Inside Cable News

In Depth: BS Landslide…

icn2 — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 15:54:12 +0000

Page Six has a (typically) snarky piece on MSNBC and Dylan Ratigan…

The new year is starting off badly for Dylan Ratigan, whose face time on MSNBC has been cut in half. The cantankerous pundit has gone from having the 9-11 a.m. slot to just one hour at 4 p.m., when ratings are lower. “He’s pissed but has no other options,” said a source. “He came in and thought he would take over the network. He treated everyone in the office like his assistants.” But an MSNBC spokesman characterized Ratigan’s move as a promotion: “The show is being moved to 4 p.m. because we anticipate it will be a strong lead-in to ‘Hardball.’ “

How much BS is in this story? Let me count the ways…

1) Page Six characterizing the move from 9-11 to 4pm as a “lower ratings” move (ratings lower in the afternoon). What freaking networks is Page Six paying attention to exactly? No news network has lower numbers in the afternoon than in the morning, particularly MSNBC these days. They’re higher across the board.
2) The MSNBC Insider snark. The “get Dylan” angle runs counter to what I was hearing that was going on at MSNBC with him. But this wouldn’t be the first time Page Six got suckered into posting something regarding Ratigan and MSNBC that wasn’t true.
3) Page Six characterizing MSNBC’s spokesman characterizing the Ratigan move as a promotion. Where does the spokesman say it? Or even hint it? I don’t see it. Come on Page Six. If you’re going to assert something like that you have give evidence. Your say so in the matter ain’t good enough, especially considering your track record.
4) MSNBC spokesman saying the move was made because they expect it to be a strong lead-in to Hardball. While it may be true, and I think likely, that Ratigan’s show will generate higher numbers by default the moment it starts airing at 4pm, this move never would have happened if Morning Meeting’s ratings weren’t so bad from 9-11.

Posted in In Depth, MSNBC

Mika Brzezinski Profile…

icn2 — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 08:21:30 +0000

LoHud.com’s Heather Salerno profiles MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski…

It’s not quite noon on a Thursday, but Mika Brzezinski has already put in almost a full day’s work. After rising at 3:30 a.m., she’s already logged three hours as co-host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” followed by two on WABC Radio’s “The Joe Scarborough Show.”

And there’s more to be done. Her Blackberry continues to buzz with news updates as she sits in her tiny office at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. (She says the only time she’s not checking it is when she’s asleep.) She’s expected at a 2 p.m. lunch meeting downtown. She must pick out dresses for a few formal events she’ll soon attend. Plus, she’s got to help book guests for the show’s coming stop in Washington, D.C.

So if she’s lucky, she’ll get home to Bronxville early enough to spend some time with her husband, WABC-TV’s investigative reporter Jim Hoffer, and their two daughters, Emilie, 13, and Carlie, 11.

That would be a fantastic day for Brzezinski, since, as she freely confesses in a new memoir, “All Things at Once,” (Weinstein Books, $24.95), her schedule can sometimes be so frantic she can go for weeks without seeing her kids.
Posted in MSNBC

Happy New Year…

icn2 — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 23:53:48 +0000

As 2009 ends and 2010 begins ICN wishes you a Happy New Year. The blog will be down tomorrow but up again on Saturday.

Posted in Blog Announcements

Sanchez vs. Ensign…

icn2 — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 21:52:08 +0000

This afternoon CNN’s Rick Sanchez asked quite a few pointed questions for Senator John Ensign that the Senator maybe wasn’t expecting. TPM’s Josh Marshall has the video. Fair game? or ambush interview?

Posted in CNN

Free for All: 12/31/09

icn2 — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:02:16 +0000

What’s on your mind?

Posted in Free For All

MSNBC’s “news avoidance” issues?

icn2 — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:01:39 +0000

The Wrap’s Frankie Stone rips MSNBC with a snarkily laced piece on the network’s news operation…and in my opinion incorrectly singles out MSNBC PR for criticism…

First, the most obvious: After the first few times when news viewers discover a network isn’t covering the moment’s big story, it’s tough to bring them back.

