BBC World News Comes to Comcast…

Finally! The unofficial international news network blockade has been breached and it is Comcast that has done it. The New York Times’ Brian Stelter scoops that BBC World News is coming to Comcast.

In the deal with Comcast, the nation’s largest cable provider, it will be available by the end of the month in some — but not all — of the Comcast homes in Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston, Minneapolis and other markets. It will come on in some of the company’s markets next year, for a total of nearly 15 million homes by the end of 2012, Mr. Horrocks said.

While that represents just a fraction of the 100 million American homes with cable or satellite subscriptions, it is an important foothold for the BBC, which wants to meet a perceived need for impartial international news.

The way some at the BBC see the television world, Fox News and MSNBC are occupying partisan poles; CNN is struggling to choose between substance and sensationalism; and another foreign import to the United States, Al Jazeera, is tainted by its host country, Qatar.

“We’re very deliberately saying, ‘We’re not going to tell you what to think,’ ” Mr. Horrocks said.

Broadcast into more than 200 countries and territories, the 24-hour BBC World News is sober and hard-nosed by American standards. Some of its newscasts have been carried by public TV and radio stations in the United States for decades, but the broadcaster, like others in the television industry, wants a more direct connection to customers.

CNN 5AM Tinkering?

For reasons that are inexplicable to me CNN has suddenly started changing up its 5AM ET programming. Up until this week CNN had been airing Wake Up Call. Now all of a sudden it’s airing tape…CNN Heroes repeat on Monday and an Anderson Cooper repeat this morning. I’m not sure whether 4AM programming, which usually is a CNNI simulcast, is also suffering the same fate (it must have on Monday since CNN Heroes takes longer than an hour to air)

What makes this change a member of the head scratching club is that in just a few short weeks CNN is going to be launching new live programming at 5 with Banfield and Sambolin. So why bother switching up now and, especially, why bother switching to tape? It makes absolutely no sense to me. After all it’s not like they need the 5AM hour to run rehearsals for the new programming. Feel free to speculate on the possible reasons why CNN is doing this in the comments…

Update: According to a tweet from Carol Costello, this new scheduling is going to remain this way until the new programming launches. I still think it’s a stupid move.

Ali Velshi Interview…

IIFL’s Anil Mascarenhas interviews Ali Velshi…

You have been an anchor of Your Money. When it comes to money, to what extent do you find viewers financial literate?

I’m quite disappointed in the lack of literacy amongst viewers. There are a few differences though – first of all: Americans versus non-Americans. Americans were so central to the global economy for so long that they didn’t need to understand the rest of the world. Now we’re in a situation where Americans do have to understand the rest of the world and they don’t know enough about it. Number two: we don’t teach financial literacy even at basic levels in public schools, in colleges. People who choose to take economics will do so and may or may not end up being financially literate. But we don’t teach basic financial literacy, and although economic courses are important, they don’t actually teach you the basics. If you don’t know how to budget, or you don’t know how to invest in stocks, you have to find some other way to learn. The internet does provide a great deal of information but it’s too much. It’s not centralized. So I’m a big proponent for centralized financial literacy education in public schools, in community centres, as a non-profit offering. I think it’s key to building a successful civil society. When you have people who do not know how to manage their money and save their money, and save for their retirement, save for contingencies, and save for their kids’ education, the economy as a whole suffers. I’ve now written two books, just trying to further the cause of financial literacy. But it’s probably my most basic and serious concern as a financial journalist.

Mediaite vs. Van Susteren…

Mediaite’s Nando Di Fino returns Greta Van Susteren’s fire…

First, the obvious: her program beats Cooper’s in every accepted ratings measure. So, according to Van Susteren’s reasoning, that must be the the headline every night or there is some sort of collusion on our part. But what’s even sadder for her journalistic credibility is that she ignored several footnotes and qualifiers about how Fox News regularly wins the ratings. She took the story completely out of context and did so with an almost purposeful ignorance. She also shows herself to be not much of a team player since the story also pointed out that FNC’s Red Eye, which airs at 3 a.m., bested prime time shows on CNN and MSNBC.

