Saturday, March 05, 2005
Anchor Go Round Weekend
Fill-in anchors are running loose on the mothership today. CNN State Department Correspondent Andrea Koppel was once again in for Fredricka who is now officially on maternity leave. Does anybody else see the oddness of dragging Andrea from DC,(and family), wasting money on the expense of putting her up in a hotel when there are several able anchors already at CNN Center? Catherine Calloway and Judy Fortin are just a couple that would make great fill-in anchors.
> Randi Kaye will be filling for Carol Lin Saturday night.
# posted by ATN @ 5:40 PM 
Friday, March 04, 2005
Special Live Midnight Edition of LKL Beats FNC and MSNBC in total Viewers
Source: Tv Newser A CNN insider notes that its coverage of Martha Stewart's midnight release beat Fox News Channel in total viewers. Between midnight and 1am, the live edition of Larry King Live -- hosted by Nancy Grace -- was #1 in its time period. CNN averaged 707,000 viewers, while FNC had 555,000 and MSNBC had 299,000.
# posted by ATN @ 7:25 PM
David Kiley: Liberals Watch Fox News To Be Entertained
Source: Business Week
Those Fox Ratings Don't Necessarily Mean The Country is Moving To The Right
The right wingnuts think that their ratings are proof that the country is moving to the right on cultural issues. I’m not so sure. My take is this: The Prime Time Shows on Fox are killing their counterparts on CNN in prime time because they are more entertaining to listen to or watch, not because more people agree with the loony positions of the hosts.
I agree with almost nothing uttered by Hannity, who is the most intellectually lazy creature I have observed since Junior High summer school (I had a summer job. I wasn’t taking a class.) Hannity and the others so outrageous, cockeyed and idiotic in their "logic" and on-air control tactics (I'm not criticizing their positions, only how they arrive at them) that it's more fun to listen to them than to Paula Zahn playing it straight.
I know a lot of people who are left of center who watch and liosten to these shows. But it's not because they are in synch with their politics. The dirty secret is that a lot of liberals and moderates watch and listen to these right-wing nutballs just to get pissed off and worked up. And to laugh.
The only one I can think of to take a bite out of O'Reilly's franchise from 8Pm to 9PM for CNN is Al Franken. And maybe not even him. O'Reilly playing it straight is often funnier than Franken going for a joke.
Those Fox Ratings Don't Necessarily Mean The Country is Moving To The Right
The right wingnuts think that their ratings are proof that the country is moving to the right on cultural issues. I’m not so sure. My take is this: The Prime Time Shows on Fox are killing their counterparts on CNN in prime time because they are more entertaining to listen to or watch, not because more people agree with the loony positions of the hosts.
I agree with almost nothing uttered by Hannity, who is the most intellectually lazy creature I have observed since Junior High summer school (I had a summer job. I wasn’t taking a class.) Hannity and the others so outrageous, cockeyed and idiotic in their "logic" and on-air control tactics (I'm not criticizing their positions, only how they arrive at them) that it's more fun to listen to them than to Paula Zahn playing it straight.
I know a lot of people who are left of center who watch and liosten to these shows. But it's not because they are in synch with their politics. The dirty secret is that a lot of liberals and moderates watch and listen to these right-wing nutballs just to get pissed off and worked up. And to laugh.
The only one I can think of to take a bite out of O'Reilly's franchise from 8Pm to 9PM for CNN is Al Franken. And maybe not even him. O'Reilly playing it straight is often funnier than Franken going for a joke.
# posted by ATN @ 6:45 PM
Thursday Primetime Ratings; CNN Martha Special A Hit; Nancy Grace Enters CNN Ratings Territory
FNC O'REILLY 2,429,000
FNC HANNITY/COLMES 1,576,000
FNC GRETA 1,364,000
FNC SHEP SMITH 1,316,000
CNN LARRY KING 1,265,000
CNN MARTHA SPECIAL 893,000
CNN ZAHN 688,000
CNNHN NANCY GRACE 540,000
CNN COOPER 537,000
MSNBC HARDBALL 385,000
MSNBC OLBERMANN 269,000
E! MICHAEL JACKSON 237,000
MSNBC SCARBROUGH 216,000
From Drudge today.
