Salon.com > Media

Sean Hannity lost half his TV audience after the election

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 23:12:00 +0000

Conservative mouthpiece Sean Hannity lost about half of his TV audience in the weeks after the election while his colleague Bill O'Reilly's viewership only dropped by about a third, the Daily News reported:

The Daily News:

So what happened to Hannity?

The going wisdom is that viewers who basked in his preelection anti-Obama rhetoric tuned him out when they were stunned to wake up on Nov. 7 and discover that the President had won a second term — a scenario that Hannity had all but promised could never happen.

Before the election, Hannity was riding high in the ratings and topped thought leaders on the right, like Dick Morris, Ann Coulter, Peggy Noonan and talk radio bulldog Mark Levin, who predicted Obama would lose in a landslide.

Hannity performed even worse in the "money-demo" of viewers aged 25-54. More than half of them deserted his show.

CNN’s Piers Morgan considers self-deporting

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 16:31:00 +0000

Everyone from President Barack Obama to reality show host Donald Trump roundly mocked Mitt Romney for suggesting that immigration reform could be achieved if ndocumented immigrants would just self-deport. But Piers Morgan, the presumably documented immigrant who has a show on CNN, is considering self-deporting out for fear of America's lax gun laws.

After 20 children were killed with legally purchased guns in the Newtown massacre, Morgan must have questioned this country's laws. In response someone started a petition at the White House's "We the People" site demanding that Morgan be deported "for his effort to undermine the Bill of Rights and for exploiting his position as a national network television host to stage attacks against the rights of American citizens." In 10 days the petition has accumulated more than 96,000 signatures, far more than the 25,000 needed to guarantee a White House response.

Pundit: GOP should buy women’s magazines

Fri, 14 Dec 2012 16:59:00 +0000

In a New York Post editorial, Instapundit’s Glenn Harlan Reynolds has a simple reason for why Republicans performed poorly with “low-information” female voters: The party didn't make nice in the media. Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson threw $150 million at the campaign but Reynolds would like to see the money spent on a friendlier brand of propaganda than attack ads:

My suggestion: Buy some women’s magazines. No, really. Or at least some women’s Web sites…

For $150 million, you could buy or start a lot of women’s Web sites. And I’d hardly change a thing in the formula. The nine articles on sex, shopping and exercise could stay the same. The 10th would just be the reverse of what’s there now.

For the pro-Republican stuff, well, just visit the “Real Mitt Romney” page at snopes.com, or look up the time Mitt Romney rescued a 14-year-old kidnap victim, to see the kind of feel-good stories that could have been running. For the others, well, it would run articles on whether Bill Clinton should get a pass on his affairs, whether it’s right that the Obama White House pays women less than men, and reports on how the tax system punishes women.

Hugh Grant banned from “The Daily Show”

Fri, 14 Dec 2012 13:36:00 +0000

UPDATED 10:30 a.m. (EST):

In the same conversation, a fundraiser for the Montclair Film Festival, Stewart also dished on a few of his other least favorite guests, according to Baristanet:

Sen. Harry Reid, D.-Nev., was a perplexing guest because it seemed like he didn’t know his own autobiography or photos from his childhood home.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
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Hugh Grant was Jon Stewart’s “least favorite” guest on “The Daily Show” the host told a New Jersey Audience during a staged fireside chat with Stephen Colbert. Stewart said the British actor, who specializes in projecting bashful charm, was a terror backstage, and that Grant is banned for life. According to the New York Daily News:

"He's giving everyone s--- the whole time, and he's a big pain in the a--," Stewart said.

Grant stopped by to promote "Did You Hear About the Morgans?" but was apparently upset with the film clip provided by the movie’s publicist, reported TODAY.

"What is that clip? It's a terrible clip,” Grant allegedly said.

"Well, then make a better f------ movie,” Stewart replied.

