Satellite Eavesdropping….
With the Holidays fast approaching, weekend blogging is going to be more difficult as I’m physically tied up doing other holiday related things (translation: I had to go shopping). The blog isn’t going to be the center of my universe this time of year. I should have posted I would be not able to blog until tonight on Friday night but didn’t have the time.
The Chicago Tribune’s Phil Rosenthal writes about Thursday’s airline accident at Midway Airport and how it’s possible to have more than 0ne cable news channel have the same feed from the same reporter at the same time…
For a little while Thursday night, as snow swirled around the accident scene at Chicago’s Midway Airport, the most important man in all of cable TV news was none other than WFLD-Ch. 32 reporter Dane Placko.
Placko, between live on-scene dispatches for Channel 32, was wrapping up an interview with an area resident as part of a report especially for Fox News Channel host Greta Van Susteren around 9:40 p.m. when CNN’s Anderson Cooper also cut to him.
“I heard Greta in my ear. I was having a conversation with her, but obviously Anderson Cooper was listening in as well,” Placko said Friday.“I was on quite a while with her. It seemed to go fairly well and, as we were wrapping up, I heard [another] voice in my ear–the [Fox] producer in New York, I believe–say, `Oh, by the way, you were also on CNN.’ I’m thinking to myself: `Wait a minute. I’m talking to Greta. How can I be on CNN at the same time?’”
OMG, how funny! I didn’t get to see it but I hope it made Cooper look like a fool. So I guess CNN viewers could hear Greta talking? CNN should have already had a reporter on the ground since they have a bureau in Chicago and it was 2 hours after the fact.
Comment by anonymous — December 11, 2005 @ 8:52 pm
I am surprised that there has been more postings over the fact that CNN came very close in the ratings to Fox during this time period and appeared to have very high numbers in the demo. I personally don’t care one way or the other, but I can’t believe that wackjob who does the WHAC blog hasn’t picked up on that.
Comment by anon — December 11, 2005 @ 9:00 pm
Wow anon, don’t like CNN now do we? Really stinks huh that real NEWS can get the numbers that yack fests do. Too bad yack fests is what FNC likes to program and then pass it off as NEWS.
Comment by Harry — December 11, 2005 @ 9:15 pm
Hmm..WFLD is a CNN and FNC affiliate…don’t see anything wrong there. At least CNN didn’t air FNC’s signal like FNC did when Space Shuttle Columbia blew up. Now that was hilarious.
Comment by Anonymous — December 11, 2005 @ 9:22 pm
Anonymous, are you kidding? CNN took the Chicago reporter as he was talking to Greta Van Susteren on Fox. That’s one of the most hilarious things I’ve ever heard!!!
Comment by Jake — December 12, 2005 @ 10:45 am
I think the best line of the story is “Copying Fox News Channel has its benefits.”
Comment by Mia — December 12, 2005 @ 12:21 pm