TV Newser Wraps Up the Year

TV Newser provides a terrific recap of the year, including some incidents that I had forgotten about, such as MSNBC's Joe Scarborough telling off ex-MSNBC-er Laura Ingraham.

And of course, the classic artwork from Fox News, showing CNN's Jon Klein whistling past the Nielsen graveyard.

Duckett Family vs. Nancy Grace-less

Update on the case of the family of Melinda Duckett vs. Nancy Grace of CNN Headline News. The family is suing Grace and CNN for wrongful death.

As far as the law is concerned, and the legal case, TCG is of two minds: Some people were hurt, obviously, but there's the important free speech angle to consider.

But moving away from the legal to the realm of the moral, as for Nancy Grace, TCG believes that there can only be one opinion: Grace is a witch, who might well have contributed to the death Melinda Duckett, which in turn has made it infinitely harder to establish the whereabouts of her missing son Trevor.

And Dis-Grace did it for buzz and ratings, and nothing more. That's low, and nothing more.

Keith Olbermann's Top Ten Lies of 2006

"The task of selecting which Olbermann lies are the top ten of 2006 was a daunting one. A preliminary scan of the year's programs turned up 100+ candidates for the list. So to prune down the possibilities, and in the interest of fairness, we tossed out any falsehoods that were specifically acknowledged and corrected by Keith Olbermann. That left 100+ candidates for the list. But now the hours of research and review are completed, and we are pleased to present the official Olbermann Watch list of Keith Olbermann's top ten lies of 2006."

And here they are, Olbermann's Worst Ten, courtesy of Olbermann Watch.

I like this KO picture most of all, because while KO intends for it to be funny, I think that it shows him where he is headed: Toward being either a) a ranter, a la Howard Beale in the movie "Network," or b) simply an outright perv.

Johnny Dollar on Top Ten Lies About FNC

Nobody sez that Fox News is perfect, but a look at these lies--that's the word for them, Keith Olbermann--compiled by the long-suffering-but-thorough Johnny Dollar--is enough to remind us that for every honest mistake Fox makes, its rivals make a lot more dishonest mistakes, especially the "biased bassets."

Johnny Dollar's Top Ten Videos

There is lotsa great stuff here, from the serious to the silly.

As we say at TCG, the news itself is the greatest reality show.

Johnny Dollar Looks Back at 2006

Johnny Dollar, as always, gets the best stuff. Here's his top ten audio excerpts for the year. Be sure to listen, in particular, for Roger Ailes on the late Mike Douglas, and John Gibson on the Clinton team issuing anti-Fox "marching orders" to the Democrats and deconstructing Barbara Boxer, Joe Scarborough, and Andrew, a radio caller.

Kaplan to Rescue Katie in '07? Or to Help Hillary in '08?

The New York Post's "Page Six" reports that Rick Kaplan is being lined up to help save Katie Couric's CBS Evening News show.

Kaplan, of course, has more baggage of his own than Samsonite; he was a failure at CNN or MSNBC, and was widely disliked by underlings to boot.

But he does have one great strength in the eyes of what remains of the liberal MSM: he loves Bill Clinton, as noted right here at TCG. And so if that love can be shifted from Bill to Hillary, then CBS might think it was worth it, to bring him on board. That is, Kaplan might not be able to help the Eye Network with its ratings-challenged newscast, but he could help get Hillary Clinton elected, using his perch as a "newsman." And that exciting electoral prospect might matter more to the liberal dinosaurs in NYC than their own financial well-being. After all, they have plenty of money already; what they need, they might be thinking to themselves, is a friend in the White House. If you're a big rich media mogul, and you already have a place on Park Avenue, as well as out in Beverly Hills, plus and a mansion out in the Hamptons, then all you really need is an invitation to the Lincoln Bedroom.

And of course, Kaplan might be thinking to himself that it would be fun to cap off his career as, say, White House press secretary for President Hillary Clinton.

So what's not to like--unless you don't like media bias, or unless you don't like to see a once-great media property being traduced for partisan goals.

Rick Kaplan Thinks That Bill Clinton Was A "Great" President -- But We All Knew That, From Watching ABC, CNN, and MSNBC

Rick Kaplan, who held top news jobs at ABC News, CNN, and MSNBC, tells The People's Daily of China that Bill Clinton was "a great president ... a smart great caring leader." Kaplan adds of the Arkansan, "I think he did nothing but helping our economy."

Kaplan is entitled to his views, of course, but we are entitled to conclude from his views that maybe some of Kaplan's obvious political bias and favoritism affected the coverage at three different news networks when he was running their programming.

Social Networking Comes to News

Oops! My mistake. The correct headline in Tuesday's Wall Street Journal was "Social Networking Comes to Health Care."

The point of Laura Landro's story is that even the US government has figured out that social networking + virtual reality--a la secondlife.com and other sites--is a great way to communicate information about health care and well-being. I am sure that Uncle Sam is right about that, because let's face it, people don't do much of anything in this world unless they are convinced that it's fun, whatever it is. And s.n. + v.r. is fun.

So now the question is: When will the news be the same way? When will we be able to watch, say, Shepherd Smith, virtually? Or get right in the heat of things with Bill O'Reilly? Or get into the arena with Hannity & Colmes? It's coming to Fox News eventually. I just don't know when, or even if Fox will be first. Fox should be first, because s.n. + v.r. are naturally extensions of myspace.com, but we shall see.

Advertising Comes to a Phone Near You, and so does everything that goes along with advertising, like a network

How does one feel about advertising? A necessary evil, I'd call it. Nobody likes to watch ads--although some, such as the Geico spots, are pretty good--but nobody wants to pay for content, either.

Now, according to Matt Richtel in today's New York Times, looks like advertisers have found a new place to place ads --on your cell phone.

This trend comes as cell phones become more central to the media universe, including The Cable Game. Most cable news channels already offer at least some cell-phone programming, and much more is coming.

Eventually, they will figure out how to turn that little two-inch-by-two-inch cell phone screen into something that at least looks big to the eye. And then Verizon, and others, will have full-blown networks, or at least the chance to create them. What will their content be? Now that's a $64 billion dollar question.

