The Top Ten in TV

OK, I know that I am slow on this, but I think it's still worth noting. TV Week issued its "Ten Most Powerful People in TV News 2007" list awhile back, but TCG was preoccupied with other things--my bad.

But here's what the underestimated reporter, Michele Greppi, had to say about key Cable Game players.

First on the list, interestingly, was Roger Ailes, the chief of Fox News, who ranks ahead of even the broadcasters. Here's part of Greppi's explanation for Ailes' being#1:

The most-watched cable news network for five years running, Fox News has its killers' row of brand-name personalities who know good television when they make it. It becomes big news when Bill O'Reilly and Geraldo Rivera pick an intramural fight, going toe to toe and index finger to index finger over illegal immigration.

The first quarter of the year saw a pernicious ratings erosion stop for the first time in months. Prime-time ratings were up 8 percent. New cable carriage deals that triple Fox's subscriber fees also ensure distribution of Fox Business News when it launches later this year.

The channel's signal, digital in the rest of the country, will be analog in New York City to guarantee that Time Warner Cable will pipe it in to Wall Street offices in the business capital of the world. For the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2006, parent company News Corp. reported its cable network revenues had increased $13 million year-to-year to $275 million, primarily reflecting increased contributions from the Fox News Channel. FNC's operating income grew 25 percent, primarily from higher affiliate revenues and additional subscribers.

Foxnews.com lags behind the Web sites of CNN and MSNBC, but its 7.5 million unique users in February represents a 29 percent increase from February 2006.

Four-year-old Fox News Radio is now at 650 affiliates and counting and has beefed up its D.C. bureau with a reporter assigned to the White House.

The rest of the list rounded out as follows:

2. Steve Capus, President of NBC News; 3. Charles Gibson, Anchor, ABC's “World News'”; 4. David Westin, President of ABC News; 5. Tim Russert, Managing editor and moderator of “Meet the Press” and senior VP and Washington bureau chief for NBC News; 6. Keith Olbermann, Host of MSNBC's “Countdown With Keith Olbermann'”; 7. Sean McManus, President of CBS News; 8. Jon Klein, President of CNN/U.S.; Ken Jautz, Executive VP of CNN Worldwide; Jim Walton, President of CNN Worldwide; 9. N.S. Bienstock, Talent agency; 10. Jon Stewart, Anchor of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show."

Some of the choices are a bit strange: Why for example, is Keith Olbermann on there? He's just a low-rent anchor on a low-rated cabler.

But perhaps Greppi explained Olbermann's inclusion, however unsatisfactorily, when she announced in her introduction that some names were included on her list for "a little 'have we got your attention now?' shock value.

Yes, Olbermann is good at that.

Roger Ailes writing a book?

TV pundit Hal Boedeker offers an interesting scoop--maybe.

In reviewing Bill Moyers' PBS special on media coverage of the run-up to Operation Iraqi Freedom, called "Buying the War," Boedeker passes along Moyers' version of his attempt to get Ailes to come on camera for the show. According to Moyers, Ailes declines. And then Boedeker adds this teasing little item: "An assistant said Ailes is 'writing a book on how Fox has changed the face of American broadcasting and doesn't want to scoop himself,' Moyers says."

Now four points need to be made here:

First, I don't trust Bill Moyers. The former aide to Democratic president Lyndon Johnson is a professional left-liberal would do just about anything, I believe, to damage those he views as his partisan and ideological enemies. So just because Moyers said it--and this little alleged scoop is buried deep in Boedeker's article, so one wonders if even Boedeker thinks it's really legit--doesn't make it necessarily true. It is interesting to note, for example, that Boedeker doesn't appear to have called Fox himself to verify Moyers' claim, yea or nay.

Second, Ailes is probably thinking about a dozen different books. I am sure he gets pitched to write a Jack Welch-like memoir all the time. And he wrote a great book, 15 years ago, called "You Are The Message," which was and is an excellent guide to public speaking and presentation.

Third, I wouldn't put it past Ailes to be leaking half-formed information as a kind of psy-war against his opponents. One can be sure that CNN's Jon Klein, and MSNBC's Dan Abrams, and everyone else in The Cable Game, are busy digesting the possibility here, and what it might mean for them. That's Ailes--always find a way to keep the other guys off balance.

