Ali Velshi - TVNewser

The AM Ticker: Velshi, Beckel, Allred

Alex Weprin — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 09:33:59 +0000

Soon-to-be Al Jazeera America anchor Ali Velshi writes in Quartz about why breaking news is so often wrong, using the Boston bombing as an example. he also prescribes processes to for trying to get things right next time.

Fox News “The Five” co-host Bob Beckel is a special guy. How special? His colleague Dana Perino answered questions about Twitter about him. Everything was fair game.

TVNewser hears that lawyer Gloria Allred will be on “HLN After Dark” Wednesday and Thursday Allred on cable news isn’t surprising, but her take on the Jodi Arias trial just might be.

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Ali Velshi Says Goodbye To CNN

Alex Weprin — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 13:56:45 +0000

Friday was CNN chief business correspondent Ali Velshi‘s last day at the channel. In a few months he will launch a new show on Al Jazeera America, focusing on business.

CNN commemorated Velshi’s departure with a look back at his 12 years with the network.

WATCH:

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Ali Velshi Joining Al Jazeera America

Alex Weprin — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 17:20:59 +0000

First on TVNewser: CNN anchor and chief business correspondent Ali Velshi is joining Al Jazeera America as an anchor of a new primetime business show, TVNewser has learned.

After more than 12 years at the cable channel, Velshi’s last day with CNN is Friday. He joined CNNfn in 2001, and moved to CNN/U.S. in 2004. Velshi has served as an anchor and correspondent for the channel ever since, most recently as chief business correspondent and the anchor of “Your Money Now” and “World Business Today” on CNN International.

When he announced his departure, Velshi told TVNewser that he was leaving on great terms with CNN and wanted “to stretch some new muscles and grow something, and it appeals to my entrepreneurial side.” Al Jazeera is pouring millions of dollars into its new Al Jazeera America cable channel, essentially taking the bare bones structure and channel placement of Current TV and creating something new. Velshi is going to be a big part of that plan.

>Update: Velshi will develop and host a half-hour “magazine-style” show that will launch as a weekly program, with plans to expand to five days a week by the end of the year.

“We are thrilled to secure Ali’s extraordinary talents and services,” executive director of Al Jazeera international operations Ehab Al Shihabi said in a statement. “Al Jazeera America will be bringing respected, independent reporting to its viewers and that’s exactly the type of coverage Ali Velshi is known for.”

The official announcement is after the jump.
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Ali Velshi Leaving CNN

Alex Weprin — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 15:39:42 +0000

First on TVNewser: CNN’s chief business correspondent Ali Velshi is leaving the channel, TVNewser has learned.

CNN Worldwide president Jeff Zucker noted the change in a meeting with CNN staff today. Velshi’s last day will be Friday. Zucker said that CNN and Velshi were parting as friends, and that the channel was sorry to see him go.

“It’s been an amazing almost 12 years at CNN. Love it more today than I ever have, and CNN is going to be great under Jeff,” Velshi says. “I basically grew up here, so it’s sad to leave, but I’ve got a great opportunity to stretch some new muscles and grow something, and it appeals to my entrepreneurial side.”

Velshi joined CNN in 2001 as an anchor and reporter for the CNNfn financial news channel. He moved to CNN proper as a business correspondent and anchor in 2004 when CNNfn shut down. In addition to his correspondent duties, he also serves as the anchor of “CNN Your Money” and “World Business Today” on CNN International.

It isn’t clear where Velshi is going just yet, but Zucker said that Velshi is leaving to work on a new project that “he couldn’t pass up” according to an insider.

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Snowmaggedon Sounds So Much Cooler Than Nemo

Chris Ariens — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 14:57:19 +0000

So Nemo, is what we’re calling this? This storm will sound nothing like Ellen DeGeneres as a clownfish (oh wait, she was Dory). Anyway, maybe the Weather Channel can come up with more daunting names next year. Remember Snowpacalyse which hit three years this week? Also Snowmaggedon?

So, what are the networks planning? The Weather Channel had already blown out their reality shows in primetime last night with storm prep coverage. The news and business networks have reporters out in the field.

CNN is planning to be live overnight tonight and into Saturday covering the storm. Chad Myers and Jen Delgado will monitor the storm’s movement from the CNN Weather Center. Reporters and anchors including Jason Carroll, Susan Candiotti, Poppy Harlow, Ali Velshi, Ashleigh Banfield, Zain Asher, Alison Kosik, Mary Snow (appropriately), Gary Tuchman and Brian Todd will be out and about.

Brooke Baldwin anchors overnight coverage from balmy Atlanta. “This is when you know there’s a serious breaking news story,” said Baldwin during 2pmET coverage, “Look at all the pizza boxes at CNN.”