The Cable Game, The Free Speech Gig, and the FCC's Gag

Half the time, TCG thinks about cable news, and where the endless battle between FNC and the ever-increasing number of Dwarfs (Not just CNN and MSNBC, but also CNBC, Headline News, BBC, Al Jazeera, HDNet, etc.).

The other half of the time, TCG likes to think about the future of the news media, and where This is all headed.

But wait! There's a third player in this game, that consumes a lot of somebody's time, although probably mostly lawyers and other DC Beltway powerbrokers and parasites. And that third player is the government, specifically, the Federal Communications Commission. Remember them? They used to be a big deal, back in the days when there only four or five TV stations per market. Now, of course, there are hundreds of TV channels--and if you count streaming on the Internet there are thousands, and soon, millions.

So why is the FCC still trying to censor things? Good question, asked by blogger Nate Anderson, of the website Ars Technica. Uncle Sam is now in the strange situation of censoring about 1 percent of the media content that people can get in their homes--the legacy amount that comes over the airwaves, as opposed to from cable or the Net.

Anderson concludes his pointed post, about the government's harassment of Fox, like this:

"The FCC will eventually need to 1) call 'uncle' and devote its resources to other regulatory problems, 2) start regulating all sorts of new distribution channels, or 3) continue to regulate over-the-air broadcasters even as they lose relevance and simply post objectionable material online. We're going with option three unless the court forces the FCC's hand."

Anderson is a smart fellow, but I wouldn't be surprised to see government move toward option two, as opposed to option three.

That is, Uncle Sam could use his "base" in the regulation of broadcast content as a springboard toward the regulation of all other kinds of content, on all other kinds of media. After all, the legal-red tape infrastructure is there, why not simply use it more? That would be a persuasive argument to me, if I were a power-maximizing bureaucrat.

News? Free Speech? Or Proprietary Content?

Techdirt reports that the NBA wants to pull its fight videos from YouTube. Can't say that I blame the NBA for wanting to yank unflattering material, but the b-ball league's action raises interesting legal questions--What's news? What's free speech? And what's legally protected content?

PS: Techdirt--now there's a name. Cable Gamer thinks that she likes "Cabledirt," except that it's too messy.

Which reminds me--I hope that you like the new look! Ochre is the new black!

Cyworld, Myspace, and Our World

The Financial Times recently reported on a new--actually, it's not so new, it's seven years old, which makes it a grand-daddy in this biz--South Korean social networking portal called Cyworld which is planning to crack the US market.

So Cyworld is likely, then, to go into direct competition with Myspace and Facebook. And that means that Cyworld is likely to be in competition, at least indirectly, with the News Corp., which owns Myspace--and which also owns Fox News.

As argued here on TCG, such "social networking," or participatory media is the future of news, as well as everything else. Yes, people want to learn things, and be informed and entertained, but eventually, they will want to participate, too.

Merry Christmas!

Johnny Dollar digs up some golden (OK, black and white) ghosts from Christmas Past of FNC.

It is, indeed, a Wonderful Life!

"A death struggle for second place" behind Fox

That's a Fox spokeswoman's cutting comment on the battle between CNN and MSNBC to see who can be #2 behind Fox. And while The Baltimore Sun's Nick Madigan might be trying a little too hard to inject drama into his story.

That is, trying too hard to make it sound as if CNN's Anderson Cooper is The Next Big Thing, or that CNN Headline News' Nancy Grace is anything other than a low-rated shrew, it is undeniable that CNN, CNNHN, and MSNBC have all showed changes and progress in the last year or so. Without question, CNNHN's Glenn Beck has scored points by presenting a more conservative angle (and no doubt flummoxing the famously p.c. CNN), while MSNBC's Keith Olbermann has gained Nielsens from the Bush-bashing left (even if Olbermann's principal victim has been the colorless and plastic Paula Zahn). And let's even say that while CNN's Larry King is, well, getting older, Lou Dobbs on the same network has struck a nerve with his Pat Buchanan-ish schtick.

Fox is still decisively #1, reporter Madigan concedes (thereby undercutting the urgency of his story), because of Bill O'Reilly and because Fox still has the best line-up, overall. And O'Reilly, for example, is anything but complacent. His special from Iraq last night was compelling.

Still, I am sure that Roger Ailes has more up his sleeve--and we will see it in the coming year.

Myspace is #1 -- when will Fox be part of it?

As discussed many times here at The Cable Game, in the future, the media will see convergence--all media being one, or at least all media being findable through one medium, such as the computer.

In this Gilderesque future, everyone will have his or her own "TV channel," via his or her own website/blogspace--albeit probably not a TV-sized audience.

The challenge, then, will be to aggregate those viewers into some sort of cohesion. Myspace, owned by The News Corp. parent company of Fox News, is a possible aggregator of this content. Myspace is already a cyber-home to hundreds of millions, maybe in the future it be home to billions.

The future is uncertain, of course, but new data show that Myspace is now beating out Yahoo for the #1 spot.

Joyless Behar

I know that Joy Behar is supposed to be a comedian--she's supposed to make us laugh. Supposed to bring joy, even.

Well, I have never found her to be funny, and she's not funny at all when she equates Don Rumsfeld to the Nazis and suggests that the Republicans somehow plotted to afflict Sen. Tim Johnson, the Democratic Senator from South Dakota. Har har. That's not humor, that's slander.

Most of the MSM loves it, of course. Behar is still on "The View," and nobody minds. But she is receiving some criticism from some quarters, notably Fox News. And now it looks like she's not enjoying the backlash from FNC and a few others who don't aspire to be fawned on during a visit to "The View," as was Hillary Clinton earlier this week.

Which is all the more proof that Behar sure can dish out the criticism--which diehard liberals, burnt-out old hippies and trolls will define as humor--but she can't take it. She's got a thin skin, and no self-awareness.

No wonder she's not funny.

Keith Olbermann: The $4 Million Man?

Glenn Garvin of The Miami Herald updates us on the struggle between Keith Olbermann and NBC.

"MSNBC is balking at Keith Olbermann's demand to quadruple his $1 million a year salary when his contract is up in April. Wonder if anyone at MSNBC has been impolitic enough during negotiations to note that Olbermann, for all his media darlinghood, still gets beaten like a drum -- a 2-to-1 margin or more -- by Bill O'Reilly?"