Look at the number of viewers FNC loses after O'reilly's hour. FNC lost over a million viewers last night when H and C came on. Reckin what the problem is there?
# posted by ATN @ 4:37 PM
On Liquor Ads, BET's Been There, Done That
Source: Maynard Institute Much was made this week of CNN's decision to become the first national cable television news network to accept commercials for distilled spirits.
The commercials, as Stuart Elliott reported Tuesday in the New York Times, must include a message that promotes drinking responsibly.
But Black Entertainment Television began running hard-liquor ads in 1996, as Alicia Mundy reported for MediaWeek at the time.
"You know, they were running liquor ads on Hispanic TV for five years, and nobody said a thing! But now when it's on regular TV, suddenly it's a health issue," Mundy later quoted BET founder Bob Johnson as saying. "Bullshit! I don't make money off liquor ads. Maybe $60,000 (partly from Seagram). That's out of $ 60 million in ad revenue. It's nothing. But it's the principle. Alcohol is alcohol. You don't see them rushing to take beer ads off the air, do you?"
# posted by ATN @ 10:21 AM
Thursday, March 03, 2005
Larry King Live, LIVE At Midnight Eastern Tonight
Larry has announced a special LIVE edition of Larry King Live will air at midnight eastern tonight. Larry said Nancy Grace will be the guest host for the special edition which will focus on the release of Martha Stewart from prison.
# posted by ATN @ 9:01 PM
Wednesday #'s; And We All Fall Down
Wednesday, 8pm, total viewers:
FNC: 2.0 / 1,728,000
CNN: 0.3 / 287,000
MSNBC: 0.3 / 209,000
HLN: 0.2 / 201,000
CNBC: 0.1 / 74,000
Ok,we will reveal our 'source' for the #'s..it's none other than Tv Newser.
MORE--A few folks have e-mailed saying I am incorrectly labeling the above #'s "TOTAL VIEWERS". Well surf on over to Tv Newser's site and see if he isn't labeling the above #'s TOTAL VIEWERS. Yes, he does have a second chart showing the 25-54 demo #'s, BUT the top is labeled TOTAL VIEWERS. With that said I too have been scratching my head about the low TOTAL numbers for Wednesday night. Below is the second set off #'s from Tv Newser.
Wednesday, 8pm, 25-54 demo
FNC: 0.6 / 594,000
CNN: 0.2 / 193,000
MSNBC: 0.1 / 107,000
HLN: 0.1 / 65,000
CNBC: 0.1 / 53,000
(In the 11pm replays, Grace beat Hardball...)
# posted by ATN @ 6:44 PM
Nancy Grace Appears on MSNBC
Nancy Grace appeared Thursday morning on the Don Imus radio/tv program. She apparently discussed the Michael Jackson Circus, sorry, trial and even promoted her new HLN program. Many MSNBC fans are wondering why in the heck MSNBC would let Grace on to promote a program that is beating Keith Olbermann's program in the ratings. Here's what one MSNBC fan has to say: "Imus let Nancy come on MSNBC? I kinda doubt Larry King would have Keith on to sit and talk about his show, but maybe I'm wrong. Maybe all the channels have joined hands and sung koom-by-ya and they all promote each others shows now."
An e-mailer adds this: "Nancy has appeared on Imus many times. She said exactly the same things on Imus that she said on LKL, no more, no less. The real question should be why is Nancy Grace appearing anywhere. She's hardly an objective voice and is only challanged when she appears on LK."
# posted by ATN @ 3:12 PM
HLN Touches Up Graphics a Little
It seems the HLN graphics have been touched up a bit. Above is a screen grab from this morning and below is a screen grab from February 21.