Grant appeared on the show to plug “Morgans,” a fish out of water clunker about a big city couple moving to the sticks. Here’s the clip:

Walters to Christie: “You’re a little overweight”

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 20:36:00 +0000

Gov. Chris Christie thinks his weight is a non-issue when it comes to how well he can do his job.

"There are people who say you couldn't be president because you're so heavy," Barbara Walters said to Gov. Christie in a recent interview. "I mean, that's ridiculous," Christie told Walters. "I don't know what the basis for that is."

Barbara Walters' 2012 "Most Fascinating People" [ABC News]

Congressman’s son pleads guilty to assaulting girlfriend

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 20:24:00 +0000

Patrick Moran, son of Rep. Jim Moran, D.-Va., pleaded guilty to assaulting his girlfriend today.

The couple were fighting outside a bar just after 1 a.m. on Dec. 1 when "Moran allegedly slammed his girlfriend's head into the bar's metal trash can cage," according to Washington City Paper:

After the attack, police described Moran's girlfriend as "bleeding heavily from her nose and also observed that her nose and right eye were extremely swollen." One of the ambulance technicians who transported her to Howard University Hospital told police that Moran appeared to have broken her nose and given her a skull fracture under her right eye.

Moran was arrested for felony domestic violence assault, but pleaded the charge down to simple assault today. He was sentenced to probation.

Lena Dunham gets snippy with Gawker

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Last Friday, Gawker published "Girls" creator Lena Dunham's proposal for her $3.7 million book deal. The book, "Not That Kind of Girl," is pitched as a funny lady-advice book about life and relationships. The assumption is that whatever Dunham might lack in experience she makes up for in wit.

But last week Gawker got ahold of the proposal, publishing it and annotating 12 choice lines (one of which mentions that her "vegan dinner party" was featured in the New York Times) with a dose of snark. Dunham's lawyer asked Gawker to take the proposal down (and it did). But now Deadline reports that Dunham wants the 12 lines to be taken down, too.

Deadline notes that "this is hardball":

This is hardball: Harder represented himself to Gawker’s attorney as “litigation counsel for author and actress Lena Dunham [and] Lena Dunham has retained an attorney to demand that Gawker remove 12 quotes from her book propsal from our site,” an insider tells me. (I hear Random House isn’t bitching to Gawker, only Dunham.)

“Breaking Bad”: The Lifetime special

Fri, 07 Dec 2012 22:37:00 +0000

This clip at Entertainment Weekly splices Walter White's universe into a very different kind of family drama.

Enjoy:

Glenn Beck and Vince Vaughn’s showbiz purgatory!

Wed, 05 Dec 2012 20:10:00 +0000

At first glance, the Wednesday press release announcing the production of something called “Pursuit of the Truth” just sounds like another bad idea for a soon-to-fail reality show. An “Apprentice” or “American Idol”-style competition between documentary filmmakers! That’s almost as interesting (at least to the average TV viewer) as a show about orthodontists or paving contractors. But drill down just a little, and “Pursuit of the Truth” starts to seem a bit sad and desperate, and quite possibly a unique confluence of craziness. Yes, two of the most tarnished brands in show business – Glenn Beck and Vince Vaughn – are together at last.

CNN hires failed gimmick king

Thu, 29 Nov 2012 21:27:00 +0000

Who better for the job of turning around CNN than the man who took NBC from first to last? Jeff Zucker, the brain behind TV's "Joey," is going to be the new president of CNN Worldwide. The decision basically confirms that CNN, and Time Warner, have no clue what's "wrong" with their struggling channel, nor the first idea as to how to fix it.

It's been pointed out before that CNN doesn't actually need rescuing. The ratings at the flagship channel are atrocious, but the organization is profitable and its international arm is respected and successful. Departing CNN Worldwide executive Jim Walton was quite successful at making Time Warner money. Its primary problem is one of "embarrassment": the embarrassment that the clowns of Fox News and MSNBC are beating them in prime-time ratings, primarily, but also the embarrassment the very serious and good journalists of CNN feel regarding the shoddy product the bosses have been producing over the last few years. Zucker is theoretically capable of reversing the ratings trend, though I wouldn't hold my breath. But he's definitely never shown any ability or interest in producing less embarrassing programming. The man to rescue CNN from a loathsome charlatan like Piers Morgan is not the man who made Donald Trump a nationally recognized prime-time television clown.

