Inside Cable News

Free for All: 01/31/12

icn2 — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:49:46 +0000

What’s on your mind?

Filed under: Free For All

CNBC To Use Rentrak Data For Upfront Deal…

icn2 — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:48:09 +0000

MediaPost’s David Goetzl writes about CNBC inking an upfront deal with MPG client Fidelity that will use Nielsen TV ratings data and, for the first time, Rentrak financial data…

This marks the first deal MPG has done using Rentrak data as a guarantee — a watershed for Rentrak, which has said the TV market has room for more than one data set. Nielsen is moving ahead with plans to offer ratings culled partly from set-top-box data on a local level. But it has no plans to abandon its traditional sample in the national market, despite cries for data to come from larger pools of viewers.

Robert Foothorap, a senior vice president in sales at CNBC, said that the network is open to “customizable” deals fitting client goals.

Fidelity CMO Jim Speros said that a dual-guarantee approach offers “another level of depth to our measurement, which ultimately provides greater accountability.”

In October, NBCUniversal researcher Sheryl Feldinger gave a presentation showing that Rentrak data can provide more stable performance data for CNBC — less volatility over a specified period — since it is culled from more homes than are in Nielsen’s panel.

Filed under: CNBC

Bill Shine Interview…

icn2 — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:38:42 +0000

The Cutline’s Dylan Stabelford interviews FNC’s Bill Shine…

What do you look for when you are courting on-air talent?

The main thing you want to know if they are smart, if they’re entertaining, if they’re intelligent, if they have a natural curiosity about the world. If that comes through in an interview, then it should come through on television. Roger always tells us, “Watch TV with the sound down. If you have the urge to turn the sound up, to hear what they’re saying, that’s someone you want to hire.”

According to a recent poll, Fox News is the most-trusted name news network. But according to the same poll, it’s also the least-trusted. When you see polls like that, what is your reaction? You obviously have a core of people who trust you, and a core of people who don’t. How do you approach the people who don’t trust you?

You don’t know me, but I’m not a cocky guy. And I don’t want this to sound cocky, but I don’t pay too much attention to them… I think the people who don’t trust us, some of them watch and just don’t trust us. But some may see something written about us on the Internet and latch onto it. What I find is that they don’t trust us, but have never watched us. I think if people just spent a little time watching us, they’d have a different opinion. But to be honest I don’t think much about them. I spend a lot of time thinking about improving what’s on the screen.

Filed under: FNC

FNC’s 10 Years at #1….and Shepard Smith’s Weight Loss?!?!?

icn2 — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:53:14 +0000

In one of the odder news combinations I’ve seen lately, The New York Daily News’ Richard Huff manages to combine FNC’s 10 years of cable news dominance with Shepard Smith’s weight loss. I’m going to zero in on the newsy part of the story…

One on-air impression in recent months is that Smith has dropped a lot of weight.

“I’ve lost too much,” he says.

After years of eating cheeseburgers, Snickers bars and having a generally horrible diet, Smith was told by his doctor that he had sky-high cholesterol and high blood pressure. He’s since cut out the junk and plays tennis three times a week. “I’m in the best shape of my life,” he says, adding that his last medical report was great.

As for the ratings shape of the network, Smith says that’s equally good.

Filed under: FNC

Keith Olbermann Current TV Ad (non?) Controversy…

icn2 — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:42:09 +0000

TVNewser’s Chris Ariens writes about a Current TV ad in today’s New York Times…

There’s a full page ad for CurrentTV on B5 of the Business section of today’s New York Times. It’s what’s missing that interesting.

While the ad features pictures of hosts Cenk Uygur and Jennifer Granholm, there’s no image of Keith Olbermann, whose show “Countdown” is the network’s longest-running — since June — and most-watched live talk show since the network reinvented itself last year.

At first I thought there might be something to this. But then I got an email which filled in a few blanks. The ad in question was created by L.A. based ad agency STUN Creative as part of a new branding campaign for print, online, and TV under the “Politically Direct” slogan. The New York Times’ ad is basically the standard print ad created by STUN.

There is also a web/banner ad which STUN created that is sans Olbermann.

But there is a full HDTV video version of the ad, narrated by Common, that does feature Keith Olbermann.

So I don’t make too much of the fact that Olbermann wasn’t included in the print/online ads. If he’d been excluded from everything I would start reading a lot more into that.

