It's been a while since we opened a discussion post. Tell us what you're thinking and what CNN is doing right or could improve on.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Your Views on the News
It's been a while since we opened a discussion post. Tell us what you're thinking and what CNN is doing right or could improve on.
36 comments:
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Whoa great news. Anderson & Team 360 did it.
ReplyDeleteCNN beat BOR for the week in the demo. The
final tally : 791,000 : 777,000. 360 finished # 1
in the demo in prime time.
There's more : 360 also beat BOR in viewers &
the demo at 11 PM. Here is the demo finale
at 11 : 781,000 : 475,000.
A 1,2 finish for 360 in program rankings.
The professor, aka Wolf Blitzer also won the
demo at 6 PM, 480,000 : 460,000.
CNN also won the day demo for the week.
The numbers for the weekend should be
interesting. CNN seemed better prepared
than the others and it is March Madness.
For some strange reason MSNNC really
fell apart. Not sure what lead to the drop
for FNC. CNN in won the prime time demo
on Friday.
It will be interesting to see the ratings for
360 this week with 2 big news stories.
Congrats to all. it is well deserved and I am
sure everyone worked really hard. As a
CNN viewer I would like to say thanks.
I will try to post the full story on the ratings
sometime this week. Kinda busy.
Loving the CNN coverage on Libya and Japan. All anchors and reporters are doing a great job. I really like the CNN International and CNN USA simulcasts they've been doing. I think Piers Morgan is doing better than expected and In The Arena is way better than Parker Spitzer. I don't really like how CNN is over using the Breaking News banner. And finally, I do wish CNN USA's on screen graphics (which are way too small) would be more simple like the new CNN International on screen graphics.
ReplyDeleteOn a positive note, CNN generally does a great job when it comes to covering an international crisis, such as Japan/Egypt/Libya. They utilize a lot of fine correspondents such as Arwa Damon, Karl Penhaul, Ben Wedeman, Nic Robertson and others who aren't featured often. I do miss Michael Ware and would've loved to have heard his perspective on the current mid-east crisis.
ReplyDeleteA commenter on a previous post mentioned that CNN has been using fewer pundits and it's improved the quality of the programming. I agree - and I wish this could continue, but unfortunately when the election season kicks into high gear, the pundits will be back in force and they've just hired some doozies. I don't think I'll be watching much of CNN's political coverage because of some of the new hires - people who shouldn't be taken seriously by a legitimate news source are now going to be spouting their nonsense and they won't be challenged. I do have a problem with the overuse of Fouad Ajami on 360 - he made some outrageous assumptions and statements about President Obama's decisions on Libya last week and has done so since he started appearing on the show. The usage of the same pundits over and over on CNN is not a good thing. That's currently my biggest problem with CNN and also them hosting this Tea Party debate. SO wrong!
Fantastic news about the ratings for 360. I'm not expecting the high ratings to continue, but it is good that excellent coverage of events results in great ratings - I'm not saying that ratings are THE most important factor, but it's still nice to see some positive news for a change.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree about the coverage and the simulcasts.
ReplyDeleteTJ was back on the weekend show this past weekend, is he back? Have they named a permanent replacement for the weekday morning show? I really miss having 2 anchors on weekend mornings.
Does anyone have any idea when they will show the special on the Reagan Shooting? It was pre-empted last night for the Libya coverage but I was really looking forward to seeing it.
ReplyDeleteKudos to Nic Robertson & Arwa Damon.
ReplyDeleteHow dare Fox put out a bogus news story
basically saying CNN is aiding the enemy
with propaganda and protecting Khadaffy
from missiles as human shields. Good to
see Nic Robertson set the story straight.
Since Fox is losing in the ratings now they
are putting out bs to try to ruin the rep
of CNN reporters like Nic Robertson. Fox
is truly pathetic.
Great stuff.
ReplyDeleteNow will they just put Ali on the Morning gig, leave TJ in Atlanta,give Marty something meaningful and start climbing up the ratings with a good team!
