TDS & the Diamond Jubilee

You knew The Daily Show's would have something to say about CNN's 2 hour coverage of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, and they did not disappoint. John Oliver summed it up with "They say the sun never sets on CNN's mighty news empire, remember this is the organization that owns the first Gulf War. And now look at what they've been reduced to, Piers Morgan and a cartoon butler spending two hours talking about barges. Look upon your works Ted Turner and despair."

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CNN's Coverage of the Diamond Jubilee

CNN To Provide Global, Multi-Platform Coverage of the Diamond Jubilee

Piers Morgan and Brooke Baldwin Will Host CNN’s Live Coverage

Live from London, CNN will globally televise the spectacular pageantry of the Diamond Jubilee, marking Queen Elizabeth’s 60 year reign of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. CNN’s special live coverage will be anchored by Piers Morgan and Brooke Baldwin, across CNN/U.S. and CNN International. Users can also watch the simulcast live online at CNN.com/live or on the CNN App for iPad and iPhone by authenticating through their cable, satellite or telco provider.
CNN’s live simulcast coverage begins on Sunday, June 3, from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. (ET) on location at the Tower Bridge for the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant. Hundreds of boats will sail up the River Thames, making it one of the largest flotillas ever assembled on the river.

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Piers Morgan Tonight News

Huffington Post has a few interesting articles today relating to Piers Morgan tonight. Next week PMT will have a week of guests hosts with Regis Philbin filling in on Tuesday night. Philbin's buddy David Letterman will be the guest.

There's also more trouble for Piers concerning the hacking scandal in the UK. BBC anchor Jeremy Paxman claimed in testimony today that Morgan taught him how to hack into a cell phone. HuffPo reported:

Morgan, who testified before Leveson in December, has long seen his name pop up at the fringes of the ongoing phone hacking scandal. He has vehemently denied ever having hacked a phone or having told anyone to hack a phone, and there has been no hard evidence linking him to the practice.
Still, accusations that hacking was rife during his editorship of the Daily Mirror -- or that he acquired private voicemails through hacking -- have persisted.Paxman -- who has tangled with Morgan about hacking before -- said that, at a lunch in 2002, Morgan first claimed to know the exact details of a conversation between the two (though he said it was quite possible Morgan was "imagining" when he said this), and then described how to hack a phone to him.

Piers' cheeky response on Twitter?

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Saturday Night Live Lampoons Piers Morgan Tonight

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CNN Sticks By Piers

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that not only did CNN thoroughly investigate Piers Morgan before hiring him but that they are standing by him.
An unnamed CNN source said, ""He wasn't hired to be a news anchor or correspondent; he was being hired as a personality—that dictated the standards," a person close to the network said. "He came off as a guy who had been chastened by his past and as someone who had the intelligence to grow and learn from it," this person added."
To read the article please follow the link.

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Piers on TSR

Piers Morgan talked with Wolf Blitzer on Tuesday's The Situation Room about being sucked into the hacking scandal and having his name mentioned today before Parliament.

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Me Thinks Piers Doth Protest Too Much

Mark Joyella has an interesting article posted on Mediaite about Piers Morgan's defense, via Twitter, of himself and Murdoch in the hacking scandal.

CNN’s Piers Morgan took to Twitter this afternoon, defending himself after a British member of Parliament suggested during the question of James and Rupert Murdoch that Morgan had admitted to phone hacking. “That MP just claimed I boasted in my book of using phone-hacking for a scoop,” Morgan tweeted to his 974,000 followers. “Complete nonsense. Just read the book.” Morgan’s memoir, The Insider: Private Diaries of a Scandalous Decade, discusses his time as a British tabloid editor–including working as editor of Murdoch’s now-closed News of the World–and has been singled out by a UK blogger for a reference to the ease of phone hacking. Morgan says he never described actually doing so. “I’ve never hacked a phone, told anyone to hack a phone, or published any stories based on the hacking of a phone.”


Follow the link for the full read.

NOTE: Piers will be on The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer today between 5 - 6 PM ET.

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And the Scandal Gets Even Closer to CNN.....

Image and its editorial opinion from order-order.com


From Wednesday's TVNewser:

CNN host and former Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan may be asked to appear before the inquiry investigating the hacking scandal currently engulfing U.K. media. The Guy Fawkes blog, which wrote about Morgan’s possible involvement yesterday, today posted statements from MPs suggesting that Morgan should appear to explain what he knew about hacking, either at the Mirror or elsewhere. The blog also excerpts from Morgan’s 2005 autobiography, which seems to indicate that he was at least aware of the technique used to hack into voicemails as far back as 2001.

