Banfield vs. LaBolt…

Politico’s Tim Mak writes about CNN’s Ashleigh Banfield getting heated with Obama Spokesperson Ben LaBolt…

CNN host Ashleigh Banfield ripped into Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt on Tuesday over a campaign ad criticizing Mitt Romney for his record at Bain Capital, telling him to “keep it clean. We hate that crap on television.”

“Keep it clean out there, for heaven’s sake. We hate that crap on television. Be nice to each other. Pump your own guy up, don’t tear the other guy down. It’s nice for Americans,” Banfield lectured as the interview ended. “Thanks, Ben.”

She opened the segment by warning that she would go head-to-head with LaBolt.

CNBC’s Primetime Ad Pitch…

TVNewser’s Alex Weprin writes about CNBC’s new pitch to primetime advertisers…

CNBC has been pushing “CNBC Smart” heavily to media buyers in the last month or so, a buyer at one of the major agencies tells TVNewser. The pitch was that the programming block features shows and personalities that “Celebrate the American Dream.” Indeed, in an advertisement in Ad Age this week (see after the jump), “Celebrate the American Dream” is the tagline used to describe the block. The ad features an American flag motif made of words like “Inventors,” “Moguls,” Mavericks” and “Champions.” In the past few weeks the network ran a contest where it gave one media buyer a Smart Car, and held a party in midtown’s Aspen Social Club to drum up attention for CNBC Smart.

A Week in the Life of Chris Jansing…

MSNBC’s Chris Jansing takes to her Facebook page to give readers a glimpse into what her professional life is like. Jansing makes some actual news here by dropping that she’s doing segments for NBC’s ratings challenged Rock Center…

Sunday, May 6th. Up at 4 am to catch a 6 am flight to Chicago…then Newark…then an overnight flight to Tel Aviv. I used to find these full days of flying absolutely brutal. Technology makes it a lot easier to get work done; everything is on my laptop or iPad. I have also been reading a lot of fiction to break up the work, which is another bonus of travel. I need to start downloading movies/TV …how is it possible that with HUNDREDS of choices on flights these days, I can find absolutely nothing to watch? If anyone has any recommendations, I’d love to hear them.

Monday, May 7th and Tuesday May 8th….Tel Aviv for Rock Center.

Tel Aviv has become a hotbed of high tech activity – that’s as much as I’ll reveal about the story. In the late 90’s and early 2000’s I spent quite a bit of time in Israel for MSNBC; it was great to be back . MSNBC is now seen in Israel, so I also did an interview for the Israeli paper The Marker. They were very interested in the presidential campaign. My flight was Tuesday night, and I had enough time at Ben Gurion airport to call the executive producer of Jansing & Co. about the show on Wednesday and to read in.

Free for All: 05/15/12

What’s on your mind?

The Push for C7 Ratings?

MediaPost’s David Goetzl writes about Ted Harbert, Chairman of NBC Broadcasting, floating a ratings landscape reshaping trial balloon…

Harbert suggested a rise in time-shifted viewing means networks are undercompensated with the current ratings system that drives the national marketplace. The industry standard uses a C3 number, which rolls up commercial viewing over a three-day period after broadcast.

“It’s time to consider a move to a C7 metric,” Harbert said at the NBC upfront presentation.

It was a surprising venue to launch the charge. Upfront presentations are usually reserved for some plugs about network progress and a focus on programming, rather than hinting about contentious negotiations.

Then again, Radio City Music Hall was filled with media buyers, and it was a way to reach masses of them at once. SMGX, the large media buying entity, didn’t seem ready to shake hands, tweeting: “While that is great for NBC, is it good for our clients?”