Browse TVNewser March 2009 archives - TVNewser

The Big Three and Big Ben

Chris Ariens — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 18:50:27 +0000

Brian Williams, Charlie Gibson and Katie Couric are anchoring their nightly newscasts from Great Britain tonight where Pres. and Mrs. Obama arrived a few hours ago.

Two of the broadcasts, ABC World News and CBS Evening News, led with stories on the global economy, while NBC Nightly News led with a story from the U.S. – “the new General Motors.” Williams is anchoring from NBC’s London bureau, Gibson at ABC’s with a view of Big Ben behind him, while Couric is framed by London’s Tower Bridge.

Expect a lot of coverage on the cable channels overnight and into tomorrow. Pres. Obama has meetings and an early morning (ET) news conference with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, a reception with Queen Elizabeth in the afternoon and G-20 events throughout the day.

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The Ticker: Dean, Lauer, Cooper…

SteveK — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 17:57:08 +0000

> FNC’s Janice Dean discusses her newborn baby and living with MS in the current issue of Pregnancy and Newborn Magazine. “I feel like I’m one of the lucky ones,” she says (via Johnny Dollar).

> Today show anchor Matt Lauer will be the 2009 Senior Class Day speaker at Harvard University. The event takes place the day before commencement.

> CNN’s Anderson Cooper will begin reporting from the G20 Summit live from London tomorrow night. He will be joined by correspondents Nic Robertson and Richard Quest, while Ed Henry and Suzanne Malveaux are traveling with Pres. Obama.

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CNBC Toasts Jonathan Wald

Chris Ariens — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 17:20:30 +0000

Nothing like a little Veuve Clicquot to round out a 16-year career with NBC.

This was Jonathan Wald‘s last day on the job as CNBC SVP. At 4pm, co-workers gathered in the CNBC boardroom for a goodbye toast. In attendance, CNBC president Mark Hoffman, and anchors Michelle Caruso-Cabrera and Margaret Brennan, among others. CNBC’s Pharmaceutical Reporter Mike Huckman Tweeted about it: “At sendoff 4 CNBC VP Biz News Jonathan Wald. He’ll be missed.”

Wald’s first job with NBC News was in 1983 as a desk assistant. His father, Richard, is a past president of the news division.

It’s not known where Wald’s next stop will be, but the NYPost reports at least two venerable names in news are in the mix to fill the vacancy, including former ABC/CNNer Victor Neufeld who, the Post reports, interviewed for the job last Friday.

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Carlos Watson Joins MSNBC as Dayside Anchor

SteveK — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 17:15:04 +0000

Carlos Watson has been named a dayside anchor at MSNBC. Watson will also regularly contribute to “Morning Joe.”

“Carlos has been a fresh and distinctive voice on the network and I’m thrilled to welcome him to MSNBC,” says MSNBC president Phil Griffin in the release.

Watson previously hosted CNBC’s “The Edge with Carlos Watson” and served as a political analyst at CNN and FNC. He has been an MSNBC contributor and fill-in anchor for a few months.

Click continued to see the release…

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The Scoreboard: Monday, March 30

Chris Ariens — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 17:00:37 +0000

25-54 demographic: (L +SD)

Total day: FNC: 407 | CNN: 178 | MSNBC: 155 | HLN: 185

Prime: FNC: 679 | CNN: 237 | MSNBC: 335 | HLN: 309


	5p:	6p:	7p:	8p:	9p:	10p:	11p:

FNC	Beck:	Baier:	Shep:	O’Reilly:	Hannity:	Greta:	O’Reilly:
	642	602	558	823	684	520	575

CNN	Blitzer:	Blitzer:	Dobbs:	Brown:	King:	Cooper:	Cooper:
	153	189	262	178	196	337	253

MSNBC	Matthews:	Shuster:	Matthews:	Olbermann:	Maddow:	Olbermann:	Maddow:
	162	166	260	420	315	271	224

HLN	Prime:	Prime:	VMitchell:	Grace:	Dobbs:	Grace:	Showbiz:
	141	180	244	418	195	332	244

Data by Nielsen Media Research. Live and same day (DVR) data.

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Bob Epstein: “The First Quarter Has Proven To Be Quite a Ride”

SteveK — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 16:44:02 +0000

TVNewser has obtained a memo from NBC Nightly News EP Bob Epstein to his staff, congratulating them for “record numbers on-air and online.”