Filed under: Miscellaneous Subjects

Florida Primary: CNN Coverage Plans…

icn2 — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:34:25 +0000

CNN announced its coverage details for tomorrow night’s Florida Primary…

CNN Plans Comprehensive Coverage of Florida Primary

As the focus of the next Republican Presidential primary battleground zeroes in on Florida, CNN plans to utilize resources across its platforms for coverage on the ground and from the CNN Election Center. Anchors Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, Erin Burnett and John King will headline the network’s America’s Choice: The Florida Primary coverage beginning at 7 p.m. A special edition of AC360 will air following the network’s primary coverage at 10 p.m. and a special edition of Piers Morgan Tonight will air at midnight. All times Eastern.

CNN chief political analyst Gloria Borger and senior political analyst David Gergen, along with political contributors Donna Brazile, James Carville, Alex Castellanos and Ari Fleischer, will be on set in the CNN Election Center to offer insight and analysis throughout the evening.

Reporting from Florida on primary day will be anchor and chief political correspondent Candy Crowley live from the Romney campaign headquarters, national political correspondent Jim Acosta and Miami-based correspondent John Zarrella. CNN political contributors Erick Erickson and Roland Martin will be live from Miami. From Washington, chief White House correspondent Jessica Yellin will provide the latest updates on reaction from the Obama campaign.

Looking ahead to the Nevada caucuses, senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash and senior political correspondent Joe Johns will report live from Las Vegas and Henderson, Nevada, respectively, tomorrow night. Tom Foreman also will report live from a focus group location of undecided Republican voters in Las Vegas.

CNN Radio

CNN radio reporters Lisa Desjardins and Bob Costantini will cover the primary results for the CNN Radio network and its affiliates. Desjardins will gather sound for the American Sauce podcast and Costantini will produce a Political Notebook podcast.

CNN Digital

Users can check out the CNN Election Center to track real-time election results and analyze the exit polls and results thus far from Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. The GOP Delegate Calculator allows users after each caucus or primary to try their hand at predicting which candidates will win each state and eventually, the Republican presidential nomination. CNN.com will continue to provide the CNN Electoral Map with the most recent predictions on battleground states as updated by CNN’s political experts.

CNN.com will live stream campaign events leading up to and on the day of the Florida primary. To engage and comment on election night news as it happens, users can visit the CNN Politics Facebook page. On Twitter, users may follow @CNNPolitics for breaking developments and join the conversation by using hashtag #CNNElections.

CNN iReport, the network’s global participatory news community, will be asking for submissions related to the events in Florida, some of which will be shown on CNN.com and broadcast on CNN.

Across CNN’s mobile platforms, the latest election stories and opinion pieces will be available via CNN’s mobile website and on the CNN apps for iPhone, iPad, Android phone and Android tablet. The new Election Center section can also be accessed on CNN’s mobile platforms. All apps will live stream the candidate speeches and events during the primary. On primary night, live results can be viewed on CNN’s mobile website and in the CNN App for iPad.

CNN en Español and CNN International

CNN en Español will offer extensive coverage of the Jan.31 Florida primaries, one in which the Latino vote is expected to play its most significant role yet. On Tuesday, Washington D.C. correspondent Ione Molinares will be reporting live from Tampa, and reporter Rafael Fuenmayor will offer live updates with guests from Miami throughout the day. Starting at 7 p.m., Washington D.C. anchor Juan Carlos López will host a special edition of Directo USA from Atlanta joined by anchors Patricia Janiot and Fernando del Rincón, and a panel of political contributors Maria Cardona, Juan Hernandez and Roberto Izurieta to offer analysis of the events of the day.

CNN International will simulcast the domestic network’s coverage beginning at 7 p.m. ET.

Programming schedule for Tuesday, Jan. 31 – Florida Primary day (All Times Eastern):

7:00PM – 10:00PM America’s Choice 2012: The Florida Primary (Live)
10:00PM – 12:00AM Anderson Cooper 360° – Special Edition (Live)
12:00AM – 1:00AM Piers Morgan Tonight (Live)

Filed under: CNN

Press Releases: 01/30/12

icn2 — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 21:12:06 +0000

CNBC (1)

CNBC’s Darren Rovell to Host NBC Sports’ Post-Super Bowl Hangout on Google+

NEW YORK – Jan. 30, 2012 — CNBC sports business reporter Darren Rovell will serve as host and industry expert for a NBC Sports Google+ Hangout discussion of Super Bowl commercials on Monday, Feb. 6. During the Hangout, Rovell will review the previous day’s Super Bowl commercials, dissect the talk around the ads, and interact with fans to find out what commercials worked best.