# posted by ATN @ 9:23 AM
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
CNN Gets Goosed
Source: NYT NN has shown a commercial for Grey Goose vodka, making it the first national cable TV news network to carry liquor advertising.
The spot appeared last night on the program "NewsNight With Aaron Brown."
The commercial was originally set to be run Monday on "NewsNight," Sal Petruzzi, a spokesman for CNN, owned by Time Warner, said yesterday. The spot, however, was shifted when the final lineup of commercials was completed.
Additional: A source tells CNN Blog the ad played TWICE during newsnight Tuesday.
# posted by ATN @ 7:45 PM
Coming Soon... A Bigger and Better CNN Blog
Keep your ears and eyes open and we'll be telling ya' more in the weeks to come!
# posted by ATN @ 7:35 PM
Soldiers View CNN as the "Enemy"
Source: Rolling Stone Great article in the new issue of Rolling Stone on how a group of Soldiers really express their dislike for a CNN crew assigned to be embedded with them. Below is a portion of the article:
At approximately 9 a.m., the men recall, they received orders to return to the area they'd cleared the previous afternoon. There, they met up with a team from CNN. Fallujah was teeming with journalists who'd embedded themselves with both the Army and the Marines. The men had mixed feelings about the attention; they admired the dedication of the journalists who rode with them into battle, but, collectively, they viewed CNN (and to a certain extent even Fox News) as the "enemy," willfully misrepresenting the realities of the battlefield for the entertainment of the masses back home. "It just seems like we're this big reality TV show to everyone," says Bandy. "No one knows how many people are affected by what they're watching. It's a dangerous fucking place."
There are two different accounts of what happened on the morning of November 13th. The battalion commanders state that the soldiers' mission was to provide security for an Army reconnaissance team, blocking any insurgents who might want to circle back and attack the troops from behind. The soldiers believe their primary mission was to serve as escort and, to a degree, as subjects for CNN. While another platoon continued to clear buildings, Bandy's took CNN to a house in which they'd found a large weapons cache, pointing out where one soldier had killed a fighter just moments before he ambushed them with a grenade. Alvey, who is charismatic in front of a camera, was one of the stars. "It was straight Hollywood," says Bentley, who like most of the men felt as if he was on a "baby-sitting" mission. "They got their camera crews and they're setting up and shit, and they're fucking choreographing his fucking speech and shit -- " ("They got pissed because I kept saying, 'Fuckin' haj,' " Alvey says) " -- and everyone's like, 'What the fuck are we doing?' "
Suddenly, there were shots. The CNN team ducked, seeking cover beside an armored Humvee. Bandy, assuming they were under sniper attack, stood watch over the reporters. Alvey took his squad in the direction of the shots. Emerging from his Bradley, he realized he was in front of the house next door to the one in which the platoon had spent the previous night.
As Alvey talks, he sketches a picture of the house. There were two main rooms. Sims was in the second, lying in a pool of his own blood. "We had to clear the fucking house and we couldn't really help him." Alvey's voice gets thick. Then he gets up and walks out of the room for a minute or two to collect himself. When he returns, he apologizes. "It's hard sometimes," he says.
"What gets me is that we slept next to this house the night prior," says Bandy. He'd pulled roof guard that night and believed the house next door was empty. And yet, looking back, he remembers hearing a noise. "I made a joke about not waking up the neighbors," he says. "So were the insurgents in there all night?" He believes they must have been -- "quiet, patient and scared."
"After the CO died, we fucking firebombed the fuck out of that city," says Alvey. "It was fucked up." Now it's hard to quiet the mind to the parade of doubts and "what if's" that haunt the men to this day. In the story they tell themselves, the soldiers blame CNN -- if they had not been tasked to the journalists, they might have been with Sims. Their officers say the men would not have been with Sims regardless of CNN. Intellectually, the soldiers agree, but that doesn't help them cope with their grief. "You know, I want to sit here and degrade CNN," says Bandy. "I want to be angry because they were tossed into the middle of our operation. Everybody bitches about the media -- but nobody ever complains when they're on TV."
