Browse TVNewser December 2006 archives - TVNewser

2006: Them’s Fightin’ Words

Brian — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 15:05:11 +0000

Some of the best cable fights of the year:

> Nov. 20: Klein accuses FNC of “cheerleading” for GOP; an “amused Foxie” wishes CNN and MSNBC well “on their quest for relevancy”

> Oct. 30: O’Reilly and Letterman, the rematch

> Oct. 27: Lynne Cheney suggests that CNN’s Broken Government series comes from “DNC talking points”

> Oct. 13: After Klein says Couric is “the sexiest of the news anchors,” Greta Van Susteren suggests he’s “the creep of the day”

> Oct. 12: “The unfortunate thing about Fox’s 10th anniversary is that most of their viewers aren’t going to be around for their 20th,” Klein says; F&F responds by reading e-mails from young viewers

> Sep. 29: FNC’s live shot is in CNN’s backyard; the CNNers will be “watching to see how news is done,” Thom Bird says; “we wish them well,” CNN responds

> Sep. 20: O’Reilly says he’s on an al Qaeda “death list;” MSNBC suggests he’s delusional

> Aug. 11: Lou Dobbs says this story in The Nation is a “mistake-riddled left-wing screed”

> Aug. 7: Laura Ingraham slams Joe Scarborough‘s ratings, so Joe responds: “Her stint at this network was an abject failure that ended in her firing followed by a decade of ill will”

> Jul. 26: Ailes on Cooper: “We haven’t spent $20 million marketing a single star, as one of our competitors has;” CNN rejects the $20 million figure

> Jul. 24: Roger Ailes on Olbermann: “Clearly he has no viewers except those he gets when he attacks Fox News;” later, Olbermann responds

> Jul. 22: How Fox News uses the “wish well”

> Jul. 10: Tucker Carlson to Anderson Cooper: “You’re either Ed Murrow or you’re Pat O’Brien from ‘The Insider.’ Pick one”

> Jun. 29: O’Reilly says there’s “major chaos” at MSNBC; Olbermann says Bill is panicking

> Jun. 22: Jon Stewart pretends to be a CNN or MSNBC exec: “Let’s copy Fox in terms of their like kind of nice graphics and loud swoosh noises, and also car chases”

> Jun. 22: Cafferty says “the dumb ones watch Fox;” an FNC spokesperson calls Cafferty the “crazy uncle” of CNN and says “as long as Jack’s on the open road, no bike messenger is safe“

> Jun. 14: Olbermann says Cosby is nice, but “dumber than a suitcase of rocks”

> Jun. 2: Olbermann says O’Reilly has “slandered at least 84 dead American servicemen” from WWII

> May 17: FNC gives Tim Russert the wish-well

> May 11: Fox News creates an illustration of Klein “whistling past his graveyard of failures;” “Fox and facts don’t mix,” a CNN spokesperson responds

> May 9: O’Reilly says the “Fox hating print press” wants to “prop up our competition” by reporting ratings

> May 9: Jon Klein question’s FNC’s independence; a Fox spokesperson responds by citing CNN’s “dismal performance” and says Klein “should be more concerned with keeping his j
ob”

> May 4: Deborah Norville slams Rita Cosby: “You will never see [me] anchoring a show from a whorehouse”

> May 2: O’Reilly says MSNBC only has “ten viewers”

> Mar. 18: Olbermann talking about O’Reilly: “He’s an idiot”

> Mar. 4: A Radio Factor caller mentions Olbermann’s name and gets dumped; O’Reilly threatens “a little visit” from Fox security

> Feb. 24: O’Reilly circulates a “Bring Back Donahue petition; Olbermann signs it on-air; DailyKos promotes a Fire O’Reilly petition

> Feb. 16: Jack Cafferty calls FNC the “F-word network;” John Gibson responds: “Why don’t you just shut up?”

