look forward to providing our viewers an honest assessment of the policies and the politics that affect our lives everyday.”

How Not to Promote Yourself…aka…How to Make Yourself Look Like a Complete Idiot.

TVNewser’s Chris Ariens notes that FBN’s Eric Bolling just put his foot in it big time on Twitter…

No disrespect meant to my old friend Mark (RIP, bud)…but…I finally made it above Mark Haines in Mediaite’s power rankings!

Setting aside the obvious complete disrespect Bolling shows here, and let’s face it…Bolling has gotten shriller and shriller ever since he got his own show so it shouldn’t be too big a surprise to see such a self-centered, tone deaf, pissing on Haines’ grave type comment…the fact is that Mediaite’s Power Grid works based on someone’s profile visibility on TV and in print/online.

In other words, Haines’ death is the very reason why Bolling went past him, not because Bolling is such hot shit. Of course, such an obvious thing would never ever occur to Bolling. He’s far too busy preening in the mirror and checking his Power Grid ranking. What little spare time he has is probably spent checking his Q scores.

Tony Maddox Interview…

Politico’s Keach Hagey interviews CNNI Executive Vice President Tony Maddox…

In the U.S., CNN may be kicked around by everyone from Jon Stewart to Jay Rosen for tending to present both sides of the story and then just “leaving it there,” but on the international issue of human trafficking, the broadcaster has decided to make a stand. Earlier this year, at the urging of CNN International executive vice president Tony Maddox, it launched “CNN Freedom Project” to shine a spotlight on modern-day slavery stories in the course of CNN International’s programming. Last week, Maddox, who was recently also put in charge of domestic newsgathering for CNN, stopped by George Washington University to take part in a panel on human trafficking. He sat down with POLITICO for a few questions about nonpartisanship, domestic primetime ratings, the economic downside of the Arab Spring and why he’s glad to see the rise of competitor Al Jazeera English – even if he finds its programming a bit “worthy.”

Read the interview at Politico…including Maddox taking a pass on talking about Octavia Nasr’s firing…

What’s Hot/What’s Not: 06/26/11

No submissions this weekend because I’m going to be away through Monday afternoon so What’s Hot/What’s Not goes up 24 hours early. Yes, I could have put the submissions up yesterday and probably should have. If this situation happens again I will.

What’s Hot:

Ed Henry Jumps to FNC – Nobody saw this coming. FNC fills the “impartial credibility” void left by Major Garrett’s departure and Henry zooms to the top of Media Matters’ hit list and Progressive Prognosticators will be scouring Henry’s reporting looking for the slightest hint that he’s being corrupted by “big bad FNC”…

Jose Diaz-Balart – Diaz-Balart filled in all week on MSNBC at 9am and NBC’s publicity machine followed him around almost everywhere (seriously…check out MSNBCTV’s Twitter account and look at all the photos). And Diaz-Balart joined Chris Jansing for a video streaming chat session on Twitter and Facebook. Under the circumstances, you could be excused for half expecting Michael Bloomberg to barge on in and present him with the keys to the city at some point. None of this is Diaz-Balart’s fault of course…he acquitted himself just fine on the air. NBC badly wants to raise his profile beyond Telemundo and this was their first real big push at it. It probably won’t be the last. Hopefully the next time won’t come across as quite so blatant/obvious and a more delicate touch will be used that doesn’t leave quite so many fingerprints.

Countdown returns to air – What? You didn’t know?

What’s Not:

All out war – While I thought that running Countdown three minutes over into the 9pm hour, and therefore trampling on the start of Rachel Maddow’s show on MSNBC, was a brilliant albeit quintessentially Olbermann tactic from a programming PR standpoint, the resultant public backlash from Maddow fans forced Olbermann and Current to kill off the idea by the end of the week.

Casey Anthony Trial Pandering – I almost forgot about this…probably because I try to think about it as little as possible. But by the end the the week the cable nets had gone off the deep end with live coverage of this wretched little spectacle…

Bad Timing – MSNBC’s decision to dump out of the New York Gay Marriage bill passing and follow it with a Lockup episode on prison sodomy was one of the dumbest programming decisions I’ve ever seen.

Nick Charles Passes Away…

CNN announced this morning that CNN Sports pioneer Nick Charles had passed away. The Baltimore Sun’s David Zurawik writes about the news…

“As a journalist and sports personality, Nick Charles helped put CNN on the map in its early days,” Jim Walton, president of CNN Worldwide, said is a statement Saturday. “He brought intelligence, style and heart to his work–qualities that translated to our company and inspired those of us who were fortunate to work alongside him. His passing is a loss to CNN, to the sports world and to the fans and friends everywhere who were with him to the end of his extraordinary life. Like them, our thoughts today are of Nick and with his family. “

CNN’s report on the death of Charles says he died “peacefully, looking out at the spectacular land that drew him to Santa Fe, New Mexico,” according to his wife, Cory.

