Ratings At A Glance

Ratings for the week DECEMBER 8 - 12, 2008

	8PM^Adults 25-54 FOX 677,600 CNN 322,000 MSNBC 510,400 HLN 584,200
	9PM^Adults 25-54 FOX 560,000 CNN 499,000 1 MSNBC 426,400 HLN 252,800
	10PM^Adults 25-54 FOX 426,000 CNN 407,750 1 MSNBC 268,000 HLN 393,000

FOX had the highest demographic Adults 25 - 54 average ratings for the week in all three time slots (8PM, 9PM, and 10PM). But they only won their timeslot three times during the 8PM hour, three times in the 9PM hour, and one time during the 10PM hour. So what's the rest of the story?

During the 8PM hour, Headline News won the timeslot on Thursday and Friday nights. This is what landed HLN with the second highest average demo ratings for the week. MSNBC's average for the week put them in third and CNN finishes the list in fourth.

CNN had the highest demographic ratings at 9PM on Wednesday and Friday which helped them get the second highest average ratings for the week. (CNN's average only includes four nights.) MSNBC had the third highest.

The 10PM hour was won by CNN on Monday and Tuesday night. CNN comes in second during this time slot as well (with a four night average). Headline News won the timeslot on both Thursday and Friday nights which put them into third place in the demographic.

One additional note: MSNBC did not win any timeslot between 8PM and 11PM last week. The highest they reached was second and during the 10PM hour they were in fourth place four out of five nights.

On December 11, 2008, CNN aired Planet in Peril: Battlelines during the 9PM and 10PM hours. Over the average of the two hours, the program came in third in the Adults 25 - 54 demographic and fourth in total viewers.

December 4, 20089PM - 11PM

	Average Adults 25 - 54	Average Total Viewers
FOX	594,500	2,690,500
CNN	426,000	1,017,000
MSNBC	379,500	1,067,000
HLN	499,000	1,049,000

¹ 4 day average. CNN 9PM and 10PM on Thursday excluded- Planet in Peril Battlelines.

^{^} Courtesy Nielsen Media Research; Demographics where noted; Live + Same Day (LS) Fast Track Nationals.

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Out with the old...

Well, it seems like the "new year, new look" concept came early for CNN with today's debut of a new graphic design. Much less cluttered -- the network and program logos are now combined in the lower right of the image, while the lower left contains information about the report (or the reporter, as above). 

But the biggest change is... no more ticker! In a look far more similar to what is used on International, at the bottom of the screen there is now white space with black print (or vice versa) that presents a complete phrase at a time. On some programs, there is also a clock there as well.

I've never been a huge fan of the ticker, so I like the new look. I do think they can speed up the timing of the info on that line -- American viewers are accustomed to reading closed captioning and absorb the writing much more quickly than these are displaying. (If you've ever wondered -- and I'm quite sure you have not -- there are studies done periodically to get an idea of how fast those captions can display and be understood by the viewers.)

Oh, and it looks great on HD, too.

Here's a clip from this morning -- Michael Ware on yesterday's shoe-throwing incident:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Here are some other recent International clips from Michael on various issues...

BackStory from 12/11 -- the suicide bombing in Kirkuk:

World News on 12/13 -- SecDef Gates visits Iraq:

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Jeffrey Toobin at ISU

Sanjay Gupta and Lucy Lui (UNICEF Ambassador) were recently seen on the red carpet at the the UNICEF Snowflake Ball in New York. Gupta presented her with the Danny Kaye Humanitarian Award at the annual event organized to raise funds for the delivery of essential, life saving services that benefit the world's children. (Photo credit: AP)

Late last month, the following article appeared on the Tribune Star's website about Jeffrey Toobin speaking at Indiana State University.

There may not have been a touch-screen electoral map or hologram people, but a CNN analyst was in Terre Haute on Monday.

Jeffrey Toobin, senior analyst and staff writer for The New Yorker, spoke to more than 100 people in Indiana State University’s Tilson Auditorium about the Supreme Court and politics. His speech was the third of ISU’s 2008-2009 speaker series.

