Friday, June 24, 2005

 

Klein:FNC sounds a little nervous. Guess what, they should be because we haven't even started trying yet


Source: Dallas News.com This just in: The new CNN wants to be a lot more like the old CNN in hopes of enticing hard news loyalists who "have abandoned us for the Internet."

So says Jonathan Klein, a former CBS News executive who became president of CNN/U.S. in November with an eye toward retro-reinventing the cable news pathfinder in its 25th year.

CNN founder Ted Turner "was onto something very powerful," Mr. Klein said Friday. "We ought to embrace what has always made us special rather than drift away from it. ...

"Literally thousands of stories break every day. But on any given day, conventional wisdom arises, and you get the same five stories on the cable news channels. That's a big reason why television has lost so many news consumers to the Web. ... Breadth and in-depth reporting are what we have to repossess and reclaim."

In short, "We don't mind having quality be our shtick," Mr. Klein said.

It all sounds pretty radical in these times. Hello to hard news and goodbye to shout-fests such as Crossfire and Capital Gang. What a concept. But was it a tough sell?

"I wouldn't call it resistance. I'd call it a pleasant surprise for the troops here, who are embracing the challenge to get back to our roots and just cover the news with no frills," Mr. Klein said. "I grew up in this business over the last 25 years. During that time we've seen the decline of real news and the rise of 'infotainment.'

"Some of it was a necessary antidote to what had became a real stuffy, ivory tower, eastern establishment, we-know-better-than-the-audience mentality. But then things went too far. The low point probably was Leonardo DiCaprio reporting on the environment for ABC News. That was just ludicrous!"

A Fox news release crowed: "CNN's prime-time and total day programming continued to deteriorate with double-digit losses in viewership under the leadership of Jonathan Klein."

In the last year, however, CNN closed the prime-time gap slightly among the principal news target audience of 25- to 54-year-olds. But it did so only by losing fewer viewers from May to May than Fox did.

Mr. Klein, nonetheless, sees a silver lining.

"They sound a little nervous," he said of Fox. "And guess what, they should be. Because we haven't even started trying yet."

Read the Complete article HERE.

# posted by ATN @ 9:52 PM
 

Soledad O'Brien's Kids Have Room to Romp



Source: Newsday American Morning's Soledad O'brien and kids are put in the spotlight in this article about how to make your home livable for kids of all ages. In the article O'brien talks about the massive renovation the 4,000 square foot loft underwent to accomodate her and husbands 4 children, 4 1/2-year-old Sofia, 3-year-old Cecilia and twins Charlie and Jackson.

# posted by ATN @ 7:47 PM
 

CNN to include HBO Clips in G8 Summit Coverage


Source: CNN Pressroom In an unprecedented effort to provide in-depth understanding of the upcoming G8 Summit in Scotland, CNN is deploying correspondents around the world to examine global issues on the summit agenda as well as partnering with HBO to spotlight the problem of extreme poverty in Africa.

CNN will air an hour-long special, “Can You Save Them?” on Saturday, July 2, at 7 p.m. (ET) and again on Sunday, July 3, at 10 a.m., which examines whether industrialized nations can eradicate poverty around the world through a concerted effort at the upcoming summit. This is the theme of HBO’s film The Girl in the Café, which “Can You Save Him?” uses as a launching point for CNN original reports and interviews on the subject. The news special features an exclusive interview by CNN’s chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, chairman of the G8 Summit.

“I’m not sure many Americans know a great deal about the G8 Summit nor why it matters,” said CNN/U.S. President Jon Klein. “Through humor and romance, HBO’s film vividly illustrates the key issues facing the summit participants. CNN’s correspondent corps then picks up the ball and separates fact from fiction.”

The Girl in the Café, written by Four Weddings and a Funeral screenwriter Richard Curtis, stars Bill Nighy as a civil servant working for the British delegation to the 2005 G8 Summit. Both CNN and HBO are divisions of Time Warner Inc. MORE

# posted by ATN @ 5:50 PM
 

Thursday #'s


Source: Inside Cable News who got them from FNC

TOTAL DAY

FNC — 1,044,000 CNN —382,000 MSNBC — 156,000 CNBC — 131,000 HLN — 215,000

PRIMETIME

FNC — 2,696,000 CNN — 800,000 MSNBC — 265,000 CNBC — (scratch) 103,000 HLN — 486,000

5PM
FOX Gibson — 1,388,000 CNN Blitzer — 370,000 MSNBC Connected — (scratch) 70,000

6PM
FOX Special Report — 1,396,000 CNN Dobbs — 349,000 MSNBC Abrams — 309,000

7PM
FOX Report — 1,527,000 CNN 360 — 548,000 MSNBC Hardball — 204,000 HLN Showbiz Tonight — 157,000

8PM
FOX O’Reilly Factor — 2,735,000 CNN Paula Zahn Now — 655,000 MSNBC Countdown — 362,000 CNBC In Brazil — (scratch) 92,000 HLN Nancy Grace — 832,000

9PM
FOX Hannity & Colmes — 2,549,000 CNN Larry King — 1,209,000 MSNBC The Situation — 153,000 CNBC Mad Money (repeat) — 120,000 HLN Prime News — 245,000

10PM
FOX On The Record — 2,803,000 CNN Newsnight — 535,000 MSNBC Scarborough — 280,000 CNBC Deutsch — (scratch) 97,000 HLN Nancy Grace (repeat) — 327,000

# posted by ATN @ 5:42 PM
 

PZ on Last Leg


Well ok bad headline but I had to get your attention somehow. Anyway in an article reporting on the recent handing out of the Gracie Awards B and C says Paula Zahn is really hopping around these days:
The celebration, a presentation of national awards by The Foundation of American Women in Radio and Television, was hosted by a hobbled CNN anchor Paula Zahn, who sported a white sequin gown and orthopedic boot, the unfortunate result of a recent dog-chasing event at her home. Fashion maven Kimora Lee Simmons presented the opening award to producers of Dora the Explorer in the category of children/adolescent programming, sans comment on Zahn’s fashion choice.

