Hi Folks, First, of all thanks for all the feedback on the Molly Shattuck Secret Millionaire interview.

They speak profoundly to what's happening in the nation today with the economy on the brink, major corporations crashing and so many people feeling such deep pain. At any rate, they certainly give lie to the idea of prime-time TV only as escapist fare -- even reality TV.

Some of them could not be published because of potential libel, and I am sorry for that, because the anger expressed in those comments matters.

The main reason for this post is to apologize for not getting the comments published sooner. I got hit by a virus Tuesday at midnight right after posting the Shattuck interview, and I am first getting back on my feet now. I have not been that sick in years.

But I should have made arrangements to have your comments posted by someone else while I was out. I know how frustrating it is to write a heartfelt comment, as many of these are, and then not see it published. I apologize and promise it won't happen again. I will have a backup plan in place.

It will take me a few days to get back in fighting shape, but I will be posting again every day soon, so please, stay tuned. I have a Top 10 list of TV news performers on the way, and maybe a Hall of Shame for those in the business who behaved badly in election coverage. I am taking nominations.

And Z on TV is going to be all over TV and inauguration. Most of it will experience that historic event through our TVs, not in person, and I am going to slice and dice every bit of it with your help.

Again thanks, and keep the comments coming.

Posted by David Zurawik at 12:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
        

“I despise the name Secret Millionaire,” Molly Shattuck says. “ I think it’s so obnoxious. But I absolutely am in love with the concept and in love with the show. I think it’s so important.”

Baltimore and the rest of the nation will finally get to see Shattuck, the former Baltimore Ravens cheerleader and wife of Constellation Energy CEO Mayo Shattuck, Wednesday night in the Fox reality series about rich people who go undercover among the disadvantaged for a week – ultimately giving $100,000 of their own money to someone whom they find deserving.

In Wednesday's episode, Shattuck and her mother, Joan, travel to a small coal-mining town in eastern Pennsylvania where they take jobs waitressing, working in a grocery store and a beauty salon. Shattuck says she was raised from “very humble beginnings” in a similarly small Pennsylvania where her mother operated a beauty salon for 40 years before selling the business in 2001.

Shattuck talked to me about the show last week in an interview that ranged from her crying at the memory of the friends she made on her “journey” during the production of the show, to her putdown of blogs like this one that carry comments from readers who are critical of her.

The most successful reality shows are those that connect with deeper tensions in the larger society. Secret Millionaire, which is drawing an audience of about 7.6 million a week, appears to be resonating with anxieties, anger, fear and hope connected to the nation’s economic meltdown.

The complicating factor in Shattuck’s case is that while she sees her involvement in the show strictly in terms of what she thinks of as philanthropy and helping others, she is married to the very kind of CEO that some Americans blame for the meltdown and the suffering felt by workers and share holders.

You can read some of their comments posted here in reaction to an earlier piece I did on Shattuck and the show. And if you think they are harsh, you should have seen those that my editors and I decided we shouldn’t publish. But the anger and frsutration that many Americaqns feel are part of the story, and part of what Secret Millionaire is consciously trying to tap into, as producer Greg Goldman acknowledged in an interview with me.

So, how did it work, once the “millionaire socialite,” as the Fox publicity materials label Shattuck, and her mother arrived in town?

“We had to hand over our cell phones and my BlackBerry,” Shattuck said. “We also had to give the producers our wallets – no money, no makeup. We found a very modest apartment and were given basically the wage of $110 – like we were at the level of welfare wages.”

The producers also gave Shattuck and her mother a car: “It was a very mature car. It wasn’t clean, and I’m clean, so we had to wipe it out.”

They had to pay for gas and food and the apartment with the $110. Their new landlord took more than half the money before he would let them move in. Finances got to the point, Shattuck said, where she fretted whether she could “afford a cup of coffee” in the morning.

But before long, she was working as a waitress as she did during her college summers in Ocean City, Shattuck said. And then, they landed work in the beauty salon. Their cover story was that they had owned a salon in the western part of the state, but they hit “hard times” and “were looking for a fresh start.”

Shattuck became choked up during the telephone interview when asked what she had learned from the experience.

“The biggest thing is that there are people who have so little yet give so much of themselves and are making such a difference in the area in which they live. There really are angels among us -- everywhere,” she said. “I met some of the most wonderful human beings, and I would never have had the opportunity if not for this show.”

When asked about the comments on the blogs, particularly those that place her involvement in the show in the context of her husband’s role in the loss of jobs and stock value at Constellation, Shattuck says, “Number one, I don’t read blogs. I mean, why? I went and did something to help other people. If someone wants to be critical about it, shame – shame, shame, shame on them. They should go and, really, go get a life. I didn’t do anything to hurt anyone. I didn’t go and do anything that is exploitative – anything to hurt my family, to hurt anyone else. I genuinely went and did this to go and help other people.”

The episode airs at 8 p.m. Wednesday on Fox (WBFF-Channel 45 in Baltimore).

Posted by David Zurawik at 10:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (35)
        

I am sure there will be folks who will be critical of David Gregory’s debut today as host of NBC’s Meet the Press. There is large portion of the public for whom new is never better. In their minds, things now lost were always better.

But from where I sit with 25 years of writing about Sunday morning public affairs television, I think Gregory and the new Meet the Press got off to a very promising start today. Most important, I think Gregory and executive producer Betsy Fischer are wisely and somewhat seamlessly shaping this venerable franchise for the new media future -- without losing any sense of its glorious past. 

First, The energy and pacing were impressive. Gregory brought intensity to the discussion worthy of the late Tim Russert. Let’s be honest, Russert’s demeanor and sense of urgency somehow made you feel that there was nothing that mattered more on the planet than what he was taking about. Of course, Gregory isn't there yet. But he was within shouting distance, and it was close enough to keep you in your seat and focused on what was being said.