UPDATES from Order-Order.com:

Douglas Carswell MP called for Morgan to appear before Lord Leveson’s inquiry:
“Piers Morgan needs to come and explain what he knows about the vile practice of phone hacking and if he knew it was taking place at the Mirror. No celebrity is too grand to come and answer questions.”

The State’s Business Insider says:
“It’s sounding less and less likely that CNN’s Piers Morgan is going to manage to stay free of the Murdoch phone-hacking scandal engulfing Britain…
…CNN had no comment when we reached out to them yesterday regarding the report.”

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Could Scandal Sink Piers?

From TVNewser:

A U.K. political blog alleges that phone hacking was not contained to News Corp.’s News of the World, and that News competitor The Daily Mirror also engaged in the practice. The editor of the Mirror at the time? Piers Morgan, now a primetime host on CNN.

The Guido Fawkes blog, led by libertarian blogger Paul Staines, charges that Morgan was aware that at least one scoop was obtained by hacking a celebrity’s voicemail, but decided to publish it anyway, in an effort to revive the brand of the paper’s gossip column:


The paper’s editor at the time, one Piers Morgan, was receiving flak for the fact that his 3AM Girls gossip section was dire rubbish and lacked any bite compared to Morgan’s old Bizarre column in News International’s Sun. Morgan decided to let 3AMGirl Jessica Callan break the illegally obtained story under her byline in order to try and rid the column of its banal reputation.

The parent company of The Daily Mirror responded to the then rumors a few days ago, saying “Trinity Mirror’s position is clear. Our journalists work within the criminal law and the PCC code of conduct.”

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Royal Ratings

CNN's Royal Wedding/Nielsen Fast National Data for Friday, April 29, 2011:

* CNN's coverage of the Royal Wedding (4:00a-10:00a) delivered 1.662 million total viewers and 714k P25-54, up 473% and 500% over the prior 4-Friday performance, respectively.

* CNN was top rated in both total viewers and P25-54, topping second-place FXNC by 7% among total viewers and 52% among P25-54. CNN also out-performed third-place MSNBC by 164% among total viewers and by 146% among P25-54 (4:00a-10:00a).

* This is CNN's best 4:00a-10:00a P2+ delivery since the day after the 2008 Presidential Election (November 5, 2008) and its best P25-54 delivery since news of the Japan earthquake hit last month (March 11, 2011).

* Piers Morgan's special coverage of the Royal Wedding (8:00p-10:00p) delivered 1.286 million total viewers and 397k P25-54, up 121% and 139% over prior 4-Friday performance, respectively. This represents CNN's best 8:00p-10:00p among both P2+ and P25-54 since March 20, 2011 (start of crisis in Libya).

* Anderson Cooper's Royal Wedding Special (10:00p-12:00m) delivered 940k total viewers and 331k P25-54, up 43% and 40%, respectively, over prior 4-Friday performance.
This is CNN's best 10:00p-12:00m P2+ and P25-54 delivery since April 8, 2011 (Congressional Budget Deal reached).



CNN's Cume Delivery (4:00a-10:00a):

*CNN registered a total audience cume delivery of 9.634 million, up 152% over its prior 4 Friday average, and 4.056 million P25-54, up 180% over cume delivery achieved the prior 4 Fridays.

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The Royal Wedding

Photographer: John Nowak
John Nowak (C) 2011 CABLE NEWS NETWORK. A TIME WARNER COMPANY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
We have the full review of CNN's coverage of the wedding at our sister blog All Things Anderson.
Here's an overview of the ceremony from the 7AM hour.

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Royal Wedding Details

CNN To Provide Global, Multi-Platform Coverage of the
Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton

Piers Morgan, Anderson Cooper, Richard Quest, Kiran Chetry, joined by Cat Deeley, Will Host CNN Coverage

Live from London, CNN will globally televise the biggest royal wedding event since Charles married Diana – from the ceremonial to the personal, from what is happening at Westminster Abbey to the reactions of those around the world.

On the day of the wedding, Friday, April 29, beginning at 4 a.m. ET, CNN’s special live program will be anchored by Piers Morgan, Richard Quest, Anderson Cooper, Kiran Chetry and special contributor Cat Deeley, noted British broadcaster and fashion expert, across CNN/U.S. and CNN International. CNN will live stream various angles of the day’s events on CNN.com, including views from inside the Abbey as well as the parade, via the CNN Apps for iPhone and iPod touch, iPad and Android tablet.