If CNN sticks with the news and stellar
ReplyDeletereporting , they will be just fine. I think
in wake of the people turning in to watch
CNN for the reporters CNN should go with
a prime time hour dedicated to the best
reports of the day from CNN's fine staff.
I hope CNN gets away from politicizing
everything. It has it's limitations. Just
look at FNC & MSNBC you can't attract
majority of the American public with
such a narrow scope.CNN does seem to
be falling into some old bad habits today,
the network is focusing on the noise and
not the news. In many ways CNN is acting
as if the Libyan mission will fail. CNN is
failing to ask what if Gadhafi is ousted.
It is a different game this time in Libya.
The United States has people on the
ground who want to take down the
Libyan government. What are they ,
living under a rock ? We all know what
the mission is : Gadhafi has to go.
Besides if CNN would listen to Arwa
Damon they would get this. CNN is
doing exactly what FNC wants them
to do, make it all about politics and
you ratings will take a hit.
Ali Velshi in the morning is a disaster. What is
ReplyDeletewrong with CNN ? The Libyan military operation
has only been going on for 3 days and they are
acting like it has been 3 years. Now I know why
I don't like watching CNN, they have too many
annoying anchors and loses touch with reality
too many times. Cut off the tv completely. CNN
will take a huge ratings hit today. With what
CNN is doing with AM , they will drop below
300,00 again. This morning was horrible.
AM was talking about the royal wedding and
Charlie Sheen's twitter account.It was like
watching MSNBC. The news was not
important this morning.
On Facebook there is a backlash against CNN.
ReplyDeletePeople think they are just reacting negatively
because it is Obama. Very upset about having
Ron Paul. Not exactly keeping them honest.
CNN your bias is showing and knock it off with
the anti Obama rants. CNN is coming off as
disrespectful as we have troops involved in
military action in Libya. It took 5 years for
CNN to even ask any questions of Bush.
360 was not that good tonight. Not much
ReplyDeletereporting about Libya or Japan. Too much
time was wasted for talk. Ratings dive.
Anon 10:50 pm, you've highlighted what I always find so frustrating about CNN. Last week Blitzer was talking to someone about how bad it looks for the President to not make some kind of decision to intervene on behalf of the Libyan people and act against Qadafi and now that he HAS made a move, according to CNN, it's the wrong one. The mission is "unclear" and they're questioning if he even had the right to do it in the first place. With CNN, Obama can't win. There are Democrats who have questioned the actions the President has taken and some who support him, so why just talk to Ron Paul? And then you have Fouad Ajami's endless refrain about how the President is only interested in saving face when it comes to Libya. Give me a break.
ReplyDeleteI see CNN is in full anti- Obama mode and
ReplyDeletethe just one lousy news channel. What is
happening in Libya is not the same as
Afghanistan and Iraq. 1 congressman says
the word impeachment and CNN is nuts
and brings on the usual suspects like Ron
Paul. CNN that act is getting old and we are
on to you. If Obama did nothing and people
were being killed they would be complaining
he failed to act. There are servicemen who
are involved in the mission. No talk of them
or their mission. Oh they don't matter since
the pundits have fantasies about being
president. Don't care what the have to say,
CNN is clearly staking the deck to tell lies.
There are 535 members of congress. Yet
as usual CNN focusing on the ones always
so eager to get their mugs on camera. CNN
is looking really stupid with their coverage.
You can bet Kadhafi will be ousted because
CNN is always wrong. It is not a war CNN.
Viewers are not stupid like the people
running CNN. Thank goodness.
We said it before and we say it again : hire
ReplyDeleteGeorge Stroumboulopoulos. Funny he found
a clip in which Defense Sec;y Gates said what
would happen if there was a no fly zone. He
was at a hearing on Capitol Hill. He also
pointed out the Arab league is full of it. They
are knew this was coming. Gates said a no
fly zone begins with an attack on Libya's air
defenses. Is that not what happened. It seems
just like Jon Stewart he has more credibility
than the journalists. Strombo also said it is
no win for Obama. CNN is just following the
right wing media machine. How often has
the word impeachment come out of Dennis
Kucinich's mouth ? 360 used selective edits
to make it seem as though things were
confusing.However, if ;you google those
clips you will see they were taken way out
of context. That is why CNN is losing badly
in the ratings. They just make stuff up.Is
it news since we already know liberals
generally don't like military action and
of course the Repubs are not playing
politics. CNN is full of Obama haters and
it shows big time. Click, click. That is the
sound of our remotes. CNN will be 3rd
when the ratings come out later today.
