Every weekday in 2014, I'll be keeping an eye on what's happening in the media. My focus will be on some of my favorite subjects...the moguls, the pundits, the broadcast news biz, show business, and the publishing business. (Read "$everance" if you want a crystallization of my positions on those subjects.) And, of course, I'll also keep tabs on Chicago's media.
The Moguls
~Brian Roberts is Now King of the World
The Street takes a closer look at the Comcast CEO who just bought Time Warner Cable. I've been saying the FCC can't approve this, but according to this piece, it looks like they will:
"The merger with Time Warner is likely to be approved in large part because of the growth of satellite-TV providers DirecTV (DTV) and Dish Network (DISH) which prompted the Federal Communications Commission to eliminate a 30% national cap on cable-TV subscribers."Someone should really write a book about what can happen when only a few men control the media of a country. Oh wait! Someone did. One more thing about this merger. Roberts is the one who has been leading the charge to create a tier-system on the internet. Your rates will go up. That's a guarantee. Way up. And the internet as you know it (where everyone gets the same treatment) will be dead.
Broadcast News
~NBC is Trying To Kill Matt Lauer
Not really, but this schedule he is keeping now that Bob Costas is out with the eye infection would kill me. The New York Times examines his long, demanding schedule.
Showbiz
~Jimmy Fallon Takes Over the Tonight Show on Monday
The headline of this USA Today article is: "Jimmy Fallon Is Thinking Big". The quote in the article says something different, however. "The show I'm doing now is the Tonight Show," he says in an interview in his comfortable office after taping his 968th Late Night. "We're not changing anything; the show will grow as I grow. We're just going to keep the best bits." That's the right approach. Don't try to reinvent yourself. Do what got you there.
~Why wasn't Julian at the Beatles Special?
He explained it this way to Rock Cellar magazine: "To me, the last thing I wanted to do was stand in the audience with everybody else, clapping my hands, and being filmed in front of millions while watching a Beatles karaoke session."
~SI Swimsuit Issue Cover Revealed
The girls found out live on camera. Oh my God!
The Radio Biz
~Don Imus' Daughter Writes a Book
I love the way Imus' daughter Elizabeth writes about her dad on the back cover of her book. Click on the picture to enlarge it.
~Valentine's Day on the Radio
From Inside Radio: The ways radio stations are observing Valentine’s Day today are as varied as the audiences that tune in. Giving away a bouquet of flowers or a box of chocolates may work for a soft AC but won’t cut it on an active rocker. Case in point: Cox Media Group KISS-FM, San Antonio (99.5) is giving away a free divorce