> Feb. 7: O’Reilly says Stephen Colbert “ought to be sending me a check every week;” later, Olbermann says the same thing about O’Reilly

> Feb. 7: Nicholas Kristof continues his effort to bring O’Reilly to Darfur; Bill calls it a gimmick

> Jan. 31: O’Reilly delivers warning to Bob Wright

> Jan. 28: O’Reilly calls MSNBC prez Rick Kaplan a “far-left martinet,” says he has “virtually destroyed” the net

> Jan. 11: Dateline’s Josh Mankiewicz calls the “War on Christmas” “nutty;” Bill O’Reilly responds to “attack”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

2006: Fox News Is #1, But Maybe It’s Not Invincible (Esp. In The Demo)

Brian — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 14:01:20 +0000

> Dec. 17: Dobbs’ #’s rise 23 percent in one year

> Dec. 4: Doc Block boosts ratings for MSNBC

> Nov. 8: On election night, CNN tops FNC in demo; it wins the next day too, but then the ratings settle down

> Nov. 8: Compared to 2002 midterms, all the cablers report ratings increases

> Nov. 3: MSNBC is breathing down CNN’s neck in the demo in primetime; still true in Dec.

> Nov. 2: “Fox News is showing serious signs of aging”

> Oct. 31: FNC’s historic 250th week at #1

> Oct. 31: CNBC’s highest biz day ratings in 30 months

> Oct. 4: Countdown’s ratings are rising

> Sep. 26: In Q3, CNBC demos up 83 percent in Business Day

> Sep. 26: CNN says the demo gap between it and FNC “continues to narrow”

> Sep. 12: MSNBC reairs 9/11/01 coverage on the 5th anniversary, and it’s #1 in the demo

> Sep. 2: FNC’s summer prime ratings down 24 percent compared to ’05

> Aug. 30: For one month, Hannity & Colmes is #1 in the demo

> Aug. 24: CNN’s bin Laden documentary attracts two million viewers, beats FNC in the demo

> Aug. 3: O’Reilly: “In July, Fox News was the fifth-highest rated cable network in the country. CNN was 24th, MSNBC 36th, right behind the Japanese movie channel”

> Aug. 2: Glenn Beck is gaining some traction

> Aug. 2: Despite conflict, FNC still doubles CNN in primetime

> Jul. 31: Middle East conflict causes ratings spike, especially for CNN

> Jul. 31: Cable viewership is in a “stagnant period,” Pew says

> Jul. 24: A car chase makes HLN #1 (for an hour)

> Jul. 6: CNN tops FNC during NK missile launch coverage

> Jul. 6: Olbermann beats O’Reilly in demo for 15 minutes

> Jun. 30: Larry King‘s interview with Star Jones delivers 3 million viewers

> Jun. 27: In Q2, every FNC program loses viewers

> Jun. 18: CNBC’s ratings are “heading in the right direction” (but some shows are still scratching)

> May 31: Shep Smith‘s Fox Report has been #1 for 64 months

> May 31: Paula Zahn hits a new demo low; how low can she go?

> May 24: Wolf Blitzer sometimes beats John Gibson in the demo

> May 10: FNC’s lowest-rated demo month since 2001; it’s true for Bill O’Reilly too

> May 8: Is FNC’s explosive growth “a relic from the first Bush term?”

> May 8: The average age of an FNC and CNN viewer is 60+. For HLN, it’s 59.9; for MSNBC, it’s 57

> May 2: Deal or No Deal repeats boost CNBC primetime

> May 2: Lou Dobbs‘ ratings are rising

> Mar. 29: Michael Eisner‘s CNBC show is a dud, but CNBC doesn’t care

> Mar. 28: “MSNBC’s first quarterly primetime victory over CNN in the demo in almost five years”

> Mar. 20: More than a trend: MSNBC challenging CNN from 6 to 9pm

> Mar. 13: Cable viewership up slightly in ’05, PEJ finds

> Feb. 21: MSNBC and CNBC #’s triple thanks to Olympics; NBC wishes business news was as popular as curling