McCain: GOP can’t attack reproductive rights

Sun, 25 Nov 2012 17:25:00 +0000

On the Sunday morning shows today, the phrase "Republican moderate" no longer seemed like a complete oxymoron.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told Chris Wallace of Fox News Sunday that the GOP has to push for immigration reform and offer the middle class a more positive message. He also distanced himself from the social conservative wing of the party, saying that someone like him has no business imposing his pro-life views on female voters:

Over on ABC's This Week, McCain's buddy Sen. Lindsey Graham, R.-S.C., said that as the so-called fiscal cliff approaches, he is backing away from conservative activist Grover Norquist’s steadfast opposition to raising government revenues. Couching his position in concern about crippling the military, Graham explained:

Rape is not a “fashion violation”

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 18:36:00 +0000

Tucked in the left column of Page 238 in the November 2012 issue of W Magazine (Collectors’ Edition) is a picture of fashion designer Anand Jon bookended by models scarcely clad in boas and sequins. The picture accompanies a blurb titled “Fashion Violations,” though the violations to which the blurb refers do not pertain to lipstick-stained teeth or the kind of clashing ensemble Joan Rivers prays for. Rather, it refers to the one count of rape, and 15 counts of sexual assault on girls as young as 14 that landed Jon a 59-year-to-life sentence in jail. And that’s just his punishment thus far. Jon has yet to stand trial in New York and Texas to face similar allegations.

Exec: NBC’s “Today” show making leadership change

Tue, 13 Nov 2012 13:51:00 +0000

NEW YORK (AP) -- NBC is changing the backstage leadership at its struggling "Today" show, which has consistently been behind ABC's "Good Morning America" in the ratings since replacing Ann Curry as an anchor this summer.

An NBC executive who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the plan is not finalized said Monday that Jim Bell will be replaced as the show's executive producer. Veteran NBC News executive Alexandra Wallace will oversee management of "Today" and a search is under way for Bell's successor.

NBC Sports said Bell will become executive producer of NBC's Olympics coverage, a role he took on this summer for the network's successful coverage of the London Olympics.

The "Today" show had a 17-year winning streak in the morning ratings, the last six under Bell's tutelage. But its ABC competitors made inroads this spring and after the decision was made in June to have Savannah Guthrie replace Curry as Matt Lauer's co-anchor, "Today" has fallen consistently behind in the ratings. The only exception was when NBC was in London for the Olympics, though "Today" recently has been closing the gap with "Good Morning America."

Must-see monologue

Thu, 08 Nov 2012 19:42:00 +0000

On MSNBC, Rachel Maddow hopes the GOP will return to the reality-based community:

Fox discovers constant lying isn’t consistently effective electoral strategy

Wed, 07 Nov 2012 21:05:00 +0000

On big news nights, when the sort of people who don't watch Fox News every night are more likely to turn it on, the channel nearly always puts its best face forward. The real crazies aren't invited. The idiots and most grotesque race-baiters and conspiracy theorists and worst hacks wait patiently until the next morning, when Fox & Friends resumes as scheduled with its usual audience of credulous and furious old white people.

So last night we got Megyn Kelly, Bret Baier, Brit Hume and Chris Wallace hosting a roster of oddly reasonable pundits and analysts, from Juan Williams to Karl Rove and Joe Trippi.

Of course all of those people are horrible and mendacious in their own special ways. But they're not Sean Hannity. That's the point. Dick Morris wasn't invited. Donald Trump didn't call in. Michael Barone was on hand, but of the people who got the election disastrously, hilariously wrong last night, he's probably the least clownish. Bill O'Reilly performed the night's most explicitly racial outburst, but O'Reilly has wholly reinvented himself for the Obama era as a Fox moderate. He's now the guy who says the president's not so bad, not even that extreme, just a bit too liberal for his taste.