Second, the choice of subject matter and use of guests were excellent. Again, this is at least as much to the credit of Fischer as it is Gregory, but Meet the Press wisely got the scandal involving Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich out of the way within the first segment, and devoted the rest of the hour to the economy.

You have to deal with the craziness and venality of Blagojevich, but the economy is the topic on which the best minds in the nation need to be focused in shows like this, and Meet the Press delivered.

The panel of five was wonderful, and it was a great mix of philosophies and style. Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, a Democrat, and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican, were engaged in battle over the proposed auto industry bailout immediately. And you could not get a better look at the two underlying philosophies of government at play in the larger debate than that provided by their words.

Eric Schmidt, the CEO of Google, offered a brilliant and upbeat assessment as to how innovation can get us out of the catastrophe the Bush administration has led us into. And while former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina argued for a solution that helps small businesses first, Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott offered the most concrete explanation I have yet seen on TV as to how consumers were dealing with the downturn in their real lives when they enter his stores.

Thios needs to said: Most of the reporters, correspondents and columnist who have been covering the economic bailout have failed to deliver much clarity or insight. As troubled as I am by the spin and lies of the Wall Street gang, I am eager to hear what some of the business world's brighter lights like Schmidt have to say. This was a better panel than any group of journalists I have seen -- and it hurts me to say that. 

Finally, some of my highest praise goes to the deft way in which Gregory and Fischer kept driving viewers to the network’s MSNBC site.

For example, while interviewing Chuck Todd, NBC's political director, about Blagojevich, Gregory cited a blog post by Todd earlier in the week that discussed an NBC survey that I had not been aware of.

The bite from the post was displayed on the screen, and I cannot imagine thousands of viewers not checking it out after the show. That’s the future of TV news, and Meet the Press gets it. 

I have been hammering NBC for letting MSNBC go so partisan with Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow while altogether losing its news compass for that cable channel. But based on what I saw this morning, it sure looks like the brass at the network made the right moves at least with Gregory and Meet the Press.

Posted by David Zurawik at 12:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (23)
        

One of the great pleasures of living in the this region of the country involves having access to three public TV stations -- Maryland Public Television (MPT), Washington's powerhouse WETA, and Howard University WHUT.

But it has sadly also become one of the great frustrations for fans of independent films, as all three have taken to keeping the best and brightest independent films off the air altogether or shown only on digital channels or at times of day and night when fewest are watching. I'm using the word "frustrations," but it feels more like an outrage given that the very mandate of public TV is to be showing such fare.

This week was a case in point with the acclaimed Independent Lens series offering Doc, a revelatory biography of post-World-War-II literary figure and founder of The Paris Review, Harold "Doc" Humes. Wednesday night, the landmark P.O.V. series offered Inheritance, the searing account of Monika Hertwig (pictured above). The film details her journey to come to terms with the legacy of having a father who was a Nazi camp commandant responsible for torture, slavery and mass murders.

Baltimore and Washington area viewers saw neither unless they could access MPT digital. Good luck with that.

I have talked to MPT and WETA several times during the last decade -- yes, decade -- about the issue, and none of their explanations have been satisfactory.

MPT is worse at preemptions, but WETA is more maddening when it tries to take credit on its Web site for carrying independent films. The facts: If they are not preempting the national airing altogether, they are airing them in outside of prime time when most viewers are available.

And here is my explanation as to why you can't find the films locally: MPT, WETA and HUT are afraid of the subject matter, which tends to be cutting edge and deal with controversial issues. But that is exactly what public television is supposed to do.

The only way to get these films carried here is to complain. One way to do that publicly is by posting a comment here. If we get enough, I will make sure the local public TV stations hear about it -- here on my blog, in the pages of the Sun and in my weekly Take on TV segments at radio station WYPR-FM.

The preemptions this week really make me mad. But the coming attractions for things area viewers WON'T see are worse: On Dec. 23, Independent Lens offers Grey Gardens: From East Hampton to Broadway. The film revisits the Maysles brothers 1975 Grey Gardens as it serves as the template for a marvelous Broadway musical. Watching a screening copy of the film last night was one of the richest and most pleasurable hours I have spent with my television all year.

But maybe I am wrong. Maybe nobody cares about seeing films that educate, challenge and provoke on public TV -- except me and Ms. Flowers. Maybe people think you should only be able to see such great documentaries if you can afford to subscribe to HBO, which has one of the finest documentary lineups in the history of television. Maybe people think it is OK for local programmers to preempt the national PBS distribution of such shows for musical fund raisers shown over and over and over again.

But if I am not wrong, post your comments on this blog, and let me know this is a situation you want to try and help change.

(Photo of Monika Hertwig, daughter of former Nazi commander, Amon Goeth. By Don Holtz.)

Posted by David Zurawik at 6:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)
        

Tuesday night on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, analyst David Gergen called Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich "the idiot."

Here's the quote: "I have a hard time pronouncing his name. I just call him the idiot," Gergen said.

Out of a veritable blizzard of words said on cable and network TV about the arrest of Blagojevich on corruption charges, that is the one bite that has stayed with me. I have been thinking about it all day and wondering if it was OK for Gergen to say it.

No matter how vile Blagojevich might seem from the indictments and the FBI transcripts, is this kind of name calling appropriate? Does it somehow go beyond civil discourse? Or, am I being too sensitive?

I think part of my problem is that Gergen, a former presidential adviser, always seems so measured, understated and careful in his choice of words. Also, Anderson Cooper 360 is the model of civil discourse for cable TV compared to his competition at 10 p.m. on MSNBC (Keith Olbermann) and Fox (Greta Van Susteren).

Here is what one the commenters at Z on TV, Paul Kellogg, wrote today: "... However, as an example of something I'd rather not see or hear is David Gergen (usually pretty good) - on AC 360 last night - saying that he can't pronounce Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's name and that he calls him the Idiot( Laughter all around). Too lighthearted for this kind of story."