In fact, looking at our most recent ratings stories, Van Susteren’s theory that CNN gets some sort of special treatment is quickly eviscerated.

HEADLINE: Lawrence O’Donnell (MSNBC) is up. NUGGETS: Nancy Grace has a good night, Bill O’Reilly (FNC) is strong, Mike Huckabee’s (FNC) GOP Forum had great ratings.

HEADLINE: Piers Morgan wins the CNN slate. NUGGETS: Red Eye beat every non-FNC program in the demo, O’Donnell was the highest MSNBC show, Van Susteren finished a relatively-high third on her network, Joy Behar had the best ratings on HLN.

HEADLINE: Re-Airs rule the night. NUGGETS: MSNBC had a strong night overall, HLN’s Special Report had miserable numbers.

HEADLINE: CNN’s debate gives them a win; Cooper benefits from lead-in. NUGGETS: HLN had a bad night, Rachel Maddow had the highest-rated MSNBC show, Joy Behar had the lowest-rated show in the demo.

HEADLINE: Fox News and MSNBC dominate the night. NUGGETS: Maddow inches close to beating O’Reilly’s repeat, only three HLN shows posted six-digits in the demo, John King (CNN) dipped below six figures in the demo.

HEADLINE: Joy Behar has a great night. NUGGETS: Ed Schultz and Maddow came close to the million-viewer mark in overall ratings, Nancy Grace was again strong, Maddow gets close to O’Reilly’s repeat.

I’m not going to weigh in on Van Susteren’s motivation, inferred or otherwise, for penning her criticisms. Franky, I really don’t care. But Van Susteren and I agree on one point: we don’t like Mediaite’s ratings summaries and headlines. We just get to that position from completely different starting points.

Consider:

These ratings posts are meant to take a rather boring subject — Nielsen numbers — and give an opinion on them, while injecting some fun and keeping them relatively loose. They’re overwhelmingly positive, opting to highlight surges as opposed to just focusing on dips and disasters (which of course, happens, as well).

Ratings data is not fun. It is not supposed to be fun. It is supposed to be boring data. When you take the boring and try to spiff it up to make it less boring invariably you end up skewing the true meaning of ratings vis a vis how significant an event it really is. You focus in too much on the micro at the expense of the far more important macro. Worse, you start aping a cable news PR department by doing their work for them. Read those headlines. They look like they were written by a PR department even though they weren’t. Micro surges look great in print but are unimportant for the long term…and when I say long term I mean really long term; more than a couple of months. It’s a colossal waste of time to be talking about this surge and that surge, this cratering and that cratering, when, averaged out for the long haul, those spikes and dips disappear and a true demonstrable ratings trend takes shape. When you achieve this kind of ratings enlightenment you realize that talking about ratings spikes and dips in banner grabbing headlines is the equivalent of eating junk food…it tastes good but it isn’t very filling and isn’t good for your health long term.

And yes, before anyone bothers to point it out, years ago I used to occasionally do highlights and lowlights in the ratings. But I eventually realized I was just doing what the PR departments themselves would do if they had the time and resources to do it. Not wanting to be an inadvertent accomplice for the cable networks, I stopped. I wish Mediaite would stop because they’re smarter than that.

Margaret Brennan Interview

TheJaneDough.com, that newly branded website which, inadvertently or not, contains what I consider to be one of the most tone deafeningly gender offensive slogans ever seen for a MSM outlet: “The Business News We Knead”, has an interview with Bloomberg TV’s Margaret Brennan conducted by Hillary Reinsberg…

If you weren’t in this career, what would you be doing?

I’ve thought a lot about that. There are a few things: possibly work in microfinance and development work; perhaps I’d be a writer…

When I was 22, my academic adviser in college told me to get my PhD and teach. Perhaps I’d be torturing college students somewhere?

For most of my academic career, I was fascinated with social movement theory. I wanted to work in policymaking and conflict resolution but I think that was when I had delusions of working in Aaron Sorkin’s version of the White House.

