Nightly News was packed with hard news last week. Here are some of the highlights:
Saturday 10/29--Nightly News didn't air because obviously college football was more important (that's NBC weasel-speak for "more profitable").
Sunday 10/30--Janet Shamlian reported the riveting breaking-news story that the price of peanut butter was about to go up. This is news? Incredibly, this is the second story that Nightly News has reported on the rising price of peanut butter (Brian Williams earnestly told us about it back on Oct. 13). Obviously, the producers' goal was to get people to panic and stock up on peanut butter so NBC sponsors like Jif, Peter Pan and Skippy (manufactured respectively by Smucker's, ConAgra and Unilever) would get a nice sales bump. And it certainly didn't hurt to give some free publicity (like plenty of gratuitous close-up shots) to brands owned by those food industry giants--all of whom advertise heavily on NBC stations. Then we saw 22 seconds of the President and Michelle Obama handing out treats on the White House lawn. The NBC News research department has obviously informed the Nightly News producers that stories featuring Michelle Obama get high ratings, so we see her on Nightly News several times a week. And Lester Holt made sure to tell us that the kids walked away with "handfuls of M&M's" because at Nightly News, every story is an opportunity to promote an NBC advertiser. The final story of the night was a ridiculous two-and-a-half minute piece about the horror TV shows filmed in Atlanta. It was just an excuse to show clips from shows like "The Walking Dead", "Teen Wolf" and "The Vampire Diaries" because the Nightly News producers love to pander to the viewers with entertainment stories. It's good for the ratings, and vampires, werewolves and zombies are especially appealing to the coveted 18-25 age group. This is what Brian and his producers think about--ratings, ratings, ratings. And of course, Lester ended the broadcast with plugs for "Rock Center" and the Cowboys-Eagles football game.
Monday 10/31--Brian introduced Harry Smith's story about the boom town of Williston, ND by saying, "Now to a story almost unheard of in this economy, a place where they are in the middle of a boom and where they are hiring." Unheard of? Not quite. Brian Shactman reported the exact same story about Williston for Nightly News on Sept. 4. So this is the second time in less than two months that we are seeing this story. But it doesn't end there. The Nightly News version of the Williston story was a condensed promo piece for that night's "Rock Center" premier, where an expanded version of the story was being featured. So it was actually being shown three times in less than two months. That's just ridiculous. Next, we saw a story about professional women who are less ambitious and as such are forgoing promotions in order to have more time to spend by themselves or with their families. That's great, but this is not a news story. Then we saw a "Making A Difference" story about NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon. Apparently, Gordon had seen a 10/24 MAD piece about a 7-year-old go-kart racer nicknamed Mini who races to raise money for pediatric cancer charities. So Gordon invited the kid to watch him race and donated money to his charity. Anne Thompson (with her usual idiotic grin) told us that, "Gordon was touched by Mini's story last week on Nightly News." Let's be clear. This is not news. This does not even resemble news. The original MAD piece did not belong on a news broadcast and the follow-up piece most certainly did not belong there either. But Brian loves NASCAR, and he gets to air whatever he wants. Naturally, the follow-up piece showed a clip of Brian introducing the original story, because there's nothing Brian likes reporting on more than himself (although he also really likes reporting on NASCAR and kids with cancer because those stories get high ratings. So here he got to report on three of his favorite subjects.). But wait--there's more. Jeff Gordon was profiled in a lengthy piece (more than four minutes) on the Feb. 18 Nightly News. So this is the second Jeff Gordon story this year. It must be great to be an FOB (Friend Of Brian) like Jeff Gordon, Jon Bon Jovi or Bono because you get featured in Nightly News stories over and over and over again. Let's recap: Two stories on the price of peanut butter. Two (actually three) stories on Williston, ND. Two stories on a seven-year-old go-kart racer. Two stories on Jeff Gordon. Nightly News is showing reruns. Of course, Brian didn't have time to mention that Palestine was admitted to UNESCO. That's kind of an important story, don't you think? But at least we know all about peanut butter, Williston, ND and Jeff Gordon. And of course we know all about the premier of "Rock Center" later that night because Brian has been hyping it relentlessly for weeks. Great job, Brian.
Tuesday 11/1--Anne Thompson--who has mastered the art of taking two-and-a-half minutes to say absolutely nothing--reported yet another story on climate change. Thompson trotted out all the usual cliches for this story that contained not a shred of new information. "The weather is going to extremes," she tells us. Really? You don't say. Thanks, Anne. In a story about the Herman Cain controversy, Lisa Myers was identified as an "NBC News Investigative Correspondent." Wait a second--for years Myers has been identified as the NBC News Senior Investigative Correspondent. What happened? Was she demoted? Inquiring minds want to know. Then Brian spent 40 seconds telling us that NASCAR owner Rick Hendrick was in a minor plane crash. How great--another NASCAR story. News? Of course not. But again--Brian loves NASCAR and he gets to report whatever he wants. Brian still didn't mention Palestine being admitted to UNESCO, but at least we know all about Rick Hendrick.
Wednesday 11/2--In her story about Herman Cain, Lisa Myers was identified as the "NBC News Senior Investigative Correspondent", so I guess her demotion was only temporary. In a story about sexual harassment in the workplace, we were shown a clip from "Mad Men". This is the seventh time in the past year that a "Mad Men" clip was featured in a Nightly News story. That's no surprise, since it's one of Brian's favorite shows. And we all know that Brian gets to do whatever he wants. The clip was credited to "Lionsgate Televison [sic]". That's right--the geniuses at Nightly News actually managed to misspell the word "television". Later, an Education Nation story about schools in Shanghai informed us that U.S. students ranked 14th in reading among all the world's students. I think that's pretty obvious from the constant misspellings on Nightly News. I'm sure the producers of Shanghai's evening newscast would never misspell "television". Brian then spent 35 seconds telling us that Filene's Basement was filing for bankruptcy, as was its parent company, Syms. I guess Brian considers that news. He also had to remind us of Syms' slogan--"An educated consumer is our best customer." Brian previously quoted the Syms slogan on 11/19/09, when he read an obituary for the company's founder, Sy Syms. Hearing an anchor read that line once is bizarre. Twice is just inexplicable. What is Brian's obsession with Syms? Maybe that's where he buys his suits. Later, Brian told us about an asteroid that's going to miss earth. Here's an idea: you don't need to tell us about the asteroids that will miss us. Just tell us about the ones that are going to hit us. And then he showed us some photos of humpback whales--the same photos he showed us on Oct. 27. This is the fifth whale story Brian has done in the past two months. I'm surprised that Brian didn't don a whaler's hat and yell, "Thar she blows!" It's shameful that Brian will pander to the audience with stories like this that are designed solely to get ratings. But of course, when it comes to ratings, Brian has no shame. Still no mention of Palestine joining UNESCO.