What do you think?

Posted by David Zurawik at 6:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)
        

Any blog that lists one of its priorities as being an exploration of the place where TV and politics meets has to eventually get around to looking at Huckabee, the Saturday night talk show hosted by former Arkansas governor and Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee.

When the show debuted in late September, it got pushed off my dance card by the fabulous daily crush of media encounters involving the folks who were still in the race – Sarah Palin’s latest disastrous interview with a network news anchor, or Barack Obama and John McCain arguing over who best loves Joe the Plumber.

But I did catch up with Hucakabee last weekend for the bass-playing politician’s first on-the-road show with a live audience – this one from a book store in Columbia, South Carolina. And for those, who like me, delight in the crazy and profound ways that media and politics interface in this republic, Huckabee is not to be missed.

The very existence of the show raises the not insignificant question of whether or not politicians who are still very in the game getting elected should be given airtime on news channels and news programs to promulgate their partisan views -- and campaign. This extends beyond Huckabee to folks like Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr., the former Republican congressman and governor of Maryland who appears on WMAR-Channel 2 in Baltimore and WBAL-AM radio?

The good news about Huckabee is that he has a generally attractive TV presence -- likeable in a slightly-rumpled, friendly sort of way at first. I add the "at first" part, because he can get quite a nasty little edge to him when he starts tearing into someone on the commentary part of the show as he did Saturday with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

The reason for the attack was a remark the Nevada Democrat had made in jest earlier in the week at the opening of a Congressional Visitors Center. Reid joked that in the old days, in the heat of summer, "you could literally smell the tourists coming" to visit the Capitol Building.

"Those smelly tourists are the bosses!" Huckabee said with great indignation.

Huckabee's right, of course, though, I wonder if he isn't being purposefully tone deaf to Reid's intention of trying to make a friendly joke.

Look, there is plenty to criticize in Huckabee. In one sense, the entire program is essentially an infomercial for Huckabee 2012. Saturday's show was set in a bookstore, and Huckabee was shameless in promoting his book, Do the Right Thing. He told viewers how it was doing on the best-seller list, and he gave it away as prizes during the audience participation parts of the show.

Let's not even talk about the part of the show where audience members came forward and asked Huckabee such questions  as, "What's your ultimate  favorite Christmas carol?"

Instead let's focus on the legitimate and important question as to whether news channels and programs should be providing partisan politicians such a forum.

Theoretically, I am dead set against the practice. But after seeing Huckabee, I have to admit that I am not that upset with the show. Let's not forget Jesse Jackson had a show on CNN back in the day when he was a Democratic contender. And is there a cable channel or syndicator in the country who wouldn't let Sarah Palin join its lineup?

I am far more troubled by Ehrlich sitting on the news set of an ABC affiliate, as he does at WMAR, interacting with news anchors and commenting on politics and news.

Why? because he is being allowed to wrap himself and his highly partisan words in the mantle of the credibility and impartiality that such news operations are supposed to embody.

And that is especially problematic in his case, because as governor, Ehrlich showed an absolute disdain for the press and the public's right to get information from a variety of sources when he blocked access to his administration and state government to a reporter from the Sun whose coverage did not meet with Ehrlich's approval.

And I am not choosing Ehrlich at random. First, he perfectly fits the issue that Huckabee's show raises. Second, other folks have noticed.

Here is an email sent to the Sun by Dennis Rosen, a reader: "I went on the WMAR website to find an article, and notice ex-gov Robert Ehrlich has a column. I find it disturbing that a TV station basically has a political ad for him in their website.... The blurring of news, opinions, and politics in this country is frightening...."

I don't find it frightening, but it is definitely something to monitor -- to see whether the public or the candidate's ambition is being served by TV.

Posted by David Zurawik at 6:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Nothing focuses the mind of an aging performer like being back at the center of the media universe, and that was the place Jay Leno found himself yesterday with the announcement that he was going to prime time on NBC in the fall – rather than retirement.

For all the millions of words of analysis written yesterday by folks like me, Leno’s monologue last night was not only funnier than it has been in a long time, but it also offered showed a keen understanding of the potential holes in NBC’s hypothesis that talk TV with a latenight host can make it at 10 p.m.

The biggest laughs came in response to Leno’s rolling critique of the massive holes in NBC’s schedule and programming strategies (using that last word lossely.)

JAY LENO: Thank you very much. Welcome to The Tonight Show. Nice to have you. Excuse me a second. Before we get started, I wanted to tell the stagehands something. Hey, guys? Guys, leave those boxes. I'm not going anywhere. You know, we're staying.

You know, we're staying. Well, you know, it's interesting. A lot of people were shocked when they heard. Not that I was moving to prime time, but that NBC still had a prime time. We're going to be -- well, thank you. Thank you. We're going to be doing a new show in the fall. We'll start at 10 p.m. right after the last hour of The Today Show. See, the way they're gonna reschedule, it's going to be all talk.

Oh, man. Well, as you may have heard, there were rumblings that I was leaving NBC and going to ABC. Let me tell you something. Those were nothing but rumors started by a disgruntled employee: me.

Another thing, and I say this quite seriously, you know, I didn't know I was going to stay with NBC, but remembered something my parents always told me. They said, "Whatever you do in life, always try to come in fourth."

And that's really -- And that's where NBC is. We've been in fourth place for so long, by golly, we want to stay there.

I'll tell you how sneaky show business is. Do you know what CBS announced today? Did you year about this? They're moving Letterman to 9:59. I couldn't believe it. Couldn't believe it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JAY LENO: I should explain what went on today. We made a deal to stay on here at NBC. I'm very excited about that. We're going to go -- we're going to do a show at 10 o'clock. It won't be The Tonight Show. The Tonight Show will be Conan's. It will be similar. I'll be 20 pounds lighter. Kevin will have hair. It's going to be a little different, but we're going to be prime time. We've got to clean it up a little.

