IF it were up to Jay Leno, we would see a 24 hour version of The Jay Leno Show on all channels seven days a week, as it stands, I will have to turn the channel five nights a week at 10 p.m. (instead of 11:30 p.m.) thanks to NBC’s decision to kick scripted television to the curb and air a bloated primetime version of the late night variety show hosted by Jay Leno.
While NBC spots advertising Leno’s new show (and they are endless,) tout Leno as an alternative to “crimetime” there is nothing funny about folks in the entertainment industry, in front and behind the camera, hammering tears over the amount of jobs that have dried up as a direct result of Leno’s new primetime monster.
With actors and studios avoiding Leno like the black lung, he is in serious trouble booking his new show with anyone meaningful and thus has resorted to calling in all favors from the likes of the bulletproof Jerry Seinfeld, who is to be Leno’s first guest.
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“Let’s Make a deal” redux to star funny man, Wayne Brady.
Made popular by hosting icon, Monty Hall, the new incarnation of “Deal” will most likely be a big hit with the popular Brady at the helm.
Set to debut on Oct, 5th, the format is to be kept similar to the original game show hopefully with the infamous question intact, “Do you want door number 1, number 2 or number 3?”
In sad news, Deal, will be replacing “Guiding Light,” after an astonishing 50 year run.
ThecounT.com TV expert, Josh Kono says, “In tough economic times TV viewers historically like to watch other people winning money on game shows more so than the melodramatics of a soap, it’s really a huge sign of the times and a bold move for CBS.”
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Are you kidding me?
You would think when the President of the United States calls for a news conference to discuss issues such as universal health care, the networks would carry it, no questions asked. Think again…
FOX has refused to carry Wednesday’s broadcast! ABC and CBS have agreed but only after the White House agreed to move it from 9 p.m. to 8 p.m.
The reason the networks are being so difficult? Reality TV! You heard me right, and instead of seeing the President talk about health care at 9 p.m. on ABC, you will see the regularly scheduled reality TV program “America’s Got Talent,” featuring singer, Susan Boyle from “Britain’s Got Talent.”
For CBS, who agreed right away to air the President, broadcasts only repeats on that night, however, FOX’s 2 hour “So You Think You Can Dance” broadcast wins out over the President of the United States.
First scripted TV and now the President… Is no one safe from the reality TV?
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The king of news
R.I.P. to the legend newscaster, Walter Cronkite. The ever trusted Cronkite was “the man to watch” anchoring the “CBS Evening News.” Cronkite was at the helm from 1962 to 1981, Cronkite covered the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy as well as Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. – Watergate to the Iranian hostage crisis.
Here are some facts about Mr. Cronkite:
Cronkite was born in Saint Joseph, Missouri, the son of Helen Lena and Dr. Walter Leland Cronkite.
Cronkite’s boyhood was spent in Kansas City, Missouri. His family later moved to Houston, Texas. Cronkite was a Boy Scout. Cronkite attended The University of Texas at Austin.
Surprisingly Cronkite was a college dropout, however, it was not long before Cronkite was covering the news for a living. He first “anchor” job was at WKY in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, but newsmen would not be known as anchormen until years later. Cronkite was the first Anchor to report the news for a full half hour.
Cronkite would dominate for much of his reign at CBS, from 1962 to 1981.
Cronkite would end each broadcast with “and that’s the way it is.”
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Cronkite
Man, I hope he pulls through. Veteran TV reporter/American legend, Walter Cronkite, is reportedly very, very sick. TVNewser and other websites are saying that the 92-year-old former CBS Evening News anchor has taken a turn for the worse.
CBS isn’t commenting on the story but Cronkite colleague Bob Schieffer said “All of us are praying for the best, and our thoughts are with Walter’s family.” Schieffer is the current host of CBS’s Face The Nation.
Cronkite was considered the most trusted man in America. So trusted, in fact, that President Nixon stated when he lost Cronkite’s support, he lost America’s support. Perhaps his most famous moment was when he reported the death of President Kennedy back in 1963. He is considered by many as the greatest newscaster of all time.
Let’s wish Mr. Cronkite the best.
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Letterman
David Letterman has officially and undoubtedly apologized to Gov. Sarah Palin regarding the controversial joke he made about Palin’s daughter.
On tonight’s episode, Letterman will reportedly say he is sorry “to the two daughters involved, Bristol and Willow, and also to the governor and her family and everybody else who was outraged by the joke.” Letterman will also say that he confused the two Palin daughters and should have stuck with making fun of Rudy Guiliani instead.
“I told a joke that was beyond flawed, and my intent is completely meaningless compared to the perception,” Letterman will say.
As we all know, Letterman made an off-color joke a couple weeks ago about Sarah Palin visiting New York with her daughter and her daughter promptly getting impregnated by Yankee’s slugger AlexRodriguez. The joke caused outrage for many on the right and created a small media firestorm. However, this looks like it’s the end of it for now.
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I'm gunning for you, Leno.
King of all media, Howard Stern, made an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman last night and spent a good amount of time trashing Letterman’s former rival, Jay Leno. Calling him a “robot”, Stern said that he never liked Leno and didn’t seem too big a fan of Leno’s replacement, Conan O’Brien.
Letterman tried his best to keep out of the one-sided argument but thanked Stern for his loyalty. You can watch the entire video segment here and judge for yourself if Stern went too far. This is Howard Stern we’re talking about, however, so remember that his boundaries aren’t like yours and mine.
An interesting note though: Stern noted that he had been told last night’s episode was expected to beat O’Brien in the ratings. That would put Letterman ahead of The Tonight Show for the first time in something like fifteen years. We’ll see if it all panned out like planned.
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nielsen tv ratings
Ratings for week ending Sunday, November 30
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AP -
NEW YORK – CBS Corp. said Thursday it swung to a third-quarter loss, weighed down by a hefty $14.12 billion write-down related to a drop in value of its media assets.
The New York-based media company reported a loss of $12.46 billion, or $18.58 per share, compared with a profit of $343.3 million, or 48 cents per share, a year ago.
CBS said earlier this month that it would record the charge to reflect a decreased book value for its radio and TV stations.
Its adjusted earnings from continuing operations were $290.3 million, or 43 cents per share.
For the period ended Sept. 30, revenue rose 3 percent to $3.38 billion from $3.28 billion, helped by the acquisition of CNET Networks in June and the domestic cable syndication sale of “CSI:New York.”
Analysts polled by Thomson Financial forecast earnings of 40 cents per share on revenue of $3.37 billion.
CBS said the economic downturn has hurt ad sales _ mostly locally _ and warned that recent financial market volatility would likely lead to more ad spending declines.
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