Fourth, it could be that Moyers is telling the truth.

Carolyn Kilpatrick Stands Tall

Writing in The Hill, a DC-based political newspaper, Alexander Bolton updates on the debate over the debate.

Congressional Black Caucus Political Education and Leadership Institute, chaired by Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), has scheduled a Democratic debate for September 23 in Detroit, to be aired by Fox News. Under pressure from Moveon.org and other lefty groups seeking to boycott Fox, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards have all announced that they won't be there.

Rep. Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-Mich.), the chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus on Capitol Hill, told The Hill that she supported the agreement with Fox: "First of all, all the networks have a certain bias." Speaking of Fox, Kilpatrick added, "It’s the largest cable network in America. They have over 70 million subscribers. I don’t think at this point we pull out. The question we have to answer is, Do we want to reach as many Americans as we can?”

Bolton adds that CBC leaders feel an obligation to Fox because it was the only news network that agreed to televise a black caucus-sponsored debate before the 2004 Democratic presidential primary. "The 'ask' was sent out to everyone," said Kilpatrick. "Four years ago, Fox was the only one that stepped up and they did a great job."

And the Michigan Congresswoman raises an interesting possibility: What would happen if the top-tier candidates don't show up, and some long-shot--such as, say, New Mexico governor Bill Richardson, who is a cool guy--gets lots of airtime and takes off? Perhaps the Democratic political deck will be reshuffled.

If so, the CBC/FNC debate could prove to be a major milestone in the Democratic race for the '08 nomination. I wonder if that's what Moveon.org and the other lefties had in mind when they launched their blacklisting crusade against Fox.

Lou Dobbs throws around the "N" word

Lou Dobbs should be careful throwing around the "N" word--Nazi.

Josh Gerstein, writing in The New York Sun:

CNN's Lou Dobbs has accused immigrant rights groups and perhaps Mayor Newsom of San Francisco of embracing propaganda tactics reminiscent of the Third Reich.

"They might as well work for Herman Goering, I mean, they're running so much propaganda, trying to confuse the debate, the national dialogue, by talking about immigrants rather than illegal aliens and legal immigrants. It's mindless beyond belief," Mr. Dobbs declared on his program Monday night. The spark for the CNN's anchor's ire was Mr. Newsom's speech over the weekend reaffirming his city's policy of not assisting federal officials with immigration-related raids.

So there you have it: Dobbs getting more and more reckless and demagogic in what he says.

Here's more from Gerstein:

At a time when offense-takers are still waving Imus's scalp, it doesn't seem wise to be throwing around Nazi allusions willy-nilly. It appears Mr. Dobbs was referring to both Mr. Newsom and pro-immigrant groups, but you can judge for yourself here.
I suspect Mr. Dobbs may have intended to refer to the Nazi propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, rather than Goering, who was more of a military type. In any event, the aspersions cast are equally nasty.

The Cable Gamer thinks that the Nazis were probably the worst group ever, and the Holocaust, maybe the worst thing that ever happened. So it cheapens history, and memory, to have someone such as Dobbs throwing around lazy hazy terms to describe contemporary political enemies.

So c'mon Lou: Get a grip.

Dobbs should be responsible. But if he can't be--and he is obviously, literally, full of himself--then CNN execs ought to rein him in.

Are you listening, Jon Klein?

Mycablegame.com

MySpace.com plans to take on Google News, thus entering the Cable Game in a big way, according to Reuters' Kenneth Li.

Pretty interesting stuff from Li:

News Corp.'s MySpace social network plans to test a service on Thursday that scours the Web for news stories and lets users rate them, aiming to lure more advertisers to the Rupert Murdoch-controlled company.

The service, called MySpace News, resembles a mix of Google Inc.'s Google News, which collects stories and arranges them based on thematic similarities and Digg.com, which displays stories suggested by its readers and displays them according to their popularity ranking, executives said.

MySpace News is an attempt by the company to keep its more than 100 million unique visitors, according to comScore Network's March figures, on the popular social network site longer.

