Outside Cable News

Via NBCUNI Media Village

MSNBC’S TELECAST OF DEMOCRATIC DEBATE MOST WATCHED PROGRAM IN NETWORK HISTORY

7.8 Million Viewers Watch MSNBC’s Debate Between Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama on the Eve of the Ohio and Texas Primaries

MSNBC’s Debate Coverage Second Only to “Idol” in Total Viewers

NEW YORK – Feb. 27, 2008 – MSNBC’s telecast of last night’s Democratic candidates debate drew 7.8 million viewers (9-10:36 p.m. ET), becoming the most watched broadcast in the eleven year history of the network, according to Nielsen Media Research. The debate, between Democratic presidential candidates Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama, was moderated by “NBC Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams, joined by “Meet the Press” moderator and NBC News Washington Bureau Chief Tim Russert. It is the third most watched debate this season and the second most watched on cable.
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Via Silicon Alley Insider

CNNMoney.com: We’re Gunning For CNBC, Fox Biz
by Michael Learmonth

Vivek Shah, president and publisher of CNNMoney.com, told the MPA conference this morning that he sees his site as a competitor for workplace eyeballs currently trained on CNBC’s and Fox Biz’ cable channels.

Ambitious goal. How can he make it happen? Shah’s pitch: There are 80 million broadband-connected computers in the workplace, where most folks watch financial news networks. But there are only 4 million cable-connected TVs. If CNNMoney.com can stream enough compelling video, Shah argues, he can snatch some of the cable guys’ audience.
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Via The Earth Times

Kiptronic Partners With Fox News Radio to Monetize Media Assets

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — 02/27/08 — Kiptronic, the leader in dynamic ad insertion for video and audio content distributed using the Internet, today announced that it has partnered with Fox News Radio to provide dynamic ad insertion and media management services for its audio content.

Kiptronic’s Media Services Platform and OpsCenter management tools will be utilized by Fox News Radio across its popular series of audio programming, from the Fox News Radio Newscast to The Radio Factor with Bill O’Reilly and the Alan Colmes Radio Show.
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Via phillyBurbs
Russert’s night of shame
by Eric G

The hype all day long throughout the media was that there would be fireworks at the MSNBC Democratic debate last night. Who would attack first? Who would lose their cool? Some people predicted Obama, most predicted Clinton, but who would have guessed that Tim Russert would be the lunatic of the evening.

Let me say first that I watch Meet the Press every Sunday and think Russert is usually very good. That said, I knew something was wrong when they introduced Russert last night. Like a dog foaming at the mouth, he walked on the stage with bags under his eyes the size of grapefruits. He looked like someone who found out their car was just towed. I haven’t seen someone walk onto a debate stage looking that pissed off since Ross Perot.

Russert didn’t ask questions last night, he attacked. It was as if someone let out that inner republican demon inside of him. Russert’s first question went to Hillary and I thought to myself, “Wow this thing is getting contentious.” I give both Hillary and Barack credit because quite honestly if someone came at me with that kind of vigor I would have put my defenses up immediately and began my own attack.
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Via Portfolio
Mixed Media
by Jeff Bercovici

A Fluke or a Trend? CNBC’s Demo Mystery

What’s happening to CNBC’s younger viewers? For the second month in a row, the financial network posted strong growth in total audience while suffering year-over-year shrinkage in the all-important 25-to-54-year-old demographic. All of CNBC’s Business Day programs were down in “the demo,” as it’s known, including Power Lunch (down 32 percent to 82,000 viewers), Squawk on the Street (down 23 percent to 110,000) and The Call (down 19 percent to 102,000). And all this while the network enjoyed its best month in total viewership since 2001.

Asked about the discrepancy, a CNBC spokesman responded with a statement that emphasized the total-viewers performance. “CNBC is the fastest growing cable news network in Business Day February-over-February in total viewers — even with increased traffic from election news on the traditional cable nets,” he said.
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Via The New York Observer
by Felix Gillette

The Howard Beale Show, 2008

Recovering heroin addict and TV news producer Chez Pazienza seeks reinvention as mad prophet of the 21st century’s signature forms: blogs and memoirs

In the spring of 2001, Chez Pazienza was sitting in his apartment in the West Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, smoking heroin and watching The Filth and the Fury, a documentary about punk legends the Sex Pistols, when he realized he had a problem.

At the time, Mr. Pazienza was an ambitious young producer running the 11 o’clock news for Los Angeles’ NBC affiliate KNBC. Ratings were up. His anchor drove a Ferrari. The job was good—great.

>Read the rest here. (2 pages)

Via TV Decoder
By Brian Stelter

A Banner Month for CNN

CNN, which normally comes in second to Fox News Channel in cable news ratings, is celebrating its first prime-time victory over its top rival since 2001.

Among 25- to 54-year-olds, CNN’s average prime time viewership for the month of February was 614,000, compared with 454,000 for Fox News Channel, according to Nielsen Media Research (which tracks ratings on a full week basis and measures the month as January 28 to February 22). Given that advertisers make their purchasing decisions based on the ratings in this demographic, it is very good news for CNN.

Fox News Channel, traditionally the top-rated cable news network across all age groups, still captured more viewers in the favored demographic for the full day rather than just prime time, by a margin of just 4,000 viewers. Fox News also attracted more total viewers than CNN for the month in both total day and prime time.

Read the rest here.

Via The Honolulu Advertiser

Political analyst Schneider speaking in Honolulu

Advertiser Staff

The League of Women Voters of Hawaii is presenting “An Evening with Bill Schneider” March 10 at Harris United Church’s Miyama Hall.

Schneider is CNN’s senior political analyst and one of the country’s leading political commentators. He is a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., and a contributing editor to the Los Angeles Times, National Journal, and The Atlantic Monthly.
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Via The Cauldron
by Laura Dynda

“Let’s Play Hardball”
Host Chris Matthews Brings Show to Cleveland State

Host Chris Matthews and his show “Hardball” graced Cleveland State University with it’s presence on Feb. 26. The host and his show was just one of the many media personalities to come to Cleveland State for the Democratic Debate.

“Hardball” is a show on MSNBC that analyzes politics and has many guests that are either politicians or having something to do with politics. Being that it is one of MSNBC’s most popular shows, a lottery was held through Cleveland State’s website to determine who would go to the taping on Feb. 26.

Only one hundred people were picked, for the tapings of the show. There were to be two tapings, one at 5 p.m.- 6 p.m. and the other from 7 p.m. - 8 p.m.
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