Category: Cable TV

What does the future hold for CNN?

Posted by dcrim – August 2, 2012

CNN, the revolutionary cable news network created by Ted Turner, has been floundering in the ratings in recent years — although it remains a moneymaker for parent company Time Warner. CEO Jim Walton has announced he is stepping down. Michael Wolff of The Guardian wonders what, if anything, could possibly put the channel back on track?

Writes Wolff: Because what’s wrong with CNN is what’s wrong with Time Warner, its owner. And what’s wrong with CNN is what’s wrong with television news. And even if you acknowledge what’s wrong with it, that does not mean that there is any real upside in fixing it.

Click here for the story.

On hurricane hype, root of economic crisis and Dick Cheney

Posted by dcrim – August 31, 2011

Howard Kurtz of the Daily Beast echoes my sentiments on the cable TV coverage of Hurricane Irene last weekend.

Brian Domitrovic writes in Forbes that we should not be mired in economic malaise today; rather, we should be enjoying a fourth decade of prosperity on the heels of the roaring 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. He points to what caused the decade of decline.

Time magazine says former Vice President Dick Cheney is rewriting a little history in his just-released memoir.

Beck causes stir by debunking undercover NPR video

Posted by dcrim – March 16, 2011

Politico reports Glenn Beck has some people scratching their heads after his website last week posted an in-depth analysis partially debunking an undercover sting video produced by guerrilla filmmaker James O’Keefe showing National Public Radio executives disparaging conservatives. Clarence Page of the Chicago Tribune was even caught off-guard.

Political mantra: Never let facts get in the way of a good story

Posted by dcrim – March 4, 2011

It seems being loose with the truth is becoming contagious. In its never-ending quest to separate fact from fiction, Politifact offers these nuggets:

• Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, now a commentator on Fox News and a potential Republican presidential candidate for 2012, said earlier this week while hawking his new book that President Barack Obama grew up in Kenya. Check the facts here.

• Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, locked in a budget battle with unions and Democratic senators, said the state is broke. Check the facts here.

• Fox News commentator Glenn Beck, no stranger to wild and unsubstantiated comments, said Michelle Obama has 43 people on her staff, compared to just three for Nancy Reagan. Check the facts here.

Managing – or not – the outsized personalities on cable TV

Posted by dcrim – January 24, 2011

Keith Olbermann’s departure from MSNBC reveals the problematic structure of the current incarnation of cable news, in which bombast, opinion and outsized personality get ratings, but these same qualities can make talent almost impossible to manage. Click here for the story.

Olbermann’s anger drove his ratings, but also drove his bosses crazy. Howard Kurtz of the Daily Beast writes on how the newly unemployed MSNBC star’s indignation fueled his rise and fall.

With Olbermann’s departure, Glenn Beck’s collapsing ratings, and Sarah Palin’s recent missteps, John Avlon wonders if we may be witnessing a national turn away from hard-core partisanship. Click here for the story.

Tucker Carlson: Vick should have been executed for dog crimes

Posted by dcrim – December 30, 2010

While we try to digest the shocking revelation the failed tea party U.S. Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell, who hasn’t held a job in years, is being investigated by the feds for possible misuse of campaign funds, here is a clip of Tucker Carlson going off the deep end about Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick on Fox News:

Study: Slants on television news creating misinformed voters

Posted by dcrim – December 18, 2010

Saturday morning musings while wondering if the Big Ten Conference kept its receipt from the consultants who came up with the Legends and Leaders division idea:

• A study conducted by WorldPublicOpinion.org, a project that is managed by the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland, shows that television news programming has created a lot of misinformed voters. All networks receive low marks on some issues, including MSNBC (at left, pun intended), but heading the list is Fox News Channel viewers, which the study concludes are significantly more likely to believe untruths about the Democratic health care overhaul, climate change and other subjects.

“Almost daily” viewers of Fox News, the authors said, were 31 points more likely to mistakenly believe that “most economists have estimated the health care law will worsen the deficit;” were 30 points more likely to believe that “most scientists do not agree that climate change is occurring;” and were 14 points more likely to believe that “the stimulus legislation did not include any tax cuts.”

