Caption This!

NBComcast suing Victoria's Secret for stealing the combined company's new logo.

Norah Buzzard Circles...

Media Matters Presents!  Fox News Year In Apologies!  Special Director's Cut featuring NBC's Norah O'Donnell.  Naked.

Scythe Matters

"NBC is sadly the fourth-place network; actually, we're in ninth place if you count the radio stations ahead of us right now, I really believe that if everyone in this room would watch NBC for one night then that would be a 40 percent [ratings] increase."  Tina Fey

On Philadelphia-based Comcast NBC takeover: "It's leaving me thinking: Will I have to change the name of my show from '30 Rock' to 'Industrial Park on the Schuylkill River'?"

And Comcast is retaining Jeff Zucker?  I say, "Off with his head!"

It Ain't Over Until The Fat Lady Sings

9/9/11.  Off with her head.  The Queen is dead.  Oprah's show ends after 25 years. The Queen will make the weepy announcement today. Brian Stelter and Bill Carter NYT The list of repercussions of her decision is long. For CBS, the owner of syndication rights to her show, it means the loss of its signature program and millions of dollars every year in revenue.

For ABC stations, where her show was largely seen, it means the loss of daytime’s most popular program, a generator of giant audiences leading into evening news programs.

Larry Gerbrandt, an analyst for the firm Media Valuation Partners, said “any show that ABC comes up with to replace her will not draw anything near the ratings guarantee they could count on with Oprah. At least for the first year, ABC is going to take a serious hit.”

More widely, her departure will surely be interpreted as an endorsement of the cable TV business, and a blow to the fortunes of broadcast television.

Yeah, the Oprah Gravy Train is over for local TV stations.  When one door closes, another opens.  Some of Oprah's memorable moments.

B&C:  Oprah is extremely expensive--WABC pays $270,000 per week in license fees for the show; KABC pays around $240,000 per week and WLS Chicago pays about $225,000 per week, according to station sources. If ABC replaced the show with news, it could easily produce newscasts for much less than what it's paying for Oprah. Even if the ABC stations' ratings dropped in the Oprah time slots, the cost savings would likely make up for those declines.

In the past year, the entire industry has recognized that CBS Television Distribution (CTD), Oprah's distributor, would not be able to renew its contracts with stations at such high prices. Over the past five years, the show's ratings have fallen 35% in households and 43% among adults 18-49. That's in line with how much other talk shows (and daytime television in general) have declined, but lower ratings makes it incredibly difficult for already economically challenged stations to swallow such huge license fees.

"Television stations have made it crystal clear to CBS that the show was going to get an enormous haircut if it comes back," says one syndicator. "Why would she want to subject herself to that when she's in such an iconic position and has a piece of OWN?"

If ABC does not decide to replace Oprah with local news, syndicators will be falling over themselves to win those time slots, which are some of the best in daytime and won't have been open for 25 years. Moreover, ABC only accounts for ten markets. There are still 200 other TV stations that will need to replace Oprah.

What stations will replace the show with is the question. Not all stations have the strong news position of the ABC stations, and offering more local news won't make sense for them. Moreover, too much news in a market can mean too much advertising inventory in news, reducing the value of that news inventory for all players.

Ratingzzz

Wednesday November 18th:  TVbytheNumbers

FOXNEWS HANNITY/PALIN 4,200,000 (2nd 2009 best)
FOXNEWS O'REILLY 3,868,000
FOXNEWS BECK 2,512,000
FOXNEWS GRETA 2,383,000
FOXNEWS BAIER 2,235,000
FOXNEWS SHEP 1,980,000
MSNBC OLBERMANN 1,041,000
CNNHN GRACE 1,036,000
MSNBC MADDOW 957,000
CNN KING 835,000
MSNBC HARDBALL 625,000
CNN COOPER 611,000

Do you think Bill O'Reilly - who supposedly went batshit when he found out Hannity's Palin interview would air before his - is jealous?

Gimme A Little Sign

There's opinion news. And then there's lofty broadcast journalist Brian Williams getting the Cronkite Award for Excelllence In Journalism.

