Collected and Edited by Rick Kaempfer
Highlights and links to the big stories in the news this week about the media. This column appears twice a week at MEDIA NOTEBOOK
Broken ankle won't keep Ifill out of the debate
(TV Newser) PBS' Gwen Ifill has broken her ankle after tripping and falling down stairs at her home, a NewsHour insider tells TVNewser. We're told Ifill had been walking up a staircase, carrying research related to her moderating duties at Thursday's Vice Presidential debate in St. Louis, when she took a wrong step. The show will go on: Ifill is planning to travel to Missouri for the big event.
Will the anti-media campaign work for McCain?(New York Observer) Jason Horowitz writes: "Ever since Sarah Palin crinkled her nose and dismissed the media and “all those reporters and commentators” during her speech at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, the media strategy of John McCain’s presidential campaign has been to assault it as biased, inaccurate and elitist. It doesn’t seem to be working out so great. Not only have the refs, by and large, declined to be gamed—the coverage in The New York Times has often been harshly critical and, by Times standards, remarkably unequivocal—but the media-hating public has reacted, more or less, with indifference. After holding a brief, post-convention lead in national polls, Mr. McCain now trails Barack Obama by about five percentage points. As a matter of fact, at this point, some McCain sympathizers sound as if they’re no longer sure what to make of what the campaign is doing at all."
Letterman YouTube clip outdraws CBS clip
(Advertising Age) Sen. John McCain's snub of David Letterman last week may have deprived the "Late Show" host of some needed star power last week, but it's given him a hit on the web. So far, video of Mr. Letterman's tirade against Mr. McCain, who bowed out the day of the telecast, has generated more than 3.5 million views on YouTube. One problem: CBS is barely making a dime from the clip. That's because the vast majority of the views -- 3.2 million -- are attributed to pirated versions of the "Late Show," according to tracking firm TubeMogul.
CLICK HERE“The ‘pouncers’ are indeed out.”
(Radio-Info.com) Tom Taylor writes: "A dealmaker picks up my word for the choosy deal-pickers who are waiting to pounce on lower station prices (when arrive), and says 'I heard from two of them just today.' He also says 'The credit meltdown is changing lenders into owners' – which will ultimately be good for those coiled-and-ready pouncers, since the goal of the lender-owners is to get their money and get the heck out. Like a predator on one of those National Geographic Channel wild-animal documentaries, these pouncers are just waiting for the right conditions, and then they’ll strike. One exec at a rumored-to-be-threatened group emails T-R-I to say that the reality of the situation isn’t what the rumor-spreaders suggest. That he 'and the other numerous mid-cap broadcasters who are having discussions with their lenders' right now aren’t going to be toppled as automatically as the Rumor Mill suggests. Meanwhile, T-R-I hears that one such company recently retained bankruptcy counsel. Stay tuned."
Media companies have worst year since 2001(Advertising Age) Bradley Johnson writes: "The nation's top 100 media companies saw a 4.6% revenue boost in 2007, their slowest growth since the recession year of 2001. Media's tempered growth mirrors that of the economy: GDP last year recorded its most tepid growth (2%) since 2002 amid signs the economy was heading into recession. Media's biggest winner is no surprise: digital, with revenue up 10.8%. Cable-network growth was close behind, at 10.6%. The biggest loser: newspapers, down 6.8%."
The worst media stock? CBS
(Associated Press) The worst-performing stock among major companies in the sector was CBS Corp., which dropped 25.2 percent to $14.58, largely because its radio and TV stations and outdoor billboards are considered particularly susceptible to a weak economy. DiClemente said that among its peers, CBS is "the most vulnerable to the softer advertising trends anticipated to continue into 2009."
(Rick's note: I think I can officially kiss those stock options goodbye.)
CEOs who lose millions in minutes(Forbes) The fortune of 77-year-old media tycoon and News Corp. founder Rupert Murdoch declined $2 billion to $6.8 billion. News Corp.'s stock price fell 34% over the last 12 months despite the robustness of the Fox brand and its purchase of Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal. Murdoch lost $1,000 every 15.78 seconds, or $63.38 per second. That's about $1.5 million an hour.
CLICK HEREAnother Sarah Palin SNL moment
I thought this was even funnier
CLICK HERE
Spike O'Dell departure from WGN is now official
(Radio & Records) Mike Stern writes: "General manager Tom Langmyer confirms that Tribune talk WGN/Chicago morning host Spike O'Dell is definitely leaving the station at the end of this year. Rumors of his departure started in July with sources saying O'Dell was likely to leave at the end of his current contract."
Mini Interview: Wendy Snyder
(Chicago Radio Spotlight) Every week I'm featuring excerpts from my SHORE Magazine article about 14 local radio voices. This week: Wendy Snyder.
Chicago Radio Spotlight interview: Brian Noonan(Chicago Radio Spotlight) Last weekend I spoke with WGN radio's overnight host Brian Noonan. He talks about his career in comedy and his favorite moments at WGN. Coming this weekend (former WLS & WLUP staffer) Jack Landreth.