They were also 13 points more likely to mistakenly believe “the auto bailout only occurred under Obama;” 12 points more likely to believe that “when TARP came up for a vote most Republicans opposed it;” and 31 points more likely to believe that “it is not clear that Obama was born in the United States.”

The study’s authors continued, “These effects increased incrementally with increasing levels of exposure and all were statistically significant. The effect was also not simply a function of partisan bias, as people who voted Democratic and watched Fox News were also more likely to have such misinformation than those who did not watch it — though by a lesser margin than those who voted Republican.”

The study suggests voters who supplement their television viewing habits by reading about issues are more likely to make informed decisions. The study apparently didn’t poll viewers who prefer ESPN.

• In terms of playing the role of “Comeback Kid,” conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer writes that Obama has left Bill Clinton in his dust.

If Barack Obama wins re-election in 2012, as is now more likely than not, historians will mark his comeback as beginning on Dec. 6, the day of the Great Tax Cut Deal of 2010. Obama had a bad November. … Now, with his stunning tax deal, Obama is back. Holding no high cards, he nonetheless managed to resurface suddenly not just as a player but as orchestrator, deal maker and central actor in a high $1 trillion drama.

• The top two candidates to host the 2012 Democratic National Convention reportedly are St. Louis and Charlotte, N.C. St. Louis has hosted five national conventions, but none since Democrats renominated President Woodrow Wilson for his successful re-election bid in 1916. Missouri has a Democratic governor and Sen. Claire McCaskill will be up for re-election in 2012, but the biggest boosters may be Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin and Chicago Mayor Richard Daley.

Some classic Larry King moments after his final sign-off

Posted by dcrim – December 17, 2010

After about 50,000 interviews — between his radio career and his stint on television — Larry King ended his run as the prime time fixture on CNN Thursday night. The future of the hourlong conversational form of interview on cable news television that he made popular is in doubt. (Charlie Rose is still on PBS for an hour beginning at 10 p.m. weeknights for those interested in weighty topics.)

The Daily Beast offers 15 classic King moments during his 25 years on CNN, from a miffed Jerry Seinfeld to the O.J. white Bronco chase to Julian Assange’s WikiLeaks walkoff.


A quick look at television viewing from both the right and left

Posted by dcrim – November 15, 2010

The Daily Beast offers these clips (and a little commentary) of the five most hilarious moments from Sarah Palin’s reality TV debut. Even thought the show drew a reported 5 million viewers, Jennifer Braceras of the Boston Herald — who has supported Palin — wasn’t impressed.

Howard Kurtz offers an inside look into the brewing civil war between NBC and royal pain Keith Olbermann, who isn’t portrayed in a flattering light (for those who thought he might be).

Primary election results reveal toxic political environment

Posted by dcrim – May 19, 2010

According to the Associated Press, any doubt about just how toxic the political environment is for congressional incumbents and candidates hand-picked by national Republican and Democratic leaders disappeared Tuesday, when voters fired Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter in Pennsylvania, forced Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln into a run-off in Arkansas and chose tea party darling Rand Paul to be the GOP nominee in Kentucky’s Senate race.

John F. Harris and Jim Vandehei of Politico surmise that activists are seizing control of politics. They write:

The anti-establishment, anti-incumbent fevers on display Tuesday are not new. The ideologically charged, grass-roots activists flexing their muscle in this week’s primary showdowns are the same breed as primary voters who four years ago stripped the Democratic nomination away from Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who later won as an independent.

What’s now clear, in a way that wasn’t before, is that these results reflect a genuine national phenomenon, not simply isolated spasms in response to single issues or local circumstances.

John Dickerson of Slate points out that President Barack Obama’s coattails have not been helpful. Dickerson writes that in the most recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, those who said they wanted a Republican Congress were asked why. Only 31 percent said because they approved of Republican policies; 64 percent said because they wanted to stop Obama.

In an unrelated development, prime-time anchor Campbell Brown reportedly is leaving CNN, which has seen its overall ratings plummet.