Also known as the struggle between an irresistible force (Olbermann's ego) and an immovable object (NBC's budget crisis). Or is the other way around?

Carol Lin update

I got this e-mail recently:

So many got this wrong that she took the time to make it right. I wonder who have the courage to admit they followed the CNN bashing crowd??

What follows, attached below, is an e-mail, which is said to be Carol Lin's repudiation of a Variety story about her departure from CNN. OK, fair enough: I am printing the whole thing.

But just two things in the meantime:

First, even CNN agrees that Rick Sanchez has replaced Lin. So the outlines of Variety's story are true--Lin's new status as a "contributor" is a fuzzy status indeed.

Second, as to the specifics of Lin's departure, reported here on Tuesday, Variety and/or Michael Learmonth have yet to print a retraction.

But for now, at least, I'll give CNN the last word:

Lin: "I'm Ready To Try Something New"
In an e-mail to TVNewser, departing CNN anchor Carol Lin responds to this report in Variety:

"I'm in the business of revealing the truth, even when it might seem revealing or rather startling. So here's the truth about me, CNN and how wrong Variety can get a story.

Jon Klein, CNN's president, has never talked to me about leaving the anchor chair. He has nothing but good things to say about me and my time at CNN. And why not. I've done everything there is to do: I've been in three warzones, anchored the impeachment of a president, covered hurricanes, unimaginable personal tragedies, interviewed everyone from prime ministers to local preachers. I can anchor for hours at a time on any story from North Korean Nukes to school shootings.

I have done it all. And now, I'm ready to do something new -- to feel that tickle of fear in my belly because I know I'm about to try yet again in my life, something unforeseen and uncertain. It's as simple, and perhaps boring to some, as that.

I have nothing but love and respect for CNN! They gave me everything I ever wanted during my eight years -- great co-anchors, my own show, a chance to see the world.

And as I do when I'm done with a fabulous feast, I leave the table full and grateful.

Michael Learmonth of Variety called my on my private cell number and wanted to know why I was leaving CNN and what my book and TV project are about. It's books, by the way. I have a vivid imagination, but also a compelling story to tell about my family's war against cancer during the lead up to the war in Iraq. But there are funny stories to tell too, and I look forward to laughing a lot.

Variety reported deeply personal facts about my life, and somehow surmised that's why I'm leaving.

I am a kickass woman who's still figuring things about about a personal life that took a sharp, unexpected turn. That experience will help me help others.

And that's a good thing. I cannot thank CNN more for the opportunity to continue as a contributor in 2007 and the chance to spread my wings. It's time. It's as simple as that.

See you 10pm Saturday Dec. 30 on the most trusted name in news. CNN.

All the best, Carol Lin"

The Olbermann-ification of Joe Scarborough Continues

Joe Scarborough trashes George W. Bush, bigtime, and gets larded with praise by the lefty website Crooks & Liars, which in turn gets a big play on The Huffington Post.

Remember the days when Scarborough was a Republican? Before he joined the left-wing Hive.

Well, sure, those were the days before Joe left Congress under a strange cloud of the accidental death of a staffer, Lori Klausutis--some have even suggest that maybe it was a murder and then got a TV gig at MSNBC. Talk about landing on your feet, Joe!

Scarborough obviously wants to fit in with the new crowd. Since his time slot follows Keith Olbermann's, he figures that he has to inherit Olbermann's audience. And to do that inheriting, he has to stick to the Bush-bashing Olbermann script.

And he's doing fine. So what's next for Joe as he "grows" into a liberal? A guest op-ed in The New York Times? A vacation at Martha's Vineyard? That'll give him a chance to spend time with Teddy Kennedy. And since they both have experience with dead female staffers, they'll have plenty to talk about.

Rathergate, Part II -- And Where's Mark Cuban on this question of journalistic integrity?

As The Cable Game noted on December 4, Dan Rather has been making scurrilous charges against Fox News, that it's in collusion with the White House. He has no proof, of course, and I am sure that none exists. But if I am wrong, then Rather, the "newsman," ought to prove it. But of course, he doesn't, he keeps going around on other channels, such as CNN and HBO, repeating his reckless accusation. Last night on "The Factor," Bill O'Reilly challenged Rather to come on the show to, put up or shut up. Rather won't, of course, because he's a weasel, who was suckled by weasel-liberalism for the past half-century until he finally soiled his own nest in 2004 with those forged "Rathergate" memos.

Well, now Rather is creating a second scandal for himself, through more baseless slurring. We can call it "Rathergate II."

But beyond the sad pathetic case of Rather's decline and fall, here's a question aimed at the future: What about Rather's boss at HDNet, Mark Cuban? Why isn't Cuban taking some responsibility for his own wayward employee? By keeping Rather on, Cuban is destroying the credibility of his new-media news franchise.

Here's what TCG wrote about Cuban on 12/4, and it's still pertinent, since Cuban has not seen fit to rein in Rather:

"But in the meantime, here's a coupla questions for HDNet, including its owner, mogul Mark Cuban. Does HDNet stand by Rather's allegation? Do Rather's corporate bosses expect Rather to produce evidence to back up his charge? Or are they content to let Rather simply say malicious things about others, without even rudimentary checking?

"If HDNet doesn't rein in Rather, then HDNet is no better than he is. If you hire a Big Liar, then eventually you become a Big Liar, too."

Those words were true then, and they are true now. The ball is in Cuban's court.

So maybe Mark Cuban should go on O'Reilly.

Keep an Eye Out for Dobbs Watch!

Who knew that the National Association of Manufacturers would have such a fast-moving New Media presence? A couple of days ago, I noticed--I'm the one who's slow, not them--their blog, shopfloor.org. And now I see that they also have "Dobbs Watch," a cool feature, full of smart 'n' snarky commentary. That's what TCG aspires to be when it grows up--smart and snarky!

Wild & Crazy John Gibson

This won't be everyone's audio cup of tea, but this was some kind of creative radio producing--Fox radio getting both Danny Bonaduce and a nut on the phone. And it certainly was compelling to listen to. Thanks, of course, to Johnny Dollar!

CNN Shows Its Heart--Not!--to Carol Lin

As I read this sad news about Carol Lin being unceremoniously dumped by CNN, I couldn't help but think of the way other networks treat their talent in challenging times.

