CNN is having a rough start to February in the primetime demo (8-11pmET). While the network had a strong enough January to pull back into second place among the cable news networks, CNN has twice finished behind CNBC this week (Tue. and Wed.) in younger viewers -- and once behind The Weather Channel (Wed).It could be an isolated, low-rated week, but CNN has only finished in 5th place (behind FNC, MSNBC, HLN, and CNBC) in the primetime demo four times in the history of the channel prior to this week.
In total day demo, CNN has fared a little better, coming in third behind HLN, ahead of MSNBC
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Now that Conan is off 'The Tonight Show'? Can Jay Leno make a comeback after the NBC mess? His efforts start with an interview with media queen Oprah Winfrey. More from HuffingtonPost.com. CHICAGO — Oprah Winfrey said she is set to interview Jay Leno, and her production company said an offer has been made to Conan O'Brien to appear. Winfrey said on her talk show Friday that she was going to Los Angeles for a "one-on-one" interview with Leno to air on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" on Thursday. O'Brien's appearance has not yet been confirmed, Harpo Productions said.
.... O'Brien's final show was Friday. Leno will return to "Tonight" on March 1.
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This should be interesting. Barbara Walters to guest host 'This Week' next weekend. Here are some details from Politico.com. As ABC decides who'll replace George Stephanopoulos on "This Week," the network plans to switch things up a bit next week. Instead of rotating internal candidates Jake Tapper and Terry Moran -- who hosted today -- ABC has tapped Barbara Walters to guest anchor next Sunday's show. Walters last hosted "This Week" in August 1990, when the biggest topic in the news was Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.
Regardless of what the top political story is Sunday, Walters will have an interesting panel, with guests Arianna Huffington, Paul Krugman, George Will, and Fox News chairman Roger Ailes Over the past year, both Stephanopoulos and Rick Klein, of ABC's "The Note," have appeared on Fox News. But it's still surprising to see the head of Fox sitting down on the network's Sunday show.
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The same group that animated Tiger Woods' troubles.. go after Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien.
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OK.. This Salahi hearing on Capitol Hill was funny to watch!
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See Dobbs announce his resignation WHAT WILL CNN DO -- VOTE IN THE POLL TO THE RIGHT
CNN President Jon Klein issued the following statement this evening: "Lou Dobbs is a valued founding member of the CNN family. For decades, Lou fearlessly and tirelessly pursued some of the most important and complex stories of our time, often well ahead of the pack. All of us will miss his appetite for big ideas, the megawatt smile and larger than life presence he brought to our newsroom, and we're grateful to have known and worked with him over the years. With characteristic forthrightness, Lou has now decided to carry the banner of advocacy journalism elsewhere. We respect his decision and wish him, Debi, and his family the very best."
BastaDobbs.com Announces Victory: Lou Dobbs to Leave CNN NEW YORK - Responding to the news Wednesday that Lou Dobbs will leave his post as a longtime anchor on CNN, the leaders of BastaDobbs.com - a national Latino-led coalition that had been advocating for his ouster - released the following statement: "Our contention all along was that Lou Dobbs - who has a long record of spreading lies and conspiracy theories about immigrants and Latinos - does not belong on the 'Most Trusted Name in News,'" said Roberto Lovato, co-founder of Presente.org, a national online advocacy organization coordinating the BastaDobbs.com campaign in conjunction with more than 40 local and regional Latino organizations from across the country. "We are thrilled that Dobbs no longer has this legitimate platform from which to incite fear and hate." The BastaDobbs.com campaign launched in mid-September, and included online petitions, a viral YouTube video, text-message campaign, radio PSAs and a series of events in 18 cities - organized in conjunction with the CNN special Latino in America. The message to CNN was that courting Latino viewers while keeping Dobbs on the network would not with them favor with the fastest-growing demographic in the country. Since then, more than 100,000 people have joined the effort. The events and the campaign garnered significant press coverage in both Spanish-language and mainstream media. Lovato said the BastaDobbs.com victory marks a key turning point for the Latino community, as it moved from marching in the streets in 2006 to mounting a successful, high-tech campaign against one of the biggest and strongest media voices against common-sense immigration reform ----------------
> More from Insiders: Dobbs' show was scheduled to be preempted tomorrow night. The "Campbell Brown" staff has been told they WILL NOT produce a two-hour show. So, what happens? One scenario has "The Situation Room" moving back an hour airing from 5pm-8pmET, with Rick Sanchez anchoring two hours in the afternoon, from 3pm-5pmET. > Update 7:59pm: Dobbs signs off saying, "Thanks for being with us. As they say, 'I'll see you next on the radio.'" CNN then aired the credits for his program. > More: The Dobbs news went international very quickly. On the CBC's WorldNews TV at 7:37, the host read an AP alert saying, "We've got breaking news here with CNN host Lou Dobbs [who] shocked viewers Wednesday when he announced he would be leaving the network effectively immediately."