I have recent first-hand experience: While spending Christmas with my parents, avid TV news junkies with non-denominational viewing habits, intently following the terrorism situation, not one of us thought to switch over to MSNBC.

As viewers vanish, so do advertisers. But newsmakers do too. What official, expert or politician wants to appear on newscasts that audiences don’t know exist? Most networks wage quiet PR campaigns to woo such bookings to their shows. A series of decisions such as last week’s can set these efforts ’way back.

And a big news story is the single best place for networks to promote their stars. One reason the top anchors are paid so well is because they are, in essence, firemen: on hand mainly for showing off their incredible skills when the big fire erupts. No coverage? No starmaking.

Bad PR trickles down to broader employee relations. It’s tough for journalists to stay competitive or even enthusiastic when they’re not called in for the breaking big ones. It’s worse when they see what should be their airtime turned over to the residents of a Tennessee women’s prison, the 40th repeat of the Jeffrey Dahmer interview or “The Vampire Killings,” a documentary where “a self-described leader of a vampire cult murders a couple in Florida” (coming Saturday, Jan. 2 at 3 p.m. on MSNBC).

One of a publicist’s toughest tasks is convincing management that the best spin in the world can’t erase bad executive judgment.

PR doesn’t operate in a vacuum. PR is a reflection of the thinking of management. Has anyone read a story where PR goes off the reservation and departs from the official “company line”? I don’t think so. Anyone who does that gets fired. So blaming MSNBC PR for putting out a story that nobody buys, particularly in this industry where such incidents happen more often on all the networks than one would like to believe, is like blaming a quarterback for running a bad play the coach called. It’s the coach’s fault the play was run.

Posted in MSNBC

2009 Media Blunders…

icn2 — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 14:32:55 +0000

Politico’s Michael Calderone lists his 2009 top 10 media blunders of the year…

Upheaval in the media world continued in 2009, with 15,000 newspaper jobs lost, some glossy magazines killed and Washington bureaus either cut back or shuttered completely. And yet, online outlets sprouted — a few beefing up the ranks in D.C. — while more journalists embraced Twitter, blogs and platforms that don’t require ink on paper. While a number of this year’s more noticeable media blunders occurred through simple carelessness, some could be also considered growing pains is adjusting to changes in the media, such as reporters jumping the gun on Twitter, experimenting in video, cutting-and-pasting text from a blog or getting caught when homemade video surfaces on YouTube.
Posted in Miscellaneous Subjects

Limbaugh Hospitalized with chest pains…

icn2 — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 04:05:24 +0000

Breaking news going on tonight with word that Rush Limbaugh has been hospitalized with chest pains. Limbaugh is vacationing in Hawaii where Obama is…and where a sizeable chunk of the White House press corps is. CNN’s Ed Henry is already at the hospital and tweeting photos…

Update: From an emailer…

CNN did a live update at 1am ET on Rush Limbaugh being hospitalized. Erica Hill was live from NY and Ed Henry was reporting from Hawaii.

Seems CNN is keeping Erica Hill in studio for the whole 1am hour as they wait for an update on Rush. Erica is doing live intros to the taped AC360 interviews from the 10pm ET hour.

I’ve seen updates on MSNBC and FNC but since there’s not a lot to report beyond the early news, there’s not much to talk about.

Posted in Miscellaneous Subjects

What’s Hot/What’s Not: 2009

icn2 — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 01:51:07 +0000

2009 saw a lot of hotness and notness. Here’s the best (and worst) of the best (and worst)…

What’s Hot

Glenn Beck and FNC – Beck was seen by many as the new face for FNC and its ratings surge in 2009, a year many predicted would result in a ratings drop off for everyone since it wasn’t an election year.

Jonathan Wald departs CNBC – This caught many people by surprise.

Smoking Gun – When news broke that FNC got caught using Republican talking points in a story on the backgrounder for the Stimulus package, a lot of skeptics thought this was the smoking gun that they’d been looking for. FNC didn’t make matters any easier for itself when it issued an on air apology…for a typo in the graphic. FNC didn’t apologize for or explain how Republican talking points wound up in a backgrounder on the Stimulus package.