Thursday 11/3--GlaxoSmithKline agreed to pay a record $3 billion settlement to the U.S. government for deceptive sales and marketing practices that included manipulating research of its diabetes drug, Avandia. Brian never mentioned the story, because one of his main responsibilities as Nightly News anchor is to protect major sponsors like Glaxo from negative publicity. Meanwhile, Scott Pelley reported the story on The CBS Evening News. That's the difference between Brian Williams and Scott Pelley. Pelley has integrity. Later, Brian reported a story about the 100th anniversary of Chevy, which included plenty of vintage TV ads and shots of gleaming current models. So Brian refused to report a negative story about Glaxo, but he's happy to provide Chevy with lots of free advertising. Good old Brian--always looking out for the best interests of his sponsors. What a guy. And just for good measure, he brought us another story about a whale that almost swallowed a surfer. That's the sixth Nightly News story on whales in two months. In case anyone's counting. The final story of the night was about some giant sequoia trees that fell in California. Because apparently, that's news. But the Glaxo settlement--not news. At least to Brian.
Friday 11/4--Brian told us it was Friday five times during the broadcast. Okay--we get it. It's Friday. Once would have been enough. And he told us again about the asteroid that will miss earth. Just in case we didn't hear him when he told us about it on Wednesday. And then he told us again about the sequoia trees that fell. Just in case we didn't hear him when he told us on Thursday. Here's how Brian ended the broadcast: "It was another busy week around here and while we were busy covering the big stories as always happens, a few things got by. So in the waning minutes remaining in our broadcast week as we go right down to the wire on a Friday night, tonight we look at what else we learned in this first week of November." Covering the big stories? I guess he means stories about whales, peanut butter, NASCAR, asteroids, Chevy and sequoia trees. So here are the important stories that Brian absolutely had to tell us about before the week ran out:
***Research shows that the "freshman 15" weight gain theory is a myth. The entire 30-second visual of this story was comprised of clips from "Animal House"--a movie that was released by Universal Studios, NBC's sister company. This was just a way for Brian to promote the movie, sell DVDs, and earn money for Universal.
***We were shown a photo of a dog with big ears. This was actually a story that Brian reported on Nightly News.
***The field from "Field of Dreams" was sold. "Field of Dreams" was--you guessed it--a Universal picture, so for the second time in less than a minute, Brian was using a sham story on Nightly News to promote a Universal movie.
***Brian then spent 10 seconds promoting the new JFK book written by MSNBC's Chris Matthews. Brian's third promotion in less than two minutes.
***We saw obituaries for Oscar producer Gil Cates and Tom Keith, who did sound effects for Garrison Keillor's "Prairie Home Companion" show. With all due respect, neither of these men deserved obits on a network news show.
***Brian told us that sitting around can increase your chances for getting certain types of cancer, so we shouldn't sit around, except to watch Nightly News. Really, he said that.
***Brian spent 20 seconds telling us that fingernails on a blackboard is a really grating sound. We also got to see a demonstration of this. Thanks.
***Then Brian told us that, "In a related story, we made it through the week without mentioning Kim Kardashian."
So Brian spent more time this week on Kim Kardashian than he did on Glaxo's $3 billion settlement or Palestine's admission to UNESCO. For Brian Williams, that sounds about right.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Friday, November 11, 2011
Robert Bazell Is Still A Scumbag
Has Robert Bazell ever reported a story that was not somehow intended to promote an NBC sponsor? Whenever the Nightly News producers want to use a sham "news story" to promote a medical or pharmaceutical product from Glaxo, Pfizer or Bayer, they give the job to Bazell. On May 12, 2009, he even did an entire two-minute story whose sole purpose was to extol the benefits of Cheerios, a major Nightly News advertiser. And now Bazell is branching out even further, into the realm of promoting NBC entertainment, which had heretofore been the domain of NBC news-shills like Kristen Welker, Tom Costello, Kerry Sanders and Anne Thompson. On Wednesday, Bazell started a story about a weight loss drug with a 12-second clip from NBC's "The Biggest Loser". Here's how Bazell began his story: "The popularity of the show 'The Biggest Loser' is one of the countless examples of people's desire to lose weight." So not only did Bazell shamelessly use a clip from an NBC entertainment show, he also made sure to tell us that the show was popular. And just for good measure, Bazell ended his story with another "Biggest Loser" clip. Let's be clear: Nightly News only aired this story because it presented an opportunity to plug "The Biggest Loser", a reality show that currently airs Tuesday nights on NBC. Obviously, Bazell, Brian Williams and the Nightly News producers work closely with the marketing and promotions staff at NBC entertainment (and NBC sports) to figure out ways to use Nightly News to promote NBC entertainment and sports shows (remember the 160 minutes of Olympic-related stories than Nightly News aired during the Vancouver Olympics?). Which news reports air on Nightly News is determined by the extent to which a particular report can be used to promote an NBC sports or entertainment show or an NBC sponsor. I would estimate that 70%-80% of all the stories that air on Nightly News have some sort of hidden promotional agenda. The NBC prime time schedule is currently mired in fourth place among the networks (and would be in much worse shape without Sunday Night Football). So it's hardly surprising that the NBC executives are using Nightly News in a desperate attempt to promote their prime time schedule. (There was an excellent article on NBC's prime time woes in Monday's New York Times business section. You can link to it at: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/07/business/media/nbc-struggles-for-its-footing.html?pagewanted=all.) So I guess it's no surprise that Robert Bazell is now shilling for NBC entertainment, in addition to his usual shill-work for Glaxo, Pfizer and Bayer.