Leading up to the big day, Piers Morgan and Anderson Cooper will anchor their nightly programs from London. CNN will also broadcast a documentary on Catherine Middleton anchored by Soledad O’Brien, as well as weekly special reports from Richard Quest, among others.

Highlights of CNN’s Royal Wedding coverage include:
• Premiering Saturday, April 2 at 2 p.m. and 10 p.m. ET: Richard Quest will anchor four half hour specials throughout the month of April. A Royal Wedding will air Saturdays at 2 p.m. and 10 p.m. ET on CNN/U.S. and CNN International.
• Sunday, April 24 at 8 p.m., 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. ET: CNN/U.S. will premiere The Women Who Would be Queen, a look at the life of Catherine Middleton, the woman who will someday become Queen of the United Kingdom. Featured in the documentary are Jules Knight, close friend of the couple from the origins of their fairytale romance during their university days at St. Andrews, and Arthur Edwards, longtime royal photographer, who has chronicled the princes' entire lives during his 30-year career at England’s The Sun newspaper. Edwards has captured the princes’ childhoods, how they’ve coped with the tragic loss of their mother, and their transition into manhood. The documentary also explores the ways in which the future King and Queen have honored the life and legacy of Diana, Princess of Wales. CNN Presents: The Women Who Would be Queen is reported by anchor and special correspondent Soledad O’Brien. The documentary will debut on CNN International on Saturday, April 23 at 8 p.m. ET and replay on CNN/U.S. on Saturday, April 30 at 8 p.m., 11 p.m., and 2 a.m. ET.
• Monday, April 25 – Friday, April 29: Piers Morgan will broadcast his nightly show Piers Morgan Tonight at 9 p.m. ET from London with a mix of topical guests and newsmakers on both CNN/U.S. and CNN International.
• Monday, April 25 – Friday, April 29: Kiran Chetry will co-anchor American Morning 6-9 a.m. ET live from London for CNN/U.S.
• Wednesday, April 27 – Friday, April 29: Anderson Cooper will anchor Anderson Cooper 360, also live from London, at 10 p.m. ET on CNN/U.S. and CNN International.

Read more »

'A Royal Wedding' CNN Style

Preliminary details for CNN’s coverage of the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton at Westminster Abbey have been released. Anderson Cooper, Richard Quest and Piers Morgan will provide extensive coverage throughout April of the biggest royal wedding event since Charles married Diana - from the ceremonial to the personal, from the events at Westminster Abbey to the reactions of those around the world.

This will culminate in CNN’s special live seven-hour broadcast ‘A Royal Wedding’ on April 29, the day of the wedding. Richard Quest sets the scene ahead of the big day with a weekly series throughout April of observations and insights, guests and reports. Beginning on Monday April 26th, Piers Morgan’s coverage kicks off as he broadcasts his nightly show from London with a mix of topical guests and newsmakers. Anderson Cooper will anchor AC360 live from London from Wednesday April 27 through Friday April 29.

“As the tension and excitement builds in the days before the Royal Wedding, CNN intends to be a visual real-time diary of the many and varied ways that people around the world choose to mark and experience the marriage of Prince William and Catherine Middleton," said Katherine Green, Senior Vice President and General Manager for CNN International. "The wedding day itself will capture the imagination of millions of viewers and CNN guarantees its global audience a front row seat for every minute of the pomp and ceremony of the big day."

To round off coverage of what some would describe as perhaps the biggest Royal event of the past two decades a special CNN documentary hosted by Soledad O’Brien titled “The Women who would be Queen”, will air soon after the event.


Richard Quest Royal Wedding Specials are scheduled on CNNi April 3rd, 10th, 17th & 24th

Piers Morgan Tonight: Live From London April 26th, 27th & 28th

Anderson Cooper 360: Live From London April 27th & 28th

A Royal Wedding: Friday April 29th


Keep checking back for more details to be posted.