Twitter – Cable news embraced Twitter this year. If you were a cable news talent and you didn’t have your own Twitter account, you just weren’t cool enough. (that was sarcasm btw)

Dylan Ratigan – Ratigan’s abrupt departure from CNBC was even more jaw dropping than Jonathan Wald’s. What came next was totally out of left field; Ratigan joined MSNBC. So far though, the jury is still out on the Ratigan experiment. I can’t say for sure yet whether it will be a success or a failure.

CNN drops to 3rd in primetime Demo – This was the story CNN didn’t want to deal with. Its current argument is that news is its brand and not opinion and news ratings are cyclical depending on what’s going on. That may or may not be true (see Campbell Brown’s on again off again sometimes opinion show), but headlines, accurate or not, count for a lot. And this is a headline CNN hates, whether they publicly admit it or not.

MSNBC takes 2nd in primetime Demo – It doesn’t matter how the network got there, it got there. You can’t put a price on the kind of publicity a #2 finish does for the network in terms of prestige and morale.

Shepard Smith – Smith had a banner year in 2009. Ratings are one thing but what made the year notable for Smith was the anchor’s penchant for voicing opinions that…shall we say…run counter to a large number of viewers of his network…

GE and News Corp try to end “the feud” – This was ICN’s #1 cable news story of the year. GE tried to muzzle Olbermann and succeeded for a while. Then Brian Stelter started digging and went public. Olbermann immediately resumed “the feud” and GE caved.

FBN hires Don Imus – FBN got a lot of press, and apparently improved numbers from 6-9am ET, by hiring Don Imus. But some, including yours truly, viewed the move as a sign of weakness and an abdication of business news coverage vs CNBC during this time period. The thinking behind the move was Imus would be a ratings anchor through which FBN’s presence and numbers would rise through the day. So far it hasn’t happened. This was driven home by the departure of Alexis Glick in late December and some not at all cool public sniping by FBN regarding Glick’s numbers. FBN apparently believes that the original idea is sound but what follows Imus needs some work. I remain skeptical that Imus will ever have the kind of ratings coat tails that FBN thinks he will.

Comcast gets a controlling share of NBCU – It’s not officially approved yet but barring some unforeseen development sometime late next year Comcast will have control of NBC Universal.

Joy Behar joins HLN – And HLN’s ratings so far are the better for it…

John Stossel joins FBN/FNC – File this one under “What took so long?”

Lou Dobbs quits CNN (again) – Kibitzers saw this one coming.

John King – King was given Dobb’s slot.

What’s Not

Breaking News coverage – Too many times this year various networks found themselves putting out substandard coverage for a breaking news event in what would be considered an “off peak” time period. FNC had the commercial ridden coverage of the Continental crash. MSNBC had the almost zero coverage of NWA 253.

MSNBC and John Ziegler – You really can’t blame Ziegler for doing what he does, throwing bombs. But you can blame MSNBC for putting him on the air to do battle. First it was David Shuster who engaged Ziegler in a ridiculous interview. If that wasn’t bad enough, later in the year Ziegler returned and tried to mix it up with Contessa Brewer, who clearly wasn’t interested in an ideological fight. That was the last we saw of Ziegler on MSNBC dayside.

180 Degree Reversal – MSNBC’s decision to put its pundits (Olbermann, Madow, et al) on to anchor the inauguration of Barack Obama drew criticism for the network reversing itself after the fallout from the Matthews/Olbermann debacle at the Republican Convention last year.

Boycotts and Protests – There were several attempted boycotts and protests this year, and the results were mixed to say the least. There was an O’Reilly boycott which floundered, a Glenn Beck boycott which did nothing but re-arrange who pays what where to FNC, and a protest to get rid of Lou Dobbs.

Susan Roesgen – CNN’s Roesgen had a near meltdown on the air regarding tea party protesters. Not too long after that Roesgen was not renewed. Coincidence? You be the judge.