# posted by ATN @ 5:32 PM
 

Q and A With CNN.com Exec


Source: Lost Remote Cory Bergman interviewed Susan Grant, executive VP of CNN News Services, about CNN.com's new free video and upcoming plans to offer a premium service. Below are just a few of the questions asked:
LR: From a content standpoint, do you think free video is a necessity to compete with rivals like MSNBC.com?

Grant: The free video offering is responsive to our consumers' desire to get a more complete, multi-media experience when they come to CNN.com to get the most accurate, topical, relevant news and information. By utilizing the vast global newsgathering infrastructure and the breadth of the networks within the CNN News Group, we can offer broadband users an unmatchable experience.

LR: How are CNN.com readers responding to the change? Any video stats you can share from the first few days?

Grant: Online users are loving it! The feedback has been extremely positive overall, and specifically they like (i) the re-styling of the site, which better integrated video within the site and made the video easier to access; (ii) the video player, which allows them a variety of ways to sort and browse the video; (iii) the bigger screen in the player, which makes the video easier to watch; and (iv) the great CNN content.

LR: CNN.com is launching a new premium service in the fall. What can you tell me about it?

Grant: Just that we think it's going to be an incredibly unique online news experience. It will offer multiple live video feeds. I really look forward to showcasing the product and talking about all the exciting details later this summer.

LR: I understand the new service is a major undertaking for the company?

Grant: It is something we are all excited about!

For the full interview head on over to Lost Remote.

# posted by ATN @ 12:15 PM
 

CNN's New Chemistry Set: O'Brien & O'Brien


Source: The Day.com Yea, here's another article about the anchor chair switch on American Morning. According to Klein the change revolved around chemistry:
“What's vital in the morning is chemistry between anchors,” Klein told The TV Column. “Watching Miles handle ‘Live From,' where he was paired with a smart, vibrant, fun, female anchor” — Kyra Phillips — “and seeing how generous he was in sharing the spotlight and supporting and helping the co-anchor to shine; to me he's the perfect complement to Soledad, who is smart, vibrant, fun ... and the mother of four.”
And Klein commented on the accusation the Bill Hemmer move was leaked by the network:
“We would never have done that. We denigrate that as a tactic,” he said, adding, “Certainly in this case it wouldn't have served any purpose.”

And Klein comments about Jack Cafferty's new assignment on Blitzer's new program set to debut this summer:
On the decision to move Cafferty, Klein said they were going to surround Blitzer “with a lot of bright bulbs who have something to say and know how to say it.” Blitzer will play the part of “sober center of gravity in the midst of a rollicking situation room.”

# posted by ATN @ 11:51 AM

Thursday, June 23, 2005

 

GW Happy About CNN's Return to Campus


Source: GW Hatchet CNN's cameras at the Jack Morton Auditorium have not been rolling much since "Crossfire" ended earlier this month, but that's about to change.

The 24-hour news network and GW announced Thursday that their three-year partnership through the now-defunct daily political debate show will continue with a weekly broadcast of "On the Story" from GW beginning with a first taping on July 8. The hour-long program hosted by CNN veteran and chief international correspondent Christine Amanpour will provide a comprehensive roundup of weekly news events and feature a studio audience and responses to viewer e-mails.

"On the Story," which began in 2003, originally featured only female correspondents but now has a revamped format to include male correspondents and more international reporters. The show will tape on Fridays from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m., air Saturdays from 7 to 8 p.m. and be shown again Sundays from 10 to 11 a.m.

"Friday nights were all popular for 'Crossfire,' so were expect great attendance and lot of interest in this show," said Heather Clapp Date, a coordinating producer for the new show who previously helped organize the taping of "Crossfire" during it's run at GW.

In January, CNN announced that it would cut the partisan debate show and GW staple that was taped in front of a live audience weekday afternoons at the School of Media and Public Affairs building. The 2005 Kaplan/Newsweek college guide rated GW the best school for political junkies in part because of the school's affiliation with "Crossfire."

Earlier this year, GW announced that a revamped version of "Inside Politics" would replace "Crossfire," but hopes of that show coming to the University died when its host, Judy Woodruff, announced her retirement in May. Date said there is no doubt that "On the Story" will have its inaugural taping July 8 and its first broadcast the following day.

"This (show) will also provide a terrific new educational opportunity for our students and opens an excellent new chapter in our continuing partnership with CNN," said Michael Freedman, GW's vice president for communications, who played a central role in forging the University's partnership with CNN, in a statement Thursday. "We will also continue to bring GW campus visitors, (Colonial Inauguration) families, White House and Capital Hill staff and interns and tourists to the nation's capital to participate in the programs."While the first taping is two weeks away, Date said substantial work must be done in that time to coordinate staffing, ticketing and outreach, among other tasks.She said, "At this point we have a lot of work to do to get this show up and running at GW, and we are working on that right now."


# posted by ATN @ 11:20 PM
 

Wednesday's #'s


Source: TV Newser


Total day: FNC: 1,012,000 / CNN: 330,000 / MSNBC: 153,000 / HLN: 194,000 / CNBC: 150,000

Primetime: FNC: 2,409,000 / CNN: 617,000 / MSNBC: 188,000 / HLN: 377,000 / CNBC: 200,000

The hourlies:

5pm: Gibson: 1,118,000 / Blitzer: 370,000 / Connected: 73,000 / HLN: 147,000 / Kudlow: 229,000

6pm: Hume: 1,286,000 / Dobbs: 415,000 / Abrams: 210,000 / HLN: 195,000 / Mad Money: 237,000

7pm: Shep: 1,483,000 / Cooper: 416,000 / Hardball: 219,000 / Showbiz: 182,000 / Conan: 144,000

8pm: O'Reilly: 2,555,000 / Zahn: 411,000 / Countdown: 247,000 / Grace: 542,000 / Contender: 147,000

9pm: H&C: 2,097,000 / King: 829,000 / Situation: 148,000 / Prime News: 209,000 / Contender: 337,000

10pm: Greta: 2,574,000 / NewsNight: 612,000 / Scarborough: 170,000 / Grace repeat: 381,000 / Deutsch: 117,000

# posted by ATN @ 8:47 PM
 

CNN Launches Expanded, Global On the Story; Will Replace The Capital Gang


Source: CNN Pressroom CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour is joined by a rotating cast of CNN correspondents and a studio audience when a new, expanded version of On the Story moves to Saturdays on July 9.

