Zucker Promoted Again?

I find this baffling. Jeff Zucker got promoted again. This time to CEO of the NBC Television Group. Is he that much of a genius? Didn't he just get promoted within the last 2 years to the big cheese of NBC Entertainment. I have to say I think he has it very easy.

Consider that NBC has been trailing the other neworks all of this year. Joey and Martha Stewart were grandiose dissappointments among other programs. Heck, in a bad year for ratings and revenue, just promote this Zuckster to CEO.

Carl Ain't No Icon

Carl Icahn, the pit bullseems to have picked up the habits of Mr. Rove. Nasty criticism and public denounciations of Richard Parsons of Time warner have been getting louder. It seems he senses his daunting challenge in stealing some board seats so now he turns to whining. Mr. Case should just stay out of it period.

I think Mr. Parsons has done an admirable job at steering TW straight after its knuckle head merger with AOL.

Is TW more valuable broken up than whole? Some say no. Even if TW is spun into four different media entities, do you really think Disney or News Corp will not try to gobble up Time Inc. or Time Entertainment?

Xmas Gift: White House Ouija Board

This exciting new board game from Milton Bradley, combines the mystery of the paranormal with the suspense of Bush White House. Made of 100% woven Indonesian cardboard and packaged in a unique Bush collectible box.

White House Ouija Board: Simulate George W.'s divine decision making skills: Special sale at $15.99.

Finalesode: Survivor Guatemala

CBS is having another good run of its Survivor reality series. Buzz quotient is getting up there as the last episode will determine who survives.

I bet much of the male audience is privately rooting for Danni Boatwright, the KS sports radio talk show host.

But in regards to the argument of evolution: Is a "survivor" such as Danni, a product of intelligent design or Darwin's evolution? Well maybe it's Rodeo MDs Cosmetic Surgery, Inc.

Can Kongster Deliver $110m First Night?

Peter Jackson, epitome of the scifi/horror fans you see at conventions, is about to pull off another Hollywood feat with the buzz surrounding KING KONG. Universal brass gave him plenty of rope to do it his way, but word is that the talented Mr. Jackson may have done it.

The Kiwi leveraged his NZ team and landscape to deliver a very possible $110 million dollar opening for NBC's Universal. GE sure could use it after losing Dreamworks to Paramount and a not so robust NBC schedule.

On a side note, one of my chldhood best friend's grandmother was Fay Wray. The original blonde bombshell in the B classic original. He inherited a few mill from her at the age of 30..then began taking surfing seriously..

Cuts Hit the Fan at the Time Inc.

Well, maybe those days of $250k+ comp packages with fat country club expense accounts are finally over for the ad sales executives at the venerable Time, Inc. Social selling is feeling the pinch of Internet clicks as print reps have more of a difficult time justifying their high rates in the flood of performance based models.

Who got the axe at Time?

Heavyweights such as Jack Haire, exec VP in charge of corporate ad sales; Richard Atkinson, exec VP in charge of the news and information group; Eileen Naughton, president, Time magazine; David Kieselstein, president, the parenting group.

Maybe we'll see them at the next DIY Web 3.0 conference

Ouch!

Auletta 's Latest Dig on NY Times Leader

Ken Auletta breaks open an enticing story about Arthur Sulzberger Jr.in the latest New Yorker Issue. From declining profits to journalistic missteps, Auletta conveys skepticism about Junior's ability to steer the Gray Lady in these tough times.

With the Googleites of media devouring ad dollars and Knight Ridder on the block; what conventional print mogul is really master of his domain?

Rove's Sucker Punch Media Tactics: Again

To no one's surprise the White House media machine kicked in again in launching another ad campaign slamming the Dem's with pacifist characterizations. Dean and Kerry apparently made anti-war remarks, according to the Repubs, which the propaganda minions jumped on to push their cause.

Of course, if you look closer, these comments we're taken out of context and repackaged to deliver a different note. Sound all to familiar. Rove has been notorious for these under the belt strategies back to the days when he contrived Bush's ascent to the TX governorship. We can thank his mentor Lee Atwater for these Machiavellian strokes.

Even high ranking Republican Senator Daniel Inouye, referred to the ad attack as a shameful and disgusting attempt to distract the Ameprican people from the problems in Iraq.

Maybe the FCC should take its eye off of the indecent standards and cable TV issue for 2 weeks and spend some time scrutinizing Rove Productions Inc.