Teabaggery – It was juvenile for some cable news talents to refer to tea party protesters as “tea baggers”. Whatever you may think about the validity and motivation of the protesters, you can certainly criticize them without going the gutter route…

Sour Grapes? – Someone, most likely from inside MSNBC, fed Page Six a ridiculous story about Contessa Brewer having it in for Ratigan, despite the fact that MSNBC big wigs were looking at pairing Brewer with Ratigan for his show. Someone was definitely jealous…

CNN’s HD rollout – After turning its NYC studios HD well before FNC went HD, CNN has lagged well behind FNC in the HD department. Even MSNBC, the last of the big three to go HD, caught up and passed CNN in the HD department. As of this writing CNN’s DC bureau is now in full HD but Atlanta is still in faux upconverted-HD.

MSNBC’s dayside reboot – It was a mistake from the beginning and it only took 6 months of piss poor ratings, including coming in behind CNBC in 5th place in the Demo for certain hours of the day, for the network to abandon what it implemented in July. ICN was all over this story. Way out in front of everyone else. Only now with the cancellation of Dr. Nancy and the moving of Ratigan to 4pm, are the rest of the media writers belatedly playing catch up on this story. If this reads like a victory lap of sorts for yours truly, well…it is. I’m due one.

Shannon High – High was Phil Griffin’s first big hire when he took over full control of MSNBC in late 2007. Griffin called her an “all star” at the time. Well the star faded in 2009. First she was basically replaced with someone else overseeing dayside. Then she was put in charge of the heart of the July reboot. Now, with the reboot a failure, she’s the EP of Ratigan’s 4pm show (it’s unclear to me at this point if she has any input on the rest of dayside).

Michael Jackson pandering – When Jackson died the nets were all over the story like a cheap suit. It was enough to temporarily put CNN past MSNBC in the primetime Demo for a while. But it was just too much to stomache.

The White House vs. FNC – Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Birther pandering – It was the worst of cable news to give credence to this story by talking about it.

FBN ratings leaks – I got so fed up with the selective leaking regarding FBN’s numbers (by both FBN and CNBC) that I called for a boycott of all FBN numbers until it finally decides to officially rate itself. The inexplicable delay in FBN being officially rated by Nielsen remains a mystery. It’s been over two years and FBN has more subscribers than FNC did at this point in time and FNC was already officially rated.

MSNBC still not on Verizon FiOS in Cablevision markets – When oh when will this madness end?

Branding run amock – The Weather Channel has started doing news segments of, how shall I put it?, a non-weather related nature…

Neither out of sight nor out of mind – 2009, like 2008 before it, saw former MSNBC anchor Chris Jansing pop up occasionally for fill in duty on the network. Her periodic appearances continue to serve as a reminder of what a mistake it was to send her to LA in the first place. My bias regarding this matter is well known and should be taken into account when reading this. Nevertheless, having someone that sharp, knowledgeable, and professional come off the bench a few times a year on a network which could really use more of that in its dayside news operation is a sad testament to what’s going on over at 30 Rock.

Posted in What's Hot/What's Not

What’s in a name?

icn2 — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 22:50:23 +0000

Well, I guess plenty if you’re Contessa Brewer who interviewed her mom on the internet about why she has the name she has. This video is internet only and hasn’t aired on TV…

Posted in MSNBC

Free for All: 12/30/09

icn2 — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 14:45:27 +0000

What’s on your mind?

Posted in Free For All

Cable News Resolutions?

icn2 — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 14:21:42 +0000

The Examiner’s Rich Shumate comes up with a list of New Years Resolutions he thinks cable news should keep in 2010…

1. All anchors, be they left or right, will stop taking on-air potshots at each other, thus ending the incestuous cycle of self-generated pissing matches that are of little or no value to viewers. (Added benefit: We’ll find out whether Keith Olbermann actually has anything more interesting to say than whining about Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Beck.)