The Heavens parted (conveniently during a commercial break) and Brian received a Sign as he anchored "Nightly" on the roof of Arizona State's Cronkite School the night before yesterday's award:

Williams told the crowd that he sees one sign that more of those seeking reliable information are cutting through the clutter. His show’s ratings are up this year, exceeding viewership even during the presidential election.

“We don’t know why.  We guess it’s because the difference is becoming sharper, and people know where to find us and they know what they’re going to get.”

And that's where Cronkite's values can guide journalists today, Williams said.

“It's all there if you know the difference. There's journalism and there is everything ending in 'lol.'”

Too bad Brian's ratings don't translate into personal popularity.... LOL!

"Everybody's using everybody."

Sarah Palin gives Oprah the greatest ratings orgasm she's had in two years.   The last time the freaking Osmonds were on.

Politico's Michael Calderone examines the "Sarah Palin Media Co-dependency." 

I would've liked to see a similar headline about Obama and the media during the 2008 campaign and beyond...

Palin on Sean Hannity Wednesday night: "You're going to hear a lot from me. So you know, the haters are going to have a whole lot of material."

Sarah Palin.  The new Material Girl in a Material World...

Obama: Bone China

When the interview itself is more important than what was said, then you know somebody isn't thinking with the right head.  And it wasn't Fox News.  Obama and his naive, ill-advised, vindictive WH team.  The big news out of China other than Obama rolling over and playing dead as the Chi-coms steamrolled him?  Fox News' Major Garrett Gets Obama On Camera.

AP's David "Feud Not Mentioned In Obama Interview" Bauder quoting Major:  "I wasn't going to litigate whatever it was that was going on between Fox and the White House. Whether it was a war or not, I was always a conscientious objector in the conflict."

No duh.  Why would Major even entertain bringing it up? So the "feud" upstages anything of import that came out of the interview.  And nothing did, bleats the Huff Po:

Situation Normal: AFU

It was liberal ThinkProgress that fingered Fox (again) for running the wrong vid.  The pictures didn't match Fox anchor Greg Jarrett's copy about Sarah Palin drawing "huge crowds" or her book tour. She is.  But the vid was from the 2008 campaign.  Last week Sean Hannity apologized after Jon Stewart compared crowd shots Hannity ran and found the smoking gun:  clouds. 

The quick Fox vows some sort of disciplinary action.  Personally, I don't think it is a big deal.  I can't imagine Fox deliberately cooking the crowds.  What's the point?  Just deal with the grunt, producer, or the control room and be done with it.

Fox isn't the first network to fuck up video.  But as the front-runner, any mistake Fox makes gets big play. Last week MSNBC used a doctored gun-toting Sarah Palin in a bikini on the air and on the website.  Barely a peep.  MSNBC also cut off the head of a black guy toting an AR-15 at an Obama rally to suggest white hatred.  Did anyone apologize?  Did Keith Olbermann apologize for last week's obscene hand gestures after his seven-minute bashing of former Miss California Carrie Prejean? 

Honest mistakes are one thing.  Deliberate manipulation another.

Bill O'Reilly: A Bold Fresh Piece of Inanity

What does Fox's #1 news star do when he finds out HIS Sarah Palin interview will run AFTER Sean Hannity's. A Fox "insider" leaks to The Wrap that Bill had a "hissy fit" when he found out "Bronze" Hannity's upstaging "Gold" Bill.  Hannity's devoting the whole hour to Sarah Wednesday.  Bill's thing runs Thursday, Friday, and Monday.

So how does a fear-driven bold fresh ego retaliate?  Something juvenile like cut this promo and post it on his own YouTube channel: 

Morning Joe: Good To The Last Drop?

"Morning Joe Piping Hot A Year Ago, Steadily Loses Steam" Felix Gilette NYO: Morning Joe is struggling to hang on to viewers. So far this fall, from Sept. 1 through Nov. 13, according to The Observer’s analysis of Nielsen numbers, Morning Joe has averaged 357,000 total viewers and 124,000 in the 25- to 54-year-old demographic—down 35 percent and 43 percent, respectively, from the same time period last year.