For example, when Fox News' Catherine Herridge's son needed a new liver, Catherine proved to be the only suitable donor. But of course, Catherine had a demanding job as FNC's homeland security correspondent--how could she take off months from work to be there for her child? So what to do? How to juggle job and personal life? In Catherine's case, happily, there was no conflict, because FNC gave her off all the time she needed. And now, as detailed on
Greta Van Susteren's blog, and confirmed abundantly everywhere else, Catherine and son Peter are both doing fine. So Fox stuck by its employee, after near-tragedy struck.

Now to CNN. Lin is the mother of a toddler, too. And tragedy struck her, as well--her husband, Will Robinson, a CNN employee, died recently. And in the meantime, CNN has decided to rid itself of Lin: As Variety's Michael Learmonth reports the story, "Sources said Lin's contract was up and CNN wanted her to leave the anchor's desk to become a national correspondent." But, Variety continued, "As a single mother to a toddler, she couldn't commit to the travel requirements of that job."

In other words, CNN put Lin in an impossible situation. Evidently, they were glad to see her go. Nice guys down over there in Atlanta.

Michael Eisner, The Best--which is to say, The Worst

The LA Times' Paul Brownfield offers his best and worst for the year. And Michael Eisner gets a "best," which is really a "worst":

"Best use of my television for your personal hobby: CNBC's 'Conversations With Michael Eisner' and Dane Cook's 'Tourgasm' on HBO (a tie). Which was the comedy, and which involved narcissists droning on and on into a camera? We'll let you play around with that one."

TCG confesses that it didn't know for sure that Eisner's show was still on CNBC. Well, now I know that it is, and that at least one person is watching it. Probably not many more than that, however. I had gotten the impression that CNBC was trying to clean up its act, after such notable fiascoes as John McEnroe and Tina Brown. But evidently, CNBC despite its spiffy new website, still has air time to burn.

Remember the days when CNBC was the hot cable channel? When it had what then-chief Roger Ailes called "the all stars of talk"? John McLaughlin? Chris Matthews? Geraldo Rivera? Cal Thomas? You didn't have to like all those characters to appreciate that CNBC was, in the early-to-mid 90s, the hot showcase for new news talent, eclipsing CNN, even then. But then there was the big exodus of Ailes and many key staffers to the new Fox startup in 1995-6, and poor CNBC has never recovered. And the fact that a self-indulgent has-been like Eisner--who is not even a nice guy, even now that he's out of a job--is till on its air is proof that CNBC is still in denial, as opposed to anything that might resemble recovery.

After You to Iraq, Matt Damon--Or, Now We Know Why Chris Matthews Is So Happy

Chris Matthews' show gets a tiny rating, but you gotta hand it to him, as he reliably gets a big buzz. There's a lesson there, and it mostly has to do with good "gets," such as Matt Damon and Robert DeNiro. Matthews may not be much at catching eyeballs at home, but he can get guests. And that ability keeps him and "Hardball" in The Cable Game.

But one point on Matt Damon, who helped Matthews' get still more buzz by saying of the Bush Twins, Jenna and Barbara: "And if you're gonna send people to war ... then that needs to be shared by everybody, you know, and if the president has daughters who are of age then maybe they should go too." The MSNBC-ers were of course ready to spill that out last week, for a show that has yet to air.

OK, fair enough. That's Damon's opinion. But here's something to keep in mind. Damon is 36, which is well below the maximum age for joining the military, which is about 42--although TCG knows patriotic Americans who have joined the armed services at even older ages than that. So there's nothing stopping Matt from joining up--the Army would be glad to have him, and then he'd really show those Bush twins.

But strangely, Matt seems content to limit his combat "experience" to getting paid big bucks to play soldier in "Saving Private Ryan"?

Rating the News Blogs--some of them

The Baltimore Sun offers an interesting feature. The paper pulls together a panel to rate the blogs of four newsers: NBC's Brian Williams, CNN's Anderson Cooper, CBS' Anderson Cooper, and ABC's Charles Gibson.

There's no consideration of of FNC, because, according to The Sun's David Zurawik, "Fox doesn't offer a comparable blog written by its lead news anchor." Well, OK, but I think that Greta Van Susteren's blog --heavy as it is with her commentary, plus lots of e-mails, answered--is a must-read.

Zurawik's panel is most praising of Williams, most critical of Couric.

I look forward to more such reports, including a wider range of on-air talent.

"Dobbs' usual erroneus facts and dark pronouncements"

So everybody's a pundit now, and everybody's a critic. Good!

The National Association of Manufacturers, which plays no small part in keeping America prosperous, features a blog, Shopfloor.org, that has achieved some bite, as well as buzz.

In a recent post, it took on Lou Dobbs of CNN, the friend-of-the-fatcats turned demagogue-for-the-Democrats.

Here's a prediction: Within a year or two, NAM will have a video feature, and it will be, in effect, another cable channel.

You, The Tube, and YouTube

So Time magazine, joined at the corporate hip to CNN, has picked "You" as its "Person of the Year." Well, it will be hard for any of us to dislike that choice, won't it? After all, aren't we all flattered to be accorded this honor, for all "our" hard work in terms of generating and aggregating content for YouTube and Daily Motion and 50 million or more blogs? Which is to say, Time has simply pandered to its readership. In its glory days, decades ago, Time would have scanned the horizon, and looked for the most newsworthy figure, including villains, such as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran and Kim Jong Il of North Korea. After all, Adolf Hitler was a Time "Man of the Year," twice, and so was Josef Stalin. And the Ayatollah Khomeini. And by any good logic, Osama Bin Laden should've been the "Man of the Year" for 2001--what with 9-11 and all.

But Time has lost its standing with its audience, and so this Norma Desmond of magazines now has to grovel for its closeup with audience. Just give people what they want--and then beg them to take it.

Nothing wrong with the free market, of course, even at its most cynical and craven, but then one must ask: Why bother with magazines at all? Or editors? Why not just let RSS, or Google News be in charge of news-aggregation? Once again, nothing wrong with that, but Google News, or RealClearPolitics, or even the lefty Buzzflash, are free!