2. The words “breaking news” will be used sparingly, i.e. they will only be displayed on the screen or uttered on air when news is actually breaking – right then, not 12 hours earlier or the week before. (And no, Nancy Grace, that mere fact that a missing person is still missing, absent any timely developments in the case, is not a good enough reason to excuse you from this resolution.)
Posted in Miscellaneous Subjects

MSNBC should end its “penny pinching ways”?

icn2 — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 06:23:42 +0000

The Wrap’s Josef Adalian looks at MSNBC’s reliance on doc blocks on the weekend and suggests they’re retarding the network’s mojo…

Now that newsies (especially those with left-leaning tendencies) have adopted MSNBC as their own, there’s growing frustration among the network’s fans over MSNBC’s erratic coverage.

As one newshound tweeted over the weekend, out of frustration over MSNBC being MIA: “Don’t make me watch Fox News!”

So why is MSNBC seemingly oblivious to the complaints? In a word, money.

In a quest to improve bottom line profits for parent company GE, MSNBC’s ultimate boss, Jeff Zucker, years ago decided to add more longform programming to MSNBC’s lineup, thus cutting back on live news.

After all, it’s far cheaper to repurpose old “Dateline” episodes or snap up a cheesy prison special than to keep a newsroom staffed with actual reporters/anchors.

This might have made sense back when MSNBC was struggling. But post-2008, the network is back in the game — if not as a threat to Fox News than as a viable rival to CNN.

It’s time for NBC to stop pinching pennies when it comes to MSNBC. There’s nothing wrong with including long-form specials in the programming mix, even the sleazy, sensational ones like “Lockup.”
Posted in MSNBC

2009: MSNBC…

icn2 — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 00:25:34 +0000

MSNBC is noting its Q4 and 2009 numbers…

MSNBC BEATS CNN FOR THE YEAR IN PRIMETIME, FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER AMONG A25-54 – NETWORK’S SECOND BEST RATINGS YEAR EVER

MSNBC Beats CNN in 4Q at 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 PM in A25-54

NEW YORK – Dec. 29, 2009 – MSNBC ends 2009 on a historic high note, beating CNN in primetime for the year for the first time ever among A25-54. MSNBC also finished the year as the #1 news network among younger adults, A18-34, and had its second best ratings year in the network’s 14-year history, behind only last year’s historic election year high.

MSNBC finished 2009 especially strong, beating CNN in 4Q from 6-11 p.m. among A25-54; the repeat of “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” at 10 p.m. edged the live “Anderson Cooper 360” at 10 p.m. for the first time ever for the quarter.

Following are MSNBC ratings highlights for 2009 and 4Q09:

· For the first time ever, MSNBC finished the year ahead of CNN in primetime among A25-54, beating them in M-F (302,000 vs. 292,000) and M-Su (277,000 vs. 264,000).

· MSNBC was the #1 news network in 2009 among younger adults, 18-34 in primetime, M-F (106,000), M-Su (99,000) and on weekends in primetime (84,000) and in sales prime (7pm-2am, 95,000).

· CNN finished 4Q09 in 4th place for the first time ever in A25-54 in M-F primetime (FNC: 674,000; MSNBC: 239,000; HLN: 215,000; CNN: 201,000).

· MSNBC had its second best ratings year in its history, behind only last year’s historic election year.

· “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” finished the year with a tremendous lead over CNN’s “Campbell Brown,” for the third year in a row, beating CNN by 56 percent in A25-54 (355,000 vs. 227,000) and by 42 percent in total viewers (1,157,000 vs. 812,000).

· In 4Q09, “Countdown” outrated “Campbell Brown” by 75% in A25-54 (282,000 vs. 161,000) and by 59% in total viewers (1,016,000 vs. 639,000).

· The “Countdown” re-air at 10 p.m. out-rated CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360” among A25-54 in 4Q09 for the first time in a quarter (211,000 vs. 204,000).

· “The Rachel Maddow Show” at 9 p.m. was up 14% from the time period in 2008 in total viewers (1,016,000 vs. 888,000) and up 126% from 2007 (450,000). “The Rachel Maddow Show” finished the year just 2,000 A25-54 shy of “Larry King Live” in the hour (298,000 vs. 300,000).