....Over the past eight months, Morning Joe has been slipping not only in overall ratings, but also relative to its competition. Not long ago, Morning Joe—like MSNBC’s prime-time lineup—was seemingly well poised to push past CNN into the No. 2 position in cable news (Fox News’ Fox & Friends maintains the top position by a wide margin). To wit: In March of 2009, MSNBC executives announced that Morning Joe had topped CNN’s American Morning in the demographic for the entire month—the first such victory for the network’s morning programming in more than seven years. At the time, MSNBC press releases regularly referred to Morning Joe as “the fastest growing cable news morning show.”

These days, it looks more like the fastest shrinking.

The first two weeks in November have been particularly rough. Morning Joe, during this stretch, has averaged just 315,000 total viewers and 102,000 in the 25- to 54-year-old demographic—and while the show remains competitive in total viewers, it is now regularly finishing in fourth place in the demo, not only behind American Morning (397,000 total viewers; 149,000 in the demo) but also behind Headline News’ Morning Express with Robin Meade (303,000 total viewers; 190,000 in the demo).

“We want higher ratings, and we’re going to get them,” MSNBC’s president, Phil Griffin, told The Observer on Tuesday morning. “It ebbs and flows with what’s going on in the world. But I think 2010 is going to be great for us.”

In late September, The Observer speculated that the imminent debut of an Imus in the Morning simulcast on the Fox Business Network would pose a problem to Morning Joe.

But for the time being, MSNBC executives continue to discount Mr. Imus’ potential impact on Morning Joe. “Imus is not even a blip on the radar,” said a MSNBC spokesperson. (Nielsen does not currently provide ratings data for shows on FBN.) Mr. Griffin called Mr. Imus a “non-player.”

The Morning Joe dip comes at a particularly anxious time at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. Currently, teams of bankers are combing over every detail of the company’s books in preparation for Comcast’s imminent purchase of NBC Universal. Morning Joe’s struggles will not go unnoticed. Perhaps as a result, rumors have been swirling through the building in recent days that a shake-up is about to hit the show, as some insiders question whether MSNBC can maintain the current staff levels despite having already lost a hefty chuck of its bankable audience.

On Tuesday morning, Mr. Griffin shot down the rumors. There was no shake-up in the works, he said. The show’s unique marketing partnership with Starbucks, he explained, was still flourishing and evidence of the show’s continued desirability to advertisers. The state of Morning Joe was strong. “The numbers are down, and they’re probably down for everybody,” he said. “It’s basically a three-way tie for second place in the real scheme of things. I’ll take the quality of Morning Joe’s audience.”

“You can’t find anything like it in the morning,” he added. “CNN, the other day, when we’re showing the president, is doing a story on balloon boy. Or they’re doing Michael Jackson. We’ve got a smart, strong audience. Morning Joe gets more buzz, and that’s because we actually talk about what’s going on in the world that’s important. I believe in the show.”

I love "Morning Joe" and would hate to see it go.  What are your thoughts on Felix's piece?

Letterman Recyles (almost) Top Ten Sarah Palin Book Surprises

November 17, 2009:



May 2009:



Don't bother watching. Not funny.

Going Rogue: Number One With A Bullet

This is actually funny. INT: FBI agents chasing Sarah Palin's "Going Rogue" book. CUT TO: MSNBC's Rachel Maddow taking a bullet from the book run amok (In your dreams.)

All Wet On Debt?

Media Matters' dragnet ensnares Fox & Friends Gretchen Carlson in a lie.  Or so they say:

Himbo Rock

Joe Biden bows to Jon Stewart on Wednesday night's Daily Show. Watch the video if you care. It's freaking boring unless you're looking for more plastic surgery scars and Botox injections....

Ground Control To Major Garrett

Fox's Major Garrett got his interview with Obama yesterday.  The network's White House correspondent had been shut out since July.  It was one of those round robin things where each guy got 10 minutes.  Chip Reid of CBS, NBC's Chuck Todd, and CNN's guy Ed Henry went through the revolving door as well.

Garrett was exluded from a recent WH round robin that raise the (unexpected to the clueless WH) ire of the other networks in the White House press pool. 

As one of my WH reporter sources tells me, Obama and his crew are hopelessly "naive."  And it shows.  The Obama Fox jihad backfired big time.