On Fox News, Anna Kooiman and Molly Lyon will report live. The storm has pushed the Saturday morning business block to the afternoon, from 2-4pmET. Kelly Wright and Jamie Colby will continue with live coverage from 10-Noon.

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A Tough Road Ahead For Jeff Zucker, Chris Cuomo And CNN In The Morning

Alex Weprin — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 15:18:22 +0000

The day he was announced as CNN’s new worldwide president, Jeff Zucker and his new boss Turner Broadcasting chairman Phil Kent held a conference call with reporters.

Kent, never one to mince words, said that one of the reasons Time Warner hired Zucker was his experience in morning news.

“It is not lost on any of us that occasionally HLN’s morning show beats CNN’s morning show,” Kent said. “One of the hundred other reasons I wanted [Zucker] was because of his experience in the morning.”

Now, barely a week into his new job, Zucker is planning to shake up the mornings, replacing “Starting Point” with a new program anchored by Chris Cuomo, and possibly another anchor such as Erin Burnett. It is far too soon to speculate about what the new program will look like, but it is worth noting that Cuomo and Burnett have extensive experience in the mornings, although not exactly on the most-watched programs.

Zucker, of course, changed the morning show game when he rose to the top of “Today” in 1992, at the age of 26.

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Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin Rehash New Year’s Eve On CNN

Alex Weprin — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 09:38:25 +0000

While everyone was waiting to figure out what the heck was going on with regards to the fiscal cliff yesterday evening, Kathy Griffin returned to CNN to talk about New Year’s Eve with Anderson Cooper.

“Ali Velshi is actually seizing out in the hall over here, I hope Sanjay is giving him some oxygen,” Griffin quipped.

Despite the talk about New Year’s, there was one moment that they didn’t discuss, a moment that Baltimore Sun critic David Zurawik said “debased” the CNN brand:

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Cable Networks Conclude Long New Year’s Day Coverage as House Passes Fiscal Cliff Bill

Chris Ariens — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 23:41:54 +0000

20 hours after the Senate voted for a bill to keep the U.S. from taking a full plunge off the fiscal cliff, the House passed the package. But during those 20 hours, it was a day of “will they?” or “won’t they vote?” on the cable news channels, which, as this being New Year’s Day, had skeleton staffs.

Earlier in the evening, as it became clear the House would indeed vote, the networks went into overdrive. Bret Baier anchored extended coverage on Fox News pre-empting O’Reilly and Hannity specials. Wolf Blitzer was in for Piers Morgan and Ali Velshi for Erin Burnett on CNN while Anderson Cooper anchored his shows at 8 and 10pmET and Richard Lui interrupted what was to be a night of “Lockup” for MSNBC’s extended coverage. Fox Business Network and Bloomberg went into full coverage as the House vote neared. All the networks’ chief Congressional and White House correspondents have been on the beat nearly non-stop for days.

The president came to a sparsely filled press briefing room at 11:20pm speaking for 7 minutes and taking no questions: “Hopefully in the New Year we can focus on putting a package like this together, with a little less drama, a little less brinkmanship and not scare the heck out of folks.”

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Connecticut School Shooting: Saturday Coverage Plans

Merrill Knox — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 17:57:26 +0000

Coverage of Friday’s tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, will continue Saturday on the broadcast and cable networks.

On ABC, weekday anchor George Stephanopoulos will anchor “Good Morning America” from Newtown. Elizabeth Vargas will join him from New York. ABC’s Josh Elliott, Amy Robach and Dan Harris will report from the scene in Newtown.

NBC’s “Today” will also have the weekday team in, with Matt Lauer and Savannah Guthrie anchoring from Newtown. Lester Holt, Erica Hill, Ann Curry and Willie Geist will contribute to the program.

Anthony Mason and Rebecca Jarvis will anchor “CBS This Morning Saturday” from Newtown. CBS will also preempt “48 Hours” Saturday night for a special report on the shooting at 10pmET.

Fox News will be live at 5amET with “Fox & Friends First.” An expanded edition of “Fox & Friends” will air from 6-10amET, and will be simulcast on FBN. The 10am-noon business block will be preempted for live coverage anchored by Jon Scott and Jenna Lee. Scott will also host an expanded two-hour “Fox Report” beginning at 6pmET. Mike Huckabee‘s program will be live from NYC at 8pmET and Jeanine Pirro and Geraldo Rivera will host their primetime shows from Newtown.

MSNBC will focus on the shooting during regularly-scheduled programming and will be live until at least 7pmET Saturday night.