On the Story launched in January 2003 as a forum for the network’s female correspondents to compare notes on the major stories they cover each week. The one-hour program will now include male correspondents and more international correspondents on the frontlines of the war in Iraq and other global hotspots, as well as never-before-seen raw footage, reporter diaries and questions from viewers and the studio audience at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. On the Story will air each Saturday from 7-8 p.m. (ET) and re-air in its current time slot on Sunday from 10-11 a.m. (ET)

“On the Story offers something unique in television news: insider accounts of the major events of the moment, taking viewers well beyond the headlines and deep into the back story of the events,” CNN/U.S. President Jon Klein said. “We’re calling upon a cable news tradition even more venerated than The Capital Gang: CNN’s unmatched slate of correspondents who live and breathe the news.”

The final episode of The Capital Gang airs Saturday, June 25, after a distinguished 16-year run.

# posted by ATN @ 12:47 PM
 

King Boosts MediaBay Bookstore


Source: New Jersey.com MediaBay is teaming up with Larry King to offer digital audiobooks over the Internet, marking the company's first significant step into the online audiobook business.

The Cedar Knolls company said Wednesday it will launch Larry King Audio, an online audiobook store that will offer customers digital downloads of audiobooks on a subscription or single book basis. The site, larrykingaudio.com, will start up this month, the company said.

Each week, Larry King will discuss his top audiobook picks and offer his perspective on new titles that are published, the company said.

King "is very excited to be a spokesperson for audiobooks," said MediaBay CEO Jeff Dittus. "He often has book authors on his show and, along with Oprah, he's one of the best publicists of new books."

Larry King Audio will build its subscriber base from King's CNN television show following as well as MediaBay's 80,000 active audiobook buyers and 2.5 million prior members of MediaBay's Audio Book Club, the company said.

# posted by ATN @ 11:17 AM
 

CNN and IPP Mark 10 Years of Media Excellence


Source: IPP Media CNN and IPP will this Saturday celebrate 10 years of African media excellence at celebrations that will also be used to present this year's CNN African Journalist of the Year Awards at Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya.

Record of 630 journalists from 40 countries on the continent entered in this year?s competition, which organisers say attests to the success of the competition.

The maiden event had attracted entries from only seven countries.

IPP Media has been a co-sponsor of the event for seven years now.

In a press statement, Edward Boateng, founder of the CNN African Journalist of the Year Awards, said yesterday: Today, the CNN African Journalist of the Year Awards are sought-after recognition of the best journalist in African journalism.

Numerous lives have been touched positively, something the organisers and sponsors of the event find very rewarding.

'At least, we can claim we have contributed our part to the development of African journalism and our emerging renaissance,' Boateng, who is also a senior advisor with CNN Africa and managing director for Global Media Alliance, said.

He said that the awards carry more than just prizes, 'For they signify the passion and desire of the African to
compete and do better, to tell the African story in an authoritative and world-class manner.' MORE

# posted by ATN @ 11:10 AM
 

Just Say Noruba


Source: Huffington Post Arianna Huffington writes:I was thinking a lot over the weekend about the news and about how the news becomes the news, and then I read Jay Rosen’s brilliant take on the Downing Street Memo coverage -- or lack thereof. Rosen elaborates on Josh Marshall’s assertion that "news stories have a 24 hour audition on the news stage, and if they don't catch fire in that 24 hours, there's no second chance." Rosen’s theory is that blogs have become the news cycle’s appeals court, and that the Downing Street Memo story is still alive because it won on appeal. And thank God.

But, unlike a traditional court, the Blog Circuit Court of Appeals lacks an enforcement arm. The only way its decisions can be enforced is by constant reiteration of the decision.

Which brings me back to this weekend. If you were to get your news only from television, you’d think the top issue facing our country right now is an 18-year-old girl named Natalee who went missing in Aruba. Every time one of these stories comes up, like, say, Michael Jackson, when it’s finally over I think, what a relief, now we can get back to real news. But we never do. When one of these big league nonstories ends, they just call up a new one from the minors... and off they go with another round of breathless reporting. Anything to not have to actually report actual news.

When defending these choices, news execs inevitably fall back on the old "we're just giving the people what they want." But are they? Fox News averages around two and a quarter million viewers in primetime; CNN hovers just under a million; MSNBC pulls in a quarter million. We have 280 million people in the country. That means that tens of millions of people actually don't want what they're being given -- and that there are huge slices of audience a real news operation could go after.

The mainstream media regularly confuse interesting with important. What's more, they don't even do the former very well, and they largely ignore the latter. MORE

# posted by ATN @ 10:58 AM
 

Klein: May Take 18 Months to Boost Ratings


Source: Bloomberg News Cable News Network's Jonathan Klein, who took charge of the television network's U.S. operations in November, said it may take 18 months before his changes pay off with a ratings improvement for the unit of Time Warner Inc.

``Ratings never happen overnight,'' Klein, 47, said in an interview in his office overlooking Central Park in New York. ``It would be foolhardy to obsess over them. If you're a television executive and want to improve the numbers, you have to address the quality.''

CNN contributed about $797 million of the $42 billion in sales last year at Time Warner, the world's largest media company, according to Kagan Research, a Monterey, California- based company that estimates sales at networks. Klein has failed so far in boosting ratings. CNN averaged 610,000 U.S. primetime viewers in May, down from 727,000 a year earlier and less than half the 1.4 million that watched News Corp.'s Fox News channel.