# posted by ATN @ 7:10 PM
Tuesday Night's Letterman Top 10: Top Ten Other Changes At CNN
10. Wolf Blitzer changing name to Blitz Wolfer.
9. When covering a hard story, reporters ask, "What would Jack Daniels do?"
8. Every Sunday it's "WKRP in Cincinnati" marathons!
7. Reporters must make quotation marks with fingers when calling Bush "President".
6. They're putting Lou Dobbs on steriods.
5. Every night, one lucky viewer receives an on-air physical from Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
4. Last 10 minutes of newscasts anchors sing hits from the 70s, 80s, 90s and today.
3. Let's just say Paula Zahn is now Paul Zahn.
2. Changing name to CNNN.
1. Interactive feature allows viewers to administer painful electric shock to Larry King.
# posted by ATN @ 5:52 PM
Tuesday Primetime #'s
From Sludge, I mean Drudge!
FNC O'REILLY 2,304,000
FNC HANNITY/COLMES 1,704,000
FNC GRETA 1,615,000
CNN LARRY KING 1,364,000
CNN AARON BROWN 842,000
CNN ZAHN 542,000
CNNHN NANCY GRACE 405,000
MSNBC OLBERMANN 314,000
MSNBC SCARBOROUGH 208,000
Where's Anderson Cooper 360? Surely, just SURELY it's numbers weren't below 200,000 Tuesday night OR did Mr. Drudge fail to include AC?
Update: Via the tip-jar: "Drudge's #'s are leaked to him via Fox News. They often do not include AC's #'s. Why? Hard to say, maybe they do not want to promote him. I'm sure AC's numbers were fairly high. His was the ONLY CNN show from 5:00pm - 10:00pm to have viewer growth in the period Feb. 04- Feb. 05. WB, LD, PZ, LK and AB all lost viewers. The worst being LK and AB, their #'s were down 23 and 26% respectively."
# posted by ATN @ 5:30 PM
Martha, Martha, Martha
Source: CNN Pressroom CNN’s People in the News offers an exclusive look at the homemaking maven’s five months in a federal prison camp with never-before-seen footage of Martha Stewart in prison and interviews with some of her high-profile visitors. “Martha’s Makeover,” hosted by CNN’s Paula Zahn and featuring CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, airs on Thursday, March 3, at 10 p.m.
This one-hour prime-time special reveals how Stewart coped in prison. Friends, like neighbor Richard Feigen and attorney Walter Dellinger, discuss how Stewart changed during her prison term. Also, The Apprentice creator, Mark Burnett, talks about his plans to make Stewart the next reality television star.
Along with footage CNN obtained of Stewart in prison that will appear exclusively on the network, People in the News tells the story of the domestic diva’s remarkable rise to fame, her devastating fall and a possible return to prominence.
UPDATE: A source tells CNN Blog, the "Martha Special" will be shown again in Primetime and overnight on Friday inthe 8pm and 2am time slot.
# posted by ATN @ 5:01 PM
CNNRadio Hires Four, Promotes Four
Source: CNN Pressroom CNNRadio strengthens its newsgathering operation with the appointment of four new staff members together with promoting four experienced staffers to new positions. In announcing the changes, Jerry DeMink, vice president, CNN News Services, said the changes ensure that news from CNNRadio remains the most up-to-date and accurate information available for its more than 2,000 affiliates.
To maintain close connections with CNNRadio affiliates, the network has hired former staff member Tyler Moody as senior producer. Moody rejoins the network from KOA-AM in Denver where he was the executive producer and assistant news director. Moody previously worked for CNNRadio in 2000-2001 as a coordinating producer, anchor and editor. His new job duties will include oversight of CNNRadio correspondents as well as leading the team coordinating news content and live shots for affiliates.