Roger Ailes Penning Autobiography…

New York Magazine’s Gabriel Sherman scoops that Roger Ailes is going to write an autobiography. Sherman uses this tidbit to launch into a lot of speculation…

Ailes’s decision to write an autobiography could have serious implications for both Fox News and the future of the Republican party. For one, it would be difficult for Ailes to publish an unvarnished, tell-all autobiography while still running Fox News. How would the Fox talent or Rupert Murdoch feel if Ailes put into print what he really thinks about them? Ailes’s only other published book, a self-help manual titled You Are the Message, was light on insider details, and came out in 1989, years before he launched Fox News.

The fact that Ailes is working on a book suggests that he may be thinking of stepping down following this presidential election, when his contract expires in summer 2013. So far, Ailes has made no moves to groom a successor at Fox, and inside the network, executives openly talk about a scenario where there’s a major management battle for control when Ailes eventually departs. In a recent interview with the AP, Ailes said he was mulling over his options and would like to own the Cleveland Indians.

November Numbers: CNBC Digital

CNBC Digital is noting its November numbers…

CNBC DIGITAL SETS NEW NOVEMBER RECORDS

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J. – December 12, 2011 – CNBC.com, the online destination for global business news and expert analysis, had its best November ever in terms of both uniques and page views. According to the latest data from comScore Media Metrix, the site was visited by 7.3 million unique users last month, a 24% increase compared to the same time period last year, and recorded 373 MM page views, a 35% increase year-over-year.

CNBC Mobile also scored records for November. CNBC’s Real-Time iPhone App posted 79 MM page views, representing a 90% increase year-over-year, and also posted its best month ever in terms of unique visitors, a 29% increase compared to the same time period as last year (Source: Omniture). CNBC Mobile Web recorded 78 MM page views which represents a 29% increase year-over-year (Source: Omniture). CNBC’s Real-Time Android App saw a 47% increase in page views year-over-year (Source: Omniture).

Additional November 2011 highlights include:

Free for All: 12/12/11

What’s on your mind?

What’s Hot/What’s Not: 12/11/11

What’s Hot:

Trump vs. Todd – Donald Trump had a feisty interview with Chuck Todd on Daily Rundown.

TJ Holmes to BET – Holmes is leaving CNN to take on a signature role at BET.

MSNBC launches on Israel’s HOT – We’ll see how well Progressive politics plays out there…

Geraldo Rivera to WABC – We’ll see how this works out…

What’s Not:

Trump vs. Todd – This was just the latest example of why Trump should be kept off cable news…

Muppet Mayhem – Erin Burnett’s ridiculous interview with a Muppet presidential candidate marks the nadir of her show’s still young life.

Confirmed: Geraldo Rivera to WABC

The rumors proved to be accurate. The New York Times’ Brian Stelter writes about Geraldo Rivera joining WABC…

In a deal to be announced Monday, Mr. Rivera will host the 10 and 11 a.m. hours on WABC in Manhattan, one of the nation’s biggest stations. Cumulus Media, which acquired the station this year, anticipates that Mr. Rivera will broaden the audience of the station, which is best known for having the conservative heavy hitters Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Mark Levin.

Mr. Rivera will remain a weekend anchor and a correspondent on the Fox News Channel, where he said he had just signed a new four-year contract. But his role on the radio will give him vastly more air time and a new perch in New York, the city where he started in journalism in 1970 at WABC-TV, formerly the sister station to WABC radio.

“What goes around has definitely come around,” he said in a telephone interview.

BOOOOOOM!!!!

GretaWire destroys Mediaite over that website’s propensity to write idiotic headlines and copy for its ratings summaries…something I’ve bitched about before…

Maybe the silly Mediate headline because MS/NBC has been beating CNN in that time slot and placing CNN in 3rd place so many nights? is that the reason for that ridiculous headline? Lawrence O’Donnell has been doing very well against CNN at 10pm — both fighting for 2nd place — not even first place (that’s us.)

