John Gibson did what I expected and had a field day with the news that Keith Olbermann would moderate the AFL-CIO Presidential forum. Olbermann Watch has the audio from Gibson’s Radio Show…

MSNBC beat CNN in the Total Day and Primetime Demos. CNN’s You Tube Countdown came in 4th in Total Viewers and the Demo at 8pm. Nancy Grace beat Countdown in the Demo at 8pm and its beat 360 in the Demo at 10pm. HLN’s Robin & Co beat CNN’s American Morning in the Demo. Mad Money scratched in the Demo at 6pm and double scratched at 11pm. Conversations with Michael Eisner double scratched at 9pm.

Cable News Ratings for July 16, 2007

P2+ Total Day
FNC – 851,000 viewers
CNN – 404,000 viewers
MSNBC – 298,000 viewers
CNBC – 191,000 viewers
HLN – 241,000 viewers

P2+ Prime Time
FNC – 1,508,000 viewers
CNN – 601,000 viewers
MSNBC – 521,000 viewers
CNBC – 147,000 viewers
HLN – 489,000 viewers

25-54 Total Day
FNC – 238,000 viewers
CNN –113,000 viewers
MSNBC – 102,000 viewers
CNBC – 58,000 viewers
HLN – 100,000 viewers

25-54 Prime Time
FNC – 337,000 viewers
CNN – 151,000 viewers
MSNBC – 163,000 viewers
CNBC –a scratch with 49,000 viewers
HLN – 171,000 viewers

Morning programs P2+ (25-54)
FOX & Friends – 787,000 viewers (324,000)
American Morning – 345,000 viewers (105,000)
MSNBC Live (7-9 AM) – 215,000 viewers (54,000)
Robin & Co. –193,000 viewers (108,000)
(more…)

Variety’s Brian Lowry writes about “cable news fear tactics”…

Terrorism, by contrast, is a tactic to wreak psychological havoc against more powerful foes. And in cable’s hyperventilating reaction to every whiff of a threat — real, imagined or “gut feeling,” as Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff recently put it — the forces employing those methods were either stunningly prescient about media trends once cable news sprouted second and third heads or, more likely, stumbled into this nurturing environment.

Chertoff’s statement — blisteringly ridiculed by MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann as another of the Bush administration’s “shrill and curiously timed cries of ‘wolf’” — unleashed the dogs again, coming after botched bombings in London and Scotland. Tuesday’s release of the National Intelligence Estimate yielded yet another “breaking news” barrage, with renewed parsing of vague possibilities filling cable’s rolling “alert” strips.

Addicted to this adrenaline rush, the news channels unwittingly reward nebulous plots with the sort of overwhelming response normally reserved for Paris Hilton.

NBC Universal announced that it had formed a partnership with Alltel Wireless to bring network content to Alltel Wireless customes. This content includes MSNBC…

Alltel Wireless, America’s largest network, and NBC Universal (NBCU), one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies, today announced a partnership that will bring network content to Alltel Wireless customers. The agreement includes distribution of NBCU’s eleven video on-demand channels, mobile Web sites, ringtones, ringbacks and wallpapers. The content will be available via Alltel’s Axcess data services.

All of NBCU’s short-form video channels including NBC News, Access Hollywood, Telemundo, mun2, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Bravo, SCI FI Channel, USA Network and digital originals from dotcomedy.com will be available to Alltel Wireless customers. Full episodes of NBC’s critically acclaimed “Friday Night Lights” will also be available on demand.
(more…)

TVNewser has an emailer explaining why Fox Business Channel became Fox Business Network…

“It will be a “network” of media outlets - TV, internet and newspaper (with the News Corp. acquisition of The Wall Street Journal),” an emailer replies. “A channel is like a silo while a network reaches in several directions (love corporate speak).”

However, a FOX Business Network insider with actual knowledge of the network laughed at this “update” by an “emailer” on TVNewser and explained that the information was wildly inaccurate. The insider laughed, “This person has NO CLUE what’s behind the name and embarrassed him or herself in a huge way with this ridiculous speculation.” The real reason as explained to ICN by the FBN insider is that “the name Fox Business Channel would have been known as FBC, which is already the abbreviation for FOX Broadcasting Company….therefore Fox Business Network (FBN) was chosen as the name.”

