Posted on 01/10/2010 3:05:16 PM PST by blam
Its just not fair. I certainly hope that the Congress and the Obama Administration will do something in the name of social justice to correct this. They need to take money away from Fox News (who don’t really need it), and give it to the other networks who are down on their luck and really could use the help. This is especially true for MSNBC who have really been hard hit through no fault of their own.
Wow.
The other networks have DECIDED to make less money, and I think Mr. Ailes is simply willing to help them alon with that.
I hope he just wipes them out completely —then we’ll have not only radio, but all of TV.
US T.V. will be as healthy as ever, with just one catch —it will have changed (ideological) hands.
Here’s an irony that is all-but-ignored in the NYT piece: Despite his conservative views, Roger Ailes was a power player in the MSM for years. He built CNBC into the first truly successful financial news network, and then created “America’s Talking,” for NBC. It was an effort to meld talk radio with TV news and was, in some respects, a forerunner to Fox News.
You know what happened; the network wanted the channel for MSNBC (you know, the outlet that was supposed to challenge CNN in cable news) and let Ailes leave NBC. Rupert Murdoch snapped him up, and the rest is history.
Meanwhile, NBC has promoted “executives” like Jeff Zucker, the former Today Show executive producer. When he took over the network’s entertainment division five years ago, NBC was #1 in prime time, late night and the morning. Today, they’re fourth in prime time, and a distant second (some nights third), and GMA is starting to close the gap in the mornings. Yet Zucker was just given a new contract, which will last until COMCAST (NBC’s new owners) complete their purchase of the network and start clearning house.
Having worked in broadcasting early in my career, I can assure you that most radio and TV execs are weasels. But even that feckless group reached something of a new low today, during the winter TV writers meeting in LA. Announcing the cancellation of Jay Leno’s 10 pm comedy show, NBC blamed it on their affiliates, who were up in arms over the program’s dismal ratings, and its impact on viewership for their own, late local newscasts.
True, the affiliates were upset—and rightfully so. But this was a mess that NBC created and one they handled clumsily. Besides, the networks have stood up to affiliate protests before, and they will again. If NBC was really interested in continuing the Jay Leno at 10 experiment, they could have easily continued. Instead, NBC decided to pull the plug, and then blamed their affiliates for the decision.
NBC’s handling of this mess brings to mind Hunter S. Thompson’s quote about television:
“The TV business is uglier than most things. It is normally perceived as some kind of cruel and shallow money trench through the heart of the journalism industry, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs, for no good reason. “
Here’s an irony that is all-but-ignored in the NYT piece: Despite his conservative views, Roger Ailes was a power player in the MSM for years. He built CNBC into the first truly successful financial news network, and then created “America’s Talking,” for NBC. It was an effort to meld talk radio with TV news and was, in some respects, a forerunner to Fox News.
You know what happened; the network wanted the channel for MSNBC (you know, the outlet that was supposed to challenge CNN in cable news) and let Ailes leave NBC. Rupert Murdoch snapped him up, and the rest is history.
Meanwhile, NBC has promoted “executives” like Jeff Zucker, the former Today Show executive producer. When he took over the network’s entertainment division five years ago, NBC was #1 in prime time, late night and the morning. Today, they’re fourth in prime time, and a distant second (some nights third), and GMA is starting to close the gap in the mornings. Yet Zucker was just given a new contract, which will last until COMCAST (NBC’s new owners) complete their purchase of the network and start clearning house.
Having worked in broadcasting early in my career, I can assure you that most radio and TV execs are weasels. But even that feckless group reached something of a new low today, during the winter TV writers meeting in LA. Announcing the cancellation of Jay Leno’s 10 pm comedy show, NBC blamed it on their affiliates, who were up in arms over the program’s dismal ratings, and its impact on viewership for their own, late local newscasts.
True, the affiliates were upset—and rightfully so. But this was a mess that NBC created and one they handled clumsily. Besides, the networks have stood up to affiliate protests before, and they will again. If NBC was really interested in continuing the Jay Leno at 10 experiment, they could have easily continued. Instead, NBC decided to pull the plug, and then blamed their affiliates for the decision.
NBC’s handling of this mess brings to mind Hunter S. Thompson’s quote about television:
“The TV business is uglier than most things. It is normally perceived as some kind of cruel and shallow money trench through the heart of the journalism industry, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs, for no good reason. “
They don’t care. They’ll get a bailout.
Oh, SNAP!
If Rupert’s family is embarrassed by FOX, then Rupert needs to tell them not to be embarrassed because there is no possibility of them ever owning any stock in FOX. And then he needs to make that a fact.
( I suspect that's known...)
Very disappointing. So?...Why should I trust this network to give fair and honest reporting?
lol. good point.
Matt Drudge has often said he makes more money than ABC News, NBC News, and CBS News. It is my understanding that the news divisions lose money.
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