But here is more weird news (facts) that maybe Mediaite is hiding and which leads me to ask if Mediaite is on CNN’s payroll: in the total ratings for Thursday, CNN’s Anderson Cooper came in 3rd place (out of 3) behind MS/NBC.

Is 3rd place – out of 3 – flying high? Really?

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 on Sunday night…

Megyn Kelly Profile

The New York Times’ Sunday Section has a Pamela Paul mega-profile of Megyn Kelly. You’d think the Times could come up with a more appropriate photo than the one at the top of the article. It plays down to all the negative stereotypes of the female news anchor.

“Confident” is the adjective most used to describe Ms. Kelly. Though she said she cried after online commenters made fun of a photo she posted of Yates, and abandoned Twitter as too vitriolic, Ms. Kelly can also come across as impervious. She said that Brit Hume once told her, “Your problem is you’re just as vulnerable as anyone else, but you project zero vulnerability.”

Her fans cheer her every personal moment in comments online; her detractors are equally impassioned. An interview on “The O’Reilly Factor” in November, in which Ms. Kelly characterized the pepper spray police used to disperse nonviolent protesters at the University of California at Davis as “a food product, essentially” incited a torrent of mockery on Gawker. (“Megyn Kelly on tasers: ‘It’s static cling, essentially!’ ”)

Though she read critical e-mails from viewers aloud during commercial breaks on her show, the comments do not bother her, she said: “They come from a place of hate.” Mr. Stewart’s show, she continued, is just comedy. She said she often hears on the street, “I hate Fox News — but I love you.”

MSNBC.com Job Ad: Conservative News Experts Need Not Apply?

MSNBC’s new info blog listed a couple of job postings today…

Msnbc.com is looking to fill two new positions! If you’ve got editorial experience and an interest in television and politics, check out these two great job opps.

Job recs get posted all the time and I don’t really look at them much but for some reason, and I have no idea why, this time I decided to. One was more of a support position for Up with Chris Hayes and another that seemed more like a general editorial position. This is what I saw for the latter. I’ve highlighted what I consider to be the most relevant parts…

Sr. Writer/Editor, MSNBC Cable

Editorial | New York City, NY, United States

MSNBC TV on msnbc.com, online home of The Rachel Maddow Show, The Ed Show, Morning Joe, The Last Word, Up W/Chris Hayes, and other shows, is looking for a full-time blogger/writer/producer to enhance our Decision 2012 online coverage. Applicants must have a passion for and background in politics, be avid viewers of MSNBC cable shows, and have the ability to quickly curate, write, produce and promote compelling and accurate editorial content.

Topics and coverage will begin with the broadcasts (newsmaker or analyst interviews, and reported stories), but will not be limited to what is on air. Applicants should be voracious social media and news/opinion consumers, be good headline writers, have the ability to multi-task, and work independently under a tight deadline.

Candidates must have a minimum of 5 years’ experience at a print or online publication, have a basic understanding of HTML and extensive experience with content management systems or blog publishing platforms. Must have thorough knowledge of political and progressive news. Previous TV/video background a plus.

Writer/producer must be willing to work during msnbc’s primetime hours, and be excited about covering debates, primaries and the 2012 elections.

Please send links to previous work and any relevant social media streams.

Both the Up rec and the one I highlighted wanted candidates to have strong knowledge of progressive news. While I can see the applicability of that for Up, I’m having a harder time understanding the propriety of it in this other rec. This is allegedly to be a position that is at least partly in support of Decision 2012 which as far as I know is an NBC News project that’s not supposed to skew along ideological lines. The very idea that MSNBC is looking for political editors whose knowledge of progressive news matters, but knowledge of conservative news apparently does not matter, seems to run entirely counter to what NBC News professes to be about.

On the other hand, the rec also mentions that the position requires the applicant to work during MSNBC’s primetime hours and primetime is progressive time on MSNBC and this position may be nothing more than someone who writes about what happens during MSNBC primetime and MSNBC election coverage which, as we all know and much to many people’s chagrin, is populated not by straight news journalists but by progressive ideological talking heads (or socialist heads in the case of Lawrence O’Donnell).