Dan Abrams’ internal memo to staff on beating CNN two weeks running in the Sales Prime Demo…

From: Abrams, Dan
Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2007 2:32 PM
To: @MSNBC Everyone
Subject: two-week win

I just wanted to let all of you know what a tremendous start we have had to the “third quarter” of 2007. For the first two weeks of the quarter, we have beaten CNN in the key demo (25-54) during the crucial “sales prime” period of 7pm to 2am. This is a major achievement that reflects on every hour of our programming. Congratulations to everyone and let’s keep going. This is our time!

Dan

MSNBC’s release on the AFL-CIO Presidential forum. I already commented on this in the blog post below.

Keith Olbermann, host of MSNBC’s “Countdown with Keith Olbermann,” has been tapped to moderate the AFL-CIO’s Democratic Presidential Forum on August 7. The forum will telecast and stream live on MSNBC and MSNBC.com from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. (ET). More than 5,000 union members and their families from around the country will attend the forum at McCormick Place West in Chicago, to hear top Democratic candidates spell out their vision for the nation. Immediately following the forum, Keith will anchor a special edition of “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” (8:30 – 9:00 p.m. ET) from McCormick Place West.

Candidates confirmed for the event include Senator Joe Biden, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Senator Christopher Dodd, former Senator John Edwards, U.S. Representative. Dennis Kucinich, Senator Barack Obama and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson.
(more…)

The AFL-CIO Now Blog’s Mike Hall blogs that Keith Olbermann will moderate the August 7th Presidential candidates forum on MSNBC…

Olbermann, whose journalism credentials include several Emmys and an Edward R. Murrow Award for his coverage of the events and aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorists attacks, says he is “honored” for the

…opportunity to question the leading Democratic presidential candidates about the key issues of this race. This is a critical time in our nation’s history and I look forward to helping our viewers better understand where each of the candidates stand on the issues.

Gibson and O’Reilly are going to have a field day with this. And rightly so. Why is MSNBC allowing Olbermann to moderate a presidential forum it’s airing? Would CNN put Lou Dobbs in to moderate a forum? Would FNC put Bill O’Reilly in? I think the answer to both is no.

A year and a half ago MSNBC could have probably worked Olbermann in to moderate a debate without drawing too much fire. But not now. Not after Olbermann has firmly placed himself on the left side of the political spectrum with numerous Special Commnets/attacks at the Republican administration, and one aimed at the Democratic Congress for not having a spine to stand up to Bush on the Iraq War, I don’t see how anyone can watch Olbermann moderate a debate without thinking of his biases. MSNBC is taking a big risk here.

MSNBC had a good weekend. It swept CNN in the Demo for Total Day and Primetime and beat it in Total Viewers in Primetime both Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, it edged out FNC in the daytime Demo and on Sunday it tied it in primetime.

I also hear that MSNBC beat out CNN in the Sales Prime Demo for last week. This makes it the second week in a row MSNBC beat CNN the Sales Prime Demo…

Cable News Ratings July 14, 2007

P2+ Total Day
FNC – 591,000 viewers
CNN – 454,000 viewers
MSNBC – 402,000 viewers
CNBC – 194,000 viewers
HLN – 222,000 viewers

P2+ Prime Time
FNC – 767,000 viewers
CNN – 358,000 viewers
MSNBC – 392,000 viewers
CNBC – 229,000 viewers
HLN – 199,000 viewers

25-54 Total Day
FNC – 189,000 viewers
CNN – 169,000 viewers
MSNBC –196,000 viewers
CNBC – 67,000 viewers
HLN – 83,000 viewers

25-54 Prime Time
FNC – 212,000 viewers
CNN – 129,000 viewers
MSNBC – 170,000 viewers
CNBC – 82,000 viewers
HLN – 67,000 viewers

Cable News Ratings for July 15, 2007
(more…)

CNBC announced this morning that it will air “Big Mac: Inside the McDonald’s Empire, reported by Carl Quintanilla, on Wednesday, July 25th, at 9pm ET…

In an unprecedented event, CNBC cameras go behind-the-scenes at McDonald’s–the world’s largest and most successful food service business. On Wednesday, July 25th at 9PM ET, CNBC presents an original one-hour special, “Big Mac: Inside the McDonald’s Empire,” reported and hosted by CNBC’s Carl Quintanilla, co-anchor of CNBC’s “Squawk Box” (6AM-9AM ET).