KEVIN EUBANKS: That sounds good. If it's going to give me hair.

JAY LENO: It will give you hair.

KEVIN EUBANKS: -- I'm there.

JAY LENO: And we thought it would be interesting. This is kind of new, uncharted territory. Nobody's done a show similar to this at 10 o'clock. I asked NBC, "Do some research." And they said, "Yeah, people would like to see something like this earlier." We're going to try it.

For the last 17 years, it's been a privilege to say, "Please stay tuned for Conan." And I'm glad I'll be able to do that again because people think, you know -- Conan is a great guy. Conan will do a wonderful job on The Tonight Show as well. And I think it will be fun to say, "Stay tuned for Conan coming up right after the news." .

Posted by David Zurawik at 5:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
        

NBC is one of the most poorly programmed networks on television, but you have to give management this: They are willing to shake things up and explode major pieces of the old TV business model like no one else in the industry.

That's what they did with the announcement today that comedian Jay Leno will host a new prime-time talk show five nights a week starting in September -- three months after he steps down as host of The Tonight Show.

His new one-hour show will air at 10 p.m., and it will be the first talk show to air five nights a week in prime time. It marks a daring shift away from scripted programming. Heck, it's a radical departure from reality TV.

Just when you thought network prime-time TV could not get cheaper, NBC found a way no one imagined. Prime-time programming hasn't been done this cheaply since the dawn of television as a mass medium in the late 1940s when polka parties from Milwaukee and bowling nights live from Rego Park Lanes in Queens were considered worthy of prime-time network real estate.

How much is NBC going to save by going to late-night talk in prime time? The best indication came from this exchange today between Erin Burnett, of cable channel CNBC, and NBC CEO Jeff Zucker, the executive who is bringing Leno to prime time:

Burnett: Joining us now...President & CEO of NBC Universal Mr. Jeff Zucker. So the numbers that I have seen are that your 10 o’clock slot, if you were to put in a scripted drama for example, was going to cost you $15 million a week. Jay Leno's show is going to cost you less than $2 million a week . Is it really lucky 13 for you - that big of a savings?

Zucker: Well I don't know that it's one-for-one like that. The point is well taken that obviously there is a cost benefit to doing this. But that really was not the real driver. The real driver of this decision was that Jay Leno was available and, he's a unique talent who decided that he wanted to continue to work. And so that was really critical to everything. If we didn't find a place for him with Conan O'Brien taking over the Tonight Show in June, a decision that we made five years ago and that we are as supportive of today as we've ever been, if we didn't find a place for Jay he would have ended up on the competition and that was something that we didn't want to see.

So we were looking for something for Jay to do. The fact is, the viewing habits of prime time viewers today are different than they've been in the past. They're looking for something different. 10 o'clock has not been that successful a time period for us in recent years. So you couple all of that with the fact that obviously there is a cost savings involved and I think it all adds up to a good decision.

But Burnett's figures are essentially correct, and that's what makes Zucker's move look so appealing to the bottom-line gang. It does cost a minimum of $15 million for five hours of scripted drama. The networks thought they were doing well when they knocked that figure down to as low as $5 million for five hours of reality TV -- and attracted younger viewers to boot.

But $2 million is pure genius in network-think these days.

Unless you are an NBC affiliate like WBAL in Baltimore that is now going to have the absolute worst lead-in to your late local news at 11 p.m. just about anywhere in network TV. And most of your revenue comes from that 11 p.m. newscast.

Will ABC rush in and try to sign someone like Jon Stewart to go against Leno at 10, as some analysts are speculating?

I don't think so. I think the industry will let NBC be the pilot fish next fall, and see how it does -- and how loudly the affiliates howl.

(Photo AP)

Posted by David Zurawik at 5:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
        

CNN anchorman Anderson Cooper is riding about as high as you can in the TV news business these days. His cable news ratings for his nightly Anderson Cooper 360 are tops in his time period for November, and he’s winning them with serious, fact-based journalism.

And then, there’s his part-time job as a correspondent for the top-rated CBS newsmagazine 60 Minutes where he’s doing first-rate newsmagazine journalism that ranges from a report on rape in the Democratic Republic of Congo, to a recent Michael Phelps profile that drew an audience of more than 18 million viewers.

Thursday at 9 on CNN, the 41-year-old newsman will be seen in yet another role as investigative reporter traveling to Cameroon, Costa Rico and Rwanda to cover stories of humans, animals and eco-systems under stress on Planet in Peril. From tracking animals suspected of carrying the kind of deadly pandemic viruses that can spread to humans, to swimming with great white sharks, the 41-year-old newsman looks to be putting himself in some peril for the reports.

In an interview with Z on TV, Cooper talked Tuesday about the Planet special, his "old school" news values, his distaste for partisanship in cable TV news and his much-dicussed swim with Phelps during the 60 Minutes piece.

Q. You just won the November ratings period in the key demographic of viewers 25 to 54 by sticking with traditional news values -- even as your competition moves further to the right and the left. Can you talk about how you see yourself and the CNN show journalistically?

A. I think there’s too much yelling on cable news, and I don’t want to add to it. These are scary times. These are dangerous times. A lot of people are hurting, and I’m not interested in adding to the cacophony of chatter on cable news.

I am interested in presenting information and looking at facts and arming viewers with the information they need to make decisions about their own lives and what’s happening in the country. And I’m not interested in taking sides and having a liberal newscast or a conservative newscast. I just think there’s too much partisanship as there is. We’re about looking at facts and holding people accountable no matter what their political persuasion.