News Corp. executives are aggressively courting entertainment and other types of content from other media sources as it seeks to bolster a leading position on the Internet, executives have said. News Corp. expects to generate over $500 million in revenue from its digital businesses this fiscal year.

TV, and Cable News, as the National Hearth

Like millions of Americans, I have been watching TV all day yesterday and all day today. It's sort of like sitting beside the collective fireplace, as we all absorb this terrible news.

Two things stand out:

First, I am struck by the fact that so many people knew what to do. That is, they barricaded the doors, and were even smart enough to not stand in front of the door, but to stand to the side, so that if the shooter shot through the door, they would not be hit. So yes, amidst all the tragedgy, there were heroes. As with 9-11, it's heartening to know that there is good, even amidst evil. And one must give TV credit, because people are watching, and learning.

Second, it is important to ask questions affecting public policy--police procedures, emergency response, pre-emptive counseling, gun control, and, of course, public commemoration and healing. There might not be answers yet, but we can at least start asking questions.

The Cable, The Media Game, and Google: A Tale of New and Newest Media

Media Biz blogger Paul R. LaMonica has an interesting take on the latest twists and turns on the struggle between New Media vs. Newest Media.

The New Media, in this case, are the content providers, including CBS, which have gone digital. Yes, those are Old Media companies, but they have embraced the Net, even as they keep their foothold in TV and radio. The Newer Media are the search engines and "user-generated content" sites, such as Google. These Newer Media outfits deny that they are media--as Silicon Valley blogger Tom Foremski noted recently--because they don't want to send up alarm bells in the extant media outlets that cover them.

But eventually, the reality that the New and Newest Media are in conflict becomes clear, as LaMonica makes clear in this item.

Bartiromo: Shameless Conspicuous Consumption -- And what that says about CNBC

Remember the "money honey" scandal,involving CNBC's Maria Bartiromo and a Citigroup executive, Todd Thomson? It was just a couple of months ago that everyone was talking about the seemingly salacious relationship between CNBC and Citi, both fleshly and financial.

Well, CNBC rode it out, sticking by Bartiromo, even as Citigroup separated itself from Thomson.

Now we see the upshot, or upshots--because they are very different: Sure enough, Thomson is gone from Citibank, but his parachute "will not be golden," according to Reuters.

By contrast, CNBC seems quite happy with Bartiromo: And now The New York Observer reports that she is moving into a $6.5 million townhouse on the upper east side of Manhattan. So she must be feeling pretty secure.

And now doubt looking for her next Todd Thomson.

But what does it say about a TV network that a bank looks good by comparison, when it comes to pushing an ethical broom?

The Grey Lady on "Red Eye"

The New York Times' Campbell Robertson did something interesting--write a nice piece about Fox News' new show, "Red Eye." Taking note of, for example, its "dark humor."

It looks like Greg Gutfeld is getting his due, finally, as a legitimate competitor against the likes of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert.

The Discovery Channel Enters the Cable Game--From Behind the Green Door

The New York Times' Richard Siklos reports that The Discovery Channel is launching an all-green TV channel, using the working title, "Project Green."

This is an interesting and revealing development. Obviously the announcement reminds us of the increasing interest in environmental news. And at the risk of repeating herself, The Cable Gamer would like to point out that environmental news is, well, news.

What happens with global warming and every other environmental story is important--really important. Now, of course, Discovery will have to live up to the standards of news, and be judged accordingly.

So welcome to The Cable Game, Discovery Channel.

Fox vs. TiVo

The Boston Herald'sJesse Noyes reports on a fascinating new development from Fox Broadcast: A new animated program, to run in eight-second segments, IN BETWEEN commercials. That is, the new show is aimed at getting people to watch the commercials, too.

Interesting, that's all TCG can say.

Chris Wallace Speaks Out

"I don't think our audience is necessarily conservative."
So says the host of "Fox News Sunday," who makes a compelling argument to Mike McDaniel of The Houston Chronicle: The fact is we get the majority of our audience from the Fox broadcast channel... Channel 26 is not a conservative station. It's the station of American Idol and 24 and local news. So as we're watched by local stations around the country as we're broadcast first on Fox broadcasting, I don't think our audience is necessarily conservative." Good point, Chris!