“The day after the Super Bowl is when people head back to their office water coolers to discuss what they loved and what they didn’t,” Rovell said. “Our conversation is about taking all those water cooler conversations and bringing it to a national, digital stage.”

On Friday evening, Feb. 17 during his NBC Sports Network show CNBC SportsBiz: Game On, Rovell will reveal the most popular Super Bowl commercial as selected by YouTube Ad Blitz voters.

The Hangout is the second piece of an NBC Sports collaboration with YouTube and its Super Bowl Ad Blitz, the premier online gallery of Super Bowl commercials. The Super Bowl is annually the biggest single day of the year for advertisers, commanding the attention of millions of Americans tuned in to watch the game as well as the TV commercials. Super Bowl XLVI between the New York Giants and New England Patriots will be broadcast on NBC on Sunday, Feb. 5.

As part of the agreement, NBC will promote Ad Blitz and Rovell’s Google+ Hangout during its pre-game coverage and YouTube will offer weekend-long online promotion of NBC’s Super Bowl XLVI coverage. This marks the first time in the five-year history of the YouTube Ad Blitz that YouTube has partnered with the Super Bowl network broadcaster.

Rovell, CNBC’s Sports Business Reporter, is responsible for both analyzing and reporting on the sports business world on all of CNBC’s programming. In addition, he is the author of the “Sports Biz” blog on CNBC.com and is very involved in social media with more than 173,000 people following his @darrenrovell feed.

Google+ has already conducted several high profile Hangouts including ones hosted by The Dalai Lama, will.i.am from Black Eyed Peas and coming Jan 30th President Obama.

Filed under: Press Releases

Anyone Want Some Red Meat?

icn2 — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:45:46 +0000

Filed under: FNC

Greg Gutfeld Profile…

icn2 — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:05:56 +0000

The Orange County Register’s Peter Larsen profiles Greg Gutfeld…

“I got a phone call that said there’s somebody at Fox who wants to meet you,” Gutfeld said. “So we met in a bar, because that’s where all of my meetings take place. This fellow said, ‘Hey, we’re thinking about doing something in the middle of the night,’ and the fact that I was drunk enough made it easy for me to say OK.”

He might be joking about the drinking; we’re not sure. But the outcome of that night is the same regardless. Gutfeld got hired, and “Red Eye” started broadcasting its oddball blend of politics, debate and comedy into the early morning hours, eventually earning strong ratings for the time slot.

“I think a lot about it,” Gutfeld said when asked why the show has succeeded and who he thinks is watching. “What ‘Red Eye’ does is, there’s a lot of ongoing humor and subtle humor that you have to watch the show a lot to get. So the first stage is revulsion – what the hell is going on? The second is confusion, because now you’re starting to get it. And the third stage is obsession, because now you’re getting all of the jokes.

“We discuss issues the way you might at a bar when you’re buzzed on three beers,” Gutfeld said about th

Filed under: FNC

FNC to Ring the NASDAQ Tomorrow to Celebrate 10 Years at #1…

icn2 — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:02:33 +0000

From the wires…

FOX News, a 24-hour all-encompassing news service dedicated to delivering breaking news as well as political and business news, will visit the NASDAQ MarketSite in New York City’s Times Square to celebrate its status as the #1 news channel in the U.S. for the 10th year.

In honor of the occasion, FOX News Channel’s Greta Van Susteren along with Lou Dobbs, Lori Rothman, Liz Claman and Melissa Francis from FOX Business Network will ring the Opening Bell.

Filed under: FBN, FNC

Things You Didn’t Know About Alex Witt…

icn2 — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:00:13 +0000

Forbes’ Meryl Weinsaft Cooper writes about the Wharton Women Business Conference. This Alex Witt anecdote came up…

Another recurring theme throughout the day was how essential it is to know what’s important to you and where you should focus your energy. For example, MSNBC’s Alex Witt doesn’t let anything come between her and her top priority, her kids — not even being on air. The anchor shared that she leaves her phone on, even when she’s on camera, so that her children can reach her at any tie. Bottom line: Happiness at home translates to more productivity and success at work. Smart companies know this — and that’s the shift that we’re seeing towards supporting work/life balance for families.

