The Big CNN Changes: Round Up Take 3
And the Internet reactions keep coming in…
WHAC says it got a response from a source close to Brown….
“Although Aaron DID have the feeling that last Fridays NN would be his last, NOTHING was known for sure. He truly DID NOT KNOW what he’d be returning too or if at all. His vacation had been planned for awhile, it was not sudden, and having spoken to him today, he is fine, even somewhat “liberated”, he was NOT happy with much of what’s been going on at CNN. CNN has to pay him for the remainder of his contract which isn’t up until July 2007. BTW, all figures quoted in reports are WRONG!! He has no plans but to rest, relax and figure out what he wants to do in the future besides playing a lot of golf.”
FishbowlNY is definately not pleased with this move. I’m reposting the entry in full…
Did anyone see “The Daily Show” on Monday night? Rob Corrdry filed a report from the White House where he was dazzled by all the fun new initiatives sprung this week. Alito nomination! Yaay! Scooter who? Jon tried to get Rob back on track, but then Rob got distracted by a big shiny ball of tinfoil on the White House lawn. Whee! Shiny! Pretty! Dazzling!
That, to me, is Jon Klein’s problem. It’s been two months — just two months — since Anderson’s breakout role in Hurricane Katrina, and one month since the uncomfortable NewsNight duo became permanent. Jon Klein saw Anderson and his silvery hair glinting in the post-Katrina spotlight, and he jumped at it as surely as Rob Corrdry on the fake White House lawn. It wasn’t enough to work on shoring up 360, expanding Anderson’s viewership, building his fan base on the web. Oh, no — Klein needed to show the world that he had vision, had the vision, for CNN. I repeat, we’ve seen data on what an Anderson-ful NewsNight looks like — yes, Jon Klein, congratulations — but have we seen any data on what a Brown-less NewsNight would look like? As one FB reader says: “All I know is my dad’s gonna be really disappointed. He’s grown to like Aaron a lot.”
That’s because Aaron Brown is likeable, and has earned the viewers who tune into NewsNight over years of service. For CNN to destabilize his show and then unceremoniously shove him out — because come on, that’s precisely what happened — is pretty damn disrespectful. And totally wasteful — on a 24-hour network in a 24-hour news cycle, a truly visionary leader would have realized the value in keeping them both. But it’s hard to have vision with pretty tinfoil sparkling in your face. Too bad Jon Klein’s loyalty is blind, too.
From Klein’s memo to CNN staff: “We cannot thank Aaron enough for the skills and professionalism he brought to CNN.”
No, Jon Klein. Clearly, you can’t.
I think everyone out here deserves to see the ratings and the truth, so below is some info. that sums it all up:
“Since the dynamic duo’s debut, Anderson & Aaron have lost 72% of their viewership from 10-12 and are down 81% in 25-54). Remember before Cooper joined it was just Brown on the show. Maybe CNN is letting the wrong guy walk?”
–Scott Jones
Comment by Ted — November 2, 2005 @ 11:18 pm
Could you post your source for those numbers please. Thanks.
Comment by anonymous — November 2, 2005 @ 11:36 pm
FTVLive gets its ratings info from FNC so most likely this info either came from FNC or was derived from data that FNC originally supplied (as in daily ratings) and FTVLive crunched the numbers…
Comment by Spud — November 2, 2005 @ 11:45 pm
For a person allegedly in the education field, that guy/girl who compiles the WHAC blog VASTLY OVERUSES CAPS.
Comment by anon — November 3, 2005 @ 6:50 am
The cable ratings come from Nielsen Media Research.
Comment by ITK — November 3, 2005 @ 11:19 am
The ratings tell the story. Anderson Cooper doesn’t have what it takes cause he can get a million viewers in any of his time slots. As we go forward fox will have ratings milestones and CNN will wobble around.
Comment by Steve — November 3, 2005 @ 11:32 am
Spud Are you saying the ratings aren’t right, that these are incorrect numbers? How would you know?
Comment by Jake — November 3, 2005 @ 11:51 am
These are Nielsen ratings and they are correct. Spud obviously doensn’t know what’s going on in the world of cable news.
Comment by anonymous — November 3, 2005 @ 11:58 am
Spud seems to think he’s such an authority. But he can’t back anything up. There’s no news made here, just work by other blogs, and his remarks about the Nielsen ratings aren’t ever accurate. This blog blows.
Comment by Beltway Babe — November 3, 2005 @ 12:05 pm
Spud seems to think he’s such an authority. But he can’t back anything up. There’s no news made here, just work by other blogs, and his remarks about the Nielsen ratings aren’t ever accurate. This blog blows.
Comment by Beltway Babe — November 3, 2005 @ 12:06 pm
Spud allows us to make comments here, where other sites do not. Further, he could just rip off material from cites without attribution; instead he always tells us where he gets his info. from.
If you guys are any more expert at getting ratings, then start your own site!
Comment by Missy — November 3, 2005 @ 12:40 pm
(Sorry about misuse of “cites” in above.)
Comment by Missy — November 3, 2005 @ 12:41 pm
And don’t forget to post the address so we can all check out the NEW SITE!!
Comment by Terance — November 3, 2005 @ 12:59 pm
Hey Missy - I think it’s fine for Spud to attribue ALL of the items on his blog, which is kind of a must since it’s all from somewhere else. But how can he tell us where his “competition” gets their information from? That’s the problem. He doesn’t know who tvnewser.com or gawker.com or ftvlive.com’s sources are. And sources are highly confiedntial. He needs to pay attention to his own blog.
Comment by Cissy — November 3, 2005 @ 1:35 pm
Sources for Gawker.com and FishBowlNY were recently fired from their jobs. The environment is really tough right now and the stakes are high for anyone who provides information to bloggers. If Spud wants to reveal his own sources on his blog, well, that’s his deal, but to discuss ALLEGED sources for somebody else’s blog is just unforgivable considering people are being fired over these things.
Comment by Dobber — November 3, 2005 @ 4:02 pm
Well said, Dobber. Who is Spud to say who the sources are for the different blogs? I doubt that he knows who e-mails Gawker in the middle of the night or who the Wonkette talks to at parties in Washington. Pointing fingers and making accusations about others does not go down well.
Comment by MM — November 4, 2005 @ 6:09 pm
I know who FTVLive gets his ratings from because he told me.
Comment by Spud — November 11, 2005 @ 9:42 pm