National Producer, CBS Stations Digital
New York, NY
Read the full post September 15th, 2006
Archive for September 15th, 2006
Graceless under fire: Nancy refuses apology
Give her this much: Nancy Grace is consistent. During an interview with Chris Cuomo on “Good Morning America,” Nancy had a golden opportunity for, at the very least, a “I feel bad about what happened.” Instead, Nancy chose to blame the woman who committed suicide after her interview and continue with her guilty-until-proven-innocent approach to “journalism.” Not understanding that the story isn’t about whether Melinda Duckett killed her child or not, Nancy made the interview about Nancy. Video here, and I have transcribed a chunk of the interview. Read it, after the jump:
Read the full post 45 comments September 15th, 2006
Powell says he knows nothing of destroyed FCC report
Former FCC Chairman Michael Powell says he doesn’t know a thing about the report on local news the FCC is accused of quashing. The study, conducted in 2004, showed that locally owned stations produced more local news than stations owned by out-of-town companies. A Powell spokeswoman said “He said he never saw the report, never heard of it until yesterday and never ordered it destroyed.” If the accusations are true, and the FCC tried to bury a report that was at odds with its own agenda, this is an outright scandal.
17 comments September 15th, 2006
‘Star Trek’ returns to TV with digital facelift
Remember how cheesy those miniature-scale models looked in the original Star Trek series? Well, CBS Paramount has replaced them with snazzy computer graphics in a digital remastering of the original series. “Nothing really has changed except for the fact that it’s just prettier to look at,” said John Nogawski, president of CBS Paramount Domestic Television. “Right down to placement of stars, it is being resimulated to be exactly what was there in the first place.” The shows have been syndicated to over 200 TV stations to debut this weekend. As they say, check your local listings.
4 comments September 15th, 2006
Clear Channel may sell off smaller radio stations
Now that anyone can burn their own CDs, create their own iPod playlists and listen to commercial-free satellite radio, the prospects for radio broadcasting are dwindling by the day. For example, 12-34 year olds listen to 17 hours a week, down 3 hours from 1999. And the stocks of the five largest radio companies are down between 30 and 60 percent in the last 3 years. So Clear Channel is may sell some of its 1200 radio stations in smaller markets, and CBS said its looking to sell more of its radio properties. If you ask me, music stations need to stop playing the same playlists over and over and focus on exploring new music. The only time I listen to the radio, besides traffic reports, is to find new music to buy and download on my iPod. Seattle’s KEXP is the best example of this new approach, playing a wide range of music with few repeats. When I hear one I like, I go to KEXP.org, look up the time it played, and I can find the artist and name of the song, with a link to buy it. Smart.
11 comments September 15th, 2006
Archived research now on Lost Remote
If you click the “resources” tab, you’ll find a growing list of links to useful online and mobile media studies. I’ll keep adding to it as fresh research is made available.
4 comments September 15th, 2006
Couric drives CBSNews.com traffic
Unique users to CBSNews.com for the first week of Katie Couric’s debut were up 57 percent over the previous week. “CBS News First Look,” Couric’s web-exclusive video, served up 100,000 streams over the same time period. The “Couric and Co.” blog received 4,000 emails and 4,000 comments, as well as 38,000 suggestions for a signature sign-off line. “The results of the first week are very encouraging,” said Sean McManus, President, CBS News and Sports. “We’re working hard to make sure that the online and wireless audiences are served with strong, distinctive news programming.” Meanwhile, MSNBC.com fired out a press release that touted the site “beat CBSNews.com by 9.5 million unique visitors” over the same week.
2 comments September 15th, 2006
Officials ordered FCC report destroyed, says ex-staffer
A former FCC lawyer is alleging that senior FCC officials ordered all copies of a localism report drafted by the commission in 2004 to be destroyed. And now Senator Barbara Boxer has a copy, which she said was sent to her anonymously — and she’s demanding answers. The study in question concluded that locally-owned TV stations do more local news than network-owned or “non-locally owned” stations do, a finding that was at odds with an earlier FCC conclusion, reports Broadcasting & Cable.
7 comments September 15th, 2006
Lonelygirl15 appears on MTV, NBC
That didn’t take long. The YouTube phenomenon turned faker lonelygirl15, also known as Bree, appeared on both MTV (video) and NBC’s Tonight Show. Jessica Rose, who’s really 19 (not twenty-something as the NY Times reported), says she plans to continue on with show. “I don’t think it will fizzle out,” she says. “It’s been insane. I’ve had so much attention given to me that I didn’t expect.” Her media blitz has been just as strange as her YouTube videos. Her appearance on MTV was in front of a backdrop riddled with Revver logos — a YouTube competitor. And she danced with MSNBC’s Tucker Carlson on the Tonight Show. “Bree is not so lonely anymore,” she said. “That’s right!” said Carlson, as he began to dance. (Thanks, Don & Benjamin!)
5 comments September 15th, 2006
DirecTV could go to Liberty Media
In a change of heart, News Corp’s Rupert Murdoch has reportedly called DirecTV a “turd bird” and is considering selling his 38 percent stake in the satellite company to Liberty Media. Analysts say Murdoch is likely growing tired of DirecTV’s sluggish subscriber growth and difficulty in offering a competitive high-speed internet service. Meanwhile, FCC chair Kevin Martin said any ideas about trying another merger between DirecTV and Echostar would face reluctance by regulators. (On a separate note, CNBC on the air scooped the story, but it’s nowhere to be found on the site’s home page. Lame.)
5 comments September 15th, 2006
LA Times editor refuses to make cuts
In a time where newspapers everywhere are cutting back staff, LA Times Editor Dean Baquet is defying Tribune’s corporate management and refusing to lay off employees. The paper’s publisher, Jeffrey Johnson, is backing him up. “Newspapers can’t cut their way into the future,” Johnson said, quoted in a LA Times story. The LA Times has cut 200 newsroom positions in the last five years. “I am not averse to making cuts,” Baquet said. “But you can go too far, and I don’t plan to do that.” The unusual LA Times showdown is the latest challenge for Tribune. The corporation is under pressure from its largest shareholder, the Chandler family, to puts its assets up for sale.
11 comments September 15th, 2006