Epstein credits the choice by NBC to look at positive news: “I’d like to personally acknowledge how everyone came together to work on what was such a simple idea…good news…it was well received by our viewers, imitated by media outlets worldwide, and most importantly helped a few people out.”

Click continued to see the full memo…

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Q1 2009 Ratings: FNC Tops CNN and MSNBC Combined in Prime Time Total Viewers

SteveK — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:52:59 +0000

Fox News Channel was the 2nd highest rated cable channel on all of television during the first quarter of 2009 in prime time Total Viewers. CNN was 17th and MSNBC 24th for the first three months of the year. FNC beat CNN and MSNBC combined and gained the most compared to Q1 ’08, up 24%.

Q1 ’09 was FNC’s 3rd highest rated quarter in prime time in the network’s history — behind Q4 ’08 and Q3 ’05. In prime time A25-54 demo, and in total day in both categories, FNC grew more year-to-year than CNN and MSNBC.

FNC had nine of the top 10 programs on cable news in Total Viewers.

As reported earlier, The O’Reilly Factor has now been #1 on cable news for 100 consecutive months, up 27% in Total Viewers year-over-year.

Glenn Beck has increased the 5pmET time period 90% in Total Viewers and 115% in the demo vs. Q1 ’08, and is the fastest growing program in cable news for March. Special Report with Bret Baier is up 39% in Total Viewers and 41% in the demo. “Hannity” is up 36% in Total Viewers and up 35% in the demo since going solo for the hour.

Those three new programs beat CNN and MSNBC combined in Total Viewers during their respective time slots.

On the Record with Greta Van Susteren is up 26% in Total Viewers and 13% in the demo. Your World with Neil Cavuto is up 47% in Total Viewers and 50% in the demo.

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O’Reilly Appears on GMA, Olbermann Ombuds

SteveK — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:37:37 +0000

Bill O’Reilly continued his “100 months on top of cable news” media tour today on Good Morning America and he’ll be on Letterman tonight. In the interview with Robin Roberts, O’Reilly called the Obama administration’s decision to no longer use The War on Terror “stupid,” but he called Pres. Obama’s decision to force GM CEO Rick Wagoner to resign, “a good choice.”

He also talked about the 100 months on top: “Bonanza didn’t do it, Gunsmoke didn’t do it,” he said. “The Factor did it, prime time 100 months. Why do you think that is? Why do you think I’m so popular?”

This same line about Gunsmoke was used in the Broadcasting & Cable Q&A yesterday, only O’Reilly said, “I don’t think it’s ever been done in any kind of TV milieu.”

On last night’s Countdown, Keith Olbermann took this line, and several others, and essentially served as ombudsman to the interview. Olbermann noted the Today show has been #1 for 166 consecutive months and Meet the Press for 131 consecutive months.

Click continued to see the Countdown segment last night, including Olbermann’s description of the two times he’s encountered O’Reilly in person…

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Q1 2009 Ratings: CNN’s Best Total Day Since ’03

SteveK — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 13:41:03 +0000

CNN had its best first quarter since the first quarter of 2003, in Total Viewers and the A25-54 demo in total day. CNN grew 17% in Total Viewers and 7% in the demo compared to last year.

CNN was 2nd behind FNC during Q1 ’09 in Total Viewers during total day and prime time. Year-to-year, American Morning was up 22% in Total Viewers and 21% in the demo for the quarter, The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer was up 44% and 27% at 4pmET and 46% and 31% at 5pmET and Larry King Live was up 20% and 9%.

It was CNN’s best March since 2003 in total day as well (Total Viewers and demo).

Click continued to see CNN’s release…

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Morning Joe Talks Glenn Beck: “Roger Ailes is the Genius”

SteveK — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 13:24:36 +0000

The Morning Joe team explored the Glenn Beck phenomenon today, as Willie Geist put together a collection of some of the most emotional clips of the FNC host.

Immediately following the video, co-hosts Mika Brzezinski asked, “What the hell was that?” while Joe Scarborough couldn’t stop laughing hysterically (he later blamed it on an email).

“He loves America, what are you gonna do?” said Geist.

But Scarborough had some praise as well. “He is the 2nd highest show now over at Fox, which is saying a lot, because their ratings have just exploded since the election…Roger Ailes is the genius, he is amazing,” he said.