On CNN, Ali Velshi and Jon Berman will anchor from 6-9amET. Soledad O’Brien will anchor from 9-11amET, Wolf Blitzer will anchor from 11am-1pmET and Don Lemon will anchor from 1-3pmET. O’Brien will anchor from 3-5pmET, and Blitzer and Kate Bolduan will anchor from 5-8pmET. Anderson Cooper will anchor from 8-9pmET, Lemon and O’Brien will anchor from 9-10pmET, and Cooper will take over again from 10-11pmET.

On HLN, Nancy Grace will host a special on the shooting tonight at 8pmET. Dr. Drew Pinsky will host a special live hour at 9pmET.

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Untangling The Mystery Behind Brian Williams’ Ties

Alex Weprin — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 12:03:35 +0000

Parade Magazine has finally solved one of the greatest riddles in modern television news: who, exactly, selects the ties worn by “NBC Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams?

“Believe it or not, I buy them myself!” says the 53-year-old host of NBC’s Rock Center. “Like all tie-wearing guys,  I have my favorites. The way I figure it, if I wear a great tie, maybe it will attract attention away from my broken nose, which dates back to high school football.”

There you have it folks. Next on the mystery list: who, exactly, finds those three-piece suits worn by CNN’s Ali Velshi?

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Michael Moore To Piers Morgan: Storm Coverage Needs To Be Changed

Alex Weprin — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 10:06:42 +0000

Filmmaker Michael Moore was on CNN’s “Piers Morgan Tonight” last night, and he got into a spirited debate with Morgan about CNN’s coverage of the disaster. With regard to Ali Velshi‘s coverage from New Jersey, Moore said:

“I was watching Ali out there, in Atlantic City, and my first thought is, why is CNN trying to kill Ali Velshi?”

Moore also said that CNN should have been showing video from Breezy Point, NY, where over 100 homes were destroyed by a fire. As it happens CNN did have reports from Breezy Point. Velshi would call in to talk to Moore about the reports.

WATCH:

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Ali Velshi: Criticism of Hurricane Coverage ‘well-intentioned and fair’

Alex Weprin — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 09:35:08 +0000

CNN’s Ali Velshi talks to The Huffington Post’s Rebecca Shapiro about covering Hurricane Sandy. Velshi, as we noted, spent a good deal of the storm in the streets of Atlantic City, battling nature’s wrath… and some video bombers.

Velshi addressed the safety precautions his team had to abide by, and the criticism CNN and other networks faced for putting reporters at risk for the sake of getting a good shot.

I read a lot of the criticism and I have to say, I take it well. I think one of the great things about CNN is I know we will have discussions about this. I know people will talk about this internally, and we’ll sort of continue to evaluate what it does for us.

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The Ticker, Sandy Edition: Spitzer, Williams, Velshi/Romans

Chris Ariens — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 15:37:38 +0000

Former New York Governor and CNN host Eliot Spitzer will be on Christiane Amanpour’s CNN International program today. He’ll talk about Sandy recovery and the election. “Amanpour” airs at 4pmET on CNNI.

“Rock Center with Brian Williams” will dedicate its entire hour to the super storm tomorrow night. Harry Smith, Tom Brokaw, Ann Curry, Richard Engel and Natalie Morales report. Thursday at 10pmET/PT.

CNN’s Ali Velshi, in Ohio, and Christine Romans, in New York, will co-anchor “CNN Newsroom” Friday morning at 9amET with Sandy’s clean-up underway, unemployment numbers due, and the election just four days away.

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The Inevitable Hurricane Sandy Video Bomb

Chris Ariens — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 17:22:55 +0000

This was inevitable. On CNN just after 5pm, Ali Velshi was reporting live from Atlantic City when three shirtless geniuses video bombed his liveshot. Meteorologist Chad Myers, after delivering the 5pm NHC update, commented that the trio “should be off the streets and into a house somewhere, that’s certainly not the place to be.” There’s a 6pm curfew for the city, which is about the time Sandy is expected to make landfall just south of where Velshi is reporting.

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Anderson Cooper and Erin Burnett To Report Live In Primetime For CNN

Alex Weprin — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 11:18:29 +0000

CNN will be keeping its usual primetime lineup on tonight to cover Sandy, and will be live until the worst of the storm passes, whenever that may be. Anchors Anderson Cooper and Erin Burnett will be reporting in the field tonight across primetime. CNN International will be simulcasting CNN/U.S. from 11AM-2PM and again starting at 4 PM.

The list of correspondents in the field for CNN is after the jump.

Update: HLN is blowing up its primetime lineup to provide hurricane coverage. Those details are also after the jump.
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