Now if only John Edwards will look beyond the smears and stereotypes, we'll have better media coverage of the '08 presidential election.

Keith Olbermann's Decline

Interesting chart-work on the ratings of what passes for a "star" on MSNBC, courtesy of Inside Cable.

Geraldo v. O'Reilly

Say what you want about the Geraldo vs. O'Reilly faceoff on "The O'Reilly Factor," on Thursday night, but say this, too--it was compelling television. The two men were debating illegal immigration.

YouTube has it, among other sites. And it's even generated enough buzz to
make the wires.

I am not sure that I have seen anything quite so intense on TV: two certified heavyweights, going at it, on equal terms. And yet at the end, hot as it was, O'Reilly graciously gave Geraldo the last word. And both will still, of course, be on Fox in the future, because Fox makes no attempt to censor its talent.

If I Didn't Know Better, I'd Say That Jon Klein is a Sexist--Oops, Maybe Klein is a Sexist

Here's Jon Friedman of the always must-read Marketwatch website, in his own words about Jon Klein of CNN as he struggled to explain the addition of Kiran Chetry to "American Morning," with a little added bold for emphasis:

"CNN has done it again: It stuck its foot in its mouth in public.

"Maybe the erstwhile Chicken Noodle Network and (Bill) Clinton News Network should now be known as the Crass News Network or Clumsy News Network.

"Remember that regrettable CNN advertisement about its anchor, Paula Zahn? The widely read Drudge Report said at the time, in 2002: "The 20-second promo, which ran on the all-news channel this weekend, features an announcer asking: 'What other morning show has a host who is brilliant, super smart -- and sexy?'"

"Oops. Two words too many.

"You could say that the promotion reduced Zahn, a serious newscaster to the core, to the unwanted role of journalist capable of providing a little cheesecake along with the -- what do you call it? -- news.

"That was an embarrassment to CNN, and by extension to its image-sensitive parent company, Time Warner Inc.

"But CNN's top news executive in the United States, Jonathan Klein, can be accused of coming pretty darned close -- even though Klein reminded me that he wasn't running CNN's news operation when the 'sexy' comment caused a fuss.

"The occasion was a conference call with journalists after CNN announced that Soledad O'Brien and Miles O'Brien (no relation) were out as the anchors of 'American Morning.' John Roberts, who had come over to CNN from CBS, would be replacing them.

This is what transpired on the call, according to the Wall Street Journal's Web site: "As for Ms. Chetry, who joined CNN in February from Fox News Channel, 'One look at her tells you why she deserves the spot,' Mr. Klein said. 'She's a terrific anchor who lights up the screen.'"

Ugh."

That's all Friedman. The Cable Gamer reports, you decide.

Jesse Jackson Stands With CBC on Fox Debate

According to The New York Times, Jesse Jackson has chosen not to get into a fight with the Congressional Black Caucus over its participation in two debates with Fox News.

This is a change. As the Times notes, Jackson was at first critical of the CBC-Fox joint venture. But now, according to the Times, Jackson "had been engaged in discussions with some members of the black caucus, and he came to understand their desire to reach a broader audience."

Amen! That's been the point all along: a few noisy white liberals, pushing a zealous left-wing agenda, shouldn't be able to dictate to others, not to African Americans, not to any Americans.

Democrats Seek to Blackball the Black Caucus

The Cable Gamer is having a hard time figuring out what the Democrats are doing. According to this blog-item by Kate Phillips in The New York Times, the Democratic National Committee is trying to "de-sanction" an '08 presidential debate on Fox News, sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus. Imagine: trying to blackball the Black Caucus!

In other words, the DNC, feeling pressure from the same lefty blogs that tried to run Joe Lieberman out of the Democratic Party, is now seeking to tell the CBC what it can and cannot do. All in the name of some avant-garde lefty vision of ideological purity.