The danger in all this is it has the potential of creating in MSNBC a system where knowledge of subject matter is defined not by whether you know the story but whether you know one side’s interpretation of the story. And it makes me queasy about the status of that vaunted NBC News firewall between news and opinion.

It’s tough to unwind all this…it’s just so nebulous. You’ve got the MSNBC.com news site and the MSNBC TV pages and Campaign 2012 stuff all together. But it got me to wondering about whatever happened to that story Brian Stelter scooped on concerning MSNBC.com getting rebranded. That was over a year ago and there hasn’t been a peep regarding it since.

Bret Baier Profile

Politico’s Mike Allen profiles Bret Baier…

Fox News’s Bret Baier, who has managed to rattle both President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney in interviews, says his secret is to use his ears as much as his mouth.

“The thing that I most try to do is to listen,” Baier said in a telephone interview from the Fox News Washington bureau, where his office overlooks Union Station.

“I always respected the way Tim Russert conducted interviews: Not only was he well prepared with a lot of backup material and quotes and that sort of thing, but he listened and, thereby, changed the follow-up question to be able to dig deeper on a certain issue that perhaps advances the ball in one way or another. So I think the key thing for me in those big interviews is listening to the person I’m interviewing and being able to react [in] real time.”

Geraldo Rivera to add WABC Radio to his Resume?

Buzz is firing on the down low that Geraldo Rivera is going to join WABC radio. This started with some well informed speculation on a private WABC radio board after WABC’s Joe Crummey was dropped. The forum moderator chimed in to the thread with the Rivera possibility. I’m not well versed in the world of radio and even less well versed in the layout of this forum but have been told by someone who follows this scene far more closely than I that the forum’s moderator is plugged in to some extent. So take it as you will…

Post 1

Posted by Allan Sniffen on December 07, 2011 at 16:56:51:

Joe Crummey is out at WABC (give Carl Thomas credit for predicting this one!). There’s talk that Geraldo Rivera may be replacing him.

Stay tuned…

Post 2

In Reply to: Re: Joe Crummey Out posted by Carl Thomas on December 09, 2011 at 09:27:15:

>>>He made it clear that the new host is a very well known name.<<<

From everything I’m hearing, it’s Geraldo Rivera.

BTW: I do NOT think he’s a good choice. I’ve heard him do some fillins and he sounds uncomfortable and out of his element. But, then, he has a name and that will likely attract advertisers–at least for a while. That’s all Cumulus cares about.

Free for All: 12/09/11

What’s on your mind?

Dr. Isadore Rosenfeld Exits FNC…

Those who have been watching Sunday House Call on FNC recently have noticed that Dr. Isadore Rosenfeld has been nowhere to be seen. Well the Sun-Sentinel’s Tom Jicha reveals the reason why… (via J$)

Executive producer David Clark released the following statement through Fox News Channel: “Earlier this year, Doctor Rosenfeld hung up his white coat and left his medical practice after deciding to spend more time with his family and friends and to engage in his many other passions and pursuits. He is now doing that with “House Call” and it will not be the same without him. An announcement on the future of “House Call” will be made in the near future.”

Generally, “leaving to spend more time with family” is a euphemism for getting fired. Sources at Fox News, who have always been square with me, assure me this isn’t the case in this instance.

FBN Morning Ratings Peak…

Talking Biz News got take a look at FBN’s morning numbers…

Fox Business Network gets its largest number of viewers in the key 25 to 54 age bracket before noon, according to Nielsen data provided to Talking Biz News from an independent third party.

Read the rest here…

Update: Blowback…courtesy of Benzinga’s Scott Rubin…

The two segments that run during this time are the second hour of Stuart Varney’s show “Varney & Co.” and “Fox Business” which runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. What this data leaves out, however, is the success of Fox Business’ primetime lineup with shows such as “Lou Dobbs Tonight” and “the Stossel Show with John Stossel.” The reality is that while Stuart Varney’s show is drawing strong ratings for the network, they are not the highest.