CNBC travels to China, where McDonald’s has 780 stores and is aggressively moving to expand and eclipse rival Yum Brands. Roughly half of McDonald’s 30,000 stores are located outside the United States, and China may be the company’s most promising foreign market. CNBC visits McDonald’s Asian Headquarters in Hong Kong, which is the site of its Asia testing facility, the “Forbidden Kitchen.”

CNBC also profiles a single McDonald’s restaurant in the U.S., introducing its owner/franchisee, managers, and customers. Each of the 30,000 stores contributes to McDonald’s bottom line and you’ll see that running a McDonald’s business is more than just flipping burgers.
(more…)

TVWeek’s Michelle Greppi writes about Time Warner’s plans to get FBN on in NYC…

An industry insider told Blink not only does Time Warner Cable NYC wants Fox Business Network, it wants the new network so badly it will convert the FBN signal from digital to the quaint and all-but-obsolete analog format in order to lodge it on the expanded platform.

NBC Universal announced a programming initiative across its channel spectrum, including cable channels CNBC and MSNBC, which is scheduled to air the week of November 4th…

NBC Universal expands its ongoing environmental commitment with “Green is Universal” – an unprecedented, companywide weeklong programming effort. Through its worldwide programming, specials and consumer-focused events, the week will focus the entire company’s resources and efforts toward educating viewers, web & wireless users, and the company’s employees on ecological issues and our impact on the environment. NBCU’s weeklong global event takes place Sunday, November 4 thru Saturday, November 10. “Green is Universal” marks the first initiative of the newly formed NBCU Green Council chaired by Lauren Zalaznick, Bravo Media President. The announcement was made by Jeff Zucker, President and CEO, NBC Universal.

The NBCU Green Council was unveiled May 24th as part of NBCU’s “Get On Board” – a comprehensive, companywide program to improve the environmental impact of its operations by reducing greenhouse gases, raising awareness about green issues, and stimulating change in the media and entertainment industry.

“We need to not just think green, but act green,” said Zucker. “This commitment to a week of programming is an incredible opportunity for NBCU to use the collective power of its platforms – broadcast, cable, and film – and consumer expertise and reach to further the message of environmental awareness and change.”
(more…)

Media Life Magazine’s Kevin Downey writes about the upcoming launch of Fox Business Network. But inside the article Downey writes about an upcoming change in the ratings which could have a big impact…

CNBC’s daytime audience in second quarter was up 11 percent from the year-earlier period, to an average 197,000 viewers, according to an analysis of Nielsen Media Research ratings by Turner Broadcasting. The primetime audience for CNBC, which has 93 million subscribers, jumped 35 percent, to 221,000 people.

And that’s not including the rather sizable numbers, perhaps hundreds of thousands, who watch the network outside the home. They are not now measured by Nielsen but that will change in September when the ratings service begins measuring viewing in places like airports, hotels and offices, where it’s believed business networks generate the most viewers.

“This is going to boost the audience delivery of business news networks,” says Brad Adgate, senior vice president and corporate research director at Horizon Media.

The New Orleans’ Times-Picayune writes about Anderson Cooper 360 returning to New Orleans…

UPDATE: More here from The Times-Picayune’s Dave Walker…

“To me the bottom-line thing is to keep going and to keep telling the story,” Anderson told TV Columnist Dave Walker at the Television Critics Association press tour in Hollywood, where Cooper was promoting an upcoming two-part documentary he’s hosting titled “Planet in Peril” (airing Oct. 23 and 24).

“You know, as most people know, there’s not a lot of (New Orleans coverage) on TV. It’s shocking to me that more people aren’t honoring and remembering what we saw transpire, and which still transpires, not only in New Orleans but in other parts of Louisiana and all along the Gulf Coast. I try to go back every couple of weeks at least, and I still don’t feel I’m doing enough.”