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See Dobbs announce his resignation WHAT WILL CNN DO -- VOTE IN THE POLL TO THE RIGHT
New York Times reports.... Lou Dobbs, the longtime CNN anchor whose anti-immigration views have made him a TV lightning rod, plans to announce Wednesday that he is leaving the network effective immediately, two network employees said. A CNN executive confirmed that Mr. Dobbs will announce his resignation plans on his 7 p.m. program, “Lou Dobbs Tonight.” Wednesday’s program will be his last on CNN, according to one of the employees. His contract was not set to expire until the end of 2011.
Mr. Dobbs informed his staff members of his intentions in a meeting Wednesday afternoon, catching some of the staffers off-guard. The anchor did not immediately respond to a telephone call seeking comment.
Well known for his political positions, Mr. Dobbs is an outlier at CNN, which has sought to position itself as a middle ground of sorts in the fractious cable news arena. The CNN employees said Wednesday that they did not know if Mr. Dobbs was moving to another network. Mr. Dobbs met with Roger Ailes, the chairman of the Fox News Channel, in September. At the time Mr. Dobbs was viewed as a potential hire for the Fox Business Network. But a Fox spokesperson said Wednesday, “We have not had any discussions with Lou Dobbs for Fox News or Fox Business.”
Mr. Dobbs has been with CNN since its founding, save for a two-year stint at a Web site called Space.com. He has evolved over the years from a straight-laced business anchor to an outspoken commentator who rails against illegal immigration and taxpayer bailouts, among other subjects. Lately, though, he has saved most of his opinions for his afternoon radio show, which made its debut in March 2008. It is on the radio show that he talked repeatedly about the conspiracy theory claims that President Obama is not a United States citizen. When he mentioned the citizenship issue on CNN over the summer, his bosses were forced to call it a “dead issue.”
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My renewed battle with fall allergy season kept me at home tonight. So I decided to flip on the TV and watch the 'CBS Evening News with Katie Couric'. I know, I know... when was the last time you heard someone say that happened at 6:30pm? It's been a while since I checked in for an entire show. As you know if you have read any of my posts about the newscast since Couric assumed the helm, I believe the content is the star of the show, not Couric. There had been depth and perspective to stories. There were "ah-ha' moments -- times when you learned something. I believe Couric is an asset to the organization but in early sampling struggled to actually "talk" (not read a prompter) to me as a viewer. For someone making more than a million bucks a month, I want more. That's the only thing that has bothered me about Couric since she left the heavily ad-libbed 'Today' show. I like her. But, I need to like her more to lure me to the newscast often.
So... has much changed? Well... not much. But in this case, that's not a bad thing.
I really wondered though when the story teased at the top of the newscast was Ford's profit... voiced by Couric over what was obviously promotional video from Ford. That's just cheating. I know local TV is bad for that. But c'mon. Is that the best shot that CBS News could develop to open it's marquee newscast? I worried what was ahead.
To my surprise, and enjoyment, the first block of news was more focused on news and information than just presentation. Dean Reynolds spun the Ford story toward union troubles amid profit reports. David Martin voiced what I'd wondered all day. The re-election of the Afghanistan president was not what Barack Obama needed or wanted. The rest of the 'first block' was solid content. I felt at ease with the content and presentation. No one was screaming at me.. or talking to me like I was a fourth grade student. It was just solid content.
Dr. John Lapook opened the second block with a great piece about advanced Alzheimer's patients needing Hospice care. His talking to an elderly woman who as obviously in pain was engaging... even though only about five seconds. He asked a question, asked if she was alright and then patted her arm. It was the memorable moment of the entire newscast for me. Shouldn't those moments really he central in all of TV news? What is memorable becomes what is engaging.
On the flipside, the third block of the newscast was the weakest part for me. It was Couric's 'exclusive' interview with Al Gore. It was a blatant push toward her full interview on the web. Her first question in the edited version for the newscast seemed way too long. It was shot in a "creative" way... bring out the 'ol black curtain with a monitor between Couric and Gore. It was a cliche. The newscast is far better when Couric relies on her tremendous storytelling skills and those of her support staff -- reporters, photojournalists, producers, writers, etc. I know her long perceived strength is interviewing. For this newscast, tell a story. Of all evening newscasts, you will find much more consistently good storytelling here.