Changes Klein has already made include canceling the political debate show ``Crossfire.'' He added an international news program at midday and hired producers from CBS and ABC to work with hosts Anderson Cooper and Paula Zahn.

``It could be a very positive development to move back toward the hardcore news base,'' said Peter Jankovskis, director of research at Lisle, Illinois-based Oakbrook Investments LLC, which manages $1.3 billion including Time Warner shares.



# posted by ATN @ 10:55 AM
 

CNN Getting Its Own Grace?

New York Post Page Six While Bill Hemmer is walking out the door at CNN, his new girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle Newsom,is walking in. Last week, Court TV honcho Henry Schlieff and CNN head Jonathan Klein had lunch at Michael's. Insiders say they discussed how well the "sharing" of Nancy Grace on both networks was going, and that "Kimberly is next." Newsom, the comely ex-wife of San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom, currently anchors "Both Sides" on Court TV.


# posted by ATN @ 10:38 AM

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

 

Interesting Reads

Additional:

MORE


# posted by ATN @ 7:58 PM
 

HLN Ruffles MSNBC's Feathers ALL DAY Tuesday


Source: TV Newser


Total day: FNC: 1,032,000 / CNN: 417,000 / MSNBC: 174,000 / HLN: 194,000 / CNBC: 123,000

Primetime: FNC: 2,460,000 / CNN: 707,000 / MSNBC: 196,000 / HLN: 351,000 / CNBC: 77,000


6pm: Hume: 1,391,000 / Dobbs: 408,000 / Abrams: 241,000 / Mad Money: 218,000

7pm: Smith 1,489,000 / Cooper: 535,000 / Hardball: 228,000 / Showbiz: 156,000 / Conan: 117,000

8pm: O'Reilly: 2,779,000 / Zahn: 490,000 / Countdown: 157,000 / Grace: 523,000

9pm: H&C: 2,313,000 / King: 1,013,000 / Situation: 172,000

10pm: Greta: 2,288,000 / NewsNight: 619,000 / Scarborough: 260,000


# posted by ATN @ 6:50 PM
 

HLN Beats MS in Total Day and in Prime Monday

Source: TV Newser

Total viewers:
Total day: FNC: 967,000 / CNN: 381,000 / MSNBC: 169,000 / HLN: 215,000 / CNBC: 145,000

Primetime: FNC: 2,119,000 / CNN: 808,000 / MSNBC: 272,000 / HLN: 410,000 / CNBC: 126,000

# posted by ATN @ 2:00 PM
 

Another CNN'er Leaving


This from the e-mail box: "Maria Hinojosa, our urban affairs correspondent, has chosen to leave CNN to pursue other ventures," an internal CNN e-mail says. "From the time she joined the network in May 1997, Maria has provided numerous reports exploring such volatile issues as immigration, border protection and inner-city violence. We thank Maria for her memorable contributions and wish her the best in all of her endeavors."

# posted by ATN @ 11:44 AM
 

CNN Takes A Closer Look At The “Tsunami: Six Months On”


Source: CNN PR For the past 182 days the survivors of December’s devastating Indian-Ocean Tsunami have struggled to cope with the aftermath of the disaster. Now, on June 26, 2005, exactly six months after the tragedy, CNN will take the pulse of reconstruction efforts and the difficult healing process for people in the region in a special program, “Tsunami: Six Months On.” Airtimes on CNN International: Sunday, June 16 at 9 a.m., 2 p.m., 10 p.m. (ET)

Presented live by Veronica Pedrosa, from the network’s Asian headquarters in Hong Kong, this half-hour program includes special reports from CNN’s correspondents in the region who were there when the Tsunami struck and then reported continuously as the true horror of the disaster unfolded.

For the past six months CNN has reported on the massive humanitarian relief and reconstruction efforts taking place as well as deeply moving stories of human perseverance amid the widespread destruction. In this special program CNN investigates what the future holds for the governments, aid agencies and the ordinary people left behind after mountains of water swept away thousands of lives, together with entire towns and villages.

Atika Shubert reports on how corruption and red tape are hindering reconstruction efforts in Indonesia’s Aceh region. Satinder Bindra speaks to survivors about a plan to move the fishing town of Galle, Sri Lanka, further inland. Aneesh Raman interviews a child survivor in Thailand about mourning the loss of her parents, and moving on, as so many of those orphaned by the tragedy have had to do.

# posted by ATN @ 11:05 AM
 

How Did I Miss This.....


TV Newser reports this: CNN was the first to report that 11-year-old boy scout Brennan Hawkins had been found alive. CNN correspondent Ted Rowlands was live on the scene in Summit County, Utah. CNN was also the first to air video from an EMT who said the boy would "be just fine." CNN reported the news at 2:52pm. Update: 4:55pm: FNC was in a commercial but led with the news at 2:53pm, according to the network. MSNBC followed at 2:56pm.

DCG comments: Hmmmm...there FNC is again. Making EXCUSES why it got beat by CNN. Geez FNC can't you just admit you were BEHIND fair and square?

# posted by ATN @ 12:12 AM

Tuesday, June 21, 2005

 

What's That Sound?


Source: The Huffington Post Harry Shearer writes: British TV news is very, very different from the American product, so much so that CNN's International feed seems to feel the need to ape the Brit style, lest its international viewers be appalled at what real American TV news is like these days.

For one thing, look at those teeth. British TV news presenters, being from here, have the local dentition, which is to say, watch this space, a tooth may appear here shortly.

Overall, they don't seem to be hired principally for their looks, which means they can ask questions during live interviews without hitting the Larry King mark--"Johnnie Cochran, Sr., you were what relationship to Johnnie Cochran Jr.?" Even so, another marked difference is that the camera seems about a mile away from the anchors, compared with those close-ups that made Dan Rather look especially frightening. Maybe they're prouder of their sets, maybe it's the teeth.