· In 4Q09, “The Rachel Maddow Show” outrated “LKL” by 8% in A25-54 (237,000 vs. 219,000) and by 5% in total viewers (881,000 vs. 840,000).

· “The Ed Show” finished 4Q09 beating CNN’s “The Situation Room” at 6 p.m. among A25-54 (141,000 vs. 137,000).

· “Hardball with Chris Matthews” at 7 p.m. beat CNN in 4Q09 by 12% among A25-54 (173,000 vs. 155,000) and by 5% in total viewers (636,000 vs. 604,000).

· In 4Q09, MSNBC’s longform weekend programming was #1 in sales prime in A25-54 (214,000, 7pm-2am). MSNBC finished the year ahead of CNN in the time period and only 2% behind Fox News among A25-54 (220,000 vs. 224,000, 7 pm-2am).
Posted in MSNBC

FNC 2009: Best Year Ever…

icn2 — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 20:29:13 +0000

The Huffington Post’s Danny Shea writes about FNC’s 2009 ratings bonanza…

2009 was a record year for the Fox News Channel.

The News Corp-owned cable news outlet has just finished its best year among total viewers in its 13-plus year history.

Fox News averaged 2.187 million total viewers in primetime for the year, up 7% from 2008. In total day, the network averaged 1.192 million total viewers, up 13% from 2008. In the A25-54 demo, the network was up as well: its 540,000 A25-54 total in weekday primetime is up 9% from 2008, and its 319,000 A25-54 weekday total-day average is up 16% from 2008.

Both CNN and MSNBC, meanwhile, are down significantly in all categories.
Posted in FNC

The Hazards of Live TV: #25,034

icn2 — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 20:24:43 +0000

Apparently the MSNBC control room got a new toy for Christmas…

Posted in Hazards of Live TV

Martin Fletcher to depart NBC News…

icn2 — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 19:51:48 +0000

TVNewser scoops that long time NBC veteran Martin Fletcher is leaving NBC News…

NBC News Tel Aviv bureau chief and correspondent Martin Fletcher is leaving the network, TVNewser has learned. Fletcher has been with NBC for 32 years.

“Frankly, I’m rather shocked at the idea, even though I initiated it!” Fletcher tells TVNewser. “At the same time, I’m looking forward thoroughly to getting on to something I want to do, which is writing my third book, a novel.”
Posted in MSNBC

Alisyn Camerota Interview…

icn2 — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 19:49:08 +0000

The Observer Playground’s Lyss Stern has an interview with FNC’s Alisyn Camerota. The interview is in graphical format so no quotes…(via J$)

Posted in FNC

Free for All: 12/29/09

icn2 — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 15:43:07 +0000

What’s on your mind?

Posted in Free For All

MSNBC’s NWA 253 Coverage (or lack thereof)…

icn2 — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 23:57:30 +0000

The AP writes about MSNBC’s coverage on Christmas day, criticized in some circles, of NWA 253…

Competitors CNN and Fox News Channel gave much more extensive attention to the story on Christmas night as MSNBC stuck with taped programs on a murder mystery and environmental issues, along with an ”undercover” report on the teenage sex trade.

MSNBC has been criticized in the past for failing to respond quickly to breaking news during off-hours, a choice that may complicate its efforts to be seen as a go-to news source. The network is revamping its daytime schedule to be more news-oriented than personality-driven, since the latter approach has proven to be a ratings failure.

On Christmas, an anchor did live cut-ins about once an hour to pass on news of the attempted terrorism, said Jeremy Gaines, network spokesman.

Fox mixed live coverage of the story Friday night with a taped year-end retrospective show with Bill O’Reilly. CNN devoted virtually all of its prime-time hours to the incident, its coverage anchored by Ali Velshi.

Neither Gaines nor Phil Griffin, MSNBC’s top executive, would discuss the judgment call on Monday.
Posted in MSNBC

“New” MSNBC Dayside Schedule on Wikipedia Erased…

icn2 — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 23:41:28 +0000

A few days ago I noted that Wikipedia had an alleged new schedule posted for MSNBC dayside starting January 11th. Whether the schedule was accurate or not, we don’t know. What I do know is that schedule has now been erased from the Wiki page. A quick check of the history shows MSNBC PR scrubbed it this afternoon.

