Exclusives That Aren’t

During prime Monday night, ABC ran promos for an exclusive “Good Morning America” interview with British housewife-turned-author E.L. James who penned the erotic novel “50 Shades of Grey.” One problem: James was also on the “Today” show.

ABC’s on-screen graphic read “exclusive” and the voice over said “she’s only talking to GMA.” 

But NBC’s Michelle Kosinski also interviewed James about the success of the book. And in introducing the story, Matt Lauer pointed out that NBC’s corporate cousin Universal Pictures had secured the movie rights.

• Related | GalleyCat: E.L. James Makes TIME 100

Elizabeth Vargas did the sit-down with James for GMA. And to the show’s credit, they didn’t blare it as EXCLUSIVE. But apparently the primetime promo producer didn’t get the message.

Both “Today and “GMA” ran their interviews at the exact same time, at 8:19am. “CBS This Morning” also mentioned how the steamy book is also boosting sales at sex shops. Gayle King reported customers “are asking for some of the products described in the book.”

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Update: It seems ABC did have the exclusive, more details below.

Original Post: With the Royal Wedding less than a month away, news divisions are scrambling to get whatever exclusives they can in advance of the nuptials.

When Prince William’s younger brother Harry announced that he would be trekking to the North Pole to raise money for charity, the press jumped at the chance to get some quality time with the young Prince in Norway.

Unfortunately, ABC News chose to market Bob Woodruff‘s interview as a “Royal Exclusive” on “Good Morning America” this morning:

Exclusive it may have been, except for the fact that NBC’s Ben Fogle interviewed the Prince as well for his “Today” piece, which aired yesterday:

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Maybe NBC should just give “Two and a Half Men” actor Charlie Sheen his own hour in the morning. For the third consecutive day, NBC’s “Today” ran an “exclusive” interview with Sheen this morning.

But wait, you may be asking. Wasn’t Sheen on “Today” Monday and Tuesday? And didn’t ABC’s “Good Morning America” run clips from an interview Monday? And didn’t he appear live on CNN’s “Piers Morgan Tonight” Monday? And didn’t he do a live video interview on TMZ.com Monday? And Didn’t he do a live interview on Howard Stern‘s show Tuesday? And didn’t ABC air a one-hour interview special Tuesday night?

Yes, Sheen did all of those things… but none were live in the morning, ergo, EXCLUSIVE.

The interview was the first conducted since Sheen’s children were taken from his custody by police, so there were new things for “Rockstar” reporter Jeff Rossen to ask him about.

Video of Sheen’s interview is after the jump.

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ABC’s “Good Morning America” has been teasing tomorrow’s “exclusive” interview with Deanna Favre, wife of Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre. Favre, known for his incessant retirements, was recently caught with nothing but his crocs on. Favre has yet to comment on the sexting incident.

During a promo that aired during GMA this morning, the announcer says:

“Tomorrow, Deanna Favre, wife of Brett Favre, she’s been through a lot, including what’s going on with her superstar husband right now. How does she cope with her struggles? Tomorrow, her special message, a Good Morning America exclusive, on ABC.”

An “exclusive” it isn’t, however.

Deanna Favre, a cancer survivor, has also been booked on “Fox & Friends” tomorrow morning on Fox News Channel.

• Earlier on TVNewser: Greta Van Susteren gets Brett Favre to go On the Record

Tiffany Hartley, the Texas woman whose husband was allegedly killed by Mexican pirates, has been making the TV morning show rounds. And this morning, ABC’s “Good Morning America” claimed an exclusive with her. One problem: Hartley was on CBS’ “The Early Show” at the same time.

Meanwhile, the “Today” show interviewed Hartley both yesterday and on Tuesday.

During the 4 p.m. hour today Dylan Ratigan on MSNBC spoke to TARP Inspector General Neil Barofsky in an “exclusive” interview. You can guess what happens next. Barofsky appeared on Fox News less than half an hour later to talk to Neil Cavuto. According to TVEyes, Barofsky appeared on MSNBC just after 4 p.m. ET, and was on FNC just after 4:30.

This morning on NBC’s “Today” show, Matt Lauer introduced John Henry Browne — the Seattle defense attorney hired by the family of alleged “Barefoot Bandit” Colton Harris-Moore — saying, “He’s with us now exclusively.” Only:

7:33amET	7:35amET

Seems to be a pattern this summer for the morning shows…

This morning, NBC’s “Today” show had the first interview with Jordan Romero, the 13-year-old who recently climbed Mount Everest.

“As I mentioned, Jordan Romero is here exclusively with his father and mother who also made the climb,” said Matt Lauer.

Except:

He was on CBS’ “Early Show” 30 minutes later. Video of the “Today” segment after the jump…

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It seems the “CBS Early Show” got a little too excited about showing off those swanky new HD graphics this morning:

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Relatedish: Maggie and Harry, Now in Hi-Def

Oprah Winfrey made the rounds this morning on the morning shows. She phoned in to talk about the dangers of talking and texting while driving. But, despite GMA’s claim of being an exclusive, Winfrey dialed into CBS’ “The Early Show” and NBC’s “Today” show too.

At one point, “Today” lost Oprah’s call. When they came back from break, Ann Curry joked, “We’re told that Oprah is back on the phone with us. Oprah, was it you or ‘Good Morning America’ that hung up on us just now?”

“It was not I,” said Oprah.

And Oprah’s appearances didn’t end there. She called up MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” around 8:45amET. “Oh my gosh I finally made the “Morning Joe” show,” said Winfrey. “I love the Morning Joe team.”

As part of the plan, Oprah is asking people to pledge not to talk or text while driving. So far there are 219,000+ pledges on the No Phone Zone pledge on Oprah.com.