PAT BUCHANAN OUT AT MSNBC

Conservative commentator Pat Buchanan has been handed his walking papers by MSNBC executives — and he is not simply cleaning out his drawers and walking away quietly. In a statement on Thursday, Buchanan blasted his former employer: “After 10 enjoyable years, I am departing, after an incessant clamor from the left that to permit me [...]

CNN TAKES RATINGS LEADING IN HOUSTON COVERAGE

Affirming CNN’s reputation as the place to go for late-breaking news, especially when that news is non-political in nature, Nielsen said on Monday that the cable news network ‘s wall-to-wall coverage of the death of Whitney Houston attracted an average of 2.17 million viewers from 8:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. on Saturday, peaking at 9:00 [...]

ABC MAY LAUNCH NEW ENGLISH-LANGUAGE NEWS CHANNEL WITH UNIVISION

ABC may be about to enter the cable news wars with Univision as its partner, the Wall Street Journal reported today (Tuesday), citing people familiar with the negotiations. While rival Fox has links to the Fox News Channel, NBC News produces content for MSNBC, and CBS has ties to CNN, ABC News has no cable [...]

FOX NEWS A BIG WINNER IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

Mitt Romney was the easy winner of the New Hampshire Republican presidential primary on Tuesday, but so, too, was Fox News. The news channel, whose viewers are largely conservative and/or Republican, averaged 2.25 million during primetime Tuesday night, peaking in the 9:00 hour, as Romney claimed victory, with 2.73 million. Somewhat surprisingly, however, those represented [...]

CNN LOSES IN IOWA

CNN, which ordinarily draws big ratings for live coverage of special events, saw its audience plunge Tuesday night for its coverage of the Iowa caucuses. According to Nielsen Research, total viewers dropped to 1.3 million — 41 percent below the 2.2 million viewers who tuned in a year ago. As it did last year, Fox [...]

NEXT GOP DEBATE: WILL TRUMP FIRE THEM ALL?

With some commentators noting that it bears a striking resemblance to The Apprentice, the next Republican presidential primary debate will be moderated by Donald Trump and air on ION Television on December 27. Many of the contenders have been courting Trump for an endorsement, and it was not clear whether the debate would wind up [...]

TV’S MAD SCRAMBLE AT MURRAY TRIAL

Delivery of the involuntary-manslaughter verdict in the Conrad Murray trial was broadcast by virtually every television network, cable news channel, and Los Angeles station on Monday, most devoting at least an hour to discussions about it and others treating it as if they were calling the play-by-play after a winning play at the World Series. [...]

AILES COULD JUMP FOX NEWS’S SHIP

Fox News chief Roger Ailes maintains that he has not made a decision yet about whether he will remain with the cable network after his contract expires in less than two years. In an interview with the Associated Press, he also left open the possibility of entertaining offers from competitors. “The bad news is, I [...]

RATINGS RISE AT CNN

CNN’s key moves in recent months — in particular, the decision to move Anderson Cooper into the 8:00 p.m. slot and replace Larry King with Piers Morgan at 9:00 pm. — appear to be paying off with significantly higher ratings, according to an examination of Nielsen ratings by the New York Times. Among adults 25-54, [...]

NAACP PRAISES MSNBC FOR ADDING SHARPTON TO LINE-UP

The NAACP has praised MSNBC for hiring the Rev. Al Sharpton as host of its 6:00 p.m. hour, to be called PoliticsNation. The civil rights organization said that the appointment represents “a positive step toward addressing the dearth of African American voices in prime-time news.” Vic Bulluck, executive director of the Hollywood Bureau of the [...]

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