Filed under: MSNBC

Free for All: 01/30/12

icn2 — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:55:44 +0000

What’s on your mind?

Filed under: Free For All

Inside FNC Advertising…

icn2 — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:54:02 +0000

AdExchanger.com’s John Ebbert interviews FNC’s Jeremy Steinberg, VP Digital Sales and Business Development, about FNC advertising… (via J$)

AdExchanger.com: Last May, you discussed with AdExchanger.com some of the things you were doing on the product side to address audience buying. How has it worked out?

JS: Really well, and – within the next couple months – we’re going to be rolling out a fully-revamped audience insights suite of services for our advertisers, which will provide enhanced targeting opportunities for audience, as well as context.

It’s equally important to marry the two together and is a key differentiator for us. This is a big investment in our business and in our future.

We’ve known for quite some time that we have by far the most engaged audience in news, and the numbers in comScore really speak to that. We’re investing in new technology because we want to prove it to our advertisers that our advertising works.

We’re doubling down and offering robust segmentation of our audience so advertisers can dive in deep to reach their targets, or, even better, to find out who their ads are performing best against, and then optimizing accordingly.

Filed under: FNC

Bloomberg TV Taps Dan Arnall as Executive Producer of News

icn2 — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:29:15 +0000

Bloomberg TV announced this morning that it has hired Dan Arnall to be its EP of News…

DAN ARNALL NAMED EXECUTIVE PRODUCER OF NEWS FOR BLOOMBERG TELEVISION

New York, January 30, 2012–Veteran business news journalist Dan Arnall has joined Bloomberg as Executive Producer of News for Bloomberg Television. The announcement was made by Andrew Morse, head of Bloomberg TV in the U.S.

Arnall brings more than a decade of experience covering the economy, American business and the impact of financial regulation, among other major stories. Based in New York, he will oversee Bloomberg’s television newsgathering and editorial in the U.S. Arnall will also work to integrate video content across the company’s multimedia properties including Bloomberg.com and Bloomberg Mobile, which together reach millions of users per day.

“Dan’s extensive experience in covering business news and his passion for the beat, along with his creative production skills, will make him a crucial leader of the Bloomberg TV team,” said Morse.

“I’m looking forwarding to joining the best team in business news,” said Arnall. “This is an exciting time of growth for Bloomberg as we expand our TV programming and bring our in-depth business and financial news coverage across every digital platform.”

Arnall joins Bloomberg from ABC News, where he served as senior producer for business coverage and most recently as senior producer for domestic news at “World News with Diane Sawyer.” While at ABC, he ran business and economic coverage across all platforms, including coverage of the 2008 financial crisis, the Japanese earthquake and Presidential and mid-term elections. Prior to joining ABC in 2004, Arnall began his journalism career as a reporter for ABC, CBS and NBC affiliates in Missouri, then at WNBC and CNN in New York. He holds a master’s degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism and graduated cum laude from the University of Missouri.

Filed under: Bloomberg

What’s Hot/What’s Not: 01/29/12

icn2 — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 01:04:59 +0000

It’s an all Not Hot edition this week…

What’s Not:

Suze Orman – Orman’s response to people criticizing her hawking a pre-paid debit card could have been handled a lot better.

Quid Pro Quo? – MSNBC allowed Ed Schultz to participate in a Democrat retreat as a panel guest. Schultz also got an interview with Nancy Pelosi while at the retreat. There may have been no connection between the two but it’s a situation that on its face doesn’t look good.

Rah, Rah, Rah! – CNN getting caught twice showing a staffer whipping up the crowd at its Florida debate raises all kinds of questions about the authenticity of the crowd response to the debate.

CNN to Trademark “Magic Wall” – Four years after it debuted, and after its become a common term of reference in the industry? Good luck with that…

Violent Tweeting? – A tweet was shown on the lower thirds of The Ed Show which called for the Secret Service to break the finger of Jan Brewer and “drop her”. Is this the kind of progressive talk MSNBC wants to espouse? One would hope not…

Filed under: What's Hot/What's Not

The Ed Show Incites Violence?

icn2 — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 01:38:01 +0000

NewsBusters’ Jack Coleman writes about The Ed Show posting a questionable tweet on its crawl…

Here’s a tweet that appeared while Schultz was talking with Dionne –

Next time Jan Brewer sticks her finger in President’s face, the Secret Service should break it & drop her. #edshow #p2

The tweet came from a Twitter user named “chaplinlives” who resides in Massachusetts — or as we happy few conservatives with domiciles here call it, the People’s Republic of Taxachusetts. Consider yourself warned — “chaplinlives” uses a photo of a lion for a Twitter avatar (No, not the one in “The Wizard of Oz”), so he or she is not to be trifled with.