Update: TVNewser has backstory…

But a spokesperson for MSNBC tells TVNewser that the line-up posted on Wikipedia is incorrect and that the network has not completely finalized a 2010 schedule.

Posted in MSNBC

Dagen McDowell Profile…

icn2 — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 23:33:46 +0000

Y’all Magazine has a profile of FBN’s Dagen McDowell…(via J$)

McDowell’s self-taught expertise into the broad and complicated field caught the attention of Fox News Channel producers who invited the writer on various programs to explain (and sometimes argue) business and financial-related news items. After a year as an occasional guest she became a regular contributor. Two years later, the Fox News Channel senior vice president of business news, Neil Cavuto, invited McDowell to join the full-time news team.

“It was unbelievable,” McDowell says. “The chances that Cavuto and [Fox News president] Roger Ailes take on people are amazing. Not just me, but a whole host of people. They are willing to use different people, people that were not trained to be on TV. They give you a shot. If you do a good job, you’re in. If you don’t, you’re out. I was thankful that I was given the opportunity.”

“Roger and Neil encourage individuality and never asked me to lose the accent. Oh, and I do say ‘y’all,’” she says, proudly.
Posted in FBN

Press Releases: 12/28/09

icn2 — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 21:10:28 +0000

CNBC (1)

CNBC PRESENTS TECH WEEK BEGINNING MONDAY, JANUARY 4TH THROUGH FRIDAY, JANUARY 8TH

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J, December 28, 2009—CNBC, First in Business Worldwide, goes inside the cutting edge of high tech where innovation and imagination come together to create modern marvels and iconic businesses.

Beginning Monday, January 4th through Friday, January 8th, CNBC’s Tech Week will feature the following special coverage across the network.

CNBC will premiere four new documentaries:

· Monday, January 4th at 9:30PM ET—“WELCOME TO MACINTOSH”(macheads.cnbc.com)— the story of Apple told by the people who build, use, love, hate, and obsess over the company’s revolutionary products. When Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak launched Apple Computers in 1977, they had no idea the impact their company would have on the world. Now, more than thirty years later, filmmakers Robert Baca and Josh Rizzo take an in-depth look how Apple has created a cult fan base and how Steve Jobs has become a modern day hero.

· Tuesday, January 5th at 10PM ET—“MACHEADS” (macheads.cnbc.com)— a 60-minute documentary, explores the loyalty of Apple fanatics and their obsession with the company and its products. The documentary takes an in-depth examination of just what makes the Mac, the iPhone, and Apple’s other products seem like cultural phenomena rather than just consumer electronics.

· Wednesday, January 6th at 10PM ET—“MARRIAGE FROM HELL: BREAKUP OF AOL TIME WARNER” (marriagefromhell.cnbc.com)—reported by CNBC’s David Faber, the one-hour documentary takes viewers inside the story of what has been called the worst deal ever made. Included: candid comments from one of the chief architects of the deal: former Time Warner CEO Gerald Levin- who underwent a stunning reversal of fortune.

· Thursday, January 7th at 10PM ET—“PLANET OF THE APPS: A HAND-HELD REVOLUTION!” (planetoftheapps.cnbc.com)— hosted by CNBC’s Scott Wapner, the one-hour documentary looks at the recent “app” explosion and how they have changed the way we live. Meet the creators who are designing applications and making money. From engineers to everyday people, see how anyone can become an app developer.

CNBC will also broadcast live from the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the world’s largest consumer technology trade show, in Las Vegas, NV on Thursday, January 7th & Friday, January 8th. CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo will anchor “Closing Bell” (3-5PM ET) and the “Wall Street Journal Report” from CES. CNBC’s Media & Entertainment Reporter Julia Boorstin, and CNBC’s Silicon Valley Bureau Chief Jim Goldman, will provide coverage and interviews from CES throughout CNBC’s Business Day programming. In addition, CNBC’s “Fast Money” (5PM-6PM ET) will bring you the best tech minds on Wall Street to give you the trades during this special week, CNBC’s “Mad Money w/Jim Cramer” (6PM & 11PM ET) will take a look at the top tech stocks to help make you mad money and CNBC’s “Options Action” (Fridays, 8:30PM ET) will have your best tech options trades to play the release of the hottest new gadgets.