Election Day media guide

Mon, 05 Nov 2012 14:52:00 +0000

NEW YORK (AP) -- The days of watching Election Night coverage on a single television set may soon be a quaint anachronism.

Americans have an array of alternatives for following returns on Tuesday night. Television news divisions are throwing everything they have into the story, and second-screen options are abounding.

People will be able to construct their own media experiences, seek out desired information instead of waiting for it, participate in conversations and hear analysis that reflects their own perspectives or none in particular.

Virtually all of the media organizations covering the election promise a huge amount of information available online, from interactive maps that display state-by-state results to data from exit polls.

It's expected to be a big night for social media, and news organizations say they will monitor the conversations and have their own journalists actively participate.

Don't forget show biz: NBC is turning the Rockefeller Center skating rink into a giant map of the United States to be filled in with results. ABC will make Times Square into a virtual studio, displaying results and coverage on huge video screens and having Josh Elliott prowl around gathering reactions.

The Romney boys’ election eve special

Mon, 05 Nov 2012 06:01:00 +0000

Enjoy:

The Romney Boys Election Eve Special! - watch more funny videos

Fox News assesses the data

Sun, 04 Nov 2012 23:16:00 +0000

In the face of polling data that seems to be favoring the reelection of President Barack Obama, professional poll-watchers on Fox News Sunday confronted the cognitive dissonance of three possible outcomes: 1) The polls are wrong, 2) Mitt Romney’s ground game will overcome the public opinion deficit, 3) Mitt Romney will lose.

After parsing the difference between national polls and state polls, Fox anchor Brit Hume concludes, “It’s hard to imagine as a political journalist that all these polls are off but the discrepancy is puzzling.”

Watch:

h/t Raw Story

Fox and the new jobs trutherism

Fri, 02 Nov 2012 14:46:00 +0000

Forget “cooking the books.” Fox has a found a more direct way to turn news of job growth into a bad thing for President Obama -- just insist it’s not true.

Last month, after a strong jobs report showed the unemployment rate dropping below 8 percent, conservatives at Fox and beyond convinced themselves that the Bureau of Labor Statistics was pulling some funny business to boost the president a month before the election. This morning, BLS released its new monthly report, and it’s more good news: The economy added 171,000 jobs in October, almost 50,000 more than economists expected, and the previous two months’ reports were revised upward to the tune of 84,000 additional jobs.

So did the patriots at Fox News let out a whoop that more Americans had found jobs last month? Nope. In the first hour after the report came out, they found every possible way to spin the news as bad for Obama and good for Mitt Romney. When announcing the numbers, the Fox personalities always focused not on the number of new jobs added, but the fact that the unemployment rate ticked up from 7.8 to 7.9 percent, mentioning the 171,000 new jobs almost as an afterthought.

Fox News is on Romney’s campaign team

Thu, 01 Nov 2012 16:38:00 +0000

This morning, GOP über-strategist Karl Rove predicted in his regular Wall Street Journal column that Mitt Romney will cruise to victory next week. “Sometime after the cock crows on the morning of Nov. 7, Mitt Romney will be declared America’s 45th president. Let’s call it 51%-48%, with Mr. Romney carrying at least 279 Electoral College votes, probably more,” Rove wrote. Rove echoed the sentiment last night in an appearance on Bill O’Reilly’s show on Fox News, another media enterprise owned by News Corp. and Rupert Murdoch. "This is a disaster for team Chicago," Rove said of some recent poll numbers, referring to Obama's headquarters.

What neither Fox nor the Wall Street Journal noted is that Rove has a clear horse in the race, and helped place a $135 million bet on that candidate -- Mitt Romney. His American Crossroads super PAC and nonprofit have spent that much on ads so far backing the GOP presidential contender, and plan to spend up to $300 million in total, including on other Republicans.