On Thursday's Nightly News, the lead story was the sexual abuse scandal at Penn State University. The story was reported by Ron Mott. However, at the end of Mott's report, he was identified in a Nightly News graphic as "Ron Allen". Both Mott and Allen are African American males. I don't want to jump to any rash conclusions here, but I think we have to at least consider the possibility that some of the Nightly News producers are challenged when it comes to differentiating between African American men. Whatever the reason, it's appalling that the Nightly News producers could not correctly identify their own correspondent. This is a professional news broadcast?
Thought for the day: If you air seven stories about whales in a two-month period (as Nightly News did) then you are not a professional news broadcast. If you air seventeen stories about Will & Kate (totalling more than 30 minutes) since July 1 (as Nightly News did--a full two months after their wedding), you are not a professional news broadcast.
On Thursday's Nightly News, the lead story was the sexual abuse scandal at Penn State University. The story was reported by Ron Mott. However, at the end of Mott's report, he was identified in a Nightly News graphic as "Ron Allen". Both Mott and Allen are African American males. I don't want to jump to any rash conclusions here, but I think we have to at least consider the possibility that some of the Nightly News producers are challenged when it comes to differentiating between African American men. Whatever the reason, it's appalling that the Nightly News producers could not correctly identify their own correspondent. This is a professional news broadcast?
Thought for the day: If you air seven stories about whales in a two-month period (as Nightly News did) then you are not a professional news broadcast. If you air seventeen stories about Will & Kate (totalling more than 30 minutes) since July 1 (as Nightly News did--a full two months after their wedding), you are not a professional news broadcast.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Brian Williams Protects Glaxo. Again.
On last Thursday's CBS Evening News, Scott Pelley reported this story: "The drug company GlaxoSmithKline agreed today to pay the U.S. government a record $3 billion to settle investigations of its sales and marketing practices. Federal prosecutors had accused Glaxo of manipulating research to promote Avandia, the diabetes drug that has been linked to heart attacks. Under the settlement, Glaxo will not admit wrongdoing." Did Brian Williams report this story on Nightly News? Of course not. One of Brian's main responsibilities as Nightly News anchor is to promote NBC's sponsors and, conversely, to protect them from negative publicity. Glaxo is one of NBC's (and Nightly News's) most frequent advertisers, and Brian has a history of refusing to report bad news about them--specifically with regard to Avandia.
Of course, when the news is good for Glaxo, Brian loves to report it. On the 3/31/10 Nightly News, Robert Bazell (who frequently acts as Brian's main stand-in shill) took more than two minutes to tell us that Avodart (manufactured by Glaxo) may soon be approved to reduce the risk of prostate cancer, in addition to its currently approved use for shrinking non-cancerous enlargements of the prostate. Good news for Glaxo gets reported, bad news gets ignored.
So Brian didn't have time to report the Avandia story last Thursday. But here are a few stories he managed to report on Friday:
***Research shows that the "freshman 15" weight gain theory is a myth. The entire 30-second visual of this story was comprised of clips from "Animal House"--a movie that was released by Universal Studios, NBC's sister company. This was just a way for Brian to promote the movie, sell DVDs, and earn money for Universal.
***We were shown a photo of a dog with big ears. This was actually a story that Brian reported on Nightly News.
***The field from "Field of Dreams" was sold. "Field of Dreams" was--you guessed it--a Universal picture, so for the second time in less than a minute, Brian was using a sham story on Nightly News to promote a Universal movie.
***Brian then spent 10 seconds promoting the new JFK book written by MSNBC's Chris Matthews. Brian's third promotion in less than two minutes.
***We saw obits for Oscar producer Gil Cates and Tom Keith, who did sound effects for Garrison Keillor's "Prairie Home Companion" show. With all due respect, neither of these men deserved obits on a network news show.
***Brian told us that sitting around can increase your chances for getting certain types of cancer, so we shouldn't sit around, except to watch Nightly News. Really, he said that.
***Brian spent 20 seconds telling us that fingernails on a blackboard is a really grating sound. We also got to see a demonstration of this. Thanks.
***Then Brian told us that, "In a related story, we made it through the week without mentioning Kim Kardashian."
So Brian had time to promote two Universal movies and Chris Matthews's book, show us a dog with big ears and fingernails scraping on a blackboard, read two gratuitous obits, plug his own broadcast and mention Kim Kardashian. But he didn't have time to report Glaxo's record $3 billion settlement. For Brian Williams, that's just business as usual.
Of course, when the news is good for Glaxo, Brian loves to report it. On the 3/31/10 Nightly News, Robert Bazell (who frequently acts as Brian's main stand-in shill) took more than two minutes to tell us that Avodart (manufactured by Glaxo) may soon be approved to reduce the risk of prostate cancer, in addition to its currently approved use for shrinking non-cancerous enlargements of the prostate. Good news for Glaxo gets reported, bad news gets ignored.
So Brian didn't have time to report the Avandia story last Thursday. But here are a few stories he managed to report on Friday:
***Research shows that the "freshman 15" weight gain theory is a myth. The entire 30-second visual of this story was comprised of clips from "Animal House"--a movie that was released by Universal Studios, NBC's sister company. This was just a way for Brian to promote the movie, sell DVDs, and earn money for Universal.
***We were shown a photo of a dog with big ears. This was actually a story that Brian reported on Nightly News.
***The field from "Field of Dreams" was sold. "Field of Dreams" was--you guessed it--a Universal picture, so for the second time in less than a minute, Brian was using a sham story on Nightly News to promote a Universal movie.
***Brian then spent 10 seconds promoting the new JFK book written by MSNBC's Chris Matthews. Brian's third promotion in less than two minutes.
***We saw obits for Oscar producer Gil Cates and Tom Keith, who did sound effects for Garrison Keillor's "Prairie Home Companion" show. With all due respect, neither of these men deserved obits on a network news show.
***Brian told us that sitting around can increase your chances for getting certain types of cancer, so we shouldn't sit around, except to watch Nightly News. Really, he said that.
***Brian spent 20 seconds telling us that fingernails on a blackboard is a really grating sound. We also got to see a demonstration of this. Thanks.