Toobin said the Supreme Court didn’t get the attention it deserved during the election, adding that it was very important because whoever won the election would most likely have the chance to make at least one appointment.

“If you look at George W. Bush’s presidency, the two consequential acts of his second term were the war in Iraq and his appointments to the Supreme Court, and that’s really long lasting,” he said before his presentation.

“We’ve had soon-to-be 44 presidents, but there have only been 16 chief justices of the United States. Supreme Court justices serve for decades, not years.”

...

Jimmy Carter was the only president to serve an entire term and not make any appointments, but Richard Nixon made four in his 51/2 years as president, he explained to the crowd.

Had Sen. John McCain won the election, Toobin is sure Roe v. Wade would have been overturned within the next five to 10 years, he said.

As he spoke about the Supreme Court, he gave a brief history of the Republican Party and how it affected the court. He said a shift really began in the party in the early ’80s when a group called the Federalist Society was founded by a group of conservative lawyers.

That group was part of the new conservative agenda for the courts, he said, which was to expand executive power, end racial preferences intended to assist blacks, speed up executions, welcome religion into the public sphere and reverse Roe v. Wade to allow states to ban abortion.

He said it’s interesting to note that at this same time two young, aggressive lawyers wanted to work for President Ronald Reagan and were part of this shift: John Roberts and Samuel Alito.

“I think in knowing why they were appointed to the court and what kind of justices they are becoming, it is critical to see that this is when they came to Washington,” Toobin said, “and this is how they learned to become lawyers.”

Currently, there are four very conservative and four very liberal justices serving on the court with one swing justice who generally sides with conservatives, he said, but “the stakes in this election were especially high for the liberals because three of the four liberals are likely to leave in the next few years.”

Toobin went on to speculate who President-elect Barack Obama will appoint, should he have the opportunity: Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano.

Because Obama has worked as a constitutional law professor, Toobin said Obama has “thought deeply about these things.” He was president of the Harvard Law Review and had the chance to clerk for the Supreme Court, but instead went back to Chicago to start teaching, start his law career and run for office, Toobin said.

“I think that’s significant because it tells you that Barack Obama is someone who believes political change comes from the ballot box rather than the courtroom,” he said. “He’s someone who believes in election and political change, not so much in the courts.”

The current Supreme Court is the first in American history where all nine justices are former appeals court judges, Toobin said. “The court that decided Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, not one of the justices had ever been a judge on any court before.”

Obama, Toobin believes, will go back to that type of court and “reach to non-judges to go on the Supreme Court, to political figures, to people who have broader experience than just the courtroom because he believes that is more useful than just a life inside of the courts.”

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Another loss

Another loss to CNN: Jamie McIntyre is leaving the network. On Friday he appeared on The Situation Room with his final report, about a health risk for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan -- the use of "burn pits" -- and at the end of the clip Wolf thanks him for his work with the network:

Politico.com posted a copy of Jamie's farewell email to the CNN staff:

After 16 years of covering the U.S. military for CNN, the time has come for me to leave the beat. 

Although I was never bored, CNN and I both agreed it was time for a change.

We were unable to reach an agreement on another assignment, so after a friendly discussion, I decided to pursue other opportunities. 

I leave with no regrets, and nothing but pride for the things we accomplished, and admiration for the people I worked with over the years.

I began at CNN in 1988, as a weekend freelance reporter, so my association with the network spans 20 years.

Before replacing Wolf Blitzer at the Pentagon in 1992, I had hardly traveled outside the Washington area. Since then I have circumnavigated the globe more than once and visited more than 60 countries.

It has been a special honor to cover the men and women of the U.S. military, and see, close up, the dedication and sacrifice they make to defend the nation. 

If I start mentioning names I will leave too many people out, but I have to express special gratitude to three CNNers in particular:

Tom Johnson, who was a rock of journalistic integrity in every confrontation with the Pentagon, the late Bill Headline, who hired me and stuck by me when many questioned why the weekend feature reporter was being assigned to the Pentagon, and my editor Sheila Kanzler, who was with me from day one and never missed air, even when I gave her a script with less than 10 minutes to turn it into television.