MSNBC should not have run that tweet. There have to be some standards in what is allowable from viewer commentary. This one crosses a line that The Ed Show shouldn’t have crossed.

Filed under: MSNBC

The Hazards of Live TV: #25,142

icn2 — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 00:17:42 +0000

If Obama’s numbers were that low I think we’d be hearing a lot more about it…

Filed under: Hazards of Live TV

What’s Hot/What’s Not: Submissions…

icn2 — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 16:50:09 +0000

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

Filed under: What's Hot/What's Not

CNN Wants to Trademark WHAT?!?!?

icn2 — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 23:12:02 +0000

TVNewser’s Alex Weprin reports that CNN is looking to trademark the term “Magic Wall”. I hope they fail. Spectacularly.

Now, however, it appears that the channel wants to make sure that the “Magic Wall” is for CNN use only. Earlier this month the channel applied for a trademark on the term “Magic Wall” with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, according to filings obtained by TVNewser.

If CNN was really serious about trademarking Magic Wall they would have done so four years ago when they first rolled it out. Doing it now is just silly and probably opens the network up to all sorts of generic use arguments. I hope all the other networks fight them over it and CNN winds up losing.

I’m no lawyer but it seems to me that should CNN win this it would establish a bad precedent where a network introduces a concept and a name, it takes hold across the industry and is used all over, and then years after the fact the network tries to regain control of it by applying for a trademark; in effect trying to put the genie back into the bottle it itself opened.

Out here in the tech world we don’t wait around four years to apply for a trademark on an idea we came up with. We apply for it before we even announce the product or concept.

Filed under: CNN

CNN Florida GOP Debate Ratings…

icn2 — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 22:51:14 +0000

CNN is noting its ratings from the GOP Debate in Florida last night but also of note is the network is breaking out social media stats in a big way which is a break from past debate releases…

CNN’S GOP FLORIDA DEBATE WAS #1 LAST NIGHT; POSTS BEST CNN DELIVERY YET IN THE KEY DEMO 25-54

DRAWS 5.4 MILLION TOTAL VIEWERS AND 1.7 MILLION IN KEY DEMO 25-54

ALSO DRAWS AN ADDITIONAL 1.2 MILLION TOTAL VIEWERS AND 562K IN THE DEMO DURING WEST COAST PRIMETIME

ANDERSON COOPER 360 TOPS THE COMPETITION AT 10P

CNN.com page views & video highest of last five CNN debates

According to Nielsen Fast National data, CNN’s Florida debate (8-10p, ET), moderated by Wolf Blitzer delivered 5.4 million total viewers and 1.7 million in the key target demographic 25-54 last night, Thursday, January 26. This represents CNN’s best debate yet this election cycle in the key demo and second best among total viewers (behind the Las Vegas GOP debate on 10/18). Last night’s debate ranked fourth among all primary debates so far this cycle in the key demo (including broadcast) and second among cable-only debates (behind only FNC’s 12/15 debate).

CNN was, by far, top rated during the 8-10p, ET time period last night among the cable news networks in both total viewers and the key demo. CNN topped FNC among total viewers by 160% (5.4m vs. 2.1m) and MSNBC by 444% (5.4m vs. 985k). In the target demo CNN topped FNC by 330% (1.7m vs. 405k) and MSNBC by 702% (1.7m vs. 217k).

During the west coast primetime airing (8-10p, PT/11p-1a, ET replay), CNN had an additional 1.2 million total viewers and 562k in the key demographic 25-54.

With post-debate analysis, Anderson Cooper 360 easily outperformed its cable news competition at 10p. AC360 topped FNC’s On the Record among total viewers by 30% (2.5m vs. 1.9m) and MSNBC’s Last Word by 130% (2.5m vs. 1.1m). In the target demo AC360 topped FNC by 88% (895k vs. 477k) and MSNBC by 261% (895k vs. 248k).