But the startling difference, one which CNN International apes (so you can see for yourself on the one hour a day when CNN simulcasts the world feed, noon-1 p.m. ET), is the sound of the newscasts. Or the silence. Somehow, they've figured out a brilliant new technology which allows graphics to come on and off the screen, or the picture to cut to another shot, without a single "whooooosh". No grinding noises, no sounds of onrushing wind past a train window, none of the mechanical and electro-mechanical sounds which accompany every change that occurs on the American cable newscast's screen these days.

Of course, the noisefest started in sports television. From ESPN and the NFL, it migrated to the NBA and to Fox News. Now it's everywhere. Except in the rest of the world.

Here's an interesting fact from the memory hole: when the NFL resumed play after 9/11, the first week's telecasts were offered sans sound effects, "out of respect". Nowadays, fellow cable news viewers back in the states,
we don't get no respect.

# posted by ATN @ 3:42 PM
 

Low Morale?


Source: New York Post Morale must be pretty bad at CNN. Last Tuesday, during a panel titled "Straight News or Fake News: Shaping Public Opinion" at the Banff World Television Festival in Alberta, Canada, CNN analyst Jeff Greenfield "humiliated" his network, a spy says.

After a comment about whether the best way to define history would be "one [bleep]ing thing after another." Greenfield quickly chimed in, "that can be CNN's new logo." Greenfield said: "It was a joke."

# posted by ATN @ 11:37 AM
 

Former CNN Producer Heads to Gore TV


Source: Variety Herndon Graddick has been hired as a producer-manager for Current, the youth-oriented news and entertainment network created by former Vice President Al Gore and entrepreneur Joel Hyatt.

Graddick will serve as producer and news division manager for the net's "Google Current" segment. He was previously based in New York, where he helped launch CNN's "Paula Zahn Now" and "Live From the Headlines."

# posted by ATN @ 1:24 AM
 

OBJECTION


I am surprised I wasn't tipped off that Nancy Grace was scheduled to appear on Monday night's Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC. Just saw the promo during Nightline so it looks as though I will be staying up late to hear what she has to say. I know she is probably there to hock her book. Hey don't forget Grace will be on Tuesday night's Larry King Live ready for round 2 with attorney Mike Geragos.

UPDATE: 06/21/2005 Looks like the Grace/Geragos rematch has been canceled. LKL will be about The Royals.

# posted by ATN @ 12:24 AM

Monday, June 20, 2005

 

TWC Pacts With MLB.com


Source: Media Week The Weather Channel Interactive has partnered with MLB.com, the official web site of Major League Baseball, to offer customized versions of the company's desktop weather application.

Thirty different versions of the MLB.com Desktop Weather will be available to Web users, representing each of Major League Baseball's 30 teams. The new versions of the weather application will feature each team’s logos and colors, along with schedules, game-day forecasts, news and video highlights.

# posted by ATN @ 7:46 PM
 

Grace Tops CNN's Prime Programs, ALL EXCEPT LKL


Source: TV Newser

Total viewers:

Total day: FNC: 932,000 / CNN: 371,000 / MSNBC: 171,000 / HLN: 238,000 / CNBC: 108,000

Primetime: FNC: 1,821,000 / CNN: 562,000 / MSNBC: 172,000 / HLN: 430,000 / CNBC: 77,000

The hourlies:

6pm: Hume: 1,292,000 / Dobbs: 472,000 / Abrams: 239,000 / Mad Money: 193,000

7pm: Shep: 1,239,000 / Cooper : 407,000 / Hardball: 181,000 / Showbiz: 187,000 / Conan: 88,000

8pm: O'Reilly: 2,000,000 / Zahn: 393,000 / Countdown :134,000 / Grace: 551,000 / Contender: 102,000

9pm: H&C: 1,793,000 / King: 830,000 / Situation: 172,000 / Prime News: 287,000 / Mad Money repeat: 83,000

10pm: Greta: 1,670,000 / NewsNight: 463,000 / Scarborough: 210,000 / Grace repeat: 452,000 / Deutsch repeat: 45,000

# posted by ATN @ 6:14 PM
 

CNN.com Campaigns to Promote Free Video Launch


Source: Click Z News To promote the launch of its free news video offering, CNN.com has launched an online promotional campaign on several news sites. The Time Warner property's hope is that the effort, developed by Agency.com, will help it attract a bigger audience, and eventually more video advertisers.

The ad units promoting the new service will be updated with current headlines from CNN.com's news feed, include accompanying video in the unit, and inform viewers of the new free service. When users click on a specific headline within an ad, CNN's video player will launch and that specific story will begin to play.

One ad on CNN.com proclaims, "Read it. Watch it. CNN.com. Today on CNN.com, It just got easier to ... WATCH." Another ad in the campaign asks, "Why go anywhere else? Watch free video now." Another says, "From entertainment to world news. Watch free video." and allows the user to scroll through several top news headlines with a screen shot of the available video.

The campaign will run for eight weeks, beginning today. Ads will appear across the CNN.com network and AOL, as well as on news sites like Yahoo! News, SFGate.com NYTimes.com, Salon.com and the Gawker blog. The campaign will also be supported by on-air television spots running on CNN.

# posted by ATN @ 4:53 PM
 

Former CNN'er Off to MTV


Former CNN-HLN prime-time entertainment reporter Alisha Davis is now a member of the MTV News team. After her CNN-HLN gig, Davis did a stunt at E! as a member of the E! News Live team. Before joining CNN, Davis worked at Newsweek, reporting for the fashion and arts sections. Before that, she was Africa bureau chief for International Business magazine, traveling to report on business investments in Kenya.

# posted by ATN @ 2:33 PM
 

CNN To Promote HBO Movie


Source: New York Times To promote his film "The Passion of the Christ," Mel Gibson sought the pope's opinion. To promote its new movie "The Girl in the Café," HBO has appealed to a higher power: corporate synergy.

CNN, which like HBO is owned by Time Warner, will run 25 minutes of clips from the film as part of the network's reporting and as part of an hourlong special on the film. That will be followed by what is certainly a coup for Time Warner's cross-platform marketing: Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain (who received an advance copy of the film) will be interviewed by Christiane Amanpour on the subject of global poverty, followed by a filmed segment of Ms. Amanpour reporting from an impoverished village in Ethiopia.

