HO
"Deborah Turness To Become NBC News President: Report"
- HuffPo
Well based on what Deborah's done to ITV News, NBC's last remaining profitable entity is about to go down hill. What would Jack Donaghy make of this?!
"In Blow to NBC News, ‘Rock Center’ Is Canceled" - NYT
Long time coming, given it's poor ratings and five scheduling changes in its 20 month history. I wonder what will happen to those correspondents specifically attached to the programme? While I can't imagine NBC would want to lose Harry Smith, I'm guessing it could be hard to find him a new position that fits with what must be a pretty large salary. Meredith Vieira and Kate Snow are probably OK though, considering the former has a pilot with NBC for a new daytime talkshow and is still important to the TODAY show 'family', and the latter appears elsewhere and is one of the main fill-ins on Nightly. The bigger question, I suspect, is how long Brian will want to keep doing just Nightly News. If you ever see him on a Daily Show/Letterman-type programme, he's a very funny man.
' Top of the Morning ' by Brian Stelter - Brian Stelter
The New York Times' media correspondent Brian Stelter - who is pretty well known for accurate, well-sourced reporting there - finally saw his book printed a couple of weeks back. It's mostly industry gossip - onscreen and offscreen personnel, ratings etc. - but is quite an interesting read. It's a pretty easy read, will have quite a bit people who have otherwise been following Curry's departure, GMA's growth, Morning Joe's existence and the idea to put Charlie Rose on at 7am every morning will already know, but there's plenty of new and more detailed reporting here. A few pointers:
The plan to move Ann Curry off Today (which some executives had tried as early as 2003) was created by then-executive producer Jim Bell under 'Operation Bambi'. Also producers in the gallery superimposed a picture of Big Bird next to Ann, who was wearing a yellow dress that morning, and asked staffers to vote on "who wore it best?". Nice bunch.
Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough were all set to go to CBS in 2011, with then-NBC News president Steve Capus seemingly pleased at the idea they'd be out the NBC door. Steve Burke - NBCU CEO - had to call Scarborough up and ask why on Earth NBC were approving this exit, claiming Burke and "all his friends" watch Mo'Jo every morning. That's when CBS went with Charlie Rose and Gayle King instead.
Robin Roberts and/or George Stephanopoulos were expected to be on their way out by many GMA staffers only a year or so before finally breaking Today's winning streak. The people the staffers expected would replace Roberts and Stephanopoulos - Lara Spencer or Amy Robach, and maybe Josh Elliot - all ended up at GMA in other roles. Oh, and Katie Couric's week on GMA last year apparently ticked Roberts and her contractual fill-in, Elizabeth Vargas, off. And then Today shot Ann Curry with an arrow and Robin Roberts got cancer and suddenly it would be treachery to even fathom mornings without Robin and George. For now, at least.
It's not the best book ever written - or that Brian Stelter will likely ever write - and at points feels slightly more book club gossipy than factual analysis of the changing trends of morning television news/broadcasting, but it's still a good book - especially if you're into the former as much as the latter, which I clearly am. On Amazon.co.uk. Liz Lemon would like it.
[Here's a good tie-in feature by Stelter for NYT, and this was an unrelated feature on the same topic in the New Yorker a few weeks ago. And here's a link to Stelter's book.]
Well based on what Deborah's done to ITV News, NBC's last remaining profitable entity is about to go down hill. What would Jack Donaghy make of this?!
"In Blow to NBC News, ‘Rock Center’ Is Canceled" - NYT
Long time coming, given it's poor ratings and five scheduling changes in its 20 month history. I wonder what will happen to those correspondents specifically attached to the programme? While I can't imagine NBC would want to lose Harry Smith, I'm guessing it could be hard to find him a new position that fits with what must be a pretty large salary. Meredith Vieira and Kate Snow are probably OK though, considering the former has a pilot with NBC for a new daytime talkshow and is still important to the TODAY show 'family', and the latter appears elsewhere and is one of the main fill-ins on Nightly. The bigger question, I suspect, is how long Brian will want to keep doing just Nightly News. If you ever see him on a Daily Show/Letterman-type programme, he's a very funny man.
' Top of the Morning ' by Brian Stelter - Brian Stelter
The New York Times' media correspondent Brian Stelter - who is pretty well known for accurate, well-sourced reporting there - finally saw his book printed a couple of weeks back. It's mostly industry gossip - onscreen and offscreen personnel, ratings etc. - but is quite an interesting read. It's a pretty easy read, will have quite a bit people who have otherwise been following Curry's departure, GMA's growth, Morning Joe's existence and the idea to put Charlie Rose on at 7am every morning will already know, but there's plenty of new and more detailed reporting here. A few pointers:
The plan to move Ann Curry off Today (which some executives had tried as early as 2003) was created by then-executive producer Jim Bell under 'Operation Bambi'. Also producers in the gallery superimposed a picture of Big Bird next to Ann, who was wearing a yellow dress that morning, and asked staffers to vote on "who wore it best?". Nice bunch.
Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough were all set to go to CBS in 2011, with then-NBC News president Steve Capus seemingly pleased at the idea they'd be out the NBC door. Steve Burke - NBCU CEO - had to call Scarborough up and ask why on Earth NBC were approving this exit, claiming Burke and "all his friends" watch Mo'Jo every morning. That's when CBS went with Charlie Rose and Gayle King instead.
Robin Roberts and/or George Stephanopoulos were expected to be on their way out by many GMA staffers only a year or so before finally breaking Today's winning streak. The people the staffers expected would replace Roberts and Stephanopoulos - Lara Spencer or Amy Robach, and maybe Josh Elliot - all ended up at GMA in other roles. Oh, and Katie Couric's week on GMA last year apparently ticked Roberts and her contractual fill-in, Elizabeth Vargas, off. And then Today shot Ann Curry with an arrow and Robin Roberts got cancer and suddenly it would be treachery to even fathom mornings without Robin and George. For now, at least.
It's not the best book ever written - or that Brian Stelter will likely ever write - and at points feels slightly more book club gossipy than factual analysis of the changing trends of morning television news/broadcasting, but it's still a good book - especially if you're into the former as much as the latter, which I clearly am. On Amazon.co.uk. Liz Lemon would like it.
[Here's a good tie-in feature by Stelter for NYT, and this was an unrelated feature on the same topic in the New Yorker a few weeks ago. And here's a link to Stelter's book.]
Last edited by House on 11 May 2013 12:59am
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