Eliot Spitzer with be 4th & Piers Morgan
a distant 3rd since CNN is not going
with facts yet again. If they don't get how
important real news is important to CNN's
survival by now. They never will. So CNN
wants our troops to fail in Libya.
I am so relieved that I am not the only one who is irritated by CNN's anti-Obama/pro-GOP stance. I've been saying and thinking the same thing for a long time now but I was starting to wonder if I was just being overly sensitive and paranoid. It is clear by some of the comments here that I was not.
ReplyDeleteStrombo is right the mission is defined. CNN
ReplyDeletejust is repeating the script from right wing
talk. So the pundits are upset that President
Obama isn't doing what they think he should
do or doing what they want him to do. So
what does CNN do ? They create a false issue
claiming we don't know what the mission is.
Just because the media morons don't get it,
does not mean viewers don't understand
The president. CNN has no idea what the
American people think and they don't
represent us. CNN is way out of touch.
It is different if there is a stalemate after
six months but before a mission in even
a week old..CNN needs to really listen to
every piece of video from Obama, Gates
and Clinton. Today Spain even got in on
stopping the slaughter of the rebels.
CNN got it wrong this time.
Let's get this straight. CNN says Americans
ReplyDeletedon't know what a no fly zone is. No CNN
is the one confused. The network is trying
to have a one shoe fits all. Each instance in
which the president went to Congress for
approval there were ground troops. Reagan,
Bush, Clinton & Obama have all used planes
& missiles. Did Reagan get approval for
Grenada or when he launched missiles at
Gadhafi ? Did Clinton when he launched
missiles at an Al Qaeda camp. News flash
CNN : Gadhafi killed Americans in Lockerbie
& the Brits worked to get the bomber free.
I don't think most Americans have a problem
going after Gadhafi, the is a terrorist. Cable
news is defending the terrorist. CNN does
have a misinformation tag team. Jack
Cafferty and Carol Costello. Yesterday,
Jack tried to make it seem like Obama
was vacationing in South America. That
is one of the latest CNN lies. Carol Costello
having her usual on air meltdown saying
people were not heard. As long as those
2 are on CNN, I am not watching. It is
amazing how the BBC, CBC and other
international news orgs stayed with facts
and not opinions that CNN tries to make
news. Nobody knows what is going to
happen in Libya.
Well, 360 did it again. AC won the 10 PM
ReplyDeletedemo and was the 3rd highest demo in
prime time. I think there is a shift at 10.
Greta is dropping rather steeply from
Hannity. That said. There is some drop
in prime time. MSNBC did better at 8 & 9.
I will be watching to see if 360 continues
the trend for the remainder of the month.
That is still a lot of movement at 10.
MSNBC messed up early when it decided
to not cover the tsunami on Morning Joe.
It looks like they are still suffering the
consequences of a bad decision.
I am still waiting for TV Newser, TV by
the Numbers & Mediaite to report that
360 had the top demos last week over
BOR. How do you miss that ?
360 should ask hard questions to all.
Ask if it is just political talk or genuine.
AC gave Ron Paul a free pass and all
of the others. It would have been nice
to have someone from a military perspective.
CNN needs to switch gears really quick.
ReplyDeleteCurrently watching ABC World News and
Martha Raddatz has a fascinating report.
Raddatz says Gadhafi is on the run and
it trying to find a possible way out and
said they have a way, of monitoring what
is going on. ABC called what Gadhafi is
doing theatre and Diane Sawyer hinted
there could be movement tonight. ABC
is also reporting that a Libyan pilot
killed one of Gadhafi's sons. CNN is
missing some big news. ABC seems to
be holding it for Nightline as if they
don't want to tip others off. Breaking
news could be happening really soon.
