Reese blogs today…

Once again, it is an ill wind that blows no one some good. Fox News and CNN were the biggest beneficiaries of Katrina and Rita. For the month, Fox averaged 2,875,000 viewers per hour in primetime. CNN averaged 2,035,000. That’s a 4 to 3 ratio in favor of Fox News. For the total program day, Fox averaged 1,774,000 and CNN 1,279,000. That’s again about 4 to 3.

The big news for both networks was an upsurge in younger viewers. Fox News finished fifth among all ad-supported cable networks and CNN was eighth in primetime viewers 18 to 49. Total day, Fox News was third and CNN seventh. Both Fox and CNN have an audience demographic that hovers around 60. If hurricanes are the best way of attracting younger viewers, Fox and CNN might wish to encourage global warming.

It was a flat evening in a lot of respects. While O’Reilly was still a charger, On The Record had a sub par outting. Nancy Grace’s repeat was flat. Both Cooper and Zahn dipped under a million, early indications that the Katrina coattails may be starting to lose their potency.
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Jeff Jarvis at BuzzMachine.com also writes up the big “future of media” roundtable yesterday….

The tone has changed. There is no dismissive huffing from the big guys about blogs. There is still that argument about who’s trustworthy (see the note here). Old hat. But there is an acknowledgment that the change is gigantic and has only begun.

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: Heyward surprised and impressed me when he talked about the weaknesses of mainstream media today:

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WHAC notes the Pittsburgh Post Gazette’s Rob Owen answering the question which has been on Rudi’s fans minds since ICN first noticed her bio got pulled from CNN’s website…

Q:Where is Rudi Baktihar? Is she gone from CNN?

Looks like she is. Here’s what the cable news channel had to say: “Rudi is no longer with CNN. She has recently gone through the protracted illness and ultimate loss of her father. She is taking this time to be with her family.”

PressThink’s Jay Rosen blogs about an all star roundtable at The Museum of Television and Radio concerning the future of Big Media and blogs….

“The bloggers were the usual suspects who write about the issue of blogging, journalism and the media,” said David Weinberger, who was there. “The MSM folks were high-level execs at the usual suspect TV and print mainstream news organizations.” True. (We weren’t a representative group of bloggers, either. No one from the cultural right, no minorities, only a handful of women, no one in his or her 20s. Apply whatever discount rate you wish.)

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The ground rules prevented quoting without permission, a condition I don’t like and would never request, but some of the big executives need the cover, so we do it that way. You have the cast of characters. Here’s what I heard:

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Mark Washburn in the Charlotte Observer writes about FNC’s Neil Cavuto…

Neil Cavuto, host of the highest-rated business show on TV, says the secret to his success is turning his back on Wall Street.

“We wanted shows that were less market-centric,” says Cavuto, who hosts “Your World with Neil Cavuto” weekdays at 4 p.m. on Fox News Channel.

Exploring broader economic themes is more interesting than the traditional Big Board coverage, says Cavuto, in Charlotte this week plugging his new book, “Your Money Or Your Life.”