Q. That formula seems to be working well for you and CNN these days.

A. I take the news very seriously. I don’t necessarily take myself all that seriously. But I believe in mixing it up and having a variety of topics -- and when appropriate, laughing at myself and at what’s going on. But I think in many ways I’m sort of old school. We’re interested at CNN in having a news program, in reporting and doing journalism and doing it the best we can. That’s one of the things I love about CNN: They’re still investing money in sending people out to the front lines. We did a week of shows from the Democratic Republic of the Congo on rape and the civil war there. We did a week of shows in Niger on the child malnutrition crisis. This is something no other network invests the time or resources to do, but CNN continues to do in a very challenging environment. And I’m proud to be part of it.

Q. Can you talk a little about what some viewers might see as risks you took -- going into the jungles of Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo with hunters exposed to dangerous animal-borne viruses -- and the swimming with white sharks off South Africa? Do you go looking for this kind of stuff? How do your bosses feel about it?

A. I’ve been interested in viruses for a long time. The idea that the ripple effect of a food crisis can lead to hunters going deeper into forest regions where there may be deadly viruses lurking intrigues me.

It is often just a case of me saying to CNN, "Look, I really want to go and do this." And there have been a couple of times where there have been outbreaks of obscure viruses that I was pushing to go to, and CNN was somewhat reluctant to let me go. But in this case, it fit into what we were doing, so they said okay.

On the shark thing, I had planned on diving in a cage. But when we got there, we found this guy who swims with great white sharks, and he was confident enough in my diving to take me out. I actually called back to CNN that night, and they were great. They usually leave it up to my discretion in the field as what is safe not only for myself – but I’m certainly not going to do anything that will endanger anybody else.

Q. When you call back to CNN, how far up the line do your requests to do such things go?

A. It usually goes up to Jon Klein (CNN president). He usually weighs in pretty fast. I’ve got his number on speed dial for situations like that.

Q. This is your second Planet in Peril. Can you talk about the goals for the franchise?

A. It’s something we’re very committed to doing. Often with pieces about the environment, they seem to be theoretical pieces – people talking about things that may happen many years from now. We really want on Planet in Peril to focus on what is happening now -- what you can actually see and experience now. So last year and particularly this year, we wanted to go to the front lines where things are happening, where there’s conflict over natural resources, and see the ripple effects of that conflict, which are only going to increase over the coming years.

Q. Speaking of swimming earlier, you recently received quite a bit of attention -- and some flak from bloggers like me -- about getting in the pool for a "race" with Michael Phelps during your recent 60 Minutes piece on him. What's your reaction to that kind of reaction?

A. On a celebrity profile — and I’ve done of few of them now for 60 Minutes — we usually try to come up with something that is different or something you haven’t see a celebrity do before. With someone like Michael Phelps who has been interviewed extensively and done tons of television appearances, it's difficult to come up with something new or something you haven’t seen.

It was interesting to me that so many people paid attention to me swimming against him -- which was literally in a 13 minutes piece, it was a maybe a minute. It’s interesting to me of literally all the comments, that was the thing that everyone mentioned. I was just on David Letterman last night and that was thing he mentioned as well. It was the first thing he mentioned and he actually showed the race. It’s interesting to me to do a piece and see what people comment on that way...

Posted by David Zurawik at 4:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)
        

Hi folks, I know I promised a review of Huckabee, the Fox News show starring the former GOP presidential candidate of the same name.

But I got caught up in the David Gregory/John King news this weekend, and today, well, things are a little hectic at The Sun, as some of you might guess. 

But tune back in. I have a lot to say about former governors who are on TV -- including the one named Ehrlich in Maryland. And I promise to have something up by tomorrow.

Posted by David Zurawik at 3:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Since I started this blog in September, I have been writing regularly about the way in which these hard and confusing times seem to be driving viewers back to traditional sources of fact-based journalism.

The evidence ranges from viewers turning in record numbers to CNN’s down-the-middle coverage on election night, to 60 Minutes becoming the number one show on network TV two weeks in a row with reports on the war in Iraq and interviews with President-elect Barack Obama and some of his key advisers.

As I reported yesterday, retired NBC anchorman Tom Brokaw cited that trend as he handed the baton off as host of Meet the Press to David Gregory. Comparing the troubled times of today to the societal tumult of 1968, Brokaw stressed how important shows like Meet the Press have become as viewers turn to TV for information and guidance.

He’s right, viewership for all the Sunday morning programs is up significantly year-to-year for November, with Meet the Press leading the way with an increase of more than 10 percent. But the even better news is that the networks and cable channels are responding to that viewer appetite by putting some of their best talent and more resources into the programs -- thus, re-energizing Sunday morning public affairs TV.

Beyond the arrival of Gregory at Meet the Press, John King looks poised to take over CNN’s Sunday morning showcase, Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer. That is not a reflection on Blitzer, who has done stellar work this year, but he is on-air 15 hours a week as host of Situation Room. But putting King, the star of election coverage, in that job shows how committed CNN is to its Sunday morning public affairs mission.

How could anyone who cares about the future of TV news not be encouraged at least a little bit by this weekend?

Start with the Friday afternoon conviction of O.J. Simpson – and its guarantee this time that the former football star would go to prison. But even the cable channels CNN and Fox resisted going into rolling coverage in favor of treating it as one of several stories that were being covered. (MSNBC, which seems to have utterly lost its news compass these days, did go all-O.J. initially before pulling back.)

And then, look at all the interest in the Sunday morning programs. I am not talking as much about the keen attention from the media and public as to who would become the new host of Meet the Press, though, that certainly suggested how valued that job is both by the industry and viewers.

No, I am talking about the growing audience that now totals 11.1 million viewers just for the three network shows: NBC’s Meet the Press (4.5 million), ABC’s This Week (3.5 million) and CBS’ Face the Nation (3.1) million. That is a big audience for Sunday morning – an audience that can still more than pay its way on Sunday mornings.