Call me old-fashioned, but I sort of like the idea of an editor who simply decides what's important and tells it to us. We have doctors who are expert at what they do, and we rely on them to help us cut through the "noise" of our own physical conditions and tell us what's serious and what isn't, and what's causing symptoms, and so on. So why not the same utilization-of-expertise for news? Nobody makes you watch, of course, but if you come to trust one outlet over another, then outlet ought to be your guide--your virtual Virgil, taking you, Dante-like, through the Inferno, the Purgatorio, and the Paradisio of our reality.

Meanwhile, in a relatedly interesting development, there's lots of corporate wrestling over this self-same issue of content aggregation, and who can aggregate it--what with everyone either suing YouTube, or joining with YouTube, or planning a rival consortium to take on YouTube. As a sign of the changing times, it's indicative that one of the new-media players watching this story is an outlet called Laptop Logic.

So, please keep your seatbelts fastened and your hands in the car--it's going to be a wild ride through the second century of The Cable Game.

New Media Man

Nice writeup of Brian Stelter, blogger-in-chief for TV Newser, in today's Baltimore Sun.

A new book on The Cable Game

Just saw an item on a book, Warheads: Cable News and the Fog of War, by retired Army colonel Ken Allard, now an MSNBC analyst.

The book came out in September, but I guess it slipped past me at the time, what with the campaigns and all.

The title might lead one to think that it's an attack on the news, from the left--that is, an attack on Fox News and, ultimately, the Bush administration--some of the blurbs make me think that maybe it's OK. Here, for example, is what Ralph Peters, another retired Army colonel, and no liberal, blurbs about Allards's book: "A timely and highly informative insider's look at military retirees struggling to educate the American people in the wartime world of 24/7 news. Unique and revealing."

So I am going to get a copy and see for myself.

Lou Dobbs--Hypocrite, or Nasty Guy?

So which is it, Lou? Are you a fearless friend of the middle class--or a fawning hobnobber with the upper class? Or do you wish to have it both ways. Those seem to be the questions on the mind of Eric Deggans, the versatile critic/blogger for The St. Petersburg Times, who filed an honest but not-very-flattering look at Dobbs.

Dobbs was doing a "town meeting" in Tampa, and so Deggans had the job of interviewing him. So Deggan asked an obvious question, based on a profile of Dobbs that appeared in The New Yorker a while back:

"It seems our problems during the interview surfaced after a question I asked about that profile -- specifically, how he felt about Auletta drawing a marked contrast between his high-flying lifestyle (lunch at the Four Seasons, friendships with powerful moguls such as former Miramax head Harvey Weinstein) and his current aggressive advocacy of middle class issues.

"Insisting he loved the story and it implications were obvious, Dobbs gave me a hard time for bringing up what he felt was such an obvious question. It was an odd situation -- critics' rap on Dobbs is that he presents complex issues such as illegal immigration in black and white terms, treating those who disagree with him as either idiots or charlatans.

"Now, I was on the receiving end of that intimidating process. And it was not fun."

Fox News #8 in Cable Channel Audience

Mediaweek's Anthony Crupi has the ratings story. Fox, it should come as no surprise, is the only cable newser in the top ten.

"Like some juiced-up Crackberry addict"

James Wolcott is always interesting for his waspy (and I mean that in the sense of the critter with the wicked little stinger, not the ethnicity) wit.

He is great at misanthropy, which is regularly on display in his Vanity Fair column, and on his own blog.

But Wolcott is even better at misogyny. Here he stings Katie Couric for her vapid CBS News show, and her even more vapid blog--as noted here at TCG many times, all these media are converging. One can watch Couric's broadcast show, in its entirety, on the web, just as one can much or most of the cable news shows now. They are all coming together.

But in the meantime, here's Wolcott's conclusion,from the new VF, in which he heaps particular scorn on her jottings:

"Couric officially bottomed out with a post entitled 'Katie's Apple Pie: The Recipe!' in which she revealed, 'Mushy apples are the most disappointing, "un-a-peeling" (HA HA) culinary experience there is,' and described Mutsu apples she picked from the tree as 'GINORMOUS!' Perhaps Couric is trying to relate to younger viewers and readers at their own dippy level—never a good idea. Or perhaps she's trying to prove that despite the dizzy heights she's reached in the news business, the fame and money that have been slung her way, she's still the same unspoiled, unpretentious batch of homemade fudge she was before she clawed her way to the top. Katie Couric is caught in a tug-of-war between her serious journalistic side and the girlie side that wants to be everybody's darling. It's the girlie side that needs to go."

John Gibson v. David Duke

Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke is unbelievable, literally. But John Gibson scored a revealing interview with him, live by phone, from Tehran on Fox Radio, about that crazy Holocaust Denial conference in Iran. Worth a listen--thanks to Johnny Dollar. Stick around to the end, where John asks Duke about his words which are "bordering on treason"--and which stick so closely to the "Democratic Party platform."

Pow!

James Rosen IS "The Fox News Effect"

In my previous post, below, I took note of Deborah Potter's interesting piece entitled "The Fox Effect." And now I see that Johnny Dollar has his own take on just that, here.

At one level, this segment is just a goof. But at another level, it takes viewers inside the Fox News operation, giving us a sense of a place that's fun and loose and willing to take chances. That's what viewers are looking for. And now it's on the air; so yes, there's the "Fox Effect," but there's also, more compellingly, the "Fox News Reality."

Deborah Potter on "The Fox News Effect"

Remember Deborah Potter? She was a reporter for CBS in the 70s and 80s, and then for CNN in the 90s. Now she runs the non-profit "Newslab," which describes itself as "an online resource center for television and radio newsrooms, focused on improving journalism." Actually, that's pretty much the way that The Cable Game thinks of itself, too! So the more the merrier!

Anyhoo, Potter has now published an article in The American Journalism Review entitled, "The Fox Effect." One would think that such a piece, written by a former MSM reporter, who now works at a DC-area think tank, would be mostly an opportunity for the journo to vent on Fox. But interestingly, the piece is sort of positive and admiring. Consider this graf which shows that Potter has the number of one her ex-CNN colleagues:

"Fox News Channel's impact on TV news has been so pervasive and profound that it's hard to believe the network is only 10 years old. FNC's flashy graphics, frenetic pace and opinionated hosts have spawned imitators across the spectrum. Compare CNN's Lou Dobbs today — with his on-camera rants about immigration and outsourcing — to the staid Dobbs who anchored the old 'Moneyline,' and it's obvious he's been 'Foxified.' Check out MSNBC's multilayered graphics, complete with scrolling text and whooshing sound effects, and the Fox imprint is clear."

