Search results matching tag 'Election'

Rewriting the heartland: "Fargo Rock City."

Anonymous — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:30:00 GMT

Chuck Klosterman's "Fargo Rock City" might be my favorite book about music, because it does the one thing great music writing should do: it sucks you in even if you don't care about the actual tunes at hand. In my case, I could care less about the collected musical legacies of Tesla and Cinderella, but Klosterman's book presents his beloved '80s hair metal through irresistible compact sketches of his rural North Dakotan upbringing. "Fargo Rock City" seems unfilmable: it's all Klosterman explaining what the music meant to him, without stand-alone anecdotes. But that isn't going to stop "Letterman" writer Tom Ruprecht and The Hold Steady's frontman Craig Finn, who've purchased the rights to the book and are adapting it into a coming-of-age comedy. Apparently the pair are going to just mine the book for atmosphere and details rather than 15 debates about whether or not metal is sexist. The fact...

CNN: Presidential Primary Coverage

Anonymous — Mon, 18 May 2009 04:13:00 GMT

CNN laid the groundwork for its 2008 election coverage back in 2005 budgeting meetings, when all it really knew was that there would be a wide open two-party race. The planning paid off, with the Peabody judges singling out the cable network’s primary campaign and debate coverage for an award. “With state-of-the-art technology and a small army of reporters, producers and analysts, CNN gave viewers unparalleled coverage of a historic presidential election process,” the judges said. The goal laid out in 2005 was “redefining political coverage” that had been largely unchanged for years, said Jonathan Klein, president of CNN U.S., who particularly drove his troops to keep new-media technology in mind. That led to the creation of Wolf Blitzer’s “The Situation Room” in 2006, a candidate debate where the questions came in via YouTube and a panel of pundits from all political perspectives. The midterm 2006 election became CNN’s dress rehearsal for the look that would characterize it in 2008, turning its newsroom into the bustling election center, said David Bohrman, senior VP and Washington bureau chief, who found inspiration in CBS News’ Election Night 1956 coverage. He found John King’s digital imaging “Magic Wall” at a military technology trade show; the wall, which allowed Mr. King to explain complex information in an easily grasped way, “became sort of a co-star” of the coverage, he said. Recognizing early on that much of the election action would take place in 2007, Sam Feist, CNN’s VP of Washington-based programming and political director, and his team spent hours on the phone with the candidates and parties lining up early debates, of which CNN ended up with 10, starting in June of that year. One CNN Election night innovation that didn’t quite work was its “hologram,” digital images of reporter Jessica Yellin and guest Will.I.Am beamed into the studio. The line between next-generation coverage and gimmick is revealed only in retrospect, Mr. Klein said. “We’re going to be right far more than we are wrong.” Mr. Bohrman is convinced that holograms are the future. “I’m convinced that in 15 to 20 years, it will be how television does remotes,” he said. “There’s something there.”

Ad Spending Fell 2% in Q3 as Economy Softened, Report Says

Anonymous — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 14:50:56 GMT

Ad spending dropped 2% in the third quarter from the previous year despite the Olympics and presidential election, TNS Media Intelligence reported Thursday. For the first nine months of 2008, total spending was down 1.7%, but most national TV categories showed gains, with network up 3%, cable up 3.7% and syndication ahead 9%. Spot TV was down 2.6%. Internet advertising registered a 7% gain. “Media ad spending, which began tiptoeing into negative territory in early 2007, has crossed an inflection point in the past six months as the economic downturn has become more widespread,” said Jon Swallen, senior VP for research at TNS Media Intelligence. “Preliminary data from the fourth quarter indicate a further slackening of the overall advertising market.” The Summer Olympics gave network TV a third-quarter boost, turning a decline over the first six months into a gain. Cable TV was helped by limited exposure to the Writers Guild of America strike and successful summer programming.

Election Lifts Cable News Networks Into Top 5

Anonymous — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 19:59:29 GMT

The election of Barack Obama as the nation’s first African American president wasn’t the only reason the week of Nov. 3 was historic. However, it was the major reason that the five most-watched basic-cable news channels in prime time included three cable news channels. For News Channel ranked first in prime time for the week with an average 3.54 million viewers. CNN, which notched its biggest-ever prime-time audience, ranked second among all basic cable-channels in prime time with an average 3.29 million viewers. MSNBC was ranked fifth, behind ESPN and USA Network, with an average 2.17 million viewers. For total-day, Fox News Channel ranked second for the week (behind Nickelodeon) with an average 1.66 million total viewers. CNN ranked third with 1.634 million. MSNBC finished ninth with 1.02 million. One of the questions facing the cable networks is how much of that campaign-driven audience they will be able to retain post-election. Fox retained 48% of its Election Day bounce throughout the following three days. MSNBC retained 39% of its Tuesday audience. CNN retained 29%. There was a similar pattern among the 25- to 54-year-old viewers that are the key news demo. Fox retained 48% of its Election Day viewers in the demo. MSNBC retained 32%. CNN retained 24%.