Cooper or Condi as Person of the Year

Well, Iwantmedia.com has chosen Anderson Cooper as person of 2005. Not a bad choice, but hardly an individual of notoriety as others. Martha Stewart, the Google Guys are just a few. Then there was talk of Condi Rice, Bush's foreign policy GI, as VIP for 2005. Rice as 2005's person of the year would be a stick in the eye of journalistic integrity.

Then again Cooper is a very good choice.

Martha Stewart Backlash?

What is the story with this over confident sixty something woman? In jail, now out with a mediocre reality debut with The Apprentice. Not even remotely humbled from incarceration, word is that she starts knocking Donald by explaining to news sources that she was going to end up elbowing the Don out of the executive office to become the host. What? I'm sure the producer, Mark Burnett, coughed up his joe upon hearing this. D onald naturally had no idea what she was referring to and NBC brass declined to comment.

What a manic bitch.

Of course, no less than 3 weeks later, NBC decided not to renew her show due to lackluster viewership. Now Martha publicly deminishes her daughter by saying in the press that she will not become CEO of her company because she does not have what it takes. The latest quip from a Businessweek interview; "..I'm a visionary!" Martha, please try to spare us your enormous ego and stick to pasting AmEx card to the bottom of your pool.

And Then There Were None - Network TV sees the end

Well, it sure came quickly and now the arc of network TV is screaming back down to earth. The fodder of scifi movies from the fifties and Arthur C. Clark novels are appearing on the paths of our media choices as we progress down the road of evolution. First Gameboys then wireless phones - to cable tv and debit cards. Now we are in the 3rd phase with PDA cell phones and Internet 2.0 rising from the ashes.And you know what, I kind of like it. With all the cry of decentralization of media power and the democraticization of media publishing, power still resides with the Time Warners and NBC Universals. No, what I'm thrilled about is the exctinction of network TV's glorious sitcom. "Friends" was such a manifestation of vanilla America (not at first but definitely for the last 3 years). Why keep pouring millions of dollars into Ross and Rachel' purse strings. Give us regular educated folk a shot..Okay, so I'm exaggerating a bit, these days why not.

Lauren Bush: If only Georgey knew

When I read this 1 year ago I was in moderate disbelief..Hey Bill O'Reilly, write this down and then ty to explain it to your viewers.Laura Bush, current First Lady..and an attractive one at that..was an intuitive librarian sometime back n her Texas career. As a student of literature and ace academic, Laura was well read in the world of fine lit and letters. Go figure then, that she dries out her Yaley and inadvertantly converts him to a blurry Baptist with a penchant for spookin the heck out of us civilians on the coasts with his religious laced rhetoric in the Press room. He be religious that George!But,ironically, upon asking (by some reporter in 2000) Mrs.Bush what her favorite book was; she surprisingly cited "The Brothers Karamozov" By Fydor Dostoyevsky (that talented Russian cat). What was her favorite chapter? Well it was "The Grand Inquisitor." The irony just kills me. That chapter is a poem, written by one of the Karamozov brothers, about how the second coming of Christ was cut short due to a selfish and greedy Cardinal in Belgium. Witnessing the prophet's second coming and flourishing entourage, the Cardinal ordered to have him killed. Apparently, the second time around with this prophet was just too much too handle. He threatened the very existence and institution of the Catholic Church. Now Laura, next time George can't get to sleep, pass me the roofies and I'll read him this chapter for a night full of pleasant dreams.

LD TV: Lowest Denominator

Is it me or is television becoming frighteningly vanilla these days? Sitcoms are now fodder for celebrity magazines. High brow cable networks have succumbed to the lowest common denominator and questionable trends. Look at the Discovery Channel. It's signature show is a father and son team bickering over motor cycle choppers. Don't get me wrong, its not a bad program, but what did we sign up for when clicked on Discovery. How the heck does this program have to do with Discovery - or at least it's implicit message to the viewer - rewarding us with educational content. What happened to all those nature programs with cheetahs and wild nght owls? Ask not the head of programming, but the ad sales team.

Then there is A& E. Probably the worst violater of what was good TV. So much for PBS like entertainment. A&E has shows from mullet Bondsman to episodes dedicated to two teens whose father happens to be a famous football player. These programs may entertain the mass public in the short term, but long term - your reputation is tarnisehd Mr. A&E!. You're blackballed from our bridge club.

Supposedly, the whole idea was to pay for unique special interest programming. But, due to the success of "reality," cable tv now is teetering towards the lowest denominator. Bravo for Bravo, now its looks the E!.