> Feb. 16: At 7 and 8pm, MSNBC beats CNN in the demo for 8 straight days

> Feb. 13: Good signs for CNN in the demo

> Feb. 1: FNC has 6.4 million viewers for SOTU; CNN has 2.2 million

> Jan. 30: MSNBC tops CNN in the demo a few times

> Jan. 18: A whole weekend of 0.0′s for CNBC

> Jan. 16: Anderson Cooper may not have more viewers than Aaron Brown did, but they’re younger now; later, more proof

> Jan. 10: FNC has three times as many viewers as CNN for the Alito hearings

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

2006: On The Web, More & More Video

Brian — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 12:01:47 +0000

> Dec. 13: Yahoo and ABC expand video content deal

> Dec. 4: The new CNBC.com launches

> Nov. 27: CNBC.com will offer live streams of TV broadcasts and Web-exclusive video

> Nov. 17: CNBC.com is adding staffers for a relaunch

> Nov. 16: FOXNews.com: finally getting its act together?

> Nov. 14: Rocketboom’s Amanda Congdon coming to ABCNews.com

> Nov. 13: NBC offers podcasts of Nightly News and MTP; later, they’re popular

> Nov. 13: Keith Olbermann is a hit on YouTube

> Nov. 7: News web sites promote cool election tools

> Nov. 6: More election video online than ever before

> Nov. 2: Foley scoop propels ABCNews.com to new high

> Oct. 31: ABC records 5.2 million downloads of World News Now in Sept.

> Oct. 30: FNCers start hosting Fox News Flash videos for web

> Oct. 16: MSNBC.com’s new record: 88 million streams in one month

> Sep. 28: FNC’s internet division exercises “poor judgment” when it asks YouTube to remove Clinton/Wallace video

> Sep. 18: FOXNews.com gets an overhaul; most of the feedback is negative

> Sep. 14: Couric’s premiere drives traffic to CBSNews.com

> Sep. 11: CNN Pipeline, MSNBC.com, FOXNews.com rebroadcast 9/11/01 coverage

> Sep. 7: MSNBC.com serves 7 million videos in one day

> Aug. 17: The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric will be simulcast online

> Aug. 1: CNN is selling documentaries on iTunes

> Jul. 31: CNN starts soliciting I-Reports from viewers

> Jul. 27: CBS Radio News launches an “iCast” for 18-34 year olds

> Jul. 18: NBC launches Early Nightly; it’s a video preview of NN

> Jul. 10: Charting 10 years of MSNBC.com growth (and streaming video growth)

> Jul. 10: “Be Seen & Be Heard:” ABC’s citizen journalism effort

> Jun. 19: CNN.com launches six video podcasts

> Jun. 11: Online, “I don’t consider FoxNews.com to be in our competitors set,” CNN SVP David Payne says

> Jun. 2: ABC’s World News Now podcast gets 1.2 million downloads in one week

> May 29: CNN’s broadband video biz “has spiked;” revenue is growing at a “double-digit pace”

> May 25: NBC sells shows on iTunes

> May 1: NBC launches a Netcast of ‘Today’

> Mar. 26: CNN.com gets a new home page

> Mar. 23: CBS and Yahoo sign a 60 Minutes “packaging” partnership; it launches in the fall

> Mar. 7: The first “made-for-mobile” TV journalist?

> Mar. 3: Mike Straka starts hosting red carpet shows for FOXNews.com

> Feb. 27: The first time, but not the last: CBS News asks YouTube to remove a video

> Feb. 3: MSNBC #1, FNC #3 online

> Jan. 31: No shortage of online streams for the State of the Union

> Jan. 19: ABC News Now is free (after a commercial)

> Jan. 9: ABC and BBC ink digital deal

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

2006: BBC Strengthens U.S. Distribution; Al Jazeera Less Successful

Brian — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 11:11:06 +0000

> Dec. 1: AJE shows “signs of finding its footing”

> Nov. 29: BBC is popular in U.S., survey says

> Nov. 24: Marash feels like “the belle of the ball”

> Nov. 16: “I want my Al Jazeera”

> Nov. 15: AJE is streaming on the Internet; it can’t get carriage in the U.S.

