Comments on: The End of Network News II

By: LJD

LJD — Tue, 07 Dec 2004 12:37:25 +0000

Good riddance... and when will Jennings quit? Stupid Canadian...
I was watching ABC news last night, it was my wife's turn to use the remote...
First the story about Pat Tillman, then stop-loss, then some other negative B.S. about our military.

It went well beyond news reporting. It became abundantly clear that his position is firmly against the war, but also against our men and women in uniform. How else do you explain the repeated attempts to smear them? We should deport his dumb ass. Oh yeah, too late.

By: bryan

bryan — Tue, 07 Dec 2004 00:26:12 +0000

Funny, if you look at it, all three networks still have huge chunks of programming devoted to "news." 60 Minutes II, 48 Hours, Nightline, 20/20, dateline ... maybe it's not the disappearance of network news, but the movement to the entertainment division.

By: Abstract Musings

Abstract Musings — Mon, 06 Dec 2004 19:00:41 +0000

End of the Road for the Nightly News?
Could the days of evening network news broadcasts be numbered? Outside The Beltway points to an article in the Miami Herald which makes a compelling case for the eventual demise of the nightly news.

By: Bithead

Bithead — Mon, 06 Dec 2004 16:27:08 +0000

I said this morning on my own Blog, regarding Brokaw...

When Tom Teriffic showed up, NBC was in last place among the big three... Mostly because of the pompous, overbearing, and unabashedly leftist John Chancellor. Brokaw did what he could to reverse the situation. As of last week, when he stepped aside to make room for the glorified traffic reporter from Elmira, NY.... (yes, I remember WENY, Brian...) NBC was in first place among the big three.

However...

Brokaw's real victory here was that he did a better job, in the end, of stemming the losses all three networks experienced through the period.

Are there any lessons that can be taken from this reletive posiitoning, I wonder, regarding the Demise of the Big Three, and the rise of such as Fox?

Perhaps a look at Brokaw's predecesor, the totally insufferable John Chancellor, can bring something to this discussion? If as I suppose, John Chancellor was responsible for NBC being in last place, what qualities did Browkaw have to turn that situation around?

By: Dave Schuler

Dave Schuler — Mon, 06 Dec 2004 15:42:26 +0000

This does look like the way things are going. But it does bring up an interesting follow-up: what will replace them? The networks are still required to provide a certain amount of “public service” programming aren't they? I guess it will be more news magazine programs like 20/20 and 60 Minutes. The problem, of course, is that both reality shows and news magazines seem to have seen their ratings peak already.