In addition to the new hires, CNNRadio has established a management level of supervising producers to oversee the editorial direction of the network.
Richard Benson, a radio veteran who has been with CNNRadio since 1989, first worked as a part-time editor and then spent seven years as the afternoon editor. Benson was promoted to coordinating producer and, most recently, to executive producer. Benson produces the CNNRadio year-ender programming and packages and was the producer of CNNRadio’s election night long-form coverage.
Maria Boynton, an award-winning journalist with 20 years of experience first came to CNNRadio in 1996 and returned in 2001. For four years, Boynton was a news anchor for WOR-AM radio in New York. She also worked for two years as a news writer at WCBS-AM, also in New York. Maria also has experience as a news anchor, reporter and news director for several stations in both Pennsylvania and Georgia.
John Lisk is a radio news anchor and producer who has worked for CNNRadio since 1990. Prior to joining CNNRadio, Lisk worked as a freelance news anchor for Atlanta-based WSB Radio. He also has anchored at WGST-AM in Atlanta and WSOC-AM in Charlotte, N.C. Lisk produced and co-anchored CNNRadio’s Democratic National Convention coverage and produced the Republican National Convention coverage.
Sherri Maksin, a new hire, comes to CNNRadio in the role of a supervising producer following a more than three-year stint at CNN International as a news writer and producer. Prior to that, Maksin worked for seven years as a news editor and producer at the CBS Radio network in New York. She also worked for six years at NBC Radio in Washington, D.C.
Ninette Sosa, an award-winning radio anchor, reporter and editor first joined CNN as a video journalist in September 2001. Prior to coming to Atlanta, Sosa covered breaking news stories from California and Mexico. Sosa specializes on stories focused on victims of domestic abuse as well as children and education issues.
The new on-air talents include Amanda Moyer and Michelle Wright. Moyer joins CNNRadio from WILM-AM in Wilmington, Del., where she was a general assignment reporter and afternoon drive co-anchor. Wright joins CNNRadio from WCFB-FM in Orlando, Fla., where she served as the news director in addition to working as a reporter, anchor and producer for WDBO-AM.
# posted by ATN @ 4:57 PM
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
Hollywood Reporter: HLN Headed Into the Opposite Direction
Source: Hollywood Reporter For 24 years, CNN Headline News reliably stood for half-hour newscasts, day and night, seven days a week. Not any longer. Faced with anemic evening ratings, the cable news channel revised its lineup to insert three live hourlong shows: "Showbiz Tonight,"
"Nancy Grace" and "Prime News Tonight."Although it deviates somewhat from the tightly formatted newscasts, "Prime News Tonight" is not much of a stretch. "Showbiz Tonight" and "Nancy Grace," on the other hand, take CNN Headline News in a whole new direction, one that in many ways is diametrically opposite from the CNN tradition of rigorously reported news and stories of significance. MUCH MORE
# posted by ATN @ 7:45 PM
The Grace/Olbermann Battle Continues
Source: Tv Newser In the Nancy Grace/Keith Olbermann battle, Grace scored another point on Monday. At 8pm, Grace delivered 329,000 total viewers, compared to MSNBC's 285,000. Headline News averaged 127,000 viewers in the 25-54 demo, compared to 105,000 for Countdown.
# posted by ATN @ 6:54 PM
FNC Reports: CNN #'s Down Vs. '04
Source: Tv Newser "CNN continued its downslide under the leadership of Jonathan Klein, posting the largest losses in Total Day and Prime Time vs. 2004 among the major cable news networks," FNC's press release says. CNN's ratings dropped 21% in primetime and 16% in total day versus the same month last year. CNN's primetime has posted "staggering losses in key demos, down 18% in 25-54, 20% in 18-49 and 8% in 18-34," the press release adds.
Does anybody agree with me that one of these days Fox is gonna get caught with it's pants down and it will be THEM with the low #'s all because they are so worried watching how the other networks perform? Being a former broadcast news dude I have personally seen it happen, you're so concerned about your competition, when all of sudden you're on the Titanic yourself.