***Then Brian told us that, "In a related story, we made it through the week without mentioning Kim Kardashian."
So Brian had time to promote two Universal movies and Chris Matthews's book, show us a dog with big ears and fingernails scraping on a blackboard, read two gratuitous obits, plug his own broadcast and mention Kim Kardashian. But he didn't have time to report Glaxo's record $3 billion settlement. For Brian Williams, that's just business as usual.
Some Things Brian Williams Might Not Tell You About NBC
On Monday, The New York Times ran an article titled "NBC Struggles for Its Footing" (by Bill Carter and Brian Stelter) on page one of its business section. I doubt that Brian Williams will report anything from this article anytime soon on Nightly News, since he makes it a point never to report bad news about NBC. This is fascinating stuff, so I thought it was worth reprinting:
Coming into a new television season, about the only solace for the new management regime at NBC was that the network’s prime-time fortunes had been so bad for so long, things could not get much worse.
Oh yes they could — and they have. In a year in which NBC’s new corporate owner, Comcast significantly increased the budget for fall shows, the ratings have continued to slide even as competitors have had success.
How bad are NBC’s prime-time ratings? Bad enough that most of the hours on NBC’s schedule, other than the potent “Sunday Night Football” package, have regressed in ratings this season. While every other network has generated a new hit, NBC, which needs hits the most, has not.
The already fourth-place rating in the financially crucial area of viewers ages 18 to 49 has dropped on average 11 percent, to a 2.5 (3.1 million) this year, from 2.8 (3.57 million viewers) last year. NBC has also lost more than 800,000 total viewers from last season. Several new shows never got off the ground, like “The Playboy Club” and “Free Agents,” both of which have been canceled.
It’s bad enough that without the big ratings supplied by the N.F.L. (which costs NBC more than $600 million a year to buy) NBC would be struggling to stay out of fifth place in the ratings. Without football, NBC is now tied with the Spanish-language network Univision in those 18-49 ratings.
To make the grim matters even worse, the only prime-time shows NBC previously owned that posted consistently good numbers, the comedy “The Office,” the drama “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” and the reality show “The Biggest Loser” are all down significantly this season. Not coincidentally, important cast members have left all three shows.
NBC was not the crown jewel in Comcast’s $13.75 billion purchase of NBC Universal early this year, but there were hopes inside the company and among investors that the new owners might begin to revive the once-mighty network’s moribund prime-time schedule and attract more ad dollars.
So far at least, the opposite has happened. In September, the new chief executive of NBC, Stephen B. Burke, told a media conference in California, “No network has ever been as far behind financially as NBC is,” citing prices for prime-time commercials that are consistently 20 percent less than what its competitors can charge advertisers.
Comcast’s chief executive, Brian L. Roberts, did not even mention the network on Comcast’s earnings call with investors last week. Instead he raved about the health of the NBC Universal cable channels, which drive the profitability of the division. Those cable assets increased revenues by 12 percent, to $2.1 billion.
Robert Seidman, the co-editor of TV by the Numbers, a ratings Web site, said Comcast “knew what it was buying and knew what it was getting with the broadcast network.”
But the network Comcast bought had several pillars outside of prime time — the “Today” show, “The Tonight Show” and “Nightly News” — that had weathered the storm. Lately, there have been concerns inside the network that even those stalwarts might finally be subject to fallout from prime time’s underperformance. One senior news executive, who asked not to be identified commenting on the entertainment division, said, “Prime time is painful.”
But for the moment at least, those concerns are more about shrinking leads over competitors than shrinking audiences. “Today,” which hasn’t lost a week in the ratings in almost 16 years, has maintained its audience (even adding to it slightly) this season, though the No. 2 show, ABC’s “Good Morning America” had added more viewers and closed what was once a yawning gap to just a sizable one. ABC has also inched closer in the evening news ratings, though NBC has added viewers to that top-rated program as well.
In late night, which traditionally has a closer relationship to prime-time ratings, some impact is noticeable. “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno, which enjoyed more than 15 years of dominance over CBS’s “Late Show With David Letterman” (not counting the period of upheaval when Conan O’Brien replaced Mr. Leno), has fallen behind CBS four weeks out of the first six this season in those 18-49 ratings — the first time that has happened since 1994.
Of course, Mr. Leno was infamously exiled for a time to the 10 p.m. hour where his show was pummeled — particularly by NBC’s own affiliates — for low ratings. But this year two new NBC 10 p.m. shows have fared even worse. The Monday drama “The Playboy Club” was an instant flop. A new entry on Thursday, “Prime Suspect,” has been more highly regarded and is still on the air, but last week averaged a puny 1.2 rating (about 1.5 million viewers in the 18-49 group).
NBC’s new leadership made clear internally that the rebuilding process would take time and that extreme patience would be required. One senior NBC executive, who asked not be identified discussing the network’s internal strategy, said, without disclosing specific figures, that the budget for developing new shows was significantly increased last spring, to the same levels as the other networks, after years of cutbacks. (NBC’s previous owner, General Electric, had pared budgets in preparation for selling the company.)
Mr. Burke has been stressing patience through the dismal start of this season, the senior executive said, and has told people his chief job now “is to keep everybody in the company from driving the development people crazy” in expecting some kind of quick turnaround.
One sign of the patience NBC is trying to apply was the decision to withhold from the fall the one breakthrough show it has programmed in the past five years, the singing competition “The Voice.” Some NBC executives have conceded they urged the new programming chief, Bob Greenblatt, to rush that show back on the air in September after its success in the spring and summer.
He resisted, both because the show needed more time to find suitable contestants, and because holding it back meant it could be reintroduced in February, when NBC broadcasts the Super Bowl. For the same reason NBC held back its most anticipated pilot, a drama about the making of a Broadway show called “Smash,” hoping to pair it with “The Voice” this winter.
But NBC has done little to help itself this fall — and it has been a very good fall for its competitors. Both Fox and CBS are up in the ratings this fall and ABC is flat, an unusual development in a business where erosion has become a way of life. All three of the others have also added at least one significant new hit, while NBC’s best offerings have been a modestly rated but promising comedy “Up All Night,” and the horror drama “Grimm.”