I’ll be around for a little while longer to tie up loose ends, and wrap up some projects.

Life is all about timing, and this just seems like the right time to see what else is out there. 

I hear there’s a ton of money to be made in stand-up comedy.

Well, Jamie always did strike me as a stand-up guy... But his work and his classiness will be sorely missed by many viewers. ATC wishes him the very best in his future endeavors. 

(If this keeps up, we may have to change the name of the blog to "All Things CNN...and Beyond"!)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Colin Powell is a guest on tomorrow's Fareed Zakaria GPS. Previews of the interview have been posted on CNN.com. In this one he talks about the future of the Republican party, conflicts within the Bush cabinet, and the "don't ask, don't tell" policy:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Where in the World...?

SATURDAY: Candy Crowley was in Chicago covering the transition.

SUNDAY: Nic Robertson was on a NATO ship chasing pirates in the Gulf of Aden.

MONDAY: Nic was in Salalah, Oman, still covering the pirates; Phil Black was in Athens to cover the riots; Jessica Yellin was in Chicago to cover the transition; Gary Tuchman was in Chicago to cover a sit-in by laid-off union workers. (And Chicago was about to become an even hotter assignment...)

TUESDAY: Drew Griffin was in Chicago to cover the arrest of the Illinois governor.

THURSDAY: Don Lemon was in for Heidi Collins.

FRIDAY: Don was in a very cold Chicago (above) to interview Jesse Jackson Jr.; Carol Costello was in for John Roberts. 

A fairly quiet week in WITW...hopefully a lot of the reporters and crews are getting their holiday shopping done. You never know what may happen next week! Stay warm, everyone!

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Candy Crowley at Randolph College

Photo credit: Getty Images	Photo credit: Getty Images
On December 2, 2008, Soledad O'Brien was seen at Christie's for the Room to Grow 10th Anniversary benefit gala in New York City.	On December 3, 2008, she was at The Sheraton attending the opening night gala celebrating Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's 50 anniversary (also in New York City).

CNN's Candy Crowley spoke to a group of students at Randolph College last month.

Here's a few excerpts from an article that was on the The Richmond Times Dispatch's website:

The emotion on election night -- young people jumping with joy, African-Americans, especially older men, touched by the moment -- was enough to make some people cry.

CNN correspondent Candy Crowley didn't, but she could understand those who did. "I said to myself, 'It doesn't matter who you voted for, this was an amazing moment in American history.'"

Crowley, 58, spent part of Tuesday at Randolph College talking with students and faculty. A 1970 alumna of the former women's college and 2002 Alumnae Achievement Award recipient, she spoke last night on "An Insider's Perspective on the 2008 Presidential Campaign" in a presentation open to the public.

Some fault the media for being too lenient in its coverage of Barack Obama, but Crowley disagrees. There were times when Obama had a rough time, and as examples Crowley points to coverage of the candidate's comments about some people clinging to guns and religion; criticism of America by Obama's longtime minister, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright; and Obama's association with one-time radical William Ayers.

Nor was coverage of Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin unfair, Crowley said. The problem isn't whether there were too many questions, but too few, she said.

"Did I think Sarah Palin was over-covered? No," Crowley said. "I think Joe Biden was under-covered."

Supporters often faulted the media for being too hard on their candidate while giving the other side a pass, but much of that stems from a world of 24-hour news coverage and a public that doesn't know the difference between the roles of commentators, reporters and analysts, she said.

Crowley said she has enjoyed each candidacy because they were all so different: from Clinton's constant motion and enjoyment of the process, to Dole's dry Midwestern wit and the sense of history that this was the last run of a World War II veteran, to Kerry, who was "ultimately really qualified" but "lacked whatever that X-factor is that makes people vote for you."