Blast from the Past…

Dennis House has dug into Mika Brzezinski’s Hartford News past and come up with all sorts of historical photos… (via Mediaite)

Long before Mika Brzezinski became a best selling author and host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” she was one of us, a member of the Eyewitness News team. One of my very first friends at Channel 3, we both were hired in the summer of ’92. Mika and I, along with David Ushery, Eric McLendon and Virginia Cha were the rookie “young guns” at Broadcast House, a bunch of 20-somethings making our way in the trenches of television news. Our current general manager, Klarn DePalma, also started his career at Channel 3 around that time.

Free for All: 06/24/11

What’s on your mind?

MSNBC 1, Olbermann 0

The Keith Olbermann has caved on the 63 minute show idea and will shave off the three minute overlap after lots of Maddow fans were none too happy with the maneuver. Olbermann addressed that on Twitter.

At @current we’ll soon have a 9 PM companion commentary show to mine. But in the interim there is no reason for me to be overlapping with my friend Rachel, nor to ignore the wishes of those who’ve been so loyal to both of us for so long. We’ve heard you: as of tomorrow night Countdown finishes at 9. Bonus stuff will instead go to Countdown Online. Thanks for upsiding my head on this

Free for All: 06/23/11

What’s on your mind?

Hispanic News Cross-Pollination?

Ad Week’s D.M. Levine writes about Telemundo’s Jose Diaz-Balart filling in on MSNBC this week and how it’s an example of NBC’s attempt to tap into the huge Hispanic market…

Appealing to that audience prompted NBC Universal to tap Jose Diaz-Balart, the well-known Telemundo newscaster (whom some in the press has described as the “Brian Williams of Telemundo”) as a substitute for day-time MSNBC anchor Contessa Brewer while she was away this week. Though the appointment is only temporary, the decision to choose a newscaster from a Spanish-language network to fill in for a cable news host was unprecedented at NBCU, and Zalaznick says that it’s all part of a broader strategy to integrate Hispanic and non-Hispanic programming into a broader NBCU programming

“There will be more cross-pollination,” Zalaznick says. “We’re looking to garner audience all over the NBCU portfolio…. There’s a drive to serve audiences that we have in common. And it serves our ad-sales customers. ”

In recent months NBC Universal has put an increased emphasis on reaching those audiences. At the Telemundo upfront in mid-May, Zalaznick took the stage to underline how important the Hispanic market was to NBCU. “We are at the leading edge of the most important demographic shift in modern media history,” she said at the time. A little over a month prior to that appearance, Zalaznick helped unveil a marketing initiative called “Hispanics at NBCU,” aimed at helping advertisers and marketers speak more directly to them.

Diaz-Balart’s star is definitely on the rise off of Telemundo. He’s becoming a fixture on MSNBC’s “Jansing & Co.” – in fact Diaz-Balart and Jansing are doing a Twitter/video chat this Friday at 1pm ET under the #CHRISANDJOSE hashtag. I find this Twitter chat pairing to be not accidental. I think at some point in the future we may see a Jansing/Diaz-Balart special on MSNBC and this chat and Diaz-Balart’s appearances on J&Co. are in part laying the groundwork for that.

The dicey proposition facing NBC is how do you attract bi-lingual viewers to an English language news network without alienating your core non-Hispanic audience and still have compelling content that both parties would be interested in? A corollary question would be will transplanting Diaz-Balart off of Telemundo where he speaks Spanish to an English language channel (with its not tailored to Hispanic viewers advertising) where Diaz-Balart won’t be speaking Spanish, still draw significant bi-lingual viewers who normally tune in to Telemundo and Diaz-Balart (and Telemundo’s tailored to Hispanic viewers advertising) precisely because he does speak in Spanish?

Press Releases: 06/22/11

MSNBC (1), HLN (1)

MSNBC

MSNBC’s “The Ed Show” and the National Association of Free Clinics (NAFC) To Bring Free Health Care Clinic to New Orleans

NEW YORK–June 22, 2011–In conjunction with the sixth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, MSNBC’s “The Ed Show” will join forces with the National Association of Free Clinics (NAFC) to bring free health care and treatment to New Orleans on Monday, August 29, 2011.

To bring awareness and care to those in critical need, MSNBC’s Ed Schultz is asking viewers to make a donation to the NAFC in order to set up the free health care clinic in New Orleans.