Still, program executives who have been in NBC’s position — if not quite as far down — endorse the idea that a comeback is still possible. Warren Littlefield, who was at NBC during two previous down cycles, said of the potential for a revival, “I do think it’s possible. Last year ‘The Voice’ had a significant effect on their performance each week in ratings and revenue. They just have so many holes to fill and not enough arrows in their quiver.”
Susan Lyne, now chairwoman of the Gilt Groupe, the online luxury retailer, recalled being almost exactly where NBC is now when she was president of ABC Entertainment, starting in 2002.
Ms. Lyne said NBC can’t possibly hope to revive by making wholesale changes.
“The mistake I made my first season was thinking, ‘I’ve got so many time periods that are a disaster, I need eight shows,’ ” Ms. Lyne said in a telephone interview. “And you just can’t launch that much. In our second development season we said the name of the game here is: one hit. Get something that is going to be appointment programming so you begin to get people back into the nest.”
Ms. Lyne, who was working at the time with Lloyd Braun, managed to develop three huge hits the next season, and ABC was on its way back. Her advice to NBC: Pay attention to what cable networks do.
“They launch a show, one show,” she said. She acknowledged that the challenge is made much harder because more and more people use DVRs and access shows on Hulu or Netflix or other sources.
“You find that one piece of programming and you stick with it,” Ms. Lyne said. “You make sure it’s good, that you genuinely believe in it, and you just keep running it until it finds an audience. Once you’ve got that building block, you keep adding to it.”
Coming into a new television season, about the only solace for the new management regime at NBC was that the network’s prime-time fortunes had been so bad for so long, things could not get much worse.
Oh yes they could — and they have. In a year in which NBC’s new corporate owner, Comcast significantly increased the budget for fall shows, the ratings have continued to slide even as competitors have had success.
How bad are NBC’s prime-time ratings? Bad enough that most of the hours on NBC’s schedule, other than the potent “Sunday Night Football” package, have regressed in ratings this season. While every other network has generated a new hit, NBC, which needs hits the most, has not.
The already fourth-place rating in the financially crucial area of viewers ages 18 to 49 has dropped on average 11 percent, to a 2.5 (3.1 million) this year, from 2.8 (3.57 million viewers) last year. NBC has also lost more than 800,000 total viewers from last season. Several new shows never got off the ground, like “The Playboy Club” and “Free Agents,” both of which have been canceled.
It’s bad enough that without the big ratings supplied by the N.F.L. (which costs NBC more than $600 million a year to buy) NBC would be struggling to stay out of fifth place in the ratings. Without football, NBC is now tied with the Spanish-language network Univision in those 18-49 ratings.
To make the grim matters even worse, the only prime-time shows NBC previously owned that posted consistently good numbers, the comedy “The Office,” the drama “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” and the reality show “The Biggest Loser” are all down significantly this season. Not coincidentally, important cast members have left all three shows.
NBC was not the crown jewel in Comcast’s $13.75 billion purchase of NBC Universal early this year, but there were hopes inside the company and among investors that the new owners might begin to revive the once-mighty network’s moribund prime-time schedule and attract more ad dollars.
So far at least, the opposite has happened. In September, the new chief executive of NBC, Stephen B. Burke, told a media conference in California, “No network has ever been as far behind financially as NBC is,” citing prices for prime-time commercials that are consistently 20 percent less than what its competitors can charge advertisers.
Comcast’s chief executive, Brian L. Roberts, did not even mention the network on Comcast’s earnings call with investors last week. Instead he raved about the health of the NBC Universal cable channels, which drive the profitability of the division. Those cable assets increased revenues by 12 percent, to $2.1 billion.
Robert Seidman, the co-editor of TV by the Numbers, a ratings Web site, said Comcast “knew what it was buying and knew what it was getting with the broadcast network.”
But the network Comcast bought had several pillars outside of prime time — the “Today” show, “The Tonight Show” and “Nightly News” — that had weathered the storm. Lately, there have been concerns inside the network that even those stalwarts might finally be subject to fallout from prime time’s underperformance. One senior news executive, who asked not to be identified commenting on the entertainment division, said, “Prime time is painful.”
But for the moment at least, those concerns are more about shrinking leads over competitors than shrinking audiences. “Today,” which hasn’t lost a week in the ratings in almost 16 years, has maintained its audience (even adding to it slightly) this season, though the No. 2 show, ABC’s “Good Morning America” had added more viewers and closed what was once a yawning gap to just a sizable one. ABC has also inched closer in the evening news ratings, though NBC has added viewers to that top-rated program as well.
In late night, which traditionally has a closer relationship to prime-time ratings, some impact is noticeable. “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno, which enjoyed more than 15 years of dominance over CBS’s “Late Show With David Letterman” (not counting the period of upheaval when Conan O’Brien replaced Mr. Leno), has fallen behind CBS four weeks out of the first six this season in those 18-49 ratings — the first time that has happened since 1994.
Of course, Mr. Leno was infamously exiled for a time to the 10 p.m. hour where his show was pummeled — particularly by NBC’s own affiliates — for low ratings. But this year two new NBC 10 p.m. shows have fared even worse. The Monday drama “The Playboy Club” was an instant flop. A new entry on Thursday, “Prime Suspect,” has been more highly regarded and is still on the air, but last week averaged a puny 1.2 rating (about 1.5 million viewers in the 18-49 group).
NBC’s new leadership made clear internally that the rebuilding process would take time and that extreme patience would be required. One senior NBC executive, who asked not be identified discussing the network’s internal strategy, said, without disclosing specific figures, that the budget for developing new shows was significantly increased last spring, to the same levels as the other networks, after years of cutbacks. (NBC’s previous owner, General Electric, had pared budgets in preparation for selling the company.)
Mr. Burke has been stressing patience through the dismal start of this season, the senior executive said, and has told people his chief job now “is to keep everybody in the company from driving the development people crazy” in expecting some kind of quick turnaround.
One sign of the patience NBC is trying to apply was the decision to withhold from the fall the one breakthrough show it has programmed in the past five years, the singing competition “The Voice.” Some NBC executives have conceded they urged the new programming chief, Bob Greenblatt, to rush that show back on the air in September after its success in the spring and summer.