Yes, it is true. CNN is biased and no, they are not fair or balanced and want everso much to be Fox News.
ReplyDeleteIf Only.
BOR still reigns supreme according to TVN, even though CNN has remained in the top ten for the past two weeks.
And yes, no matter what the POTUS does, the anchors will be critical because sadly, CNN has an agenda and its agenda says, we can beat Fox at their own game....only they haven't.
No matter what you may think of FOX NEWS, they are an original and CNN has to create their own Megan Kelly, who will rip your eyes out if you dare not agree with her.
Jon Stewart has a clip of her saying: "Because you're wrong."
She is so emphatic you can feel the hate through your flat screen.
Name one female anchor from CNN who can top her?
I am NOT a Fox News fan but they are to be envied, if only for their viewer loyalty.
CNN has got stop trying to promote Piers
ReplyDeleteMorgan in the same league as their journos.
The latest promo has Piers Morgan as the
first face you see in a promo about reporting
is Piers Morgan. it is 3 pieces of video before
you see is Sanjay Gupta,then Anderson Cooper,
Soledad, John King, Wolf Blitzer, Nic Robertson
& Arwa Damon. Why is Piers Morgan the first
face in a news promo. CNN the man is a tabloid
jerk and not a journalist. Quit insulting your
own people. Piers Morgan is not in their
league. Dude is a poseur. Is CNN now saying
he is their lead journalist on the big stories.
I don't think so. We all know who tuned in
to see on CNN and it sure as heck is not
Piers Morgan.
John King says CNN has an interview with
ReplyDeletethe president. Later tonight I hope 360 airs
the full interview. and let viewers make up
their own minds about what they are seeing.
CNN needs to focus on multiple fronts. Be
it military or diplomatic. This a fast moving
story and things rapidly changing. John King,
Wolf Blitzer & David Gergen seemed to be
more responsible tonight rather being stuck
in the pundit universe. I think generally the
people will tune out the pundits. They know
they are paid to spread falsehoods.
I am very fortunate to have CNN International as an option from my cable provider. Very classy anchors with professional delivery and good reports from the field.
ReplyDeleteI was a CNN fan in its early years, but the domestic channel is just too painful to watch any more. Don Lemon, Wolf, Brooke and Suzanne are welcome exceptions. Candy Crowley is good on Sundays, but she needs to steer away from so much "John McCain".....way too much. I do wish TJ could get a grip on his delivery..........too much happy talk, sing-song, and "thank you's". He obviously has experience, relates to the camera, and all that, but he is a challenge to watch.
Don't watch Fox. Won't watch Fox they are
ReplyDeleteworst than CNN when it comes to making
stuff up.CNN didn't copy Fox last week and
just look at the ratings. Fox has no growth
potential.
OMG. 360 was a huge improvement tonight.
ReplyDeleteAnderson had CNN reporters on tonight to offer
some great insights. 360 was really informative
tonight. Talking and opinion are exactly what
makes tv news boring. Nobody looks forward to
seeing pundits. It is about the news and the
video and content. I also agree about the
Strombo show.It is a very smart show and is
a better fit on a cable news network. CNN
can work something out with CBC to have
a U.S. version of the show that would run
for an hour. It is basically Canada's Daily
Show but more news and interview oriented.
Yes, Strombo talks to celebs but it is news
and current events show at heart.
I'm a little surprised 360's ratings and demos managed to stay so high Monday, but that might be a pattern for them - they tend to have higher ratings on Mondays. It will be interesting to see what tonight's ratings are. The ratings seemed to have improved now that 360 has cut out a lot of pointless and dated reports by Randi Kaye (that Crime and Punishment series was a bore and the reports too long, IMO). 360 is all business, current event news and I'm liking the change.
ReplyDeleteNo matter what you may think of FOX NEWS, they are an original and CNN has to create their own Megan Kelly, who will rip your eyes out if you dare not agree with her.
Kelly is another fact-challenged Faux reporter and although I hope CNN never takes this step, the only person who they have on staff who could mimic Kelly's belligerence is Dana Loesch, but heaven forbid they give THAT person an even larger platform.
