While I was going through the weekend’s ratings data, which I don’t usually bother with posting about, I happened to notice something that did make me want to post; The Most double scratched on Friday…

3pm P2+

FNC 865,000
CNN 358,000
CNBC 248,000
HLN 99,000
MSNBC 74,000

3pm P25-54

FNC 229,000
CNN 90,000
CNBC 59,000
MSNBC 35,000
HLN 19,000

I hadn’t been paying too close to The Most’s progress since it launched but this scratch was surprising. Since nobody had been posting ratings data for that time of day, I wondered whether this was an aberation or a sign of trouble for the new show.
(more…)

CNN announced that Tony Snow will be appearing on Lou Dobbs tonight on Wednesday. CNN is billing this as Snow’s “first prime time interview since becomeing White House spokesman”…

In his first prime-time interview since becoming White House spokesman, Tony Snow will appear on CNN’s Lou Dobbs Tonight on Wednesday, May 24. Snow will discuss illegal immigration, border security, the war in Iraq and other topics with award-winning anchor Lou Dobbs. In his long-running segment “Broken Borders,” Dobbs examines illegal immigration issues from economic and political perspectives and has been a leading voice on this issue.

CLARIFICATION: I should have included the 2nd half of CNN’s classification for this event because my original wording made it sound like CNN was considering it Snow’s first prime time interview…period. Which anyone who can read could tell was patently not what CNN was calling it. So I’ve included the whole phrase…

UPDATE: I’m getting email on CNN’s framing of this event that this will be Snow’s first prime time interview since becoming White House spokesman. Specifically the arguments are that 6pm ET is not “prime time” and that FNC had Snow first.

that there will be a special on Friday devoted to the Natalee Holloway case…

Former ABCer, now FNCer, Brit Hume had a few things to say about Charlie Gibson getting the World News Tonight gig and Elizabeth Vargas’ “stepping aside”…

I will say this about Elizabeth Vargas. She’s a very attractive young woman and a serious person who, my guess is, that this probably will end up being a good thing for her if she doesn’t sit in an anchor chair right away. I think it will probably be good for her to get some further grounding. She’s a very polished presence. There’s no substitute in that evening news anchor chair for experience and knowledge, as you know. And it doesn’t show every night when you simply come in and things are routine and you read your introductions off the teleprompter the way all of us who anchor do. But it shows big time when a big story breaks, or you’re anchoring at a convention or some other major news event. And that’s when audience loyalties are shifted or can shift. And with somebody like Charlie in the anchor chair with the breadth of his experience, his ease; his relationship with the correspondents I predict will be excellent, he’ll have great rapport. Charlie is remarkably non-egotistical, that will show through, the audience will like that, his colleagues will all appreciate that. This is a good thing for ABC News and a good thing for Charlie.

This is an aside, but I’ve watched Charlie Gibson at ABC for over 22 years. Back before he replaced David Hartman on Good Morning America. Back when he was a substitute anchor and frequent wise cracker on World News This Morning back when Kathleen Sullivan co-anchored the show and was a rising star at ABC until she jumped to CBS’s Morning Show with Harry Smith. Now he’s got the big chair at ABC. It’s well a well deserved move.

WHAC seems to think so…

These CNN Fans have noticed the recent renovations taking place in the Atlanta newsroom. As you can tell by the pic, a blue screen/wall, whatever, has been erected. I noticed it also Saturday afternoon. Can we expect a new Atlanta newsroom set soon?

USA Today’s Jocelyn McClurg has a review of Cooper’s book…

The most powerful parts of Dispatches from the Edge: A Memoir of War, Disasters and Survival deal with these two deaths and their impact on the future CNN anchorman. Passages about his father’s premature death at 50 and the guilt Anderson experienced over his brother’s suicide pack a visceral punch, even if Cooper sometimes seems at a loss to understand what he’s feeling — or not feeling. “For years I tried to swaddle the pain, encase the feelings,” he writes. “All I managed to do was deaden myself to feelings, detach myself from life. That only works for so long.”

Mea Culpa: Ok it wasn’t an interview as I originally posted. It was a book review as TVNewser correctly noted. Hey it was morning and I was still waking up and…and..the drugs hadn’t kicked in yet…and the dog ate my homework…

Entertainment Weekly’s Dave Karger has an interview with Anderson Cooper. This is the first but get ready for a lot more as he promotes his book. And he’s on Oprah today (I wonder if they’re still doing that “People influenced by Anderson” thing that got so much bad PR on the internet?)

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How did you manage to write this book at the same time as doing your nightly show?

ANDERSON COOPER: Logistically, it was kind of a nightmare. I would write from about 9 a.m. until about 1 in the afternoon, with a few interruptions to do conference calls and help on the show. Then I’d go into work around 1, work all day until midnight, and then I’d go home and write from 12:30 until about 2:30 a.m. So every waking moment I was working. I’ve been trying to catch back up on the sleep.