Crowley said she has never rooted for a candidate but feels sorry for all of them. "It takes a pretty strong sense of self to run for president . . . to put up with so much of what they put up with," she said.

The college has posted a video of her speech on their website.

The video requires that you have Quicktime installed on your computer. The video is about 90 minutes long and may take several minutes to load.

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Planet In Peril Reviews & Promotion and Interview with the First Lady

CNN’s second installment of Planet in Peril, “Planet in Peril: Battlelines” aired on Thursday night. Tonight I want to share some articles that review the program.
Thanks to an anonymous reader who sent us the first article.

CNN's 'Planet in Peril' plays off environmental Concerns

By Ted Cox Daily Herald Columnist

With the presidential election over, how are the major cable networks going to generate the sort of hysteria that builds Nielsen ratings?Everybody, it seems, is going green.Yes, the apocalyptic environmental special - the end of the world is near, and all that - has never been hotter, not even back in the days when Walter Cronkite was looking ahead to "The 21st Century," a show that provided a generation of Baby Boom science classes with film diversions.CNN's occasional and appropriately titled series "Planet in Peril" is no exception as it returns with its second installment at 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 11, but then again let's be sure to place it in context. After all, it's a lot more responsible to be crying wolf over the environment in our age of global warming than it is, say, for a cable news outlet to generate mass hysteria over some missing white girl in an Amber Alert.The latest "Planet in Peril" gets off to a sensationalistic-enough start with Anderson Cooper and CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta looking for the potential outbreak of the next AIDS epidemic with "virus hunter" Dr. Nathan Wolfe. They trace the rising consumption of "bush meat" in central Africa, where a virulent disease could easily jump species, with global implications. In fact, it already has, in the form of AIDS and monkey pox.It's no accident that the most dreadful segment comes first. Yet the special soon settles into a fairly routine if nonetheless fascinating groove looking at environmental concerns around the world under the topic of "Battle Lines," at the competition - human and animal - for dwindling natural resources.In the end, this is a diverting, enlightening special that, again like Cronkite's "21st Century," wouldn't be out of place in a middle-school science class.Taken as a whole, the special dovetails, then doubles back on itself. Lisa Ling, the former "Oprah" reporter now working for CNN, does a fine piece on the diminishing worldwide shark population as the labor-intensive shark-fin soup goes from a delicacy reserved for the rich to a widespread dish delivered to the masses. That leads directly into "Shark Tourism," a look at how countries like South Africa are bringing in tourists to see great white sharks in person - through the use of chumming and diving cages. Yet that might actually be training sharks to associate contact with humans with a source of food.Unfortunately, even though Florida and Hawaii have banned chumming for sharks in our own United States, Cooper has to include an interview with a shark researcher showing that the practice hasn't noticeably altered shark feeding habits. Oops, so much for that note of hysteria.So he heads right off to return to central Africa to look at the vastly different conditions the endangered mountain gorilla faces in Rwanda and the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo. In Rwanda, despite the vicious 1990s genocide, both the government and the gorilla population have revived by actually encouraging gorilla tourism. In the Congo, where the gorillas are still routinely hunted, they of course haven't fared as well, and not coincidentally neither has the country.It's an interesting story precisely because it's counterintuitive and yet reasonable. Who would have thought that human contact would actually be good for an endangered species? That turns out to be the case, however.Yet what's best about those last two segments, on shark and gorilla tourism, is Cooper himself. For years, I've thought myself immune to the cult of Cooper, CNN's new franchise star, but "Planet in Peril" shows he truly has something: a way of rendering his emotional, not intellectual, response to a story with honesty and clarity. "It's quite an experience," he says of swimming quite literally with sharks, outside the diving cage, and goes on to describe their grace and beauty. Similarly, confronted with a group of mountain gorillas, he admits, "They are intimidating animals."That's the sort of emotional response even Cronkite typically denied himself, and CNN and "Planet in Peril" are better for it. It replaces the tone of hysteria with an air of wonder, and I for one find that much more captivating than being scared into watching.

