Who Pushed ABC News' Chief? [Stephy and Sawyer Performances Provide No Gain in ABC Ranking.

Yahoo ^ | Tue Sep 7, 3:08 am ET | Peter Lauria

[fight_truth_decay]

NEW YORK – David Westin may have had friction with Disney/ABC President Anne Sweeney, but things had been tense with Disney CEO Bob Iger for years. Peter Lauria and Lloyd Grove go inside his resignation.

David Westin’s departure from the helm of ABC News after 13 years...

[fight_truth_decay]

Westin's e-mail to ABC News staff after the jump

NYTimes: "ABC has continued to trail NBC. Changes in the anchor position at both broadcasts — George Stephanopoulos at “Good Morning America” and Diane Sawyer at the evening newscast “World News” — have resulted in steady performances but have not led to any gains in ABC’s ranking"...."unlike NBC News, which owns the cable news channel MSNBC, ABC News does not own a cable channel that could provide profit to support."

Picture and video
The President/Sawyer Interview: Obama's words replayed many times--
“I’d rather be a really good
one-term president than a mediocre two-term
president.”...“I can guarantee that the
worst thing we could do would be to raise taxes
when the economy is still this weak.”

[kittymyrib]

Good grief...so the pathetic MSNBC is the cable “cash cow” of NBC News??? Boy, are they in trouble!

[AU72]

Changing quarterbacks for the ABC Sunday show from Tapper to Amanpour made it go from interesting to unwatchable.

[The Sons of Liberty]

I refuse to watch the farce known as ABC “news”. They decided to kiss 0bama’s ass, despite his incompetence and socialism, so if they implode due to lack of viewers, they have only themselves to blame.

[OldDeckHand]

"Good grief...so the pathetic MSNBC is the cable “cash cow” of NBC News??? Boy, are they in trouble!"

Television is a very strange business. While MSNBC significantly trails FNC in ratings, they do very well in ad revenues. In fact, until very recently, MSNBC and CNN both did better in ad revenues than FNC. It's all about demographics, and what advertisers will pay a premium for.

Also, because MSNBC exists, NBC is able to bury with the cable arm the operating cost for NBC News. So, programs like NBC News and the Today Show (especially) make ridiculous amounts of money for the network.

FNC however, even when they used to lag in ad revenues, contributed more to News Corps bottom line than their competitors contributed to their respective parent corporations precisely because FNC operates so leanly. FNC only spends a fraction on their operation than does any of their competitors. So, they end up making much more money.

[Rummyfan]

Stephenapoulos and Ahmanpour? Who wants to watch those two? Sawyer is anodyne at least.

[DontTreadOnMe2009]

Disney owns ABC now, and Iger runs it-—

From Wiki:

Early life

Iger was born to Jewish[1] parents Mimi and Arthur Iger of Long Beach, Long Island. His mother worked at Boardman Junior High School in Oceanside, New York and his father was executive vice president and general manager of the Greenvale Marketing Corporation, and a professor of advertising and public relations.[2]

Iger completed his undergraduate studies at Ithaca College where he graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Television & Radio from Ithaca’s Roy H. Park School of Communications.[3] He then began his career as a weatherman for a local television station.[4] He joined the American Broadcasting Company in 1973 and gradually rose through its ranks.

Iger was instrumental in convincing ABC to pick up David Lynch’s offbeat but influential Twin Peaks. He served as president of the ABC Network Television Group from 1993 to 1994, and then was named president and chief operating officer of ABC’s corporate parent, Capital Cities/ABC.

In 1996, The Walt Disney Company bought Capital Cities/ABC and renamed it ABC, Inc., where Iger remained president until 1999.

[Mr. Bird]

He will end up in this administration, or as a blatant advocate from the outside. That’s what his letter to the staff was implying. The Amanpour hire was a Valentine to the Left.

[FrdmLvr]

I watch “Special Report” with Brett Baier. Extremely good news coverage. I haven’t watched network news in ages. Not even local.

[OpusatFR]

I can’t stand listening to Sawyer.

She sounds like a kindergarten teacher speaking to a bunch of kiddies right before nappy-nap time.

She’s a serious piece of agitprop promoting Progressive propaganda.

[twister881]

Network TV news = dead medium.

[fight_truth_decay]

Stephenapoulos and Ahmanpour; I do not watch them..many do not ..so their low numbers! Sawyer, I catch bits and peices of every once in a while and did in regard to Glenn Becks upcoming rally..where it was like she was reading from a prepared script sent down from someplace high above..she was not in her purrring pussy cat mode.

[maggief]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/02/AR2009080202045.html

The Prez, The Press, The Pressure
Networks Grouse About Obama in Prime Time
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, August 3, 2009

In the days before President Obama’s last news conference, as the networks weighed whether to give up a chunk of their precious prime time, Rahm Emanuel went straight to the top.

Rather than calling ABC, the White House chief of staff phoned Bob Iger, chief executive of parent company Disney. Instead of contacting NBC, Emanuel went to Jeffrey Immelt, the chief executive of General Electric. He also spoke with Les Moonves, the chief executive of CBS, the company spun off from Viacom.

(snip)

[Political Junkie Too]

This story touched off a firestorm of reader (that is, ABC News employee) comments that told the true goings-on behind the scenes at ABC News.

It's no wonder why they are a dying organization.

Read all the reader comments to find out what was really going on at ABC News under Westin.

-PJ

[MEG33]

http://www.observer.com/2010/media/top-abc-news-producer-leaving-network-become-high-school-guidance-counselor-0
I have lost sleep ..getting hooked on reading these comments...I see a book or movie..

[Political Junkie Too]

Yeah, it's addictive to see how dysfunctional our elite "betters" really are.

-PJ