CNN Digital:

During last night’s CNN debate, CNN.com page views & video higher than previous five CNN debates. Stats include:

CNN.com page views were up 37% over the previous 4-Thursdays and up 5% over the average of the prior five CNN debates with 3.7 million page views. CNN.com page views for the day hit 46.8 million, up 6% over the past five CNN debates.

Video starts on CNN.com were also up 71% over the prior 4 Thursdays and 45% over the prior debates with 4.9 million.

Mobile page views were up 6% during the debate. In total, CNN Mobile had 6.1 million page views for the day.

(Source: Omniture SiteCatalyst Prior 4-Thursday average based on 12/22, 12/29, 1/5, 1/12. Prior debate dates include 6/13, 9/12, 10/18, 11/22, 1/19.)

(Source: Bango. Prior 4-Thursday average based on 12/22, 12/29, 1/5, 1/12. Prior debate dates include 6/13, 9/12, 10/18, 11/22, 1/19. Note: International mobile site does not contain video.)

Users also interacted with CNN across social media.

Facebook

· For last night’s Florida Republican debate there were 3 postings on the main CNN Facebook fanpage which generated 3,000 likes and comments.

Source: Facebook fan pages CNN 6/13/11, 9/12/11, 10/18/11, 11/22/11, 1/19/12 & 1/26/12; CNN Politics 9/12/11, 10/18/11, 11/22/11, 1/19/12 & 1/26/12

Twitter

· The CNNbrk account had 13 posts surrounding the debate which were retweeted 2,100 times.
· The hashtag #CNNDebate was a trending topic throughout the evening, ranking as high as #1 in the US and Worldwide throughout portions of the broadcast.

· Wolf Blitzer and Erin Burnett were also trending topics during last night’s debate coverage, with Wolf Blitzer ranking as high as #3 and Erin Burnett ranked #8 in US throughout the broadcast.

Source: Twitter Analytics 6/13/11, 10/18/11, 11/22/11, 1/19/12 & 1/26/12

GetGlue

· The CNN Florida Republican Debate had over 5,700 GetGlue check-ins and generated an estimated 1.3 million impressions across Facebook and Twitter.

Source: GetGlue 9/12, 10/18, 11/22, 1/19 & 1/26

Filed under: CNN

O’Reilly Looks at MSNBC’s Pat Buchanan Fiasco…

icn2 — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:53:59 +0000

(via J$)

It was kind of a missed opportunity. Sandy Rios doesn’t help herself any by bringing out the “1st Amendment” shield in her first breath. Sorry Sandy, the First Amendment primarily covers government intrusion, not what a private enterprise allows. And the Progressive crank didn’t fare much better. O’Reilly actually came out looking rather sane and smart by comparison, despite his silly assertion that everyone at MSNBC is ~~progressive~~ extreme. And it’s too bad that the segment veered quickly from what MSNBC did with Buchanan to whether Buchanan was correct or not.

Filed under: FNC, MSNBC

Inside CNN’s iReport

icn2 — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:50:55 +0000

Poynter’s Craig Silverman writes about CNN’s iReport…

The protests that erupted in Nigeria earlier this month over skyrocketing fuel prices initially received only a small amount of coverage from North American media, including CNN.

But CNN’s iReport team soon began seeing a steady stream of photos, videos and on the ground reports submitted by users in Nigeria. It became clear they couldn’t ignore the story.

“CNN wasn’t really covering that story at all until we started seeing an outpouring of contributions of video and photos and people writing into iReport over and over for days,” said Lila King, participation director for CNN Digital. “It made us say, ‘Gosh, you know we really need to be paying attention to this.’ ”

The result was increased coverage on CNN properties featuring the material submitted by a range of Nigerian citizens and freelancers.

This is iReport’s fifth anniversary, and a CNN spokesperson calls it “the most developed and active citizen journalism platform of any news organization worldwide.” It claims 1,002,428 registered iReporters, and 2.4 million unique users each month. King said iReport has had content submitted from every country on earth.

Filed under: CNN

Free for All: 01/27/12

icn2 — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:06:22 +0000

What’s on your mind?

Filed under: Free For All

Dylan Ratigan Profile…

icn2 — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:04:56 +0000

The Miami Herald’s Glenn Garvin profiles Dylan Ratigan…

Certain that the financial collapse of 2008 would trigger major political and economic reforms, Ratigan left a successful show on the business network CNBC for MSNBC, which he thought would be a better forum for delving into politics. He was surprised — and ticked off — that little seemed to be happening.