One final note, as much as I am willing to be labeled a Pollyanna for my conviction that good journalism can be good business, there is one large aspect of the Sunday morning public affairs issue that needs to decried: local TV’s embrace of infomercials over public affairs programs.

TV stations used to have to produce their own local public affairs programs to stay on the right side of the FCC. But once de-regulation arrived in the 1980s, many of the local stations dropped the shows in favor of infomercials – a Sunday morning blight that continues to this day.

(Above: NBC News photo of Tom Brokaw and David Gregory)

Posted by David Zurawik at 7:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

NBC made it official Sunday morning, naming David Gregory moderator of Meet the Press.

Gregory is by far the best of the NBC News in-house possibilities, and his selection over such MSNBC cable show hosts as Chris Matthews is a clear sign that management still understands the value of having a journalist rather than a partisan performer at the helm of a brand-defining news broadcast.

Equally important, Betsy Fischer, the program's longtime executive producer and the driving force behind all the preparation and research that makes the host shine so brightly, has extended her contract to stay with the show.

The succession of Tim Russert, who died in June, has been a source of great media attention. Tom Brokaw stepped in on Meet the Press and did a superb job through his last broadcast today in an interview with President-elect Barack Obama. Brokaw, whom I wrote about earlier this week, was gracious and wise in handing off the baton as he spoke about America's heightened engagement with Sunday morning public affairs shows as citizens try to make sense out of the troubled times. The retired anchorman compared the uncertainty and massive challenges of today with the tumult of national life in 1968.

"This is an incredible honor, and to have it come from you, makes it all the more special," Gregory told Brokaw at the end of the telecast.

"For 61 years, this program has played a vital role in our nation's political discourse and millions of Americans' Sunday mornings," said Steve Capus, president of NBC News. "We lost a legend this summer, and today we hand the program over to someone who has a true appreciation and respect for the Meet the Press legacy, and a keen sense of what it needs to be in the future.”

Capus continued: “David and Betsy are first-rate and I'm thrilled to have them in their roles at a key time in the program's, and the country's, history. I'd also like to thank Tom Brokaw, whose tremendous dedication has helped to lead Meet the Press through this critical transition and extraordinary election season. He did so out of honor and respect for our friend Tim Russert, and we'll always be grateful."

"I'm honored and deeply humbled as I take on this role," Gregory said in a statement from NBC "I'm filled with a great sense of purpose as I join a superb team to cover Washington and the world from a treasured platform in our country. Above all, I want to make Tim proud."

"It's an exciting next chapter in the long history of Meet the Press and I, along with the rest of the staff, am eagerly looking forward to this new era." Fischer said in the same statement.

"Tim so often said one of the most important things for a good journalist to do is be prepared -- and there is no doubt that David is prepared for this. Not only is he a huge talent, but his tremendous knowledge of Washington and his persistence for truth and accountability make him a natural fit to uphold the strong ideals of 'Meet the Press.'"

Meet the Press has been the top-rated Sunday morning public affairs show for nearly 11 consecutive years. It's the longest-running program ever on network television, premiering on NBC-TV on November 6, 1947. 

Gregory isthe tenth person ever to be a permanent host of the program.

According to NBC: Gregory will also be a regular contributor for Today and will continue to serve as a back-up anchor for the broadcast. He will also continue as a regular contributor and analyst on MSNBC, and lend his voice and reporting to all NBC News broadcasts including coverage of special events. Gregory first joined NBC News in 1995. He served as White House Correspondent during the presidency of George W. Bush, reporting extensively on the 9-11 attacks as well as the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

(Above: NBC News photo of David Gregory)

Posted by David Zurawik at 10:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
        

Z on TV will be live and well this weekend, so please tune back in.

Saturday night at 8, Fox News airs Huckabee, its new show featuring former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, and I'll be here with a review. The show debuted September, but this is the first on-the-road with a live audience version of it -- and it's the first critic's pass at Huckabee for me.

I'll also be up and running Sunday morning. Like everyone else who isn't lying about what they know or don't know, I'll be eager to see whether or not Tom Brokaw hands off the baton to David Gregory as host of Meet the Press. I'm also eager to see how the transition is handled.

Since the death of Tim Russert in June, Brokaw has handled everything that he's been involved in at NBC with such class, while so many have behaved so badly.

MSNBC host Chris Matthews tried to leverage a threatened run for the Senate into the Meet the Press job, and now he's in a position where NBC has essentially told him to go. And what about the issue of who leaked Gregory's appointment to whom. And how does the network's political director, Chuck Todd, feel about not getting the on-air post?

Talk about soap operas -- NBC's got one now.

Posted by David Zurawik at 5:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
        

Every so often the advertising world manages the perfect marriage of icon and product, and the result seems to leap off the screen.

PBS and the Baltimore-based MGH advertising firm look like they might have one of those with Jim Lehrer, the dean of American anchorpersons, sitting on the set of the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer looking serious enough to be announcing a Wall Street meltdown. But when he opens his mouth, instead of the nightly news, out comes a string of deadly-dull, knucklehead, third-rate jokes. They are the kind that make you cringe; the only thing worse than the jokes is Lehrer's delivery.

And it's a scream. The spot promotes MAKE 'EM LAUGH: The Funny Business of America, a big multi-part PBS series on the art of American comedy that premieres Jan. 14. It is hosted by Billy Crystal and narrated by Amy Sedaris.

But the genius of the spot is in using Lehrer, who has become the very embodiment of serious, sober journalism, and matching him with the bad jokes. And, let me tell you, his delivery is brilliant. It would not have worked as well as it does if Lehrer wasn't a master of his televisual image.

John Patterson, the creative director of MGH, says the agency pitched several ideas to PBS, and both the creative team and the broadcaster loved the Lehrer concept immediately.