> Nov. 14: On eve of launch, net renames itself Al Jazeera English

> Nov. 14: Inside AJI’s Washington newsroom

> Nov. 1: AJI can’t land a deal for U.S. distribution

> Oct. 13: AJIs launch date is Nov. 15

> Aug. 24: Just like its Arabic parent, AJI won’t have a Baghdad bureau

> Aug. 13: AJI’s director of programs resigns

> Jul. 3: BBC World launches World News Today

> Jun. 30: “Internal politics” are partially responsible for AJI’s delays

> Jun. 26: Al Jazeera staffers face “resistance, rejection and racism”

> Jun. 11: At AJI, a lot of planning and “a lot of wheel-spinning”

> Jun. 1: AJI likely to launch in November or December now

> May 25: ABCNews.com offers BBC News video

> May 24: AJI now delayed until September; “staffers are extremely frustrated”

> Apr. 20: Former CNBCer Rob Reynolds joins AJI

> Apr. 11: AJI “maybe” by June; definitely by the “end of the year”

> Apr. 10: BBC World to be carried by Cablevision; it launches on June 1

> Apr. 3: Marash explains why he joined AJI

> Mar. 24: Signs of trouble: AJI is delayed several months for “technical reasons”

> Mar. 19: AJI will feature five hours from D.C.

> Jan. 25: Discovery signs deal to distribute BBC World News in U.S.

> Jan. 13: AJI’s “campaign for carriage” in U.S.

> Jan. 12: Dave Marash signs with Al Jazeera International

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

2006: At ABC & CBS, Iraq Hits Home

Brian — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 11:06:14 +0000

> May 30:

“We all fear that this day will come, the day when a bomb will tear a piece off of us. I was in a Humvee this weekend on an embed and remember looking down at my legs. They looked so thin and fragile. For a second I thought, ‘What if I lose them?’”

–Richard Engel, blogging after a CBS convoy comes under attack

> Dec. 29: Saddam’s execution gets wall-to-wall coverage

> Dec. 16: “The number of Iraqi journalists who have died in the past year is staggering,” Ware says

> Dec. 15: Laura Bush says the media’s drum beat about Iraq is “discouraging”

> Dec. 12: Iraqi insurgents kill AP cameraman

> Dec. 11: Sean Hannity travels to Iraq; a week later, Bill O’Reilly does

> Dec. 5: Media covers Iraq Study Group report

> Dec. 3: NBC’s civil war decision was “very much driven by what the reports are coming from the ground”

> Nov. 27: NBC says Iraq is a “civil war;” will it be a “defining moment?”

> Nov. 27: “If this isn’t a civil war, I don’t know what is,” CNN’s Michael Ware says

> Oct. 26: “I’m basically a pacifist,” Richard Engel says

>Aug. 7: “The daily bombings, shootings and kidnappings consume a large part of our day,” CNN producer Kim Segal blogs

> Jul. 6: Volunteering for war duty in Iraq

> Jun. 5: “It is hard to come back from Iraq and then do a story about Brad and Angelina’s baby,” ABC’s John Berman says

> May 29: Two CBS staffers are killed in Iraq; Kimberly Dozier is critically injured

> Apr. 20: ABC’s Baghdad bureau adopts a puppy from FNC’s Baghdad bureau; they name him Fox

> Mar. 26: Lara Logan: “I really resent the fact that people say we’re not reflecting the true picture here”

> Mar. 23: “We cover what we can cover without getting our anchors and our reporters blown up,” FNCer Jerry Burke says