In fact, according to Nielsen Media Research numbers for October, that distinction goes to John Stossel’s 10 p.m. program followed by Lou Dobbs Tonight. The second hour of Varney & Co. is in third place, as opposed to first as Talking Biz contended, and Neil Cavuto’s 6 p.m. show comes in fourth. Therefore, a more accurate story to tell would not be that FBN draws its best ratings “before noon,” but that, in fact, the post-market shows on the network are pulling in the largest number of viewers.

I’m going to take Benzinga’s side in this for one reason and one reason only; Talking Biz News didn’t differentiate between business day programming and primetime programming even though they never referenced any programming other than Business Day. If Talking Biz News had added a disclaimer that it was talking solely about Business Day programming that would have been a different story and Benzinga’s point would have been irrelevant. But since it didn’t, it isn’t.

Update 2: Talking Biz News has now updated its story to reflect it was talking only about Business Day. I had figured that was the case but had no way of proving that was the case.

Tracking Tom Keane…

Business Insider’s Linette Lopez followed Bloomberg’s Tom Keane around for a day…

News cycle aside, though, questions involving “where, who, what, and why” are all part of the most important (and obvious) trait about Keene — his insatiable curiosity. He says it comes from his upbringing in Rochester, New York. His family emphasized an understanding of the liberal arts, especially history, and math.

That understanding informs the philosophy he brings to Surveillance and everything else he does for Bloomberg: It’s a pyramid, he told Business Insider. Economics is the base, and finance and investment are the sides. It’s an idea Keene swears by, and here’s another:

“This is Gospel…” he said firmly, “the audience is smarter than we think.” On and off Wall Street, from students to executives, he knows his is a public that is hungry for news. It’s a sign of the times.

“This is a crises that is getting old,” Keene said.

Phil Griffin Plants a Tree in Memory of Jeff Gralnick…

The Jerusalem Post has a story on MSNBC President Phil Griffin planting a tree in Israel in memory of the late Jeff Gralnick…

“Jeff Gralnick was an extraordinary man whose last great act was to bring MSNBC to Israel, as part of his vision that MSNBC needed to go international. Planting trees in his memory is a perfect way to celebrate a man who had such an impact on modern-day media.” Phil Griffin, president of MSNBC, was speaking at a brief but moving ceremony that took place at KKL-JNF’s VIP tree planting site in the Jerusalem Mountains. “Jeff covered many of the milestones of recent history and worked for all three American news networks. He was in the Golan KKLHeights during the Six Day War. I personally worked for him and learned to appreciate his professionalism and grasp of the media,” he said.

“One of the things that impressed me the most about Jeff was that he was always evolving himself. He wanted to be a part of the new media world, to understand it. He had perspective and could appreciate what needed to be done. Anyone who was present at the ceremony that was held in New York in his memory could understand his impact on the media. I know that having trees planted in Israel in his memory is a very special honor for Jeff’s family.”

Branding Run Amok: #1,013

NewsBusters’ Matt Hadro writes about Erin Burnett giving airtime to a muppet running for President…

When asked how he would pay for the payroll tax cut as President, the Muppet answered he would “Throw rich people in jail. Take their money, and then give it to everybody else. Number one. Boom. Done. Yeah.”

“And you’re a Republican,” an incredulous Burnett answered before Quasniki fired back “Well, I’m – you know what, I’m an American. Right now I’m only running as Republican because they’re a bunch of clowns, but you never know, I’m an American. I’m for the people.”

Why was this puppet running for the Republican nomination? “I was driving in my car a couple of weeks ago and I was listening to the debates. And I’m thinking to myself this is all a bunch of bulls***, and I’m tired of it, and I’m going to change it and make America good again. Or at least get us back in the playoffs,” Quasniki ranted to Burnett.

With all that’s going on in the world right now and with Burnett’s show being so new, why on earth was time devoted on OutFront to a muppet running for President? Burnett’s biggest perceived weakness amongst her critics is operating outside of her Business news comfort zone. She needs to hit home runs outside of the Business news world with compelling journalism to sway those critics and prove them wrong. Having a muppet on and having to play straight man in an interview that serves little journalistic value, though tons of PR value for Henson Alternatives, doesn’t help things any.