He resisted, both because the show needed more time to find suitable contestants, and because holding it back meant it could be reintroduced in February, when NBC broadcasts the Super Bowl. For the same reason NBC held back its most anticipated pilot, a drama about the making of a Broadway show called “Smash,” hoping to pair it with “The Voice” this winter.
But NBC has done little to help itself this fall — and it has been a very good fall for its competitors. Both Fox and CBS are up in the ratings this fall and ABC is flat, an unusual development in a business where erosion has become a way of life. All three of the others have also added at least one significant new hit, while NBC’s best offerings have been a modestly rated but promising comedy “Up All Night,” and the horror drama “Grimm.”
Still, program executives who have been in NBC’s position — if not quite as far down — endorse the idea that a comeback is still possible. Warren Littlefield, who was at NBC during two previous down cycles, said of the potential for a revival, “I do think it’s possible. Last year ‘The Voice’ had a significant effect on their performance each week in ratings and revenue. They just have so many holes to fill and not enough arrows in their quiver.”
Susan Lyne, now chairwoman of the Gilt Groupe, the online luxury retailer, recalled being almost exactly where NBC is now when she was president of ABC Entertainment, starting in 2002.
Ms. Lyne said NBC can’t possibly hope to revive by making wholesale changes.
“The mistake I made my first season was thinking, ‘I’ve got so many time periods that are a disaster, I need eight shows,’ ” Ms. Lyne said in a telephone interview. “And you just can’t launch that much. In our second development season we said the name of the game here is: one hit. Get something that is going to be appointment programming so you begin to get people back into the nest.”
Ms. Lyne, who was working at the time with Lloyd Braun, managed to develop three huge hits the next season, and ABC was on its way back. Her advice to NBC: Pay attention to what cable networks do.
“They launch a show, one show,” she said. She acknowledged that the challenge is made much harder because more and more people use DVRs and access shows on Hulu or Netflix or other sources.
“You find that one piece of programming and you stick with it,” Ms. Lyne said. “You make sure it’s good, that you genuinely believe in it, and you just keep running it until it finds an audience. Once you’ve got that building block, you keep adding to it.”
NBC Nightly News Show Notes--10/22 Through 10/28
Here are some things you may have missed recently on Nightly News:
Saturday 10/22--Nightly News aired yet another story on the death of IndyCar racer Dan Wheldon. This is the fourth story (totalling more than eight minutes) they have done on Wheldon in the past week. Everyone knows how much Brian Williams likes racing (because he tells us about it constantly). So obviously Brian's overreporting of the Wheldon story (and insistence that Lester Holt also continue to report it) is just another example of Brian giving lots of air time to stuff he likes. Lester also told us that, "Another defunct satellite's hurtling toward the atmosphere...." Yeah, we know because Kate Snow told us about the satellite the night before. Do we really need to hear about it again? Unfortunately, one of the main jobs of the Nightly News anchors is to scare and alarm the viewers so they'll tune in each night for more information on the latest piece of falling space junk. The final story was a 2:20 piece about blue penguins in New Zealand who are living near an oil spill. People have been knitting sweaters for the penguins to wear so that when they preen, they won't be able to ingest any oil that's on their bodies. That's nice. But how is this news? Actually, it isn't. This is the second penguin story Nightly News has done in six weeks (the last one was on 9/4). Obviously, the NBC News research department has informed the Nightly News producers that penguins are good for ratings.
Sunday 10/23--We were treated to a 2:05 story on a shark attack in Australia--the second consecutive day Nightly News has reported this story. Apparently, hurtling satellites and shark attacks merit multiple days of coverage on Nightly News. Be afraid--be very afraid. While reporting on the Conrad Murray trial, Kristen Dahlgren told us that one witness had called another witness a "scumbag". Thanks for sharing, Kristen! The final story was a 2:30 "Making A Difference" piece about an Ohio farmer who brings pumpkins to pumpkinless kids in Paterson, NJ. Wow, he really is making a difference. This story just reinforces the fact that Nightly News is first and foremost about reporting hard news.
Monday 10/24--Brian read a 40 second obituary for Paul Leka, who had co-written the song "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye". Really? This is the most important story Brian could find to spend 40 seconds on? I find that hard to believe. But once again, when you're Brian Williams and you have your own entertainment and variety show (AKA Nightly News), you can report whatever you want. Brian then spent 45 seconds giving us a tour of the new Nightly News studio, which of course turned into a plug for "Rock Center". And finally, we were treated to a 2:30 "Making A Difference" story about a 7-year-old kid who races go-karts to raise money for kids with cancer. There is no subject Brian likes reporting on more than kids with cancer. Clearly his pals in the research department have told him that these types of stories score very high with viewers. So Brian uses kids-with-cancer stories to boost his ratings. What other reason could there be for the abundance of these stories on Nightly News? They certainly aren't newsworthy. It's just exploitation. Real nice, Brian.
Tuesday 10/25--During a story about President Obama, Kristen Welker made sure to plug the President's appearance on The Tonight Show that night. She will shamelessly plug anything (some of her past plugs have included Meet the Press, America's Got Talent and Cheerios). Brian then spent 35 seconds reporting an important story about how Necco is abandoning their attempt to use all-natural ingredients in their wafers. Good thing, because I must have missed this story when the PBS NewsHour reported it. Listen--I used to live near the Necco factory in Cambridge, MA. Every time I walked by, it smelled awesome. But that doesn't make it news, okay? After that, Brian reported a story about blue whales. I guess the blue penguin story went so well that he decided to try blue whales. This is the third whale story that Brian has reported in the past month. You know why--people like them...high ratings...blah blah blah. While reporting this story Brian told us, "(The whale) passed very close to the glass bottom boat then came back for a second pass just in case anyone missed the money shot the first time." Now, I don't know the origin of the phrase "money shot", but I do know that it is most closely associated with the porn industry. And I know that Brian knows that, too. Why is Brian intentionally using a porn term on Nightly News? Shouldn't he be saving that for "Rock Center"? Later, Brian spent 30 seconds showing us video of a wedding in Arizona that was disrupted by a dust storm. Great. The final story was about the 40th anniversary of the book "Our Bodies, Ourselves". Brian called it a book about "sex, plumbing and menopause". That doesn't seem particularly sensitive or appropriate. But then again, Brian is a guy's guy who likes to throw around terms like "money shot" on Nightly News. So I guess it's okay to say "plumbing".