Column: Election Night: The Plane Truth

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 04:31:00 GMT

I was flying over “ruby red” Utah last Tuesday when the television networks called the presidential election for Sen. Barack Obama. We’d already had our first beverage and snack service—animal crackers, Terra chips and a Doritos snack mix among the choices—and the JetBlue flight from New York to Oakland had been strangely quiet for the first three hours. I was on a plane Election Night because I had to be in New York on Election Day. When I first realized the panel I’d be moderating at the Ad:Tech conference fell on Nov. 4, I did two things: I requested a vote-by-mail ballot and I booked my flight home on JetBlue. That’s because JetBlue offers seatback DirecTV programming on its planes, meaning I could watch the election results from an unusual perch: more than 30,000 feet above the very country whose political map changed as we flew over it. After boarding the flight that left New York as the East Coast polls started closing, I jumped from channel to channel right away—CNN, Fox News Channel, Fox, NBC, CBS. But I was one of the few on the flight who tuned in that early (the guy sitting next to me watched a Daniel Radcliffe interview at that time). Shortly after the networks called the first states of Vermont and Kentucky around 7 p.m. EST, I conducted a little recon, strolling up and down the aisle, checking out the channels other passengers were watching. But most weren’t eyeing the returns; they were fixed on episodes of “Family Guy” or Food Network shows. As the evening progressed, more passengers flipped on their televisions. Still, there was no collective reaction—no dejected sighs, no hearty cries—when Pennsylvania went to Sen. Obama, a clear sign of the night to come. Even when Fox called Ohio at 9:19 p.m. EST, the flight was still subdued. Were we all being too polite, too aware of reds and blues and not wanting to offend someone who had voted the other way if we cheered or booed? Sure, the flight was from New York to the Bay Area, two of the most left-leaning destinations in the United States. But just because those places are “berry blue” didn’t mean every passenger was pulling for Sen. Obama. Minutes before the West Coast polls closed, I decided to join some friends who happened to be on the same flight, Tim Shey and Rachel Garcia from Next New Networks. As I made my way back to their row, I noticed most of the passengers had turned on their TVs. Most of them were tuned to CNN. When the networks made the call at 10 p.m.—far, far above Utah for Tim, Rachel, the pilots, the flight attendants, the rest of the passengers and me—the plane did indeed erupt in cheers, claps and even a few sturdy hoots. That’s when it felt like we were in it together, it being the odd experience of sharing something momentous with people who are mostly perfect strangers. Three more times that night, the passengers cheered together—when Sen. Obama first took the stage in Chicago for his victory speech, at the beginning of his “Yes we can” refrain and when the speech ended. And you know what I realized? That being without Internet access for six hours wasn’t so bad. And not for some touchy-feely “we are one” moment. But because for something this big, TV really does a better job. For me, it did that job from 30,000 feet and cruising.

Obama Infomercial Had to Tell Story, Team Says

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 04:31:00 GMT

It turns out President-elect Barack Obama’s half-hour network TV campaign advertisement, which drew rave reviews and an audience of 33.5 million viewers, came together in little more than a month. Now that the election is over, production details of the Oct. 29 ad are coming out and they are again demonstrating how unique the spot was. Mark Putnam, a partner at the political advertising firm of Murphy Putnam, played the lead role in creating the infomercial, which was produced in the offices of GMMB, one of the campaign’s ad agencies. He also wrote the show’s script with input from campaign adviser David Axelrod and campaign manager David Plouffe. “They called a month and two days before it was going to air and said, ‘We are buying this half-hour. Can you do it?’” said Mr. Putnam. Mr. Putnam had produced the 6½-minute film introducing Michelle Obama at the Democratic National Convention and worked with Mr. Axelrod and Mr. Plouffe four years ago on ads for the Democratic National Committee. He was already part of the Obama ad team. “I look for the emotion in a story, not just a set of political talking points,” Mr. Putnam said. The team immediately knew it didn’t want to follow the format used the last time a presidential candidate—Ross Perot—bought extended TV time. Mr. Putnam said he knew right away the show needed a story structure to keep people interested but also had to get across some ideas. “The main goal was to show people that Barack had a plan, substantive and detailed. … To get people to know Barack, his story and how it mirrored the country,” he said. “Third, we wanted people to see him as presidential.” Campaign ad-team leader Jim Margolis of GMMB called the program “tremendously beneficial.” “He nailed it. Barack Obama looked presidential and we told these wonderful stories and 33.5 million people watched, meaning it proved economical in reaching Americans.” Mr. Putnam said the ad left little room for second acts. “I don’t know if anyone will ever do something like this again. It was a chance to do a half-hour film and have 33 million people watch it and elect a transformational candidate. There is no way to repeat that. How do you top that?” he said.