Click continued to see the clip, which includes Mike Barnicle‘s impression of Beck…

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MSNBC 10pm Plans on Hold…For Now

Chris Ariens — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 12:56:47 +0000

The AP’s David Bauder reports MSNBC has shelved plans for a new 10pmET show to follow Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow. For now, a Countdown repeat will continue to air at 10pmET.

“We’re not going to mess with it until we see where it levels off,” MSNBC president Phil Griffin told Bauder. “It places the burden, if we are going to put a show there, (for it) to be a big show because the repeat of ‘Countdown’ is doing so well.”

The Countdown re-air has been averaging 902,000 Total Viewers while FNC’s Greta VanSusteren is averaging 2.1 million and CNN’s Anderson Cooper draws 1.2 million at 10pm. But the Olbermann rerun has topped AC360 in the A25-54 demo on some nights, including just last Friday.

When asked if he had anything to do with postponing the plans for a new 10pm show, Olbermann told TVNewser, “No, I didn’t have anything to do with it and honestly, I don’t think anything in the time frame of this process has changed.

The fact that the 10pm replay is more competitive now is obviously great news, but if a terrific opportunity for a new show presents itself tomorrow, management will move on it,” predicts Olbermann.

(h/t ICN)

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With NCAA Lead-In “60″ in Top 10 Again

Chris Ariens — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 12:46:52 +0000

Sunday’s 60 Minutes was the 8th most-watched show in the U.S. last week. It’s the second straight week it made the top 10 and currently ranks #13 for the season. Compared to the same night last year, the CBS news magazine is up 8% in both Total Viewers and A25-54.

The show was given a boost by the late-running UNC – Oklahoma NCAA tournament game but might have done even better if NBC’s coverage of Tiger Woods‘ comeback victory at the PGA Tour’s Bay Hill event had finished earlier than it did. NBC Sports coverage run until just before 8pmET.

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Evening News Ratings: Week of March 23

SteveK — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 12:38:19 +0000

For the 24th consecutive week, NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams was the top-rated evening newscast last week in Total Viewers (18th week in a row in the A25-54 demo). Compared to the same week last year, NBC is up in both categories while ABC and CBS have declined.

ABC has extended its lead over CBS, however, in both categories year-to-year. It is also ABC’s largest lead over CBS this month.

All three networks were up week-to-week in Total Viewers, with NBC was up by the most. NBC and ABC grew week-to-week in the demo.

ABC World News had reduced coverage due to President Obama’s news conference on Tuesday, and the average was not counted. The CBS Evening News average on Thursday and Friday was excluded due to NCAA basketball.

Total Viewers: NBC: 9,210,000 / ABC: 8,100,000 / CBS: 6,120,000

25-54 demo: NBC: 2,830,000 / ABC: 2,370,000 / CBS: 1,760,000

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Q1 2009 Rating: CNBC’s Best in Eight Years

Chris Ariens — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 12:29:26 +0000

As the economy continues to be the dominant story, daytime viewers are keeping a closer eye on CNBC. The network had its best first quarter since 2001 in Total Viewers (332,000) and the best first quarter since 2007 in A25-54 viewers (96,000). This is for Business Day programming — 5am-7pmET.

During Business Day, CNBC is up 8% year-over-year in Total Viewers and up 16% year-over-year in A25-54 viewers.

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CBS’ Mitchell Talks Cronkite, Mizzou on the Menu

SteveK — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 11:55:44 +0000

Russ Mitchell of CBS’ The Early Show and anchor of the Sunday Evening News was our guest this morning on the Menu podcast.

Mitchell discussed recently filling in on the CBS Evening News for Katie Couric. “The Evening News during the week is a little more structured, I think on the weekends you can be a little more flexible,” he said. “Both shows are great broadcasts to anchor, and I enjoy all of it.”

On Friday Mitchell receives the Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism from his alma mater, the University of Missouri. “Of all the honors I’ve been fortunate enough to have in this business, this is by far to me personally the greatest honor,” he said of the award.

Mitchell will also lead a master class on the changing TV news industry. “The traditional model of doing things is long gone, so what I tell them is to have a thick skin, know they’re going to get knocked down many times, and to also have as many skills as possible under their belt,” he said.

Also discussed: Mitchell’s (and Walter Cronkite‘s) thoughts on the newspaper industry, the future of online video and Mitchell’s still-alive NCAA bracket.

You can listen to all the past podcasts at BlogTalkRadio.com/mediabistro and call in at 646-929-0321.

Click here to receive mediabistro.com’s Daily Newsfeed via email.

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