"When we thought how do you represent PBS, Jim was the first guy who came to mind as a symbol of public television, "Patterson said. "But with any creative assignment, you have these great ideas and you think, 'well good luck getting him.' But we proposed it to PBS and they really glommed onto it. And then, they approached him and he instantly got the joke, which is half the battle."

The other half is Lehrer's performance: "We did everything in about a half hour -- everything," Patterson said. "I mean, we did tons of takes from every different angle, but he just kept nailing it time after time."

Posted by David Zurawik at 3:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
        

Earlier this week, in writing about the trend of viewers seeking fact-based information rather than partisan opinion, I focused on the victory of CNN's Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer over the competition on Fox and MSNBC. But I overlooked a couple of other major CNN wins.

CNN is now the #1 cable news network with the key demographic of viewers 25 to 54 years of age throughout the day -- breaking Fox News’ streak for the first time in seven years. 

The total day numbers in the key news demographic are: CNN 370,000 viewers, Fox News Channel 356,000 and MSNBC 291,000. 

And at 10 p.m., Anderson Cooper 360 commanded the top spot among viewers 25 to 54 years of age with 688,000 viewers -- five percent ahead of Fox News Network's On The Record with Greta Van Susteren, which was watched in November by an average audience of 656,000 viewers. Cooper also beat MSNBC with a 49 percent lead over a replay of Keith Olbermann's Countdown, which drew 462,000. (For the the full run of prime time, from 8 to 11 p.m., Fox News held its lead in the demographic.)

"We are working very hard to do a show that is fact based and news based and is about accountability," David Doss, the executive prodiucer of Anderson Cooper 360, said Thursday in phone interview. "Accountability is a key word for this program, and that doesn't mean opinion at all."

"We have found that as we have been more and more forceful, if you will, about deluging the audience with facts and data and information and real reporting, that the audience has responded," Doss continued. "There is a great thirst for 'give us the information, we can decide what to think about.' And I think that's what you're seeing with these great numbers that we're getting."

I have written before about Anderson Cooper 360 as a model for traditional journalism finding a winning formula in the world of new journalism. From its blog to its podcasts, CNN's 360 continues to outclass Greta Van Susteren's On the Record with its commitment to fact-based news over tabloid sensationalism and partisan politics.

"We view the TV show 360 as the centerpiece of a number of ways that we connect to the audience, and each one of those ways is important," Doss said. "We do a podcast every night, which is usually among the top news podcast downloads. I think, we had something like 500,000 or 600,000 downloads in September, which are the last numbers I saw.... We also have a program that airs online while commercials are showing during the TV show."

The ac360 blog has long been one of the best in the business rivaled only by that of Brian Williams and the NBC Nightly News. Cooper's blog piled up 2.3 million page views in November.

"The blog is really now a show page, if you will, a destination," Doss said. "It's now ac360.com., and while it obviously is part of cnn.com, it's also freestanding.... If you like what we're doing on the air, then we hope that you'll like what we're doing in two or three different place online. And they are all important now, but it's always about the facts and accountability."

Posted by David Zurawik at 5:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

The Baltimore hair salon Sprout and local stylist Rachel Epstein will be showcased Saturday on the Emmy-nominated shop-swapping reality series Split Ends.

Here's the press release for the episode that premieres at 8 p.m. Saturday on the Style network cable channel -- and it does sound like it might be fun.

In this episode, local resident Rachel, the tattooed, eco-friendly, health-conscious eater­ will leave her organic Baltimore salon, Sprouts, and land in the processed-food, vending machine hosting, Advanced Salon in the small town of Mabank, Texas. Rachel will have the world on her shoulders trying to bring awareness to these soda pop-drinking, Southern-fried chicken-eating ladies.

Can she convince them to leave their deep fryers for soymilk and tofu? Will natural oils and ingredients prevail over tin foil and ammonia? Or will they toss her wholesome mantra right out the window?

Fast food eating April, from Advanced Salon, will face off against the health-conscious crew at Sprouts salon in Baltimore. Could she be empowered to implement her own healthy changes back home in Mabank? Or will she find everyone a little too quirky and weird to make an impact? 

Do you think they are talking about the people from Hampden or Texas being "too quirky and weird?" 

(Photo of Rachel Epstein courtesy The Style Network)

Posted by David Zurawik at 4:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)
        

Two of TV’s bastions of traditional journalism, the CBS newsmagazine 60 Minutes and CNN’s three-hour daily Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, received good ratings news Tuesday. It was further evidence that in these complicated and troubled times, Americans are turning to sources of trusted, reliable, fact-based information for help in making sense of their lives.

Led by correspondent Anderson Cooper’s profile of swimmer Michael Phelps, 60 Minutes continued its remarkable ratings run finishing as the third-highest ranked show on TV last week with an audience of 18.64 million people. It was the sixth time in 10 weeks that the 40-year-old Sunday night staple had finished in the Nielsen top 10. Sunday’s lineup also included an investigation of online gambling done in partnership with the Washington Post.

CNN’s The Situation Room, meanwhile, became cable’s highest-rated news program during November among the key news demographic of viewers 25 to 54 years of age from 4 to 7 p.m. each weekday. The three-hour sweep is a major victory for CNN, with its commitment to providing news coverage “down the middle” in the words of its president Jonathan Klein, over ideologically-based rivals MSNBC and Fox.

At 4 p.m., The Situation Room averaged 402,000 demo viewers. That is 20 percent ahead of Fox News’ Your World average of 336,000 and 91 percent more than MSNBC Live’s 210,000.

At 5 p.m., The Situation Room averaged 418,000 demo viewers. That is a 24 percent advantage over the 338,000 for Fox News’ Election Headquarters and 32 percent ahead of the 317,000 for MSNBC’s Hardball.

At 6 p.m., The Situation Room averaged 508,000 demo viewers, which is 4 percent ahead of the 487,000 for Fox News’ Special Report with Brit Hume, and 67 percent ahead of the 305,000 for MSNBC’s Race to the White House.