> Update: An insider says, "It ain't gonna happen under this new management. Everyone thought in the beginning it was very promising but now no longer do."
> More e-mail: CNN has become unwatchable under Klein. All "fluff"; mass murderers, missing kids, Michael Jackson..soft news, newsmagazine stuff. Very little hard news, and international coverage. Paula Zahn, Anderson Cooper and Wolf Blitzer's #'s have improved a bit, I believe, but Larry King and Aaron Brown's #'s have been sinking fast. King has had the WORST guests, and Aaron Brown, what can you say...just awful.
# posted by ATN @ 5:30 PM
LK Mentioned Heavily In Opening of Wacko Jacko Trial
A source tells CNN Blog "Larry King VERY involved in Michael Jackson case according to transcript of opening statements." And LK is going against advice of a good lawyer in his devoting so many hours to case.
Update: The Smoking Gun is covering the trial heavily and here's what it had to say about Larry King.
"Countering Sneddon's claim that the woman was not seeking money from Jackson, Mesereau said that he will prove that her lawyer, Larry Feldman, told CNN's Larry King (during a lunch) that "she wants money." He also told jurors that Jackson's doctor (apparently Alimorad Farshchian) would rebut prosecution witness claims that Jackson served alcohol to the teenage accuser on a February 2003 flight from Miami to Santa Barbara."
# posted by ATN @ 4:10 PM
For HLN There's No Where Else To Go But Up
Source: TV Newser The first week of Headline Prime delivered a 26% ratings increase for CNN Headline News, according to Nielsen #'s.
In primetime, 8 to 11pm, HLN averaged 249,000 total viewers, a 26% bump from the prior four weeks. In the 25-54 demographic, the network averaged 84,000 viewers, a 5% increase from the prior four weeks. (These numbers are for Nielsen's traditional primetime block, including Nancy Grace at 8pm, Prime News Tonight at 9pm, and the replay of Showbiz Tonight at 10pm. They do not include the 7pm broadcast of Showbiz Tonight.)
At 8pm, Nancy Grace averaged 355,000 total viewers, a 78% increase over the prior four-week 8pm average. The show averaged 111,000 viewers in the 25-54 demo, a 50% increase over the prior four weeks.
# posted by ATN @ 4:02 PM
Loose Change From the Tip Box
I've received a couple of tips so far BUT I don't know how much water this one holds:
"Was at a conference in Washington Monday that Sesno moderated, and in his introduction, they said he would be returning soon to CNN. Thats all I know."
CNN Blog reports, U decide.
# posted by ATN @ 3:27 PM
CNN to Become First National News Network to Air Hard liquor Commercials
Source: NYT(registration required) CNN is to become the first national cable television news network to accept commercials for distilled spirits, by running a spot for Grey Goose vodka.
The spot was to have run last night during "News Night With Aaron Brown," but did not appear.
The policy change also affects a CNN sibling, CNN Headline News, although that network has no liquor marketers scheduled to run commercials yet.
In rewriting its policy on liquor advertising for the first time since it began operating in 1980, CNN joins a growing list of national cable channels that run such spots. The rest, focused on entertainment, financial and sports programming, include BET, Bloomberg, Bravo, E, FX, Fox Sports, Golf Channel, Spike TV, Sci-Fi Channel, Style, USA and VH1.
CNN and Headline News are also joining those cable networks in imposing rules for liquor commercials that are stricter than those for many other advertising categories. For instance, the spots will run only after 9 p.m. and must include a message that promotes drinking responsibly. MORE
# posted by ATN @ 8:20 AM
AC Speaks to University of Illinois Students
Source: Daily Illini So this explains why Heidi hosted AC 360 Monday night. Anderson spoke to about 500 people at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Cooper, a former ABC News correspondent and host of the network's reality program, The Mole, explained the toughest story he has had to cover yet - the war in Iraq.