And she concludes with this:

"Fox's critics would like to believe that its days of dominance are numbered, pointing to an aging audience and the lagging performance of Fox News online. But that's wishful thinking, at least in the short term. Fox has a leg up in the cable TV news game because it rewrote the rules. The other channels have stolen parts of its playbook, but they lack the coherent game plan that keeps Fox in front."

Now how 'bout them apples?

Hannity & Mel Gibson

TCG will admit that it likes Mel Gibson a lot more than Don Rumsfeld. So we were thrilled to see Sean also score an exclusive interview with the director of "Apocalypto," and, of course, "The Passion of the Christ."

As this video link shows, Sean is a great interviewer: He asks a question, and lets the subject talk. Gibson has his flaws, big flaws, of course. One can simply look at him during this interview and see that he is permanently edgy and jumpy and nervy--full of ideas, full of thoughts. A tortured artist, that's for sure. Maybe that's why his films come out the way they do: full of scenes of torture, from the various "Lethal Weapons," to "Braveheart," to, of course "The Passsion, to now "Apocalypto."

So while the new movie, set in the Mexican jungle 500 years ago, is, indeed, as Gibson and Sean say, a "love story," about "love of family," "love of village," and "love of environment," it's also a violent action movie, featuring some great villains, chewing the scenery--amidst great scenery!

It's about, as Gibson puts it, "good vs. evil ... humanity in its highest and lowest aspects."

Mel added of audiences: "People will react favorably if the story they are being told is compelling." That's true for movies, as Gibson proves, and it's also true for TV, as Hannity proves.

Hannity & Rummy

I thought that Sean Hannity's trip with Don Rumsfeld on the outgoing Secretary of Defense's valedictory tour of Iraq was quite an event. Say what you want about Rumsfeld, say what you want about Hannity--although I like Sean--what's undeniable is that both men took a risk, both men love their country, and both men were part of one of the most interesting stories of the last week.

It was, literally, news you couldn't get elsewhere. Only on Fox, as they say.

Here's a writeup from Glenn Garvin in The Miami Herald, and here's a transcript from Fox.

Newsweek fluffs CNBC

It's a free country, and Newsweek, of course, has a joint deal with MSNBC, that probably calls upon the magazine to go down on other NBC properties, but one assertion in this piece did jump out at me:

"The network expects record revenue in excess of $450 million and profit of about $275 million this year."

Any network that's as lame and crazy much of the time--and I am talking about you, Donny Deutsch, and you, Jim Cramer--should not be making this much money, without significant competition.

CNN stands for "Cafferty Nattering Nuttily"

Once upon a time--in the last century--Jack Cafferty had a certain amount of charm. He was aging into a kind of Andy Rooney-like curmudgeon-itude, displaying a witty equal-opportunity disdain for the petty rudenesses and idiocies of every day life.

But instead, somewhere during the last few years, Cafferty himself became rude and idiotic. Although, of course, since much of his rudeness was aimed at George W. Bush, he has no doubt received high-fives from his masters at CNN, whch was once known as the "Clinton News Network," and might yet again earn that label.

The best single index of Cafferty's decline and fall into zealotry is NewsBusters, the great blog-pendium. NewsBusters' Scott Whitlock caught Cafferty descending even deeper into the Bush-bashing abyss, as the CNN man lamented that it was "strange" that the Democrats weren't picking up on the effort by outgoing Cong. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.) to impeach Bush.

What is Cafferty doing, spending tube time talking up Cynthia McKinney? The crackpot Congresswoman will no doubt spend the rest of her post-"public service" career (she was booted by her constituents earlier this year) hanging out with Cindy Sheehan, Hugo Chavez, and Noam Chomsky. And so is Cafferty giving McKinney this big wet kiss? Maybe because he believes all that left-wing stuff. Or maybe he's just following the line at CNN. Or maybe a little bit of both.

Reading the FNC Tea Leaves

TCG doesn't know for sure whether Fox News Channel is moving ahead with the long-rumored business channel or not. But clearly, FNC is moving closer to such a rendezvous with TV-destiny.

As Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News details in this useful update, published this morning, Fox's Neal Cavuto is going to start offering one-minute snippets on the stock market and other financial news, both to Yahoo's upgraded finance portal and also to radio stations.

All these movements are all fun to think about, as one examines tea leaves and coffee grounds, looking for omens. But of course, the larger reality is that in the not-so-distant future, TV, the Net, and radio (streamed as it often is on the Net), will be the same basic product.

So maybe FNC will offer up a "soft launch" on a Fox Biz Channel, as bits and pieces of Fox business coverage come into existence. Indeed, maybe the "FBC" has already launched, so softly that we are barely noticing it.

Or, finally, perhaps Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes are just playing mind-games with CNBC. But is it possible to imagine Jim Cramer being any crazier and demented than he is now?

If France has "CNN a la francaise"--what does that say about CNN?

The Washington Post cuts a little too close to the bone for CNN's comfort when it refers to a new French 24-hour cable channel as "CNN a la francaise."

Given CNN's history of anti-Americanism--most recently, the snipergate video--it's not surprising that the Post reporter would immediately think to compare France 24 to CNN.

"Fox News reporter combines brains and brawn"

That's not my headline, although I agree with it. And it's not even the headline of the Greg Kelly fan club, although I am sure Greg's fans agree with the header, too.

Nope, the above headline comes from The Hill newspaper, which covers, duh, Capitol Hill.

And while I knew that Greg had been a Marine--and his military background was on great display when he was covering Iraq for FNC, where he was the first reporter into Baghdad--I learned a few new things from Betsy Rothstein's piece, such as that Greg's father is the police chief of NYC. (And I also learned a few things from the fansite; for example, his favorite movie is "Goodfellas" and his favorite drink is Fresca--good choices both!)

Tiki to be or not to be on TV? Definitely, Tiki TV is Coming!

New York Giants star/part-time Fox News star Tiki Barber gets a nice writeup in USA Today.