> Mar. 22: CBS Iraqi stringer still detained without explanation; finally wins release in April
> Mar. 21: Laura Ingraham, on Today Show, criticizes journalists for covering Iraq from Green Zone

> Mar. 18: “Operation Swarmer” was just a photo op, but the cable nets ate it up

> Mar. 7: Donald Rumsfeld says the media is exaggerating about the dangers in Iraq

> Mar. 3: NBC’s Iraqi staffers blog on MSNBC.com

> Feb. 26: Iraqi journalists are targeted most often

> Feb. 22: “I don’t want to go back” to Iraq, FNC’s Steve Harrigan says

> Feb. 6: At home, families of journalists worry

> Feb. 6: Iraq is “the deadliest war ever for news organization employees,” Eason Jordan says

> Jan. 28: Bob Woodruff and Doug Vogt are seriously injured in Iraq

> Jan. 10: Reporters mobilize to help find Jill Carroll

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

2006: News Divisions Continue To Cover Katrina’s Aftermath

Brian — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 11:00:11 +0000

> Aug. 31: TVNewser recaps “a year of Katrina”

> Aug. 29: Harry Smith calls it a “god awful mess”

> Aug. 28: New Orleans is “still broken,” Charles Gibson says

> Aug. 28: Williams became seriously ill in the aftermath of Katrina

> Aug. 28: Cooper: “It’s so easy in cable news to move on to the next thing, and shame on any of us if we let that happen”

> Jun. 21: CNN opens permanent New Orleans bureau on Poydras Street

> May 8: Howard Kurtz in New Orleans: “Journalism’s work here is not done — not by a long shot”

> Apr. 27: On his 11th trip to region, Williams interviews Bush

> Apr. 23: At NAB/RTNDA, reporters reflect on covering the storm

> Apr. 5: CNN and NBC receive Peabody Awards for Katrina coverage

> Mar. 8: Cooper says Katrina “reaffirmed by belief in reporting”

> Mar. 2: Shep Smith spends time in Mississippi

> Feb. 28: CNNers ride aboard Mardi Gras floats

> Feb. 25: The country needs a wake-up call

> Feb. 23 and 24: Lots of Mardi Gras coverage

> Feb. 13: CNN’s Kathleen Koch returns to her hometown for a special, “The Fight for Bay St. Louis”

> Feb. 10: Anderson Cooper gets preachy in New Orleans

> Jan. 26: Brian Williams responds to viewers who are tired of Katrina coverage

> Jan. 23: “Only NBC News clings to the story with an abiding grip,” a local columnist says

> Jan. 23: John Sears becomes CNN’s Gulf Coast bureau chief

> Jan. 12: “It still looks like a war zone,” Shep Smith says

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

2006: Some of TVNewser’s Interviews

Brian — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 10:58:08 +0000

> Aug. 31: CNN’s Jeanne Meserve describes the haunting memories of Katrina

> Aug. 30: FNC’s Greta Van Susteren recalls the scene at the Astrodome

> Aug. 30: ABC’s Robin Roberts talks about her ties to the Gulf Coast

> Aug. 29: CNN’s Susan Roesgen, on covering her wrecked hometown

> Aug. 29: CBS’s Tracy Smith, on returning to New Orleans

> Aug. 28: NBC’s Brian Williams says journalists became first responders

> Aug. 28: Steve Harrigan on his memories of two Katrina landfalls, and the aftermath

> Aug. 28: CBS hurricane consultant Bryan Norcross recalls Katrina’s landfall

> Aug. 15: CNN president Jon Klein, on the cable net’s daytime changes

> Jul. 26: Jim Murphy and Tom Cibrowski talk about their new GMA jobs

> Jul. 16: Former MSNBC.com editor in chief Merrill Brown on the site’s 10th birthday