"In Baghdad, you can't just wander around and find a story," Cooper said.
"You have a security escort and a set destination in mind."Cooper said reporters were given a list of things they could not do in Iraq, including going to a restaurant, hailing a taxi or standing in a crowd."After a while you find yourself almost trapped in a security bubble," Cooper said.
"It makes it very difficult to get an accurate sense of what's going on."Cooper joked about the challenges he faced while covering four hurricanes this year.
"Covering hurricanes is one of those things I'd make fun of reporters for doing," Cooper said. "The process of growing up is the process of becoming what you make fun of." MORE
# posted by ATN @ 8:12 AM
HLN Execs "Encouraged By Initial Results of Primetime Makeover
Source: Reuters Only time will tell. But after last week's launch of three new hourlong shows between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. ET, CNN Headline News says it's encouraged by the initial results.
Ken Jautz, exec vp of the CNN News Group, doesn't see anything but positives. "It's been an excellent start," he says.
Nancy Grace, a staple on Court TV and a fill-in for CNN's Larry King, seems to have found an audience at 8 p.m. Through last Thursday's ratings, she averaged a 0.3 cable rating and 362,000 viewers -- up 50% compared with what "Headline News" was doing the week before, according to Nielsen Media Research.
"Prime News Tonight" is flat so far in the ratings (0.2) but averaged 268,000 viewers, up 35% from the week before. Headline News' audience dropped 50% in the "Showbiz Tonight" 7 p.m. time slot, down to a 0.1 from 0.2 rating and 145,000 viewers compared with 189,000 the week before.
"We're not focusing on that because you look at ratings over time and we expect them to continue to do better," Jautz says. He points out that a big marketing push for the new "Headline Prime" didn't start until this week, the block's second week on the air.
"We should have patience and see how things go," Jautz says.
Headline News executives feel partially vindicated by their initial ratings for the decision to do something different with primetime. Jautz says the plan was to complement CNN's programing, which at 9 p.m. is "Larry King Live." Headline News is counterprograming with a newscast, which isn't available on any of the other channels at that time.
Industry observers say it's going to be the long run that determines Headline News' success in primetime. MORE
# posted by ATN @ 8:06 AM
Monday, February 28, 2005
New 'American Morning' Exec Named
Source: Broadcasting and Cable Cable News Network has named Kim Bondy senior executive producer for American Morning with Soledad O’Brien and Bill Hemmer and VP of morning programs for CNN U.S.
Bondy takes over March 1, it was announced at a staff meeting Monday by CNN U.S. President Jon Klein.
Prior to the promotion, Bondy served as CNN’s VP of franchise development, based in Atlanta.
She will be based in New York for the American Morning job.
Before joining CNN, Bondy's resume included news director on NBC’s Today show and executive producer of the network’s Weekend Today when O’Brien anchored the weekend show.
# posted by ATN @ 5:24 PM
CNN Full of Grace
Source: Broadcasting & Cable Anyone who witnessed legal analyst Nancy Grace’s combative performance at the recent Television Critics Association press tour in Los Angeles won’t be surprised by the behind-the-scenes reports coming from CNN Headline News’ new show, Nancy Grace. The diva act continues.
However, CNN may be inclined to take the bad with the good, because Grace is lifting the beleaguered channel in the ratings.
Just one week into the prime time show (which got off with a rocky start with a glitch-filled premiere), Grace has already had her make-up person reassigned, and laced into a production staffer so mercilessly that he quit the show. In a departure for the traditionally low-glitz CNN, Grace has commanded a room of her own for makeup. But it’s not as if she wants privacy; the host calls her staff in for meetings while she’s being spruced up.
As the show enters its second week, CNN staffers expect more tension. “This is cable honey, skip the diva business,” says one. It was an echo of reactions to Grace at the TCA gathering in January, when her grande-dame manner during Q&As with journalists raised eyebrows.