"We really look forward to 'Tiki Tuesdays' because he brings a spark," says "Fox & Friends" co-host Kiran Chetry. "Tiki's a gem," she adds. "He has energy and is always prepared. This show is very unscripted, and you have to be quick on your feet but also comfortable knowing your stuff."

That's the way it goes on live TV, but that's also the way it goes in football. And since Tiki has mastered the latter, there's every reason to think that now, as he nears retirement, he will master the former, too.

In the words of Fox exec Bill Shine, "Tiki's not just a star in the making. He's a star, a very different, very talented guy who is going to go far. What we've seen from Tiki the last two years is how versatile he is."

Battle for Second Place -- To Be Runner-up to Fox

I'm not sure how big a deal it is to be #2, but if you're interested, TV Newser has it.

Fox Teams up with Yahoo Finance!

"This is our first portal deal," says Jeremy Steinberg, Fox News head of digital sales and development. "We haven't done anything like this before. It's a huge opportunity to drive awareness for Fox News, FoxNews.com and our business content."

USA Today has all the details.

The world of business news is changing. CNBC is attempting to revitalize itself, FNC may or may not have its own business channel--but without a doubt, the convergence of TV and the Net is coming to biz news, just as it is coming to all news.

"Ted Turner's talk at Duke more cartoon than news"

That's the headline atop an article in today's edition of The Durham Herald-Sun, which makes ol' Ted sound as if he had been eating too much fermented buffalo meat. The reporter, Jamie Schuman, refers to Turner as "sappy," observing that "Those hoping to hear CNN founder Ted Turner discuss media and politics--the advertised topics of his talk at Duke University on Monday--were mostly out of luck." Instead, Turner talked about his new restaurant chain and criticized America.

Read the story and decide for yourself: CNN and AOL-Time Warner were right to put Ted out to pasture.

Rather's Big Lie About Fox News--and Some Questions for HDNet

You know what they say about the Big Lie--if it's repeated often enough, people will start to believe it. And so maybe disgraced CBS anchorman Dan Rather figures that he can lie about others, as a way of encouraging people to forget his own dishonest reporting. You remember "Memogate," of course, back in 2004, which finally brought Rather's decades-long reign of bias and error to an end.

But now Rather, resuscitated for a last blink of TV glory on HDNet, has decided to go on the attack, spreading a Big Lie about Fox News. Rather accuses Fox News of getting "talking points" directly, he says, "from the White House."

That's a serious charge--if true. But if it's not true, then what does that say about Rather? Possible answers include: He's a serial offender, he's learned nothing, he thinks that contrition is b.s.

FNC denies Rarher's charge, and even more importantly, Rather has not produced a shred of evidence to support his accusation. And it's also worth remembering that in a leaky world, if the White House were passing such stuff along to FNC, it would be found out soon enough by all the Woodwards and others digging around through Bushland--surely sometime over the last six years one such "smoking gun" would have been detected.

So Bill O'Reilly was right to call Rather on it. Put up or shut up, Bill demanded.

The chances are, of course, that Rather won't do either. He will simply continue to say it, delighting liberal audiences--at least those who don't care what the truth is.

So expect this Rather big lie to continue.

But in the meantime, here's a coupla questions for HDNet, including its owner, mogul Mark Cuban. Does HDNet stand by Rather's allegation? Do Rather's corporate bosses expect Rather to produce evidence to back up his charge? Or are they content to let Rather simply say malicious things about others, without even rudimentary checking?

If HDNet doesn't rein in Rather, then HDNet is no better than he is. If you hire a Big Liar, then eventually you become a Big Liar, too.

The Next Curves Ahead for The Cable Game

Not satisfied with things the way they are? Want to change the world? Want to change at least your little part of it--such as getting better friends, or a better body? Don't ask me how, ask Secondlife.com. It's "Second Life" that is creating a virtual utopian experience, available to anyone with a good computer and a good internet connection.

I hope that you will take the time to read this article in a perfectly sober publication,Forbes magazine, by staff writer Elizabeth Corcoran. She's no nut, and as the article makes clear, she's no convert. But nearly 2 million people do seem to like life at "Second Life," just as 7.5 million people worldwide seem to dig "World of Warcraft." Those aren't small numbers.

Right now, this is mostly for fun, and for who-knows-what-else. But as with everything else humans do, there's news here, too. Let's face it: video games certainly rate as news these days.

And so eventually, somebody is going to figure out how to make this model work for the news biz. How exactly? No idea. TCG isn't much of a doer, that's why I'm a blogger. I like to watch.

CNBC--Constantly Needing to Boost Competence

The Cable Game had noticed awhile back that the CNBC website had all but disappeared--folded into MSN Money. That is, folded in with those media-geniuses at Microsoft who also gave us--drumroll please!--MSNBC!!

Now I see that CNBC has relaunched itself, pledging to focus more on video and investor tools. There's a new CNBC.com, we are told--and in fact, the logo is different, that much I am sure of.

Well, maybe. CNBC is no longer cursed with the likes of John McEnroe and Tina Brown, but so long as a smug and self-satisfied self-promoter like Donny Deutsch on its air, we know that it's not a real network, but instead just a promotional vehicle for various hacks and has-beens. And that reminds me: Does Michael Eisner still have a show on CNBC? I hope I'll be forgiven for not knowing, either way.

"Fox News Watch" is a lively half hour...

...there aren't too many shows on cable news in which the panelists pummel (politely) the host, but this is one. And this is a case where Eric Burns deserved it--Eric got p.c., all of a sudden, on the recent incident of the Minnesota imams on USAir. And yet because it's Fox, I have no doubt that all these uppity panelists will be back next week--together, they are fair, balanced, and unafraid.

Blogger Mark Finkelstein, of NewsBusters, always good with a pun--"Eric Burned"--has it all.

Snipergate Update: "If I took Fox off cable at my hotels, I'd probably lose money."

It's impossible to forget CNN's horrible decision to air video of a terrorist sniper shooting and killing American GI's in Iraq. That video, which aired on the October 18 edition of "Anderson Cooper 360," should have caused more of a ruckus than it did. But now, thanks to this morning's Des Moines Register, we get a reminder that CNN's actions are still having consequences--in the hearts and minds of the American people.

and if there'd been any justice--moral justice, as opposed to mere legal justice--Cooper and CNN would have skulked off the stage in shame. At the time, Reps. Duncan Hunter, Brian Bilbray, and Darrell Issa, all California Republicans spoke out: "CNN has now served as the publicist for an enemy propaganda film."

