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Tell NBC: Progressive Shows ARE Needed
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Progressive Portal
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Nov 16, 2005 00:55 PST
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DONOHUE HAD MSNBC'S TOP-RATED PROGRAM WHEN CANCELