BC Crawler

Tuesday: CNN Wants More Politics, Kucinich (Re)invited and FCC Takes on Comcast
January 15, 2008

 
By Alex Weprin

[10 Months to go, But Who’s Counting?] CNN, proving that political coverage apparently brings in the viewers, is launching a primetime daily politics show that will cover the race to the White House. The show, CNN Election Center, will be hosted by John Roberts, and will air at 8 p.m., against the opinionated duo of Keith Olbermann and Bill O’Reilly. CNN had been airing “ballot bowl” coverage of the candidates on weekends, looking more like C-Span than CNN.

[The Man Has Heart, Gotta Give Him That] Dennis Kucinich was kicked out of the MSNBC debate in Nevada, as reported here yesterday; however, a Nevada judge has ruled that Kucinich must be included in the debate, calling it a matter of fairness. Kucinich was notified during a phone interview with FBN’s Neil Cavuto. NBC, for their part, said they will file an appeal to make sure that nasty man can’t come… even though he was technically invited in the first place.

[No Luck for the Zuck] Did you know that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg had an exclusive 60 Minutes interview Sunday? Yeah, neither did I… and apparently not many other people did either. 60 Minutes averages 14.3 million viewers a week in its Sunday slot, but when the Zuck was on, it drew only 9.6 million, a season low. Of course, it was up against the Giants-Cowboys game, but, as Michael Learmonth notes: “[I]t may also be due to the fact that (shhh!) outside of the certain corners of the Internet, no one cares that much about Facebook.”

[FCC Gets in Comcast’s Face] The FCC has sent letters of inquiry to Comcast, asking for more information about complaints saying that the cable company interferes with its subscriber’s internet traffic. Specifically, some users claim that Comcast uses software that essentially makes file sharing sites and technology such as BitTorrent useless. While some file sharing sites distribute copyrighted material, technology such as BitTorrent is often used to disseminate non-copyrighted work or work meant for broader public consumption. Comcast denies that they block sharing but says that they do use “milder interventions to improve the flow of traffic for the majority of its customers.”

[Those Deals? They’re Done] As the strike wears on, the networks are losing money, and in order to free up some cash, they are trimming the fat. CBS, Universal Media Studios, Warner Bros. TV, Fox and ABC have all begun to drop writers and producers who had development deals with the networks. All told, more than 75 people had been fired. Most of the newly unemployed are relative unknowns, or have not had any active projects for a while, but some are recognizable, such as Larry Charles (Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm), Numbers Barry Schindel, and writers for Medium, Rules of Engagement and Dirty Sexy Money.

[Web Find: Late Night Strike Classics!] Over at The Watchers Podcast, the crew scoured the late night airwaves, selecting the funniest pieces of comedy to come out of the strike, and presenting them for all to see and love. Among their faves: Stephen Colbert’s visit to the Smithsonian (and his attempt to have them put his picture up), and a number of Conan gags, including his German disco light show and hilarious interview with associate producer Jordan Schlansky. For your convenience, the Watchers also included video of all the bits. Check into BC Beat later today when I unveil part one of late night TV’s winners and losers.

Posted by BC Crawler on January 15, 2008 | Comments (0)