Wednesday 10/26--Brian reported that from 1979-2007, the share of income for the top 1% of U.S. earners grew by 275%. He ought to know--with his 8-figure salary, he's definitely in the top 1% of earners. That's known as first-hand experience. The "Making A Difference" story this night was about a man who is running 42 miles a day to raise money for Parkinson's research. That's great. But why is this on a network newscast? Wasn't there any real news to report?
Thursday 10/27--The lead story was the health benefits of aspirin as a cancer-fighting drug. The story featured shots of only one national brand--Bayer. It also featured shots of some old-time Bayer print ads and a clip from a current Bayer TV commercial. Bayer (and their other products like Aleve, One A Day vitamins and Alka-Seltzer) is one of the biggest advertisers on Nightly News. They advertise up to four times on a broadcast. Clearly, this was just a big product placement for Bayer products. It was a way for Brian (and Robert Bazell, the professional shill who reported the story) to give a big "thank you" to the great folks at Bayer for all the ad money they've spent with Nightly News over the years. What a good friend Brian is. Then Ron Allen reported a story on Ruth Madoff and made sure to tell us that Mrs. Madoff would be appearing on The Today Show the next day. Great job, Ron. Plug, plug, plug. After that, Brian spent 30 seconds on a breaking news story about a black lab puppy who was found riding on top of a train. And another 30 seconds on a story about a humpback whale. The fourth whale story in a month! Nightly News loves those whales! Nightly News--your source for important information all the time. The final story was a "Making A Difference" piece about a company that bakes elaborate birthday cakes that go to children in crisis. That's a nice thing to do. And this story has zero news value. It does not belong on a news broadcast. But as far as Brian is concerned, kids in crisis are almost as good as kids with cancer for generating high ratings.
Friday 10/28--The final story of the night was an extremely important 2:15 report about the change in the British law of succession that would allow a first-born daughter to eventually become monarch. Obviously, this was just another excuse to show footage of Will & Kate. Because Will & Kate are good for ratings. During the July sweeps period, Nightly News showed eleven Will & Kate stories (totalling a whopping 24:02). So is it any surprise that they would air this story? Of course not. Just wait until Will & Kate visit a pediatric cancer ward. Brian will devote an entire broadcast to that.
Saturday 10/22--Nightly News aired yet another story on the death of IndyCar racer Dan Wheldon. This is the fourth story (totalling more than eight minutes) they have done on Wheldon in the past week. Everyone knows how much Brian Williams likes racing (because he tells us about it constantly). So obviously Brian's overreporting of the Wheldon story (and insistence that Lester Holt also continue to report it) is just another example of Brian giving lots of air time to stuff he likes. Lester also told us that, "Another defunct satellite's hurtling toward the atmosphere...." Yeah, we know because Kate Snow told us about the satellite the night before. Do we really need to hear about it again? Unfortunately, one of the main jobs of the Nightly News anchors is to scare and alarm the viewers so they'll tune in each night for more information on the latest piece of falling space junk. The final story was a 2:20 piece about blue penguins in New Zealand who are living near an oil spill. People have been knitting sweaters for the penguins to wear so that when they preen, they won't be able to ingest any oil that's on their bodies. That's nice. But how is this news? Actually, it isn't. This is the second penguin story Nightly News has done in six weeks (the last one was on 9/4). Obviously, the NBC News research department has informed the Nightly News producers that penguins are good for ratings.
Sunday 10/23--We were treated to a 2:05 story on a shark attack in Australia--the second consecutive day Nightly News has reported this story. Apparently, hurtling satellites and shark attacks merit multiple days of coverage on Nightly News. Be afraid--be very afraid. While reporting on the Conrad Murray trial, Kristen Dahlgren told us that one witness had called another witness a "scumbag". Thanks for sharing, Kristen! The final story was a 2:30 "Making A Difference" piece about an Ohio farmer who brings pumpkins to pumpkinless kids in Paterson, NJ. Wow, he really is making a difference. This story just reinforces the fact that Nightly News is first and foremost about reporting hard news.
Monday 10/24--Brian read a 40 second obituary for Paul Leka, who had co-written the song "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye". Really? This is the most important story Brian could find to spend 40 seconds on? I find that hard to believe. But once again, when you're Brian Williams and you have your own entertainment and variety show (AKA Nightly News), you can report whatever you want. Brian then spent 45 seconds giving us a tour of the new Nightly News studio, which of course turned into a plug for "Rock Center". And finally, we were treated to a 2:30 "Making A Difference" story about a 7-year-old kid who races go-karts to raise money for kids with cancer. There is no subject Brian likes reporting on more than kids with cancer. Clearly his pals in the research department have told him that these types of stories score very high with viewers. So Brian uses kids-with-cancer stories to boost his ratings. What other reason could there be for the abundance of these stories on Nightly News? They certainly aren't newsworthy. It's just exploitation. Real nice, Brian.
Tuesday 10/25--During a story about President Obama, Kristen Welker made sure to plug the President's appearance on The Tonight Show that night. She will shamelessly plug anything (some of her past plugs have included Meet the Press, America's Got Talent and Cheerios). Brian then spent 35 seconds reporting an important story about how Necco is abandoning their attempt to use all-natural ingredients in their wafers. Good thing, because I must have missed this story when the PBS NewsHour reported it. Listen--I used to live near the Necco factory in Cambridge, MA. Every time I walked by, it smelled awesome. But that doesn't make it news, okay? After that, Brian reported a story about blue whales. I guess the blue penguin story went so well that he decided to try blue whales. This is the third whale story that Brian has reported in the past month. You know why--people like them...high ratings...blah blah blah. While reporting this story Brian told us, "(The whale) passed very close to the glass bottom boat then came back for a second pass just in case anyone missed the money shot the first time." Now, I don't know the origin of the phrase "money shot", but I do know that it is most closely associated with the porn industry. And I know that Brian knows that, too. Why is Brian intentionally using a porn term on Nightly News? Shouldn't he be saving that for "Rock Center"? Later, Brian spent 30 seconds showing us video of a wedding in Arizona that was disrupted by a dust storm. Great. The final story was about the 40th anniversary of the book "Our Bodies, Ourselves". Brian called it a book about "sex, plumbing and menopause". That doesn't seem particularly sensitive or appropriate. But then again, Brian is a guy's guy who likes to throw around terms like "money shot" on Nightly News. So I guess it's okay to say "plumbing".