The movie will first be shown on June 25th, two weeks before the real Group of 8 summit meeting in Scotland, starting July 6. CNN's special will be shown on July 2.

Colin Callendar, the president of HBO Films, said the network approached its corporate sibling CNN while looking for ways to create a dialogue around the film.

"They are a news organization," he said. "A partnership with CNN seemed an obvious way to a get more people to see the film and talk about it and the issues that are at the center of the film."

Jonathan Klein, the president of CNN's domestic operations, said that the movie was an intriguing way to make a complex issue comprehensible to the audience. "We will be covering the summit and I'm not sure that many Americans know what it is, or care or understand why it matters. The movie is a phenomenal way of making the central issue of the G-8 summit accessible to Americans."

The audience for the premiere in Washington will include Congressional staff members and policy makers from the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the State Department. Afterward, Jeff Greenfield of CNN will interview Fareed Zakaria, the editor of Newsweek International and a foreign relations expert.



# posted by ATN @ 11:19 AM
 

Klein Asked O'Brien Last Fall About AM Gig


Source: Philadelphia Inquirer CNN correspondent Miles O'Brien, who joins Soledad O'Brien on the 7-to-10 a.m. weekday Morning, appreciates the weirdness of sharing a surname with his coanchor.

"It's a move for global domination by all O'Briens to take over morning television," he says with a chuckle. " 'The Secret O'Brien & O'Brien Society.' 'O'Brien & O'Brien.' 'O'Briens Happen.' "

Even pre-Morning, Miles says he was frequently asked if he and Soledad were spouses. They're not, but he does describe coanchorhood as "like being married, without conjugal benefits." (Marriage has conjugal benefits?)

Formerly the Atlanta-based coanchor of CNN's weekday newscast Live From, Miles says he was pitched Morning in the fall. At the time, Bill Hemmer was coanchor.

"My contract was almost up [in January] and I was trying to figure out what to do," says O'Brien, 46, a 13-year CNN veteran. "All of a sudden, out of nowhere, this was presented to me as an option."

His first reaction: " 'We've got Bill.' I'm truly a Bill Hemmer fan. This was stuff above my pay grade, a subjective thing. I snapped my heels and marched. I wasn't going to turn down an offer like that."

O'Brien says he was sworn to secrecy while CNN/US boss Jon Klein & Co. explored other options for Hemmer. (After turning down the White House beat, Hemmer left the network Friday.)

Being under a gag order about his new plum job "was like being in a strange little bubble," O'Brien says. "I was told to be quiet, but by the same token, I had kids, and a move" to arrange. "I'm glad it's all over."

Now that he's got a higher profile, O'Brien says he's not worried about being under the critics' microscope (again). He went through that in summer '01, in a mercifully short-lived coanchor run with ex-NYPD Blue star Andrea Thompson on CNN Headline News.

"When I was featured in a three-minute segment on Jon Stewart's Daily Show, I thought, 'What have I done to my career?' I had to laugh, and move on. I wouldn't be in this business for 25 years if I had thin skin. I'm long past trying to please everybody. I do my thing. It's all I can do."

O'Brien will continue to cover the space program for CNN. He has a passion for air travel - he's part owner of a $450,000 Cirrus SR22 four-seater, which he often flies to assignments.

In fall '02, NASA gave the thumbs-up for O'Brien to relocate to Houston and begin two years' training as a mission specialist on a space shuttle, he says. His plan was to report live from space.

The announcement was to have been made in February '03, O'Brien says, but after the Columbia space-shuttle tragedy the same month, the mission was canceled.

O'Brien's latest mission - finding a place in Manhattan to live with his wife, Sandy, and their two kids - has been a real Lost in Space eye-opener for him.

Their five-bedroom house on one acre in the Atlanta suburbs quickly sold. Their bid on a three-bedroom co-op has been accepted, but it could be months until - or if - the deal closes.

And the prices? "They take my breath away. It's insane. We were outbid on one property by $500,000.

"My wife used to be in real estate, and we've renovated a bunch of houses and sold them, so we consider ourselves pretty savvy. But I feel like Gomer Pyle in overalls saying, 'Gol-LEE!' "

# posted by ATN @ 11:12 AM
 

Fox Quietly Gears up Business Channel


Source: The Raw Story Rupert Murdoch, chairman of News Corp., has been promising a Fox News business cable channel for more than a year, hoping to surpass General Electric Co.'s CNBC in the ratings the way Fox News Channel has eclipsed CNN, the Wall Street Journal reports Monday. Excerpts:

< But in contrast to Fox News's guns-ablazing launch nine years ago, News Corp. this time is treading more carefully. "You never pull the trigger until you know you can win," Roger Ailes, the architect of Fox News, told an audience of media executives in New York in March.

Now, after numerous missed deadlines for the start-up, Mr. Murdoch is nearing an agreement with Time Warner Inc.'s cable division to carry a Fox News business channel, according to people familiar with the situation. The channel is currently slated to launch in the first half of 2006, a person close to the channel says. Of course, talks with Time Warner could break down and the launch date could be pushed back again.

< For Fox News, which passed CNN in 2002 as the nation's No. 1-rated cable news channel, the stakes are higher -- and the potential downside far greater -- than when it launched as a scrappy upstart nine years ago. The market for business news on television has cratered since the bursting of the dot-com bubble: Many people have lost interest in watching the day-to-day gyrations of the stock market. Time Warner's CNN recently shuttered its CNNfn financial news network because it attracted tiny ratings and never won wide distribution. And CNBC, although profitable, has been struggling to boost its lagging ratings.

Mr. Ailes, chairman and chief executive of Fox News, has reluctantly agreed to run the Fox business channel, according to people who know him. Mr. Ailes, whom Mr. Murdoch lured away from CNBC in 1996 to launch Fox News from scratch, has been reluctant to put his reputation on the line a second time, these people say. Fox News has become a ratings success and an important contributor to News Corp.'s bottom line. Fox News spokesman Brian Lewis didn't return phone calls.

