Johnny Dollar has the video….

Everybody is making a big deal out of Public Eye’s leaked memo where Jon Klein is trying to maximize viewer attention by apparently hyping the Rita Hurricane story by making a big deal about the hurricane’s strength. I’m sorry but what exactly is the story here? That a cable network is hyping a news story? That’s not news. They all do it one way or another all the time. FNC turns its entire prime time lineup over to Aruba coverage in the face of a news vacuum. And that’s not hype? MSNBC does its own hype thing from time to time. This is not news. Nor is it really newsworthy.

If it wasn’t for the memo coming out, would anyone have said anything? Nope. If it wasn’t for the memo coming out, would anyone have noticed anything out of the ordinary in CNN’s presentation? Nope again. Let’s face it, the only reason we’re discussing it at all is because CNN got caught, not because CNN did anything outrageous or out of the ordinary for a cable network. And that in my opinion is the real story here. So let’s have some perspective…

Here is a tentative schedule for MSNBC this weekend. Tomorrow morning MSNBC will air a new one hour edition of The Today Show at 9 am EST. This is an aggressive move on NBC’s part and points back to that “synergy” thing we’re always hearing about but not often seeing.

Friday

10p-12a - Scarborough Country
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I’m a day late getting these posted but here are the numbers for Wednesday. The Airbus drama drew in big numbers for everyone but especially MSNBC. Proportionally speaking, MSNBC was the biggest beneficiary. Usually FNC and CNN clobber MSNBC in ratios of 4 or 5:1 (FNC) or 2 or 3:1 (CNN). But this night FNC was barely able to beat it 2:1 and CNN had to settle for 3:2. Ultimately FNC was the winner of the evening but there’s enough positive news here for the 2nd and 3rd place networks that evening to crow about. CNN really closed in hard on FNC at the 9 pm hour. This is more than a “glass half full/glass half empty” characterization of the evening….
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Updating this morning’s item on Stevie Wonder’s CNN appearance, Wonder premiered live on the air his newest song “Shelter In The Rain” during Live From. CNN’s Kyra Phillips interviewed Wonder and a transript follows…
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Here is how CNN covered the story of a levee breaking in New Orleans, causing new flooding. Transcript follows…..

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, we want to go back to New Orleans and talk about what’s happening with the levee that’s impacting the lower Ninth Ward. One of our photographers, our CNN photographers, Alfredo DeLara, is there and he has seen it and he’s on the phone with us right now. Alfred, what have you seen?

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6:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. Special edition of Robin & Company

9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Hurricane Rita Coverage
Anchor: Christi Paul

12:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. Hurricane Rita Coverage
Anchors: Renee San Miguel/Kathleen Kennedy
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Friday

9:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. Larry King Live

10:00 p.m. - 2:00 a.m. NewsNight: State of Emergency
Anchors: Aaron Brown/Anderson Cooper

2:00 a.m. - 6:00 a.m. CNN LIVE- Hurricane Rita
Anchors: Tony Harris/Catherine Callaway

6:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. American Morning
Anchors: Soledad O’Brien, Miles O’brien/Anderson Cooper
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With the hurricane having changed course, CNN has modified its deployment of anchors and reporters to cover the storm…

Port Arthur, TX

Anderson Cooper (en route)
John King (en route)
Gary Tuchman
Ed Lavandera
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From CNN:

Recording artist Stevie Wonder offers a world premiere performance of his newest song, “Shelter in the Rain,” in an exclusive appearance on CNN’s Live From today at 2 p.m.(ET). Wonder, who dedicated the song to victims of Hurricane Katrina, performs the song live from Wonderland Studios in Los Angeles. The performance and Live From anchor Kyra Phillips’ interview with Wonder will broadcast on CNN/U.S. with a simulcast on CNN International and CNNRadio. Video of the segment will be available on CNN.com.

Crooks & Liars semi sarchastically notes O’Reilly’s opening remarks explaining last night’s fracas….

I just saw the intro to his show tonight and he’s trying to say that Phil Donahue broke some golden rule and that’s why he flipped out. Here’s the transcript. You can see the video here:

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The AP’s David Bauder writes about the nets’ Rita deployment and logistics….(via WHAC)

As cable news screens repeatedly showed satellite views of Rita as a swirling orange blob in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday, network stars like Brian Williams, Charles Gibson, John Roberts, Matt Lauer, Shepard Smith, Anderson Cooper and Stone Phillips were either in place or traveling to where the storm might make landfall.

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Katrina’s lessons changed planning in both practical ways - field technicians at CNN have learned how to build showers for its workers - and strategic: networks are making sure their stars will play a prominent role.

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Harry Shearer takes aim at CNN’s Kelly Wallace today…

On CNN early this morning, anchor Kelly Wallace had a telephone conversation, labeled “Silver Lining”, with a scientist who said some rain right now could help New Orleans by washing Katrina’s accumulated muck off the streets, a task the city would otherwise have to accomplish with fire hoses. So far, so good. But Wallace’s response to the scientist’s answers, over and over again, was: “Exactly”. She knew all this? They could have saved the cost of the phone call.

Constructive suggestion: if anchors don’t have anything knowledegeable to ad lib, perhaps they should stick to the script.

CJR Daily’s Edward B. Colby knocks both Fox News Channel and CNN for missing something in President Bush’s speech yesterday which one New York Times reporter spotted….

On Fox News Channel last night, White House correspondent Carl Cameron said that “Mr. Bush implored Gulf resident to heed warnings and directives from local and state authorities,” then cut to a one-sentence shot of similar boilerplate from the president.

On “CNN Live Today,” the network carried a significant portion of Bush’s speech.

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