‘Oprah’s’ Post-Election Show Hits Household High

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 23:36:24 GMT

“The Oprah Winfrey Show’s” post-election program Wednesday took in its highest ratings in metered household markets in almost nine months. The show drew a 6.5 preliminary household rating in 56 metered markets, which is also a season high. Ms. Winfrey, who was a prominent member of the crowd at President-elect Barack Obama’s celebration speech in Grant Park on Tuesday, endorsed Sen. Obama’s bid for the presidency but vowed to remain mum on the subject on her show. At the start of the show, Ms. Winfrey told loyal viewers who might have voted differently than she did that she understands how disappointed them might be today. “I’m telling you, if this were not the outcome, I’d be doing this show from Northwestern Hospital with a drip today,” she joked. Wednesday’s show featured as guests political consultant David Gergen, Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., journalist Gloria Steinem, columnist Peggy Noonan and author Henry Louis Gates.

Obama Speech Scores 4.8 Mil Online Views in 24 Hours

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 06:10:03 GMT

Sen. Barack Obama’s acceptance speech after winning the presidential election last night had earned more than 4.8 million viral video views 24 hours after the clip began to circulate online, according to data from online video measurement service Visible Measures. That figure includes only viral clips of the speech on video-sharing sites and not the number of live streams from news sites. By 11 a.m. EST Nov. 5, Visible Measures had identified 100 unique video placements associated with Sen. Obama's speech accounting for more than 620,000 views. Those figures grew to 250 unique videos generating more than 4.8 million views and nearly 19,000 comments.

CNN, MSNBC Web Sites Most Popular on Election Day

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 00:35:48 GMT

CNN.com won the online news race on Election Day, ranking as the most visited Web site on Nov. 4 among all media and political sites, with MSNBC.com second, said online audience measurement firm Hitwise. CNN.com’s traffic rose 146% on Tuesday compared with Monday, while MSNBC.com’s traffic jumped 122%. The traffic on Twitter.com rose 43% on Election Day, while Yahoo News saw a 55% rise and Google News got a 58% bump.

78.6 Mil Watched Prime-Time Election Coverage

Anonymous — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 23:40:53 GMT

An estimated 78.58 million people watched prime-time coverage of the historic election on 14 broadcast and cable networks Tuesday night, according to final national averages from Nielsen Media Research. That’s a dramatic increase from the 59.17 million who watched Election Night on 10 networks in 2004. From 8 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., by which time President-elect Barack Obama had made his acceptance speech, an estimated average audience of 78.24 million watched the coverage. CNN was the most-watched of all measured cable and broadcast networks covering the election from 8 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. with an average 13.30 million viewers, a record for the 28-year-old cable news network. ABC, which was the most-watched of all the broadcast and cable networks in prime time, with an average 13.13 million total viewers, was second for the extended evening with an average 12.53 million viewers. NBC ranked third for the extended coverage with an average of 11.91 million viewers. Fourth was Spanish-language Telemundo, with a four-and-a-half-hour average of 8.47 million viewers. Fox News Channel averaged 8.06 million viewers, followed by CBS (7.49 million viewers), MSNBC (6.36 million), Fox Broadcasting (4.66 million), Spanish-language Univision (4.01 million), BET (547,000 viewers), CNBC (547,000), CNBC (415,000), BBC America (231,000), WGN America (163,000) and TVOne (110,000). From 11 p.m. to 1 a.m., which included the official call that Sen. Obama had amassed the requisite 270 electoral college votes to win the long race for the White House as well as Sen. John McCain’s concession speech as well as the Obama speech, CNN led the cable news race with 13.7 million total viewers, followed by MSNBC with 6.57 million viewers and Fox News Channel with 5.39 million viewers.