What about that Couric-prompter-reading that bothered me? Well, it's a bit better. But as a viewer, it still feels as though she's 'reading' to me. I know sarcastic wit proclaims... "Well she is." In the waning days of appointment newscast viewing, I long for someone who is so passionate and so knowledgable about the content that it at least "feels" like he or she is talking to me not "reading" for me. (even though the words all may be on the Tele prompter).
Now that I think about it, I long for the evening news presented by the Diane Sawyer that anchored 'Good Morning America' beside Charlie Gibson for most of the last decade. For me, Sawyer peaked in her style while sitting opposite Gibson. The GMA of a few years ago was hyper focused on quality content, great writing and great communication. It's not the same newscast, or show, now. Can Sawyer recapture that on "Wold News"?
No matter who anchors (Couric, Sawyer, or Brian Williams) content and communication are still king and queen.
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From HuffingtonPost On Friday night on The Ed Show, Ed Schultz gave an impassioned speech calling out the president for making concessions on health care and abandoning the robust public option. "What does President Barack Obama want when it comes to health care in this country? What does he want in the bill?" Schultz asked, then declared Obama was backstabbing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) and would sell his soul for republican support on health care. "The White House is backstabbing Harry Reid on the public option," Schultz said emphatically. He added: "I think the president would sell his soul for some republican support at this hour." Schultz concluded: "Mr. President, don't cave."
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It seems everyone is Googling "Laura Bush killed a guy." WHY? Politico's Click has the answer. What's causing all the buzz? A "Family Guy" episode that ran Thursday night in which cartoon characters Peter and Lois Griffin were dressed like the former first lady (Lois) and a bleeding man (Peter) for a costume party. The two repeated the phrase "Laura Bush killed a guy." The rerun was a controversial take on a 1963 fatal car accident involving Bush.
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The President says recent reports are a 'good sign' of an economic turnaround. But has anyone really looked at the state of our communities. People are still clinging to the ledge of unemployment and financial disaster. Will anyone cover the real story here?
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You have to give CNN's Campbell Brown credit for pushing for an answer about MSNBC... not just FOX.
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More importantly than what Michael Lohan had to say in trashing his daughter.... was that Maury is still on! Who knew.
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TVNewser has it.... from Jon Kleins morning meeting at CNN. Yes, our ratings in prime were down in October. Remember - we are a 24hr network - not a 3hr network. We are also just one network in a group that attracts hundreds of millions of viewers a month. Media writers might not understand that. Our competitors don't either. Despite the bad press we don't lose sight of OUR business. We, CNN/U.S., still attracts millions and millions of viewers a month, more than our closest competitors. Writers don't talk about our users -- we are on air and on line, globally -- rather they break it down to one part of the day. Excellent journalism is what we are focused on. We refuse to do the things that might get us a quick number or cater to the extremes that would alienate our core viewers. It's important to work at it every day - it's our mission. It's the key to our growth. If we are outstanding ALL the time (and we are getting better and better at it) we will have an impact over time. I'm convinced of it, as is Jim Walton, Phil Kent and Jeff Bewkes. And to top it off, we get to have fun doing the GREAT journalism. We are the lucky ones.
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I know some people may think it was cute.. and clever for the 'Today' show to take valuable time in its first block this morning to try to get White House chief correspondent Chuck Todd to shave his goatee.... but I don't. Todd lost a bet with ABCs Jake Tapper. So, he was supposed to shave his goatee. Viewers in most of the country likely had never even heard about the bet... and likely could have cared less about Todd's goatee.
Well after wasting 3 minutes of time this AM, there is this. Todd is not shaving his goatee at all Todd chose to donate $1,000 to both his charity — Samaritan Inns — and Tapper's, Dr. Shershah Syed. "The good news is we have a couple of charities that are going to benefit from my squeamishness," Todd said on the "Today" show Friday morning.
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It may be no direct fault of his own.. except that he can't grow an audience... but could the success of 'Nightlie' be the undoing of Conan O'brien? Take a look at the latest numbers from TVNewser.com CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman" remained in first place last week as ABC's "Nightline" came in a close second. NBC's "Tonight Show" was in third by a gap of 1.42M viewers. This makes 17 weeks that "Nightline" has had more Total Viewers than Conan O'Brien's program (four weeks for the A25-54 demo). The competition in the A18-49 has gotten very tight with all three programs tied in the rating (1.0)
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