There have been a lot of reviews of Planet in Peril and I will give the links to just a few

The New York Daily News
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2008/12/11/2008-12-11_cnns_anderson_cooper_at_work_in_risky_en.html as well as http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2008/12/11/2008-12-11_concern_real_in_cnns_planet_in_peril_if_.html

Cindy Adams’ column in The New York Post
http://www.nypost.com/seven/12112008/gossip/cindy/its_a_zoo_out_there__news_stars_in_peril_143569.htm?page=0

Anderson was interviewed by Stephanie Miller
http://www.stephaniemiller.com/files/mp3/2008_1208_cooper.mp3

In the last few days Anderson made appearances on Jay Leno and Regis and Kelly to promote Planet in Peril. To see Anderson appearances on both programs, you can check out our sister site All Things Anderson.

Anderson even wrote a brief piece for Popular Science
http://www.popsci.com/node/30212?page=

CNN’s Betty Nguyen had the opportunity to interview First Lady Laura Bush on the anniversary of the universal declaration of human rights.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: A dire warning from the United Nations human rights chief. The world's poorest could face even worse abuses as the global financial crisis unfolds. That warning comes on the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In an exclusive interview this morning, our Betty Nguyen spoke with First Lady Laura Bush about this important day. She is with us now.
I'll tell you what, you interview the first lady and you're here like within minutes, and you're already giving a part of the interview.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: I'll tell you what -- tell me about the conversation.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well especially on this day. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights -- as we know, Kyra, there are several places around the world where people are just denied those basic human rights, including two countries where the first lady has really made it a priority to help res to re those rights. That being Afghanistan and Myanmar , which is also called Burma .
Well today, she did not back down, calling on the international community to do more in Myanmar, where she continues to closely watch what she calls a sad situation for the people of that country.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: You also watched it play out during Cyclone Nargis. In fact, I was just in the country back in July, and what I wanted to do was really see if aid was getting to those still in need, some two months after the s to rm had hit. And what I witnessed were dead bodies still rotting along the delta, many villages still with little to no aid.
Will the people of that country lose a powerful ally once you leave the White House?
LAURA BUSH, FIRST LADY: No. I really think that the next administration will also pay attention to Burma . It's a country that -- the Lan to s Act, for instance, the S to p Jade Now Act, that was just passed recently that the president signed in to law, passed unanimously.
So it's an issue that I think all -- every member, both parties, are very interested in. So I expect that the next administration will also do what they can to try to have this peaceful transition to democracy for the people of Burma .
NGUYEN: There is still a lot of outrage concerning the reaction to the cyclone on the part of the junta government there. Looking back, where do you draw the line when it comes to human rights? The U.S. sent ships full of aid that were denied by the junta government.
Should the U.S. have been more forceful in getting that aid to the people in need?
BUSH: Well that was the real question at the time. We did have those Navy ships right off the coast -- right at the delta, right by where the cyclone had hit. Those had desalinization machines on them.
They could have gotten fresh water to the people right way, medical supplies and the military junta would never let them land.
We did, at the same time, though -- they did accept cargo planes and the U.S. was able to fly in at least 100 cargo plane flights of supplies for the people of Burma . But that's the question. I mean, that's always the question when you talk about human rights. When we at -- when the rest of the world looks at these countries where tyranny reigns and where the people are denied any sort of basic human rights, then that's what we have to ask ourselves, is, what do we do?
And we did, in Afghanistan, go in to Afghanistan, and liberated the people. And we're still there, obviously, working hard to make sure the people of Afghanistan can rebuild their country, which was totally decimated after 30 years of war with nothing. They're building a country from nothing now. And that still requires a big commitment on the part of the people of the U.S. and the government of the U.S.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well we know that Myanmar , what was happening there, meant a lot to the first lady.
And you were very humble. You didn't mention this. She saw your coverage and wanted to reach out and talk to you today.
But now she mentions Afghanistan . What's her mission there because I haven't heard a lot about that?
NGUYEN: Well she wants to continue helping women and girls get an education. She said this, Kyra, "When women are educated, everything across the board improves for their families." But she also says that, "... the world has to act in order to help make that happen."
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: And I think it's really important for the international community to support the people of Afghanistan so they can stand up for themselves.
They are having some success. They're building the national police force. When I was in Afghanistan , the last time, I met women who are police officers.
But, on the other hand, their society is so strict for women that some of these women police officers have not to ld their families that they were studying to be police.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: And the first lady does plan to continue working on human rights at the Freedom Institute that will built at her husband's presidential library in Dallas . So she, like I said, is not backing down.
PHILLIPS: Well what are we going to talk about next hour?
NGUYEN: Next hour is going to be pretty interesting, to o, because it's about life after the White House. Something that she calls the "afterlife." Her new normal, if you will. So we'll find out what she's up to .
PHILLIPS: It will probably be a lot easier and more spiritual and heavenly than living in the White House.
NGUYEN: And a smaller home.
PHILLIPS: Yes, exactly.
All right. Thanks, Betty.
NGUYEN: Sure.