Luckily for her bosses, she’s also raising ratings. “Nancy Grace Premiere Week” goosed the longtime ratings laggard Headline News by 81% in the 8 p.m. (ET) timeslot and outpaced Keith Olbermann’s Countdown on MSNBC.
# posted by ATN @ 8:22 AM
25 Year CNN Veteran Calling it Quits
Source: NY Daily News Financial news icon Myron Kandel is retiring from CNN after 25 years - another milestone in the cable net's retreat from its once-vaunted position in business news.
CNN financial editor Kandel, who pioneered business reporting on TV in launching shows like "Moneyline," will deliver his last report March 11.
The 74-year-old veteran New York journalist, known to friends as Mike, will remain at CNN as a consultant and keep his famously cluttered office at the Time Warner Center.
His "Moneyline" commentary and frequent CNN reports - as many as 17 a day during the stock market boom - made him one of the country's most recognized financial news journalists. MORE
# posted by ATN @ 8:13 AM
Sunday, February 27, 2005
Send Me Your Tips...Anonymously
Have a tip you'd like to share with CNN Blog? Well now you can do it ANONYMOUSLY. That's right anybody can now send tips, news, questions, anything anonymously. Just click on "Send Me Your Tip" located to the left side of the blog. You will be asked for your name and e-mail address BUT it's not a requirement to provide that info.
# posted by ATN @ 6:47 PM
According to Fred, It's Official; Expect Prime-time "Specials" this Week
A source tells CNN Blog, "According to Fred (Fredricka Whitfield) she's "officially" on maternity leave. CNN won't call it "official" until they announce the birth on air." CNN over the course of the last number of weekends has been trying some "fresh faces" to cover for Fred.
Also CNN Blog is told, "Look for some Primetime schedule changes during the week for so-called "special" programming, nothing permanent."
# posted by ATN @ 11:00 AM
CNN Founder Breeds a Taste for Bison
Source: The News Journal A string of Western-theme diners may have transformed a novelty meat into a blue-plate special.
Live bison prices have nearly tripled, and the public's hunger for the lean, tangy meat is growing as it shows up on menus and in grocery stores.
Experts credit media mogul Ted Turner and his restaurant chain, Ted's Montana Grill.
"Ted's was the trendsetter," said Dave Carter, of the National Bison Association. "One of the things we've said for a long time is we needed a good way to get people to take their first bite."
Turner, who founded 24-hour Cable News Network, has been called a visionary. After all, who expected CNN to work?
# posted by ATN @ 10:51 AM
Poll Results and "The Grace Effect"
CNN Blog asked readers, "Will the new Headline News primetime programs hurt CNN/US's ratings?" Here are the results: 73% OR 46 readers say yes HLN's new prime-time programs will hurt CNN/US's ratings while 27% OR 17 blog readers say NO they will not. From looking at the first week's numbers MSNBC seems to be hurting more from the new programs not CNN/US.
With the first week of the new HLN prime-time line-up behind us, let's step back and look at the numbers which are giving MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olberman a run for it's money. Below is a day to day comparison. (numbers from a tv heads message board poster)
>Monday - Olbermann had a 21,000 viewer advantage over Grace. This was the first night of the new HLN Prime format and her new show, the first time they competed, and the last time he would beat her.
>Tuesday - Grace had a 78,000 viewer advantage over Olbermann.
>Wednesday - Grace had a 91,000 viewer advantage over Olbermann.
>Thursday - Grace had a 158,000 viewer advantage over Olbermann, who lost 82,000 viewers from Wednesday.
Can Nancy Grace keep the numbers in her favor and continue to bring viewers from MSNBC to HLN? We'll have to wait and see!
Update:3:50p.m. An insider has this to say: "Poll results not surprising. What surprises me is that Grace didn't have an effect on PZ who pulled higher numbers last week than ever before. But, then again, with all the promo time she's (PZ) getting, that's not surprising either. It's all about publicity!"
# posted by ATN @ 10:46 AM