A vision which, by the way, is self-destructive: You win elections by expanding your vote, not trying to purify it. If the Democrats want to win the next election, they should be going on Fox more, not less. After all, Democrats won last year pursuing the "50 state" strategy--including, of course, the 31 "red" states that George W. Bush carried in 2004--envisioned by Howard Dean when he became DNC chairman two years ago. Dean's success accounts for the new Democratic majority in the 110th Congress. We might consider the US Senate, where the Dems' 51:49 majority rests on two freshmen, Jon Tester and Jim Webb, both of whom beat Republican incumbents in Montana and Virginia, respectively.

Foolish politics for the DNC, which had a moment of insight in 2006, but now seems to be reverting to bad and elitist habits.

If they were smart, the Dems would be swarming Fox right now. But they're not, and so they're not.

The Cable Game is an Away Game

Paul Thomasch, a savvy media-business writer for Reuters, uncovers an interesting study from Arbitron. It seems that an
increasing number of Americans are watching TV away from home.

These data are interesting, coming at a time when there's been concern that TV audiences were falling off, due to competition from the Internet, and everything else. And of course, it is true that Net consumption is rising rapidly. But it seems to be the case, instead, that more Americans are consuming more media than ever.

Indeed, there's something about television that makes it the sort of media experience that people are more likely to consume when they are out and around--TV is more sociable than the Net.

So it only makes sense that friends would visit each other, or that people would gather in bars--and turn the TV.

Moreover, it was interesting that the demographics of those who watch TV tilt so young: As Thomasch put it, "By age group, 64 percent of 12-17 year olds watched TV away from home at least once per week; 49 percent of 18-24 year olds watched away from home; and about 23 percent of those aged 55 and older watched away from home."

Now those young 'uns aren't necessarily watching cable news, but they could be if something big happens, and they will be, simply because they, too, will get older and thus more interested in events.

Sean Hannity: "Passionately Conservative" But You Knew That. What You Didn't Know...

...Is that Verne Gay, columnist for Newsday, regards himself as a liberal, and also judges Hannity to be "a pretty nice guy."

So there's an interesting profile of Hannity--and his hair!--in Newsday, the most underrated newspaper in the country.

Moral Equivalence on CNN

CNN anchor Tony Harris seems like a nice enough guy. Perfectly likeable, in fact. And yet this morning, as he announced the release of the British hostages from Iran, he said that the rogue regime in Tehran was "granting amnesty" to the British sailors and marines.

That's good news, except for one little thing: "amnesty," implies generosity on the part of the amnesty-granter. And "amnesty" also implies guilt of some kind on the part of the amnesty-recipient. In other words, CNN is contributing, in a subtle but distinct way, to the idea that the Iranians have some sort of legitimate argument to make. And so CNN is contributing to the legitimization of the rogue regime of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

CNN Reporter Strives to Stay Drunk--and Succeeds, Obviously

CNN's Michael Ware, straight from the Drudge Report, which always gets the best stuff:

"I try to stay as drunk for as long as possible while I'm here … In fact, I'm drinking now."

So THIS is CNN!? And Time magazine??

Here's the whole item from The Drudge Report,:

McCain heckled by CNN reporter
Sun Apr 01 2007 13:50:38 ET

**Exclusive**

During a live press conference in Bagdad, Senators McCain and Graham were heckled by CNN reporter Michael Ware. An official at the press conference called Ware’s conduct “outrageous,” saying, “here you have two United States Senators in Bagdad giving first-hand reports while Ware is laughing and mocking their comments. I’ve never witnessed such disrespect. This guy is an activist not a reporter.”

Senators McCain and Graham flew into Iraq and drove into Bagdad, making stops at an open market and a joint Iraq/American military security outpost before appearing at the press conference.

This is not the first time Michael Ware has taken issue with Senator McCain’s comments about early progress in Iraq. Last week, after Senator McCain told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that he needed to catch up on the news coming out of Iraq, Michael Ware responded, saying:

“I don't know what part of Neverland Senator McCain is talking about when he says we can go strolling in Baghdad.”

Michael Ware has also publicly expressed his views on the war last year in an interview with Bill Maher, saying, “I've been given a front-row ticket to watch this slow-motion train wreck … I try to stay as drunk for as long as possible while I'm here … In fact, I'm drinking now.”