A former Republican strategist, Mr. Ailes is known for thinking like a political tactician, so his public diffidence about the new venture may well be an attempt to lower expectations. Mr. Ailes said he has urged Mr. Murdoch to stop announcing launch dates. "I keep telling Rupert, 'Quit saying that,' " Mr. Ailes said at the gathering of media executives. "I'd like to do it this year, but I'm not in any hurry just to do it." He said the channel, to succeed, would have to reach 40 million homes within the first three years. "All these pieces have to come in line," he said.

# posted by ATN @ 12:36 AM
 

GM, Chase Sponsor CNN.com


Source: Media Week Chase bank and General Motors Corp. have signed up to sponsor CNN.com's free video service, which launches today, June 20.

Both Chase and GM's Cadillac have signed up for multimedia packages, including 30-second spots, which will run prior to online video content along with promotional spots on all CNN Networks, plus various banner placements throughout CNN.com.

In addition to the :30s, both advertisers, which received category exclusivity as part of their agreements, are eligible to run long-form video spots which would lead-out from content.

Until recently, CNN.com had been charging users a $4.95 monthly subscription fee to access its online video content. Now, the site plans to feature the free video content prominently throughout its pages, spurred in large part by more and more advertisers seeking online video opportunities.

"This seems to be the year," said CNN.com COO Greg D'Alba of marketers' peaking interest. "We are in discussions with over 60 advertisers."

While many online video proponents recommend that advertisers produce custom, shorter-form creative for the medium, D'Alba said that many CNN advertisers are approaching the site's new video offering as a means to utilize existing, TV-produced 30-second spots.

But D'Alba also expects a flood of new, strictly online video advertisers. "Advertisers are coming to us exclusively to buy broadband," he said. Many are interested in running longer-form creative, he added, including spots which run 60 seconds and beyond.


# posted by ATN @ 12:33 AM
 

Koppel's Run In with 'Mrs. Smith'


Source: DC Post CNN's Andrea Koppel, who usually covers global diplomacy, was chatting up Angelina Jolie about her work for the U.N. Refugee Agency last week when she changed the subject to "the tabloids focusing so much attention on your sex life" and began asking about "your former co-star" in the movie "Mr. and Mrs. Smith."

A moment later, Jolie's handlers ended the interview. "I thought I could get in a quick one on Brad Pitt and whether she was dating him," Koppel says. "Hey, listen, we know which side our bread is buttered on." She says Jolie's people may have ended the sit-down because it was running long.

# posted by ATN @ 12:27 AM

Sunday, June 19, 2005

 

Media on a Wild Goose Chase in Aruba


Source: AJC With the unwillingness of officials in Aruba to be forthcoming about info pertaining to the case of the missing Alabama girl, it seems the American media outlets are on a wild goose chase trying to find out anything they can. Below is an exerpt from an article in the AJC on some of the measures the media have to use to chase down the facts:

On Saturday night — in a scene that seemed to sum up every bizarre aspect of the investigation and press frenzy — TV crews chased Paulus Van Der Sloot, a judge, and the father of one of four detained suspects in the case, Joran Van Der Sloot, 17.

The elder Van Der Sloot was coming out of the downtown Oranjestad police station, where he had been brought for questioning in connection with the case.

Seeing the camera crews, he broke into a sprint and a cameraman for CNN caught up to him as he frantically tried to unlock the door of his

Mercedes and drive off.

"Mr. Van Der Sloot!" yelled a CNN cameraman. "Why are you running?"

Government spokesman Rueben Trappenberg said Sunday there are no signs the worldwide publicity, much of it bad, has hurt tourism on Aruba where automobile tags bear the slogan "One Happy Island." But he conceded the furor over Holloway's disappearance has dented Aruba's image as the safest island in the Caribbean.

"I can run you through the list of things we've been misportrayed of, fantastical things, from a high level government cover-up, to drug cartel,

to prostitution and slavery," said Trappenberg." We are not Pirates of the Caribbean."

Through the weekend CNN and FOX — each with crews of about 10 — showed few signs of losing interest in the story that continues to spike ratings even though government officials and lawyers offer few comments or details of the investigation.

Camera crews sometime spend hours just waiting outside the courthouse to hoping to get a shot of a suspect leaving, and a what unsually turns out to be a no-comment from lawyers and prosecutors.

He said the American media should scrutinize its own country as thoroughly as it has examined Aruba. "How many children have gone missing in the United States in the last month?" he said. "You don't hear anything about that."

Another radio host, Dick Miller, who, for 16 years has hosted an nightly music and talk program Canal 90 FM and, for a time, served as

"Honorary goodwill ambassador to Aruba," said listeners have called saying they are distraught that Holloway is missing and distraught that it has happened in Aruba.

"This is a place of hospitality, not hostility," he said. "Nothing like this ever happens and people just don't know how to cope with it. They are extremely concerned about Natalee and her family, but everybody is affected. People can't sleep. It's terrible."

As FOX and CNN have pushed to scoop each they have both made missteps. At one point a week ago there were reports of a body found, a stain identified as blood in the automobile Natalee Holloway allegedly rode in, and a confession from one of the suspects.

None turned out to be true — but that hasn't slowed pursuit of the story. The tabloid TV show "A Current Affair" plans to air an entire program on Aruba on Monday. The National Enquirer had a reporter on the island all week researching a piece.

# posted by ATN @ 8:36 PM
 

Guess Who Paid the 'Runaway Bride' for her Story?


Source: Newshounds The Runaway Bride, Jennifer Wilbanks, just made a $500,000 deal with Regan Media, a subsidiary of News Corp, for the rights to her life story. John Kasich discussed this surprising development on Heartland last night disclosing the connection between Regan Media and News Corp.to viewers. Steve Malzberg and Martha Zoller joined Kasich for the discussion and nobody had a positive word to say about the situation.