> Jul. 14: CNN’s Soledad O’Brien recalls launching The Site on MSNBC in 1996

> Jun. 2: CBS’s Barry Petersen on covering Asia

> May 31: FNC’s Steve Harrigan on his assignments in Latin America

> May 30: ABC’s Jim Sciutto on going back to Iraq

> May 25: NBC’s Richard Engel, about his new Middle East bureau

> Feb. 2: CBS’s Bob Schieffer describes building a bench of correspondents

> Feb. 1: CNN’s John Roberts, on his move from CBS to cable

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

2006: Some of TVNewser’s Scoops

Brian — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 10:56:00 +0000

> Nov. 2: What does desperation breed? For one Dateliner, crying

> Sep. 27: Layoffs are coming to NBC News

> Aug. 29: The photos of Couric’s “extreme makeover”

> Aug. 9: Ron Corning is leaving ABC

> Aug. 4: Mika Brzezinski is on the way out at CBS

> Aug. 3: Sam Feist is CNN’s new political director; later, Molly Levinson is going to CBS

> Jul. 14: Jim Murphy and Tom Cibrowski are in the running for the GMA top job(s?)

> Jun. 26: MSNBC names a primetime tape czar

> Jun. 13: American Morning is returning to a three-hour format

> Jun. 9: MSNBC cans Maury & Connie

> Apr. 21: BBC is launching early A.M. show for U.S.

> Apr. 21: Maybe Al Jazeera will drop the “International”

> Apr. 18: MSNBC switches Scarborough and Cosby

> Apr. 5: Couric gets a five-year deal at CBS

> Mar. 14: Mike Wallace is retiring

> Jan. 15: Court TV’s new schedule

> Jan. 2: Alex Wallace is becoming NBC News VP

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Carol Lin Says Goodbye To CNN

Brian — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 10:49:12 +0000

Carol Lin said goodbye to her viewers during the last segment of CNN Newsroom Saturday night.

Above the banner “Carol on the Move,” CNN aired a retrospective package of Lin’s career at CNN, an e-mailer says. “It included highlights of her reporting from Kosovo, 9/11, Katrina relief, and a couple of interviews.”

Then she said:

“Nearly four years ago I just wanted a good war to cover and a chance to tell your story. Well be careful what you wish for — I had Kosovo, the Middle East, Afghanistan, and 9/11. And then there was the unexpected battle — and the one that I lost — my husband’s cancer.

So it’s time I tell his story and mine. So many people have asked me, ‘What’s next?’ Well one of the projects is a blog book that will serve as an online investigation into out health care system — who gets the cures and who doesn’t — and the heroes who held our hands.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Ford: of D.C. Ceremonies

Brian — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 10:45:05 +0000

Comments from e-mailers about Saturday’s Ford coverage:

> “Katie Couric anchored CBS News’ live coverage at noon today as Ford’s casket was moved from the California church to the airport. Neither NBC and ABC carried the events live.”

> “Brian Williams and Chip Reid won’t shut up during this funeral procession… I had to turn to another channel.”

> “If Bob Schieffer is going to play tutor and grandfather to Katie, you do wonder why he wasn’t asked to stay in the big chair. It seems he’s her on-air fact-checker.”

> “NBC had amazing coverage going last night with Ford’s funeral procession, however, it was beyond TACKY when they switched in the middle to the football game” at 8pm. (They told viewers to check MSNBC for continuing coverage.)

> “In changing the channels last night during the President Ford services, the local ABC affiliate in Boston, WCVB-TV5, was preempting the series Ugly Betty. However, just as my wife landed on the station, the shot was a full on close up shot of Betty Ford. Needless to say the info bar underneath the picture was quite the faux pas.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Saddam: “An Overnight Death Watch, and Then Images of the Hangman’s Noose”

Brian — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 10:36:46 +0000

Highlights of Alessandra Stanley‘s coverage recap:

> “Throughout the night, cable news anchors repeatedly assured viewers that for deep-rooted cultural reasons, the Iraqi public would need to see a videotape of Saddam Hussein’s execution — as if implying that left to their own devices, the anchors would prefer to just flash a photocopy of the death certificate.”