Affairs of State

President Obama hosts his first State Dinner November 24th for India's Prime Minister Singh.  Politico's "State Dinner:  Where The Elite Meet" trolls for quotes from previous guests:

NBC's Andrea Mitchell: “The most exciting of the five or six dinners I attended were the ones for Mikhail Gorbachev hosted by Ronald Reagan — and subsequently by President George H.W. Bush. You could feel Cold War tensions melting, partly thanks to the warmth of first lady Nancy Reagan’s carefully orchestrated social diplomacy. The Gorbachevs seemed moved when pianist Van Cliburn played a romantic Russian folk song, ‘Moscow Nights.’

“Another extraordinary moment was the 1995 Clinton state dinner for Jiang Zemin, the first Chinese leader to come to the White House in a dozen years, and the highest-level interaction with a Chinese leader since the 1989 clashes at Tiananmen Square. But perhaps the most memorable of all was the state dinner for Canada’s prime minister on April 7, 1997. It was the night after my wedding. I sat next to Canadian and “Saturday Night Live” alum Dan Aykroyd. Our table ended up singing 1960s rock songs.”

CNN's Wolf Blitzer: “I’ve been to four state dinners....“It’s a great opportunity for a reporter. When you look at the guest list, you say to yourself, as a working reporter, ‘I’m going to meet X, Y, Z, and I’ve been trying to get an interview for a long time. Maybe they’ll become inclined to come on the show?’ Usually it happens.”

Whoa!  Wolf's full of himself, eh?

My first and only State Dinner was April 27, 1988 when President Reagan feted Candian Prime Minster Brian Mulroney.  The preparation and protocol are almost beyond comprehension. 

Some of the guests I remember through the haze:  Now-departed CBS correspondent Nelson Benton.  The head of R.J. Reynolds.  Fashion designer Norma Kamali.  I spent most of the night boozing with Nelson and the tobacco dude whose name escapes me. 

Imagination At Work

NYT columnist extraordinaire Maureen Dowd sits down with a bottle of Grey Goose and plods through Sarah Palin's "Going Rogue."

Former McCain Palin wrangler Nicholle Wallace tells MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Palin's account of how the Katie Couric interview came to be is "fiction."  "Took place entirely in her imagination."

What magazines do you read, Maureen?  Maxim with the dirty pix of chix.  Men's Health.  Esquire.  Connect the dots....

Why is it that the Associated Press assigned 11 reporters to pore over Palin's book? 

Puck You

Playgirl is pimping a teaser shot of Levi Johnston's photo shoot.  I don't know about you but I have zero interest in looking at a 19-year-old's dick dwarfed by a hockey stick...

Stake Diane

Page Six:  Charlie Gibson says on the record he has "tremendous respect and fondness" for Diane Sawyer, but insiders say he has trouble concealing his dislike of his ABC colleague.

"Charlie has always given Diane the stink eye. He bad-mouths her openly and often," said our source.

Gibson, 66, had been pushing ABC News president David Westin to promote George Stephanopoulos, the host of Sunday morning's "This Week," as his successor.

"He wanted George to get the job," said one source at the network. "He was shocked when he learned Diane got it, and he was really angry that she stole his thunder. As soon as she was named, it was all about Diane."

UPIWhen it was announced on Sept. 2 that Gibson was retiring after four years in the evening anchor chair, the network could have waited to declare who'd get the job, just as it is waiting now to name Sawyer's replacement on "Good Morning America."

It is widely believed that Stephanopoulos will get the "GMA" spot, but Sawyer, 63, "doesn't want it announced until she is ensconced at 'World News,' " said our source.

"It's all bull[bleep.] They get along just fine," said an ABC spokeswoman. "They went to Walter Cronkite's funeral together. They had lunch last month."

Reached for comment, Gibson told Page Six: "This notion that there is some kind of enmity that exists between Diane and me is just silly. We worked together for over seven years, side-by-side . . . We laughed together, cried together (particularly during the time after 9/11), and developed a strong mutual bond.

"I have tremendous respect and fondness for Diane. Diane and I have talked a number of times about the transition and what this job entails. We're having lunch this week to continue the conversation."

That said, Diane might want to have someone test her food at that lunch, just to be on the safe side.