Since Wilbanks already made an agreement with the City of Duluth to pay a certain amount before she signed this deal, she is not liable for anything more. Malzberg talked about the need for a Son of Sam Law that would prohibit anyone from profiting from a crime. Zoller mentioned that Wilbanks phoney disappearance prevented the Duluth Policeman from attending the funeral of one of their own. It seems the people of Duluth are not too happy with Wilbanks these days.

# posted by ATN @ 7:41 PM
 

Former CNN'er Didn't Want to be an 'Infotainment News Bunny'


Source: CJR Pretty good q and a with former CNN international reporter Rebecca MacKinnon. MacKinnon went from cable news reporter to blogger. In the interview MacKinnon tells why she left CNN:

Thomas Lang: Last year, you took a break from CNN to work on a fellowship at the Joan Shorenstein Center at Harvard, then resigned [from CNN] shortly thereafter. What prompted your decision not to go back to CNN?

Rebecca MacKinnon: Well, a couple of things. One was that over the year leading up to my resignation I had been growing increasingly frustrated with the direction CNN was going in. [I was] feeling that the ... trend [toward] less interest in serious news was accelerating and the trend towards more infotainment, from anything but a war zone, was also accelerating. I'm neither a war correspondent nor an infotainment news bunny, and I was beginning to wonder whether there was any place for me in international news at the network.

So there was that general feeling that was buttressed by being told things by my boss like, "Your expertise is getting in the way of doing the kind of stories we want to see on CNN," and "We'd like you cover the region more like a tourist." That kind of thing that just made me increasingly question whether my job was any longer consistent with the reasons I'd gone into journalism -- which was not to be an infotainment news bunny.

This leave had been planned for a long time because I'd been living in Asia since college -- I was in China for nine years, I was in Japan for two and a half, I had been with CNN for most of that time, and I had been freelancing in Taiwan before that. So I thought it would be good to step back a little bit, take a break in the States to see what else was going on in the media space, and get some perspective on where I was going.

The Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy, which is attached to the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, [has] these one semester visiting journalist appointments where you do some kind of research project that you write up. ... I did my project on blogs and international news and what one could do with a blog related to international news that would be different than what one could do in a traditional reporting format. I started a blog focused on North Korea, which is called North Korea Zone, just to see what would be possible. It was a fascinating experiment and I got very excited with the potential of what some call participatory media ... just the fact that its now very easy to create media with very little money that specialize in things that CNN audiences may or may not be interested in. There are a sufficient number of people out there who are [interested].

So I ended up deciding that this was as good as a time as any time to resign from CNN and try to figure out what I wanted to do next. The Berkman Center around that time offered me a fellowship to be a research fellow here this past academic year. ... We recently started building a project called Global Voices which the Berkman Center has asked me to stick around another year to help build. [Global Voices] is a site to aggregate and index blogs from around the world and try to point to and filter and highlight what we think are the most interesting and noteworthy and perhaps newsworthy conversations, information, images, sounds, whatever, from grassroots media online from around the world.

# posted by ATN @ 6:01 PM
 

CNN Drops One Subscription Service, Readies Another


Source: Investor's Business Daily CNN is closing one online tollbooth while planning to open another.

The Cable News Network no longer charges users to watch taped video news reports on its CNN.com Web site. At the same time, the unit of Time Warner is getting ready to charge a new fee.

The company will launch an online subscription service later this summer that will include live video news reports and a video archive. "We think there is a consumer that's going to be interested in subscribing to a different kind of service," said Susan Grant, executive vice president of CNN News Services.

The move adds fodder to a debate over whether to charge for online video news. ABCNews.com charges consumers $4.95 a month for its service. Others, such as Fox News.com, don't require a fee.

CNN began charging for a video news subscription service in 2002. It had offered its news video online for free since 1995.

Consumers could pay CNN $4.95 a month for the video service. Or they could purchase it as part of a package of several video and audio services from CNN partners.

CNN dropped the fee because of changes in the Internet environment. For one, more users have broadband service. That makes it easier for them to watch video -- and provides a larger ad market. MORE



# posted by ATN @ 3:17 PM
 

Klein's Dilemma


Source: Newsweek Jon Klein happy about Nacy Grace's success so far at HLN? That's the question some folks want answered. Anyway Newsweek has a pretty good article about how Klein litteraly was biting his tongue during the all the Wacko Jacko last week saying it was going to happen again at CNN. BUT Klein was keeping an eye on Nancy Grace on HLN as her program outperformed every CNN prime-time program in the ratings EXCEPT Larry King. Below is an excerpt from the article:

CNN officials say they have numbers to be proud of, pointing to strong improvement in the key 25-to-54 demographic and a powerful performance by the brand name when CNN's numbers are combined with those of its sister network, Headline News. That network has improved dramatically in the ratings thanks almost entirely to its legal-affairs program hosted by Nancy Grace. Last Thursday, Grace drew 804,000 viewers, more than any CNN prime-time program save for "Larry King Live."

But therein lies Klein's dilemma. His vision may win over media critics who've grown weary of the food-fight culture of cable news. But Grace's style is what moves the numbers. (The former prosecutor's overly opinionated approach—"You're telling me what you believe doesn't matter?" she asked the Jackson jury's foreman in a postverdict duel—led Court TV founder Steven Brill to say he would have fired her for such talk. Grace makes no claim to being an objective journalist but insists that "as an officer of the court" she is always careful in interviews "not to misrepresent the facts.")

Klein declined to comment on Grace, saying Headline News does not fall under his jurisdiction. But some at the network wonder if he isn't secretly happy to have her on the air. With Grace safely tucked away at Headline News, they reason, Klein can preach his message of highbrow journalism even as the network continues to rake in tabloid gold. Whatever Klein's ultimate strategy, it seems clear that Grace—who's been discussed as a possible successor to the ratings-rich Larry King—isn't going anywhere any time soon. "The old CNN is [esteemed political anchor] Judy Woodruff," said one veteran producer who declined to speak on the record for fear of upsetting Klein. "The new CNN is Nancy Grace."

# posted by ATN @ 12:30 PM

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