> “After devoting his entire hour on CNN to the impending hanging, Larry King asked, ‘Is there something ghoulish about this?’ Mr. King looked a little let down when he had to sign off before the execution, promising viewers, ‘It is really imminent now.’”

> “Before the first pictures arrived, some anchors fretted on air about whether they could be shown. CNN’s Anderson Cooper seemed most worried about the content… Fox was much less squeamish, pumping up the Friday night vigil with graphics that promised ‘The end is near!’ and ‘Date with Death’ and urging viewers to stay tuned to Fox News.”

> Also: More Saddam coverage recaps: Variety and The Hollywood Reporter…

(Photo via ICN)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Saddam: Broadcast Nets Show Still Pics

Brian — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 10:25:57 +0000

The AP sums up how the broadcast nets showed the Saddam execution:

NBC News, both on the Saturday ‘Today’ show and on the MSNBC cable channel until about midday, aired only video taken before Saddam was hanged. NBC News President Steve Capus then approved the use of one still photo of Saddam’s body.

‘I didn’t want them to rush into it,’ Capus said. ‘I wanted them to be cautious. I didn’t think there was anything to be gained by being first with the pictures of the body.’

CBS News aired four separate images of Saddam’s body on ‘The Early Show.’ ABC, keeping in mind the hour of the day, decided to show only a still picture of the body, one without the blood stains.

‘We decided to isolate a freeze frame that clearly identified it was him but didn’t dwell on it and didn’t have some of the more macabre aspects of his head,’ said Bob Murphy, ABC News senior vice president.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

2006: The Cable Year’s Best Quotes

Brian — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 16:04:41 +0000

> Jun. 26:

“Our gimmick is news.”

–Jon Klein, to Bill Carter

> May 1:

“The president makes decisions, he’s the decider. The press secretary announces those decisions, and you people of the press type those decisions down. Make, announce, type. Put them through a spell check and go home. Get to know your family again. Make love to your wife. Write that novel you got kicking around in your head. You know, the one about the intrepid Washington reporter with the courage to stand up to the administration. You know — fiction.”

–Stephen Colbert, to the White House press corps

> Jul. 11:

“Because of his personal demons, Keith has imploded everywhere he’s worked. From lashing out at co-workers to personally attacking Bill O’Reilly and all things Fox, it’s obvious Keith is a train wreck waiting to happen. And like all train wrecks, people might tune in out of morbid curiosity, but they eventually tune out, as evidenced by Keith’s recent ratings decline. In the meantime, we hope he enjoys his paranoid view from the bottom of the ratings ladder and wish him well on his inevitable trip to oblivion.”

–FNC spokesperson Irena Briganti, talking about Keith Olbermann

> Jan. 9:

“Perhaps Jeff Zucker should think twice about tying his future, not to mention the reputation of General Electric, to an unstable ratings-killer like Keith, who uses an NBC property for his personal attacks.”

–FNC spokesperson Brian Lewis, to David Bauder, also talking about Keith Olbermann

> Feb. 25:

“The median age of viewers of this program is 58.7. The median age of viewers of Mr. O’Reilly’s program is 68.6. So if you want to be concerned about ‘well-being,’ Bill, be concerned about the odds of your viewers living into next week.”

–Keith Olbermann, talking about Bill O’Reilly

> Nov. 30:

“Everyone has an agenda. All reporters are biased. Why not be open about it, transparent? We shouldn’t pretend. The audience is looking for honest opinions, for opinions they can relate to.”

–An unnamed senior cable news exec, to Ken Auletta

> Jan. 4:

“I’m not smart enough to debate you point to point on this, but I have the feeling about 60 percent of what you say is crap.”