Candy Crowley is good on Sundays, but she needs to steer away from so much "John McCain".....way too much
I'm not an admirer of Crowley, she's too right leaning for my taste.
Lewis Black did a wonderful monologue, as only Lewis can, on The Daily Show.
ReplyDeleteHis subject was "The Donald as President."
I'm no Black fan, but his take on Trump is pitch perfect and I'm certain it will be on a news website.
Look for it.
@6:25PM: Greta beat AC in totals on
ReplyDeleteThursday, so she isn't in a permanent decline and if 360 keeps hammering away at Libya, a topic that seems to be sticking like glue, because AC likes Fouad Ajami as a panelist, than CNN's highest rated show will take a dive.
How do I know?
I'm of normal intelligence, like most viewers and enough is enough, unless AC is in the field which is way too dangerous right now.
For several weeks now, Ajami has made his feelings pretty clear regarding the conflict in Libya, so why is it necessary to have him on nightly to rehash his criticism of President Obama? AC has said a few times that it's not his job to defend the President and I get that, but it does make me wonder if he would allow a guest on every night if their opinion of the administration's actions in Libya was more favorable. Somehow, I doubt he or his producers would be as welcoming to someone like that as they are with Ajami.
ReplyDeleteAdvertisers go for demos and that makes
ReplyDelete360 a cash cow for CNN. It is just not about
total viewers. That makes it a split decision.
CNN doesn't need to imitate Fox. Fox news
is already available . CNN should be the real
news alternative to both Fox & MSNBC. If
CNN moves Ali to the mornings they need
to give Isha Sesay and Hala Gorani the 2 hr
block for international news. There is a lot
of press buzz about these 2. I do have
doubts about the anchor trio on American
Morning. There is no chemistry. It is not
working.
Agree with Anonymous 10:54 AM. Keep up the international angle, play to CNN's strengths. Isha and Hala are great. Zane Vergee is also terrific - warm yet not cheesy.
ReplyDeleteThe AM situation is a clusterf#ck. They're interrupting, mugging for the camera, constantly trying to one-up each other. KC is probably thinking "I wish John Roberts was here" and then "I can't believe I just thought that."
I guess I'm going to have to tune into American Morning to see what kind of problems they're having now. I usually don't watch that show, but the comments here have made me curious.
ReplyDelete@12:32AM: There is NO COMPARISON between Megan Kelly and Dan Lousch.
ReplyDeleteOne is a regular anchor/reporter and other is what? A contrary contributor??
I'm no fan of Megan Kelly BUT, she has a BIG audience in midday and CNN doesn't, and something tells me if Greta begins to slide...guess who will take her place at 10PM?
Now that would be interesting.
I have no doubt that Megyn Kelly is gunning for Greta's prime slot. I bet there'll be a change in the months to come, even though Greta has a loyal audience.
ReplyDeleteI find it unfortunate that CNN is focusing on Libya and the issue of whether we should or should not have a no fly zone and when NATO will take over so we don't bare the brunt of the conflict.
ReplyDeleteThis is not relevant now, at least, not as relevant to our economy as the disaster in Japan.
Yes, the earth has stopped shaking, but we will be feeling the effects financially for some time to come.
The AP has been reporting that auto suppliers will not be able to get parts for new cars and so vechicles will not be built. An addition blow for a fragile economy.
While Japanese dealers were not directly hit by the quake, there remains a lack of electricity and water across the entire country.
Factories have closed and shifts have come to a hault.
Anything and everything we use was "made in Japan," and very shortly, this consumer nation of ours, will start feeling the effects and inconveniences. And ALL CNN AND AC360 especially, can focus upon, is Libya.
George Bush Sr, got it right.
"It's the economy stupid," and right now Libya has not one thing to do with our economy.
MOST OUR CRUDE does NOT COME from Libya!
Tomorrow the POTUS will tell us what role we shall play in this additional crisis.
Please try to make it CONVINCING, because right about now, I'm NOT LISTENING.