Wednesday 10/26--Brian reported that from 1979-2007, the share of income for the top 1% of U.S. earners grew by 275%. He ought to know--with his 8-figure salary, he's definitely in the top 1% of earners. That's known as first-hand experience. The "Making A Difference" story this night was about a man who is running 42 miles a day to raise money for Parkinson's research. That's great. But why is this on a network newscast? Wasn't there any real news to report?
Thursday 10/27--The lead story was the health benefits of aspirin as a cancer-fighting drug. The story featured shots of only one national brand--Bayer. It also featured shots of some old-time Bayer print ads and a clip from a current Bayer TV commercial. Bayer (and their other products like Aleve, One A Day vitamins and Alka-Seltzer) is one of the biggest advertisers on Nightly News. They advertise up to four times on a broadcast. Clearly, this was just a big product placement for Bayer products. It was a way for Brian (and Robert Bazell, the professional shill who reported the story) to give a big "thank you" to the great folks at Bayer for all the ad money they've spent with Nightly News over the years. What a good friend Brian is. Then Ron Allen reported a story on Ruth Madoff and made sure to tell us that Mrs. Madoff would be appearing on The Today Show the next day. Great job, Ron. Plug, plug, plug. After that, Brian spent 30 seconds on a breaking news story about a black lab puppy who was found riding on top of a train. And another 30 seconds on a story about a humpback whale. The fourth whale story in a month! Nightly News loves those whales! Nightly News--your source for important information all the time. The final story was a "Making A Difference" piece about a company that bakes elaborate birthday cakes that go to children in crisis. That's a nice thing to do. And this story has zero news value. It does not belong on a news broadcast. But as far as Brian is concerned, kids in crisis are almost as good as kids with cancer for generating high ratings.
Friday 10/28--The final story of the night was an extremely important 2:15 report about the change in the British law of succession that would allow a first-born daughter to eventually become monarch. Obviously, this was just another excuse to show footage of Will & Kate. Because Will & Kate are good for ratings. During the July sweeps period, Nightly News showed eleven Will & Kate stories (totalling a whopping 24:02). So is it any surprise that they would air this story? Of course not. Just wait until Will & Kate visit a pediatric cancer ward. Brian will devote an entire broadcast to that.
Anne Thompson Bamboozles Nightly News Viewers
On Monday, Nightly News aired a story about Yale quarterback Patrick Witt and the choice he has to make between attending the interview for a Rhodes Scholarship and playing in the Harvard-Yale game, both of which take place on Nov. 19. Make no mistake--the ONLY reason Nightly News aired this story is because the Versus network (owned by NBC Universal) will be televising the Harvard-Yale game. Neither Brian Williams nor Anne Thompson (who reported the story) care the slightest bit about Patrick Witt or the choice he has to make. They are just promoting an NBC property. On Monday, the Nightly News website asked viewers to weigh in on Witt's choice, and hundreds of people have already responded. What Brian Williams and Anne Thompson have actually done is tricked the Nightly News viewers into participating in a discussion about athletics vs. academics, when their real goal is to get us to watch a college football game on an NBC network. This "news story" was nothing more than a two-and-a-half minute commercial for the Harvard-Yale game on Versus. Please be vigilant. Every story that airs on Nightly News comes with some sort of hidden agenda. Every night, every viewer should be wondering exactly what it is that Brian and his producers and correspondents are promoting or selling. Because the fact is, they are always promoting something.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Nightly News Misspells The Word "Television"!
On Wednesday, a Nightly News story about sexual harassment in the workplace featured a clip from "Mad Men". This is the seventh time in the past year that Nightly News has used a "Mad Men" clip and the 90th time this year that they have used a television or movie clip as part of a news story. Was that clip really relevant to the story? Of course not. In fact, not one of these clips has ever done anything to clarify or explain a news story. They are featured solely to pander to the audience and drive up the ratings. The NBC News research department has informed Brian Williams and his producers that movie and television clips attract viewers and make them more likely to tune in to future broadcasts. And since "Mad Men" is one of Brian's favorite shows, he has obviously ordered his producers to include "Mad Men" clips on Nightly News as frequently as possible. It's just another example of how Brian Williams and NBC News President Steve Capus have turned Nightly News into the fifth hour of "The Today Show" and the first half hour of "Access Hollywood". If you pack your news broadcast with extraneous entertainment clips, people will tune in. And of course, higher ratings mean more ad dollars. It's all about money.
But here's the astonishing thing. When the Nightly News producers displayed the credit for the "Mad Men" clip on screen, they attributed it to "Lionsgate Televison [sic]". Televison! They actually misspelled "television"! NBC is in the television industry, and they misspelled the word "television"! How incredible is that? Do we need any further proof that Nightly News is a joke and that their producers are morons? It's obvious where the producers' priorities lie. Show the gratuitous clips and don't worry about spelling. Unbelievable. This is a news broadcast?
Ironically, that night's broadcast featured an Education Nation report about the school system in Shanghai. During the report, Rehema Ellis informed us that U.S. students rank 14th in the world in reading. That's hardly surprising--after all, the Nightly News producers misspell words practically every night.
But here's the astonishing thing. When the Nightly News producers displayed the credit for the "Mad Men" clip on screen, they attributed it to "Lionsgate Televison [sic]". Televison! They actually misspelled "television"! NBC is in the television industry, and they misspelled the word "television"! How incredible is that? Do we need any further proof that Nightly News is a joke and that their producers are morons? It's obvious where the producers' priorities lie. Show the gratuitous clips and don't worry about spelling. Unbelievable. This is a news broadcast?
Ironically, that night's broadcast featured an Education Nation report about the school system in Shanghai. During the report, Rehema Ellis informed us that U.S. students rank 14th in the world in reading. That's hardly surprising--after all, the Nightly News producers misspell words practically every night.
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