That is it for me this week. Have a great week and let’s all try to find a way to help our planet in peril ~ Sapphire

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Tie One On For Goodness Sake

Seems to me there has been much ado about John Roberts sans necktie, so I thought it time for ATC to take a closer look. A few quick Google searches showed me that John Roberts is not a virgin at this tieless thing. Andy Rooney, that lovable curmudgeon, did a piece on 60 Minutes back in April of 2005 about John Roberts going tieless, while substitute anchoring the CBS Evening News.
Rooney closed his report with:
"I'll be honest. I wear a necktie mostly because I've always worn a necktie, and I've always worn one because most of the other guys wear them. This isn't a good reason to wear a necktie, so maybe John Roberts is right. But maybe he's wrong, too. There are some standards we live by that don't come naturally to us. We curb our animal desires. We say "Good morning" and "Have a nice day" to strangers. We eat with knives and forks instead of with our fingers. For a lot of men, wearing a necktie is one of those relatively unimportant social conventions that contribute to a civilized day at the office. " To see the entire segment follow the link.


I couldn't agree with Mr. Rooney more, I want my newsmen to look like newsmen. Sure there are moments when it might be appropriate to lose the tie. Like when you're reporting from a firing range:

or an MTV concert:
But when you're in that anchor chair you need to look like an anchor, not a nightclub bouncer. For goodness sake even the Chippendale Dancers know you wear a tie to work.

So why did he do it? A mid-life crisis...that might be too obvious. I'm going with more of an attention grabber theory. Read what Roberts said on the subject of not wearing his tie:

I first did it 4 years ago for one segment during the summer on the CBS Evening News. It actually made the front page of the Wall Street Journal. I also did it once last year on American Morning. It just felt right to do it the last couple of days. I felt like 'going rogue' a little bit and mixing things up. Will I do it every day? Probably not — it will most likely depend on the flow of news and how I feel. I'm amazed at the reaction that it has provoked. The majority of people who have e-mailed love it — many men find it liberating and are following my lead. Some people don't like it at all, but as it's a morning show, I think there's a lot of latitude to change things up a bit.

Did he really say men find it liberating to go tieless? Well so is going naked, but spare me the visual. And just when did we start to trust men to make their own wardrobe decisions? Oh there are a blessed few who are capable of dressing themselves, but they are few...... and far between. How often have you seen a woman with a pocket protector or sporting a bola tie? I rest my case.... most men should not be making fashion decisions.

I will not put words in Kiran Chetry's mouth, but from this clip I don't think she's a fan of the tieless movement either. The brief clip is with a young reporter who was properly dressed for a national television appearance, as Kiran noted.

And I've got one more video that shows John Roberts has been promoting this tieless trend for many, many years. ;)

Sorry that last clip was just mean, but I couldn't resist. We'll keep you posted on this trend and if John Roberts manages to start a groundswell of tieless anchors. Until next week~Phebe

PS: A huge shout-out to Cyn for the embeds.

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