Source: Throng.com.nz

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This Week's Guests for Piers Morgan Tonight + More

Breaking: CNN's Piers Morgan interviews CNN legend Larry King... live this week

"The new 9pm" Piers Morgan will interview the former 9pmET CNN host, Larry King, later this week as part of Hollywood Week on "Piers Morgan Tonight." Says Piers: "'I can't think of many people I'd rather interview than Larry King, and I'm sure people will be fascinated by the dynamic between us, for obvious reasons.”
King hosted "Larry King Live" for more than 25 years, before stepping down last year. The live interview comes in the wake of a much talked about King interview last week on London's Radio 4.


Piers Morgan Tonight is coming to Los Angeles Oscar week and putting Hollywood’s biggest stars in the spotlight….

Tune in to CNN at 9pm EST.
Piers Morgan Tonight’s Guest Line Up for February 21-Febuary 25th.


MONDAY, FEBRUARY 21st
Rock and Roll Legend Rod Stewart

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 22nd
Playboy’s Hugh Hefner and New Fiancée Crystal Harris

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23rd
Musician Kid Rock

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24th
Legendary Actor Sharon Stone

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 25th
TBC


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Piers on Letterman

Piers Morgan was a guest on The Late Show with David Letterman recently and they spoke, among other things, about Larry King, CNN's ratings problems and Piers Morgan Tonight.

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CNN in the News

Just a few links pertaining to CNN to start your day:

Dr. Laura points the finger of blame directly at CNN concerning her 'N' word controversy on this morning's Today Show.

Mixed reviews for Piers Morgan Tonight are being reported on TVNewswer and Mediaite.

DC Fishbowl is reporting that Ed Henry is teaching an 'off the record' class at George Washington University called "Both Sides of the Podium”.

And we'll leave you with two Tweets former CNN president Jon Klein made last night about Piers Morgan Tonight.

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We're Trying....

We're trying not to buy into the hype and the endless pimping of Piers Morgan but we did feel that we would be remiss in not reminding our readers that tonight is the night he debuts, interviewing Oprah. Mediaite had an interesting column on the pre-press and on Piers' background.
If you watch tonight we'd love to hear your first impressions of the hour.

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Pier's First Week and Beyond

In addition to premiere guest Oprah Winfrey, announced at last week’s Television Critics Association in Pasadena, Piers Morgan Tonight unveils a blockbuster first week of guests featuring the biggest names in television, film, politics, and comedy. Following Ms. Winfrey on January 17 is Sirius Radio star Howard Stern, Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Comedian and Golden Globes host Ricky Gervais, and George Clooney.

Guests confirmed in following weeks include former New York City Mayor and possible Presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, Former Massachusetts Governor and Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, Kid Rock, Rod Stewart, Kim and Kourtney Kardashian, and Donald and Melania Trump.
Piers Morgan Tonight debuts January 17th at 9pm ET on CNN and is a nightly, hour-long, prime-time interview show featuring the most interesting, important, and entertaining people in the world.

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Piers on Piers

The following account of the CNN party at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in London was written by Piers Morgan and posted at Mail Online. The event was held on Saturday December 11th.


CNN threw a lavish party at the Mandarin Oriental hotel this evening to launch my new show, Piers Morgan Tonight.

Jim Walton, the worldwide president of the company, revealed in his welcome speech that the potential global audience for the show could be over 300 million people - causing audible gasps of horror from my numerous 'small pond' TV rivals in the room.

'We listened to your phone calls, we read your emails,' he said, deadpan, 'and we decided to do what you asked, and take Piers out of Britain!'

A quip that provoked quite shockingly disloyal cheers.

Read more »

Another Piers Morgan Team Member

Steve Krakauer, senior editor of Mediaite.com has been named digital producer of CNN’s “Piers Morgan Tonight,” set to debut in January 2011 it was announced today by the show’s executive producer Jonathan Wald.

“Steve has been a leading voice in the digital world, reporting on cable news, politics and pop culture. He’ll be a great addition to the CNN team and will be instrumental in driving “Piers Morgan Tonight” beyond its one hour of television and into a more active online experience,” said Wald.

Most recently, Krakauer was senior editor of Mediaite.com, the media news, opinion and rankings website where he covered media and television, conducting interviews with industry leaders, launching multimedia web shows and breaking news. He helped launch the site in July 2009, which is now ranked in Technorati's Top 10 blogs. He was previously an editor at TVNewser.com, and was part of the NBC page program. Krakauer has appeared as a guest on NBC, Fox News and MSNBC. He was named a "rising star" by the New York Times in April 2010. He graduated from Syracuse University's Newhouse School in 2006.

Krakauer can be found on Twitter at http://twitter.com/SteveKrak

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