“The idea that we can be No. 1 in cable news producing the kind of journalism we produce day in and day out is unbelievably rewarding,” Sam Feist, CNN’s political director, said in a statement.

As reported here previously, November has been very good to 60 Minutes as well. It boasts the highest rated single hour of TV for the season with its interview of president-elect Barack Obama and future first Lady Michelle Obama.

Season to date, the newsmagazine has experienced audience increases across all demographics. Overall, the program is currently ranked ninth for the season -- averaging 15.97 million viewers a week.

Posted by David Zurawik at 6:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

If David Gregory is indeed named the new host of NBC's Meet the Press, as the Huffington Post has reported today, that is by far the best in-house choice the network could have made.

Gregory, as I have said before at this blog, has been at outstanding White House reporter, and he should have received bonus pay on election night for performing as both MSNBC anchorman and babysitter to a desk full of windbag cable hosts led by Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews.

But with the shift to Gregory expected to take place on Sunday, let us now also sing the praises of Tom Brokaw celebrating the masterful job he has done not just of moderating Meet the Press but leading the network news division through a time of crisis since the unexpected death of Tim Russert in June. 

When TV goes into overdrive the way it did in the wake of Russert's death, reporters and anchors often take on symbolic roles. And so it was with Brokaw, the retired NBC anchorman, assuming the role as head of mourning for the NBC News family.

Brokaw was the first on the air in the immediate aftermath of Russert's death, and he forged the template for virtually all that followed, describing his colleague as "the true child of blue-collar Buffalo - who was always in touch with that ethos. ... Tim loved his family, his faith, his country and politics."

And what a job he did as host of Meet the Press.

In terms of ratings, Brokaw actually drew a larger audience than Russert in leading the show to a 28 percent margin of victory over its nearest Sunday morning competition, ABC's This Week. Browkaw's version of Meet the Press drew 4.491 million viewers a week in November -- 974,000 more than This Week. Its lead over last place Fox News Sunday was 2.956 million viewers.

And Brokaw made news of his own on the show, with such interviews as that of former Secretary of State Colin Powell who told the retired NBC anchorman that he was endorsing Barack Obama rather than John McCain in large part because of what he saw as Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's lack of qualifications to be vice president.

Brokaw is expected to hand off the baton on Sunday's telecast, which will feature an interview with President-elect Barack Obama that all but guarantees the interim host will leave on a high note. (According to AP, the succession is not yet set. While Gregory is negotiating with the network to take the helm of Meet the Press, a contract has not yet been signed.)

Even in this era of snarky media commentary, Brokaw's performance is one thing we should be able to celebrate without qualification. We can also give some praise to NBC management for having handled Brokaw's retirement in such a way that the network has a honored anchorman emeritus. And give some kudos to current anchorman Brian Williams for graciously deferring to the man who he replaced at the NBC News anchor desk.

Tom Brokaw has been a class act, and the winner is not just NBC News with its big Sunday morning ratings. We are all winners for the high level of information and conversation he brought to the nation in a landmark election year and troubled economic time.

Posted by David Zurawik at 5:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)
        

Christmas came early for cable TV news with the official nomination of Senator Hillary Clinton for secretary of state and the return of Sarah Palin to the lower 48 to campaign for Saxby Chambliss in Georgia.

The Clinton story is the one that matters, because 24/7 cable TV news can’t seem to help but cover the Clintons as a soap opera. And given the powerful emotions – both negative and positive – that the Clintons somehow always seem to generate in coverage, you can only hope this approach and tone doesn’t spill over to or obscure what has so far largely been substantive coverage of the presidential transition.

But yesterday, for all the hugely important and complex news President-elect Barack Obama made at a news conference in which he announced his national security team, cable TV news was mostly Hillary, Hillary, Bill and Hillary, with a little bit of Sarah in Georgia all night long.

Every time, I looked up at the TV, there was a new cable TV headline with Clinton in the title. “What about Clinton factor?” the banner on MSNBC said. “What’s the Clinton agenda?” another asked on Fox’s Hannity & Colmes show. And on Fox, “agenda” is not a good word when it is used in the same sentence as “Clinton.” Greta Van Susteren all but rubbed her hands together in glee as she talked about former President Bill Clinton agreeing to release the “vast” list of names of people who have donated to his foundation.

Don’t get me wrong, there is room for debate here as to whether cable TV just goes tabloid crazy at the mention of the Clintons for its own ratings-crazed reasons, or the couple really is a walking soap opera. After all, it wasn’t Wolf Blitzer, Chris Matthews or Shepard Smith who had a sexual relationship with an intern in the White House.

Actually, as I write about that sordid episode, I am thinking soap opera doesn’t do justice to the energy with which the Hillary Clinton nomination was covered last night. In terms of the passion with which the narratives of her personal and professional lives were discussed, the tone was closer to a telenovela. But, again, the coverage was predominantly about personality (Hillary and Bill Clinton’s) and conflict (things she and Obama said about each other and how they made nice yesterday) rather than policy and the daunting challenges she now faces.

And you can only hope, the more responsible executives and producers in cable TV news will try and rein in their newsrooms' worst impulses as they move forward through the confirmation process.

As for Palin, forget about it. CNN’s headline for the story during Campbell Brown’s show was simply, “She’s back.” And it was hard to argue with mockery implied in those two words.

It is hard to not cover Palin as a bit of a cartoon character. But the press has to try to do so. It must also never forget that as comical as Palin might now seem, how willing she was to take presidential politics to a dark and dirty place of innuendo and smear that even her own presidential candidate, John McCain, ultimately felt the need to denounce.

(Above: Associated Press photo of President-elect Barack Obama with members of his new national security team, Sen. Hillary Clinton and retired Marine Gen. Jim Jones, by Pablo Martinez Monsivais.)

Posted by David Zurawik at 9:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)