–David Letterman, to Bill O’Reilly

> Oct. 4:

“I hate to say this, but if I got run over by a bus today — and this will really irritate our detractors — it wouldn’t matter at all. There are enough good young people in place to keep this going forever and force the rest of the media to pay attention to fairness, and that’s all I ever wanted to do anyway. So we’ll be fine without me.”

–Roger Ailes, to Rebecca Dana

> Jun. 10:

“The tide of history is going from television to the Internet. It’s like manifest destiny. Finding ways to capitalize on that migration is the most important issue facing the news industry today.”

–Bill Wolff, to George Winslow

> Jul. 25:

“Can’t wait to see what people say about us in the next 10 years”

–A message from Fox News on a tape shown to TV critics at the TCA press tour

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

2006: The Broadcast Year’s Best Quotes

Brian — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 15:01:29 +0000

> Oct. 5:

“They wrote some lines and taught me a style, put a happy face on the script where I should smile, And the key demographics went right off the chart…”

–Bob Schieffer‘s country ditty about a TV anchorman

> Apr. 10:

“This is a time of amazing change for all of the evening newscasts. The last one has been a year unlike any we’ve seen across the industry in 20 years.”

–Rome Hartman, to David Bauder

> May 24:

“I believed Elizabeth and Bob were the right people at the right time. Unfortunately, some insurgents in Iraq had a different idea.”

–David Westin, to Matea Gold

> Jan. 4:

“What’s scary right now is the average age of the network news viewer is 60 years old.”

–Les Moonves, to Neil Cavuto

> Jan. 7:

“They’re talking about giving Katie Couric $20 million. I say take that $20 million you could buy 40 reporters, 40 new reporters.”

–Andy Rooney, to Larry King

> Apr. 3:

“Couric shouldn’t leave NBC. Doing so would be a terrible mistake… It’s clear that while Couric is very good at a lot of things – and she has to be, to be at Today – the CBS Evening News isn’t a good fit.”

–NY Daily News TV critic Richard Huff

> Jul. 24:

“Alert the media — they’ve come up with the secret formula. It’s called New Coke.”

–An NBC spokesperson, reacting to ABC’s decision to drop the “Tonight” from “World News Tonight.” ABC responds by saying NBC Nightly News is “losing its fizz”

> Jun. 17:

“Among the places he had sought solace… was in ‘Good Night, and Good Luck,’ George Clooney’s homage to Edward R. Murrow and the CBS News of old, a film that Mr. Rather said he had seen five times in theaters, most recently alone.”

–Jacques Steinberg, writing about Dan Rather

> Oct. 30:

“We’re like a franchise football team that went out and got a superstar and brought in some big hitters and we expected to be 8-and-0 at this point, and we’re not.”

–Byron Pitts, to Peter Johnson, talking about Katie Couric

> Nov. 29:

“To be honest with you, I think it’s a political statement, not a news judgment.”

–Rome Hartman, to Rebecca Dana, referring to NBC’s “civil war” stance

> Sep. 26:

“Brian is back where God wanted him to be, at No. 1″

–Bob Wright, referring to Brian Williams‘ success after Couric’s premiere

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

2006: The Year’s Top Stories

Brian — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 14:01:39 +0000

December: Iraq Study Group report comes out; Ford dies; Saddam is executed

November: Saddam guilty; Midterm elections

October: New York City plane crash

September: TV nets remember 9/11/01

August: Terror plot in UK; Returning to the Gulf Coast a year after Katrina

July: Middle East conflict

July: North Korean missile launch: CNN “pounces,”MSNBC asleep

June: Al-Zarqawi killed: ABC first on TV; MSNBC first on cable; MSNBC.com first on the web

May: Immigration rallies

March: Third anniversary of Iraq war; “Operation Swarmer” gets overblown

February: Torino Olympics boosts ratings for MSNBC and CNBC

January: Miners trapped in WV; CNN owns coverage; “only one made it out alive,” resident tells Anderson Cooper; later, critiquing and defending the media

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.