MONEY-LOSING FOOTBALL, OLYMPICS IFFY ON NBC

On the day that Comcast reported fourth-quarter earnings that exceeded analysts’ expectations, the company indicated that it intended to institute some serious belt-tightening at its newly acquired NBC Universal subsidiary. In a conference call, Steve Burke, the new CEO of NBC Universal, said that for now, he intends on focusing on the profitable cable channels [...]

EX-NBC CHIEF WANTED HUFFINGTON

Former NBC chief Jeff Zucker said Monday that he had tried to acquire the liberal-leaning Huffington Post and position it as an adjunct to cable network MSNBC. Speaking at Harvard’s Shorenstein Center, he noted that currently MSNBC.com does not share the “distinct point of view” of the cable channel but instead reflects the neutral position [...]

WHY DID OLBERMANN LEAVE MSNBC?

The sudden departure of Keith Olbermann from MSNBC became the subject of TV columnists and a topic of discussion on television talk shows over the weekend, even as Olbermann and MSNBC declined to respond to questions about it. In his parting statement Olbermann remarked cryptically that anyone who has “been told what I have been [...]

OLBERMANN STUNS VIEWERS, LEAVES MSNBC

In an exit announcement made all the more surprising by the fact that no reasons for it were advanced, Keith Olbermann said at the end of tonight’s (Friday) show that it would be his last on MSNBC. He did not indicate whether he had quit or had been fired but hinted at the former, saying: [...]

NETWORKS DRASTICALLY CUT BACK FOREIGN NEWS COVERAGE

With the major television networks’ news divisions shutting down many of their overseas bureaus to cut costs and ignoring significant foreign news events because of the lack of resources to cover them, the combined number of minutes devoted to international news has fallen from 4,828 in 1989 to 2,070 in 2009, according to the Tyndall [...]

CONAN’S SHOW TOO FAMILIAR? MAYBE THAT’S THE WAY IT SHOULD BE

Although the critics’ principal complaint about Conan O’Brien’s new show has been that it failed to innovate and dragged out just another tired, late-night-talk-show format, a veteran network executive has maintained that viewers demand such a format. In an interview with Reuters, Richard Wald, who served stints as president of ABC News and NBC News [...]

OLBERMANN’S SUSPENSION LASTS TWO DAYS

Keith Olbermann is not going to be fired. MSNBC President Phil Griffin said on Sunday that he will lift Olbermann’s suspension on Tuesday, adding that keeping him off the air for two days was appropriate punishment for his violating NBC News policy banning on-air personalities from contributing to partisan political campaigns without permission. Olbermann reportedly [...]

FORMER NBC REPORTER EDWIN NEWMAN DEAD AT 91

Veteran NBC newsman Edwin Newman died on August 13 in Oxford, England at the age of 91, his family disclosed Wednesday, saying that it had delayed announcing his death to allow it time for “privately grieving.” Newman was a frequent presence on NBC news programs for 32 years, from 1952 to his retirement in 1984. [...]

COMCAST CEO: CABLE IS “AN INDUSTRY PEOPLE LOVE TO HATE”

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts admitted Tuesday that his company is part of an “industry people always love to hate.” As reported by today’s (Wednesday) Los Angeles Times, Roberts, interviewed at the National Cable & Telecommunications convention in Los Angeles by former News Corp Presdent Peter Chernin, said that his father, Comcast founder Ralph Roberts, had [...]

ABC’S SAWYER CHASING NBC’S WILLIAMS IN NEWS RATINGS

ABC’s nightly newscast last week appeared to be narrowing the ratings gap between it and NBC’s for the first time since Diane Sawyer took over as anchor last year. Among the key demographic group of adults 25-54, ABC’s World News with Diane Sawyer averaged 1.89 million viewers, just 5 percent behind NBC Nightly News with [...]

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