And without a doubt, CNN's reputation has been enduringly hurt among the people who are the best judges: Americans serving in Iraq. TCG just came across this blog posting, which identifies the American killed in the video. In the words of the "Firepower Forward" blogger, himself in the Army: "The victim was 2nd Lt. Joshua Booth from 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines. Not only are his pregnant wife, child, and parents forced to come to terms with the death of this twenty-three year old Marine, but they now know his final moments and violent death has been gratuitously aired for the world to witness." To borrow a phrase, This is CNN.

The controversy faded after a while, but one man didn't just kvetch about CNN, he did something about that terror-coddling network. Jim Thompson, president of the Stoney Creek Inns, a lodge-themed chain in Iowa and the Midwest, made the decision to yank CNN from the TV menu of his hotels. And he has stuck to it, unapologetically. As Thompson told the Register, "I am not trying to be the moral police." But, Thompson continued, the segment "was violent, repulsive and unacceptable. There was no news content." So goodbye CNN. TCG respects Thompson's right to run his properties his way, even if I hav mixed feelings about yanking speech--and of course, TCG has no illusions as to what the p.c. and censorious Left would do if, say, Fox had run video of a black person being lynched.

However, what was most interesting, from a Cable Game point of view, was another quote from another hotelier quoted in the Register piece, Mike Whalen, who runs the Davenport-based Heart of America Restaurants and Inns. Whalen told reporter Patt Johnson that he didn't think that Thompson's decision to boot CNN from Stoney Creek would have much effect on Thompson's business. "I doubt his decision irritated too many people," Whalen said. "But if I took Fox off cable at my hotels, I'd probably lose money."

So that's the bottom line: Take down CNN, nothing bad happens. But take down Fox, and you lose, bigtime.

Nancy Not Full of Grace

On November 23, I wrote that while I thought that Nancy Grace was contemptible for her exploitation of the tragedy of Melinda Duckett and her missing son Trevor, I didn't think that the late woman's family had the right to sue Grace or her employer, CNN Headline News.

I still feel that way--the First Amendment, and free speech, would be jeopardized if people could sue TV stations over what they put on the air, and what such airings may or may not inspire people to do.

But Grace is surely trying my patience. In fact, I am boiling, as I read this item by Rebecca Dana, which appears in the December 4 issue of The New York Observer. I will quote extensively:

"In the days after Melinda Duckett’s suicide, Ms. Grace utilized the services of Anna Cordasco, who is the managing director of the New York firm Citigate Sard Verbinnen, which specializes in below-the-radar corporate-image resuscitation."

OK, that's bad enough. After Duckett killed herself on September 7, Grace went ahead and ran the segment anyway, in which Grace all but accused the obviously troubled woman of doing away with her little son Trevor. And so this fancy p.r. firm is hired to step in. That stuff happens--we know that.

But here's the Observer story gets wild: The p.r. firm person, one Anna Cordasco, wasn't brouhght into the case to help smooth things over with the Duckett family, or with the local community. Nope, p.r. expert Cordasco was brought in to help Grace further pursue the case:

"In mid-October, six weeks after Duckett’s suicide, Ms. Cordasco e-mailed out a letter to producers of TV entertainment and news shows, pitching them on an upbeat story about Ms. Grace’s dogged pursuit of little Trenton and, if applicable, his killer."

Cordasco pitched local newsies on the story line of Grace as a crime-buster; she was willing to go down to Florida to help search for little missing Trevor, allegedly said the p.r. woman, at the invitation of the Orlando FL police. In other words, Grace was not only not contrite, she was seeking to further exploit the tragedy! Oh, and by the way, the local cops never asked for Grace's help, and clearly didn't want it.

As Dana said in her Observer piece, thanks to the high-priced p.r. company, the matter "just got worse," as the local media responded with outrage to Grace's outrageous tactics.

But not for Melinda Duckett. She couldn't be any worse off.

Nancy Not Full of Grace

On November 23, I wrote that while I thought that Nancy Grace was contemptible for her exploitation of the tragedy of Melinda Duckett and her missing son Trevor, I didn't think that the late woman's family had the right to sue Grace or her employer, CNN Headline News.

I still feel that way: Free speech, would be jeopardized if people could sue TV stations over what they put on the air, and what such airings may or may not inspire people to do.

But Grace is surely trying my patience, and testing the sort of vile behavior that can or should be protected by the First Amendment. Truth to tell, I am boiling as I read this item by Rebecca Dana, which appears in the December 4 issue of The New York Observer. I will quote extensively:

"In the days after Melinda Duckett’s suicide, Ms. Grace utilized the services of Anna Cordasco, who is the managing director of the New York firm Citigate Sard Verbinnen, which specializes in below-the-radar corporate-image resuscitation."

OK, that's bad enough. After Duckett killed herself on September 7, Grace went ahead and ran the segment anyway, in which Grace all but accused the obviously troubled woman of doing away with her little son Trevor. And so this fancy p.r. firm is hired to step in. That stuff happens--we know that.

But here's the Observer story gets wild: The p.r. firm person, one Anna Cordasco, wasn't brouhght into the case to help smooth things over with the Duckett family, or with the local community. Nope, p.r. expert Cordasco was brought in to help Grace further pursue the case:

"In mid-October, six weeks after Duckett’s suicide, Ms. Cordasco e-mailed out a letter to producers of TV entertainment and news shows, pitching them on an upbeat story about Ms. Grace’s dogged pursuit of little Trenton and, if applicable, his killer."

Cordasco pitched local newsies on the story line of Grace as a crime-buster; she was willing to go down to Florida to help search for little missing Trevor, allegedly said the p.r. woman, at the invitation of the Orlando FL police. In other words, Grace was not only not contrite, she was seeking to further exploit the tragedy! Oh, and by the way, the local cops never asked for Grace's help, and clearly didn't want it.

As Dana said in her Observer piece, thanks to the high-priced p.r. company, the matter "just got worse," as the local media responded with outrage to Grace's outrageous tactics.

But not for Melinda Duckett. Now dead, she couldn't be any worse off.