Save this crap for The Daily Show and get Burnett back on track…

Free for All: 12/08/11

What’s on your mind?

CNN New Morning Show “Issues”?

Page Six is trying to cause trouble…

Soledad O’Brien’s new CNN show to replace “American Morning” may not yet be ready for its January 2012 launch. “The new anchors will show up on air the first week of January, but don’t expect a big launch,” a source said. “There seems to be some internal dissent about how to handle the transition.” The source said the show, tentatively titled “Morning Buzz,” may even start without a name. Of O’Brien, a source says, “The show is totally in her hands and she’s determined to make it succeed.” O’Brien was slated to host the 7 to 9 a.m. hours with 5 to 7 a.m. anchors Ashleigh Banfield and Zoraida Sambolin joining in a round-table format, but she’s now set on hosting alone, a source said. CNN honcho Mark Whitaker is standing behind O’Brien taking the reins. A CNN rep said, “There has not been a launch date set, but we want the anchors to appear on air in January to cover the political primaries. We always anticipated these would be two separate shows.”

TJ Holmes to BET…

TVNewser and Richard Prince were on the right path. BET announced today that TJ Holmes is joining the network…

Award-Winning Journalist T.J. Holmes Signs Multi-Platform Talent Deal With BET Networks

NEW YORK, Dec. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — BET Networks announced today a multi-platform talent agreement with award-winning journalist and television personality, T.J. Holmes. The deal with Holmes includes a new show on BET as well as content on BET.com in which he can bring his many talents to some of the most important and interesting stories to BET’s audience.

“We are of course ecstatic to have T.J. Holmes coming to our fold. He’s been an outstanding news anchor and we look forward to making him shine. He’s been an outstanding news anchor and we look forward to working with him in a variety of new ways on BET,” said Stephen G. Hill, President of Music Programming and Specials at BET Networks. “We look forward to weaving T.J.’s mixture of credibility and charisma into our fabric.”

Free for All: 12/07/11

What’s on your mind?

Guy Johnson out at CNBC World…

News on News’ Kevin Coy scoops that Guy Johnson has left CNBC World and European Closing Bell…

Press Releases: 12/06/11

MSNBC (1)

NBC News Launching on Roku Platform

NEW YORK and SARATOGA, CA – December 6, 2011– The Msnbc Digital Network and Roku today announced that the two companies will launch NBC News on the Roku streaming platform. With NBC News on Roku, viewers will be able to instantly access NBC News video – streamed to their TVs for convenient, on-demand viewing from the comfort of home. Available on all Roku streaming players, NBC News will join Roku’s large and growing collection of news and entertainment channels. NBC News is available on Roku for free.

“The Msnbc Digital Network continues to expand its position as the number one news video destination by supporting new devices and platforms,” said Charlie Tillinghast, President, Msnbc Digital Network. “The addition of Roku offers yet another platform to make NBC News’ world-class video more accessible than ever.”

MSNBC’s Israel Launch…

Well this was a bigger todo than I had realized it would be. The Jerusalem Post’s Nadav Shemer writes about MSBNC launching in Israel on HOT…at the expense of CNN.

HOT cable television viewers now have a replacement for CNN, after MSNBC launched its channel Tuesday.

HOT dumped CNN from its package in November after refusing to match the terms of their previous contract because CNN has slipped behind Fox News as the top-rated news network. MSNBC, which is owned by NBCUniversal, will be available exclusively to HOT subscribers.

MSNBC chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell hosted her daily news program from Israel on Tuesday, interviewing opposition leader Tzipi Livni. Earlier the same day, Mitchell and company president Phil Griffin spoke at the channel’s official launch in Tel Aviv.

TJ Holmes Out at CNN…

TVNewser is reporting that TJ Holmes is leaving CNN at the end of the year, which I find kind of surprising given how often he was used on the network.