“That was my naïveté,” Ratigan says. “What stunned me was that neither the media nor the political parties were willing to engage in debate on the corruption in our banking system which underlay the financial collapse. Since then, not only is there no debate on banking corruption, but there’s no debate on corruption in healthcare or in trade policy.

“The unifying factor in all those matters is that the funding of both our political parties comes mainly from the greedy bastards, the big corporations, who are buying our politicians.”

The focus of Ratigan’s show since then has been the nexus between big business and government, a dirty game in which corporations use government to leverage big profits, while leaving their losses to be covered by taxpayers. Not that taxpayers are wholly innocent, he quickly adds.

Filed under: MSNBC

The Hazards of Live TV: #25,141

icn2 — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 05:50:28 +0000

Gremlins in the FNC tape machinery again?

Filed under: Hazards of Live TV

Geraldo Rivera Interview…

icn2 — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 05:09:54 +0000

The Orange County Register’s Gary Lycan interviews Geraldo Rivera about his new LA radio show…

I always wanted to do radio,” Rivera said. “I am kind of a liberal Republican but I’m not always right. I hesitated for several reasons, one of which is that it is so labor intensive. As radio talk took hold, I saw it skew hard right. Everyone wanted to be Rush. But for him, there would never have been a Tea Party or a Fox News Channel.

“I am for free enterprise. I want people to be responsible for themselves as a family. The times when we had liberals like Nelson Rockefeller and Jacob Javits have all but evaporated. I think the party is reduced because of it.”

Assessing his WABC program, he said, “It’s hard to tell. Lots of sponsors have come around, the phone calls are always coming in. The ratings are delayed. We get some numbers next month. My sense is all the people who call me have said they ‘appreciate your coverage of the wars.’”

Rivera will do both shows live from KABC starting Monday, Jan. 30. He will later divide time between New York and LA. On Sunday, Jan. 29, he will meet everyone and start to “figure out where I am living.”

Filed under: FNC

CNN’s Crowd Egging Debate Controversy…

icn2 — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 03:09:26 +0000

When NBC had its crowd-noiseless debate on Monday, it drew criticism from some quarters for NBC’s decision to tell the crowd to refrain from outbursts. As tonight’s CNN debate drew closer some CNN staffers/talent were making note that their debate wouldn’t have this restriction. Okay, not having that restriction is one thing. Egging on the crowd deliberately is another thing entirely.

Keith Olbermann tweeted the following tonight…

You know what CNN guy w/his hands up is doing, right? He’s egging on the #FLdebate audience to clap – like a game show (link)

I wasn’t watching the debate as we’ve had too many and none having much to do with my state of California but when I saw that tweet I tuned in at the end and I saw a floor guy, probably the same floor guy, whipping up the crowd with his arms just as the debate ended. So that’s two instances of CNN egging on the debate crowd. How many more of those incidents were there?

Filed under: CNN

Florida CNN Debate: Your reactions…

icn2 — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 01:34:15 +0000

Post you reactions to the Florida GOP CNN debate and the coverage thereof here…

Filed under: CNN

Andy Levy Profile…

icn2 — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 23:19:54 +0000

Michael Elkin profiles Red Eye’s Andy Levy in Jewish Exponent…

An unapologetic libertarian — like host and friend Gutfeld — whose mischievous mantra is “I apologize for nothing,” this political science grad of Columbia University helps make it all politics as unusual on a program where blistering broadsides are interspersed with cracks on Gutfeld’s gnome-like height, weird webcam posts of pets in comical positions and conspiratorial conversations between guests.

It is, as Gutfeld once sniveled, “kind of like The View, but with bladder control.”

Gutfeld controls the tempo, but Levy holds him in check with his “pre-game” and “halftime reports,” and “postgame wrap.”

So, what’s the rap on Levy, whose esoteric bio includes time served in the miliary as well as war time in the jungles of Hollywood, and keyboard work for singer Dalton Grant?

He and the host, Levy says, live in a time warp: “We have the same warped sensibility,” Levy concedes of why he and Gutfeld can gut it out so well on TV. “We make a good team.”

Filed under: FNC

Free for All: 01/26/12

icn2 — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 15:36:39 +0000

What’s on your mind?

Filed under: Free For All