CNBC.com will also be at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show keeping users informed on the newest technologies and hot button issues with its special report CES 2010. Launching on Wednesday, January 6th, CES 2010 will include a special edition of Tech Check with Jim Goldman. Additionally, the site will highlight topics such as the major shift from property ownership to data access, 3D televisions to a TV-Volution, and in home energy monitoring devices to last year’s green washing issues and what will get this year’s push as the green technology. For more information, log on to http://ces.cnbc.com.
Posted in Press Releases

CNN and the NWA 253 Hero Interview…

icn2 — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 20:56:39 +0000

TVNewser has a blow by blow of how CNN got the exclusive with Jaspar Schuringa…

TVNewser has gotten the play-by-play of how CNN came to acquire one of just two cell phone images from the aftermath of the terror scare on Northwest Flight 253.
Posted in CNN

Free for All: 12/28/09

icn2 — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 13:51:25 +0000

What’s on your mind?

Posted in In Depth

Daytime is not Opinion time…

icn2 — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 07:37:59 +0000

The AP writes about cable news daytime and opinion, a combination which doesn’t seem to work too well…(via J$)

MSNBC didn’t recognize this earlier this year when it gave former CNBC anchor Dylan Ratigan a two-hour show at 9 a.m. ET and Dr. Nancy Snyderman a medically oriented hour at noon.

Ratigan is not shy about spouting off; he apologized last week for being rude to a Florida congresswoman during an interview about health care reform. He proved a bad fit in the morning. MSNBC is cutting his show in half and moving it to 4 p.m. EST before Chris Matthews.

Snyderman’s show was canceled.

As replacements, MSNBC will pair Chuck Todd and Savannah Guthrie for one hour at 9 a.m. EST, in a newsy, nonpartisan look at the day’s upcoming news. For the other daytime hours, MSNBC will have general news programming anchored by David Shuster, Tamron Hall, Contessa Brewer and Andrea Mitchell, said Phil Griffin, the network’s chief executive.

“We did some experimentation to find out what the audience during the daytime wants and I think we found out they want your basic facts — give me the facts, ma’am,” Griffin said. “We can still do it with our passion and a fast pace.”
Posted in Miscellaneous Subjects

Lauren Sivan leaves FNC…

icn2 — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 07:35:12 +0000

Lauren tweeted earlier tonight that tonight was her last night on FNC…

‘Tis true. Tonight’s my last night:(

Posted in FNC

NWA 253: On The Record Live Tonight

icn2 — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 00:09:01 +0000

On the Record with Greta Van Susteren will be appearing live tonight from 9-11pm to discuss NWA 253…

Update: The Fox Report will stay live until 9pm…

Posted in FNC

Ali Velshi Interview…

icn2 — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 18:14:04 +0000

Mediaite’s Steve Krakauer interviews CNN’s Ali Velshi after Velshi’s coverage of NWA 253 last night.

And the person who anchored CNN’s coverage until the end, Chief Business Correspondent Ali Velshi, was nearly universally praised on Twitter – with the opportunity potentially signaling bigger thing in 2010.

Velshi, and the rest of the CNN team (including Ed Henry, Kate Bolduan, Richard Quest, Deb Feyerick and others) visibly dominated the cable news coverage – at least by the time prime time hit. Jonathan Wald, former SVP at CNBC, tweeted, “Career night for Ali Velshi.”
Posted in CNN

Martin Savidge back on CNN?

icn2 — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 18:09:58 +0000

Former CNN anchor Martin Savidge was seen on CNN today giving an update from Detroit on the NWA 253 incident…

Update: TVNewser says Savidge is freelancing for CNN…

Posted in CNN