Generalities

Friday Jul 03, 2009

FRONTLINE's Lou Wiley Retires

Wiley.jpg Lou Wiley, the longtime Executive Editor of FRONTLINE, has retired. Wiley worked for Boston's PBS station WGBH-TV, which produces FRONTLINE, for 33 years. He was involved in the creation of the show, along with other programming.

Of all the FRONTLINE episodes over the years, Wiley tells TVNewser he is perhaps most proud of 2000's "The Case for Innocence", produced by Ofra Bikel, which investigated cases of the wrongly-convicted. The show generated a strong public reaction.

"Ten months after the broadcast," Wiley says, "all three of the profiled prisoners had been exonerated and freed as a result of new DNA tests. For me this was an ongoing lesson in the power of good reporting to make a real difference."

Wiley will now become a consultant and also focus on his hobbies, art and antiques.

Thursday Jul 02, 2009

All Jackson, All Morning...Almost

The morning shows put it in high gear today on the Michael Jackson coverage.

Lauer_7.2.jpg• On NBC, Matt Lauer talked with Jermaine Jackson, his first intreview since his brother's death. Lauer also gave viewers a live tour inside the unfurnished Neverland Ranch - from the enormous kitchen and dining room to Jackson's two-story bedroom, including the secret closet inside his closet which had three locks on it. "I'm not sure what he kept in there, but clearly he didn't want many people to know that it existed," said Lauer.

Jackson_7.2.jpg• Over on ABC, "Good Morning America" secured the rights to some home video of Jackson and his children when they were toddlers as well as video of the home Jackson was living in at the time of his death a week ago today. The video was licensed from Byron Allen's Entertainment Studios for an undisclosed price.

CBS_7.2.jpg• And on CBS' "The Early Show", a day after getting Jackson's nurse on the record about his drug habits, the show had an exclusive interview with Mike La Perruque who was a longtime confidante and head of security for the entertainer.

Wednesday Jul 01, 2009

Look Who Else is Heading to Neverland

In addition to Matt Lauer anchoring the Today show from
Neverland Ranch
tomorrow, CNN's Larry King will host his show from the ranch in Los Olivos, CA tomorrow night. CNN says King is being granted special access inside the house as well as touring the property.

ABC's Cynthia McFadden is also heading to California and will anchor "Nightline" from Neverland tomorrow night.

More Michael Jackson Ratings News

• Monday's "Nightline" outperformed Conan O'Brien and David Letterman. "Nightline" drew 4.2M Total Viewers, to Conan's 3.08M and a Letterman rerun which brought in 3.33M. In addition to Jackson, Monday's "Nightline" reported on the Bernard Madoff sentence.

• The 48 Hours special anchored by Katie Couric last night won its time slot averaging a 5.5 Household rating and 2.0 A18-49 rating. The show drew 8.15M Total Viewers.

Which Network is Holding on to Viewers?

Kelly_7.1.pngAs the TV news networks continue to follow developments in the Michael Jackson story, viewer interest is waning some.

On cable, after winning primetime both Thursday and Friday night and winning Total Day and primetime (in A25-54 demo) on Saturday and Sunday, CNN has retained the lowest percentage of viewers while FNC has held the most into Monday.

• Total Viewer retention (Thursday 6/25 vs. Monday 6/29):

Total Day: FNC 105%, CNN 61%, MSNBC 67%

Primetime: FNC 83%, CNN 35%, MSNBC 67%

• A25-54 viewer retention (Thursday 6/25 vs. Monday 6/29):

Total Day: FNC 77%, CNN 46%, MSNBC 53%

Primetime: FNC 50%, CNN 31%, MSNBC 42%

This speaks to a couple things: viewer loyalty -- with FNC and MSNBC holding on to their core viewers; and viewer disinterest -- with the millions who flocked to CNN for breaking news, moving on to other programming, or none at all.

How Twitter is Like Today's Journalism...by Aaron Brown

Gail Shister
TVNewser Columnist

Brown_6.24.jpgBrownie don't tweet.

Aaron Brown said no when the producers of his PBS public-affairs series, "Wide Angle," asked him to send Twitter bulletins during his recent expedition to Ethiopia and Mozambique.

"They wanted me to Twitter, or is it Tweet, my way across Africa," says Brown, 60, a CNN exile. "I said, 'I'm working, guys. This is a long, hard trip. I don't have time to think up silly, 140-character notes.'"

Season 2 of "Wide Angle" launches tonight. Ten episodes are ordered.

Brown spends most of the year at Arizona State in Tempe, where he's a full-time professor in the Cronkite School of Journalism. He joined the faculty in 2008, three years after leaving CNN.

When it comes to Journalism with a capital J, Brown is the first to admit he's old school.

continued...

Tuesday Jun 30, 2009

TV News Devotes 28 Hours to Michael Jackson; 93% of Cable Airtime

The death of Michael Jackson dominated the news coverage late last week but wasn't the #1 story, the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism found.

Early in the week the media gave ongoing attention to protests over the Iranian election. And by the end of the week Iran filled 19% of the newshole, making it the No. 1 topic of the week. By Wednesday attention shifted to the third biggest story of the week - the affair of South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford.

But the passing of the "King of Pop" on Thursday, the #2 story of the week, dominated late week coverage. The TV nets devoted more than 28 hours to Jackson's life and death. The cable nets devoted 93% of their airtime to Jackson on Thursday and Friday.

PEJ_6.30.bmp

Click here to see the report...

Monday Jun 29, 2009

Breaking News Monday

In addition to the Madoff sentencing, the high speed pursuit in Dallas, which was fully Shepardized, and developments in the Michael Jackson story, there were several other breaking stories throughout the day. Here's when the cablers reported them:

New Haven 20 SCOTUS Decision:

FNC - 10:02:23
CNN - 10:02:53
MSNBC - 10:03:09

Billy Mays Autopsy Report:

FNC - 12:01:34
CNN - 12:03:53
MSNBC - 12:26:23 (During "Dr. Nancy" debut)

I'm still wondering why it took CNN 2-and-a-half hours to mention Mays' death yesterday.

Atlanta Garage Collapse:

FNC - 12:58:16
CNN - 13:47:43
MSNBC - 14:10:09

Fox News, MSNBC Share Chopper During Dallas Chase

FNC1_6.29.jpg

Spike strips, train gates, a near-ditch and several u-turns did not slow down a suspect who'd taken Dallas police on a high speed pursuit this afternoon.

But a red pick-up truck did, when the driver of the pick-up unknowingly broadsided the suspect as he tried to make his way through an intersection. The chase began just before 1pmCT and came to a crashing end at 2:29pmCT.

MSNBC1_6.29.jpgFNC, MSNBC and HLN carried the chase live.

For much of the pursuit, Fox News Channel and MSNBC used the same live picture from Fox O&O KDFW. Since January, the Fox and NBC Owned and Operated stations in Dallas/Fort Worth, and other large markets, have been taking part in a news sharing agreement involving their helicopters.

H1_6.29.jpgHLN which was in and out of live coverage was using the choppers of CBS station KTVT and ABC affiliate WFAA.

KRLD Radio is reporting on Fox News that the pick-up driver suffered only minor injuries while the jaws of life were brought out to extricate the suspect.

Here's the end of the chase anchored by FNC's Shepard Smith:

Friday Ratings - Michael Jackson Specials

NBC and ABC devoted much of their Friday night schedules to both Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett. And unlike Thursday night, on Friday NBC came out on top.

8pm:

NBC - "Farrah's Story" — 3.88M Total Viewers

9pm

NBC - "Farrah's Story" — 5.37M

ABC - "Michael Jackson: The Man and His Music" — 3.74M

10pm:

NBC - "Michael Jackson: The King of Pop" — 6.64M

ABC - "20/20" — 6.03M

NBC won primetime averaging 5.30M Total Viewers; CBS was second with drama reruns (4.67M); ABC was third with sitcoms at 8ET and the news programs at 9 and 10 (4.0M).


Previously

Bending the Rules to Report the Story

21 Million Tune in for Networks' Michael Jackson & Farrah Fawcett Specials

Michael Jackson: Morning Show Notes

The Big 3 Live at 10

Cablers Scramble to Cover Michael Jackson News

Martin Savidge To Interview Sir David Frost For Upcoming Special

Gov. Sanford Vacation Explanation: "I Have Been Unfaithful to my Wife"

Iran Crisis Coverage Ratings

CNN and FNC Go Wall-To-Wall With Iran Protest Coverage

Cooper, Brokaw, Turner Among The "Sexy Gray Haired Men"

"The Big Three Nightly Newscasts Are Hardly Dead"

Cablers Cover Death of Pilot Mid-Flight

Dan Rather: "The Revolution May Not Be Televised...But It Very Well Could Be Twittered"

Ann Curry: "I Think Journalism is a Battle And I Feel The Scars"

Iran Cracks Down on Foreign Media Coverage

The Dangers Of Foreign Reporting at Smaller Organizations

DTV Switch Takes Effect Today

White "Separatist" Turns "Bad PR Lemons Into Lemonade" In TV Interviews

Cablers Cover Shooting Inside Holocaust Museum

Jon Friedman's Media Web Marks A Milestone

What Does The Future Hold For Investigative TV Reporting?

The Financial Analyst Analyzes the Medium

Laura Ling, Euna Lee Convicted; Sentenced to 12 Years

Covering D-Day +65

Reviewing Glenn: "Fantasitc Showman" with "Garrison Keillor-with-a-Bee-in-his-Bonnet Delivery"

Mediabistro Circus Day 2: Around The Blogs

Internet Week's High-Speed Connections

Mediabistro Circus Day 1: Around The Blogs

Dave Matthews Band on CBS, NBC This Week

Rush Here, There, Almost Everywhere

Thursday Profiling: McDowell and Geist

O'Donnell, Haddad, Cox Being Considered For DC's Real Housewives?

Rock The Vote: Lester Holt vs. Shepard Smith

Obama, Cheney, Limbaugh, Powell, Bush, 9/11, Clinton. Discuss.

From Trent Reznor to Tony Hawk: Help Pouring in for Eric De La Cruz

Roxana Saberi on NPR Tomorrow

Nets to Carry Obama Supreme Court Announcement

Charlie Gibson Likes His Fiction. Wolf Blitzer? Not So Much

Around the mb Blogs: Saberi Home, White House Snub, Mancow Waterboarded

O'Reilly Passes Cooper At Auction

What The Upfronts Mean For News, Comedy News

Around the Newsers: Abrams, Ratings, Branding...

In the Newsers: Rodriguez, Rather, Thomas...

De La Cruz Turns to Web To Save Brother's Life

Roberta McCain Weighs in on Rush, Olbermann

Ashleigh Banfield Channels Her Inner Lesbian

Detained U.S. Reporters Held in North Korea to Go on Trial June 4

News Organizations Asked Not To Name "Other Woman" During Elizabeth Edwards Interviews

Anderson Cooper Worth More Than Bill O'Reilly?

What Were Bolling and Cramer Chatting About?

One More (Surprising) WHCD Picture

Program Notes: Cheney, Spitzer, Al-Bashir...

T&A In the Middle of the Day? Of Course We'll Take It Live

The Long Weekend: Final Notes From WHCD

Who Will Win: The Advertising World or the TV News Business?

Battle of the Indie Band-Related Network News-Run Websites

Cablers Cover Atlantis Launch (and Pentagon Briefing)

Biznewsers Greet The Donald

Roxana Saberi To Be Released from Iranian Jail Today

Pres. Obama Jokes About Biden, Cheney, Clinton

Biz Profiling: Quick and Lee

Ladies Who Make Lunch: Soledad v. Mika

Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston in a "He Said, She Said" Morning Show Face Off

Daryn Kagan Looks To Deliver "Good News"

Jailed Journalists Update: Saberi, Lee, Ling

Around the 'Bowls: Palin, Murphy, O'Brien

Look Who's Talking

IFC Takes a Critical Look (But Not "Uniformly Critical") At Media

Ari Fleischer on the White House Press Corps and Cable News "Landscape"

Covering the Chrysler Bankruptcy

100 Days News Conference: Coverage Notes

Life After A Layoff: TVNewsers Navigate A Career Detour

Big Rig Chase Brings Pause to Specter News

Which TVNewsers Are Invited To Washington's "Off-The-Record Dinners"?

Around the World and Back Again for Marc Rosenwasser

Oh Great, Now Swine Flu?

2BR 2BA 9EMMYs

Anchor Chairs: The White House Seating Chart

In Rare Interview, Garry Trudeau On Journos "Smitten" With Twitter

Who's Selling Their Emmy-Laden Pad?

Cablers, Networks Cover "Craigslist Killer"

Covering Columbine: 10 Years Later

A Cup of Sunday Morning Tea

"NBC News Team" Tops TV Week's "10 Most Powerful"

On Sunday Morning, "The Throne is Empty"

Biz Nets Thriving "In The Depressed Landscape"

ABC, CBS, Cablers Cover Phillips Arrival

Captain Phillips Returns: Where Will He Land?

Who is Susan Boyle, And Why is She All Over the TV?

Reporting the Return of the Crew of the Maersk Alabama

How The Cablers Covered the Tea Parties

Rick Warren Absent From This Week, Huckabee

Reporting the Rescue of Capt. Phillips

TV News Bias? That's Nothing New - "Your Industry is Wrecking All of Us"

Markets Closed, FBN Live

Pirate Drama: Day Two

Hijacked Crew Member Calls in to CNN

American Journalist Charged With Espionage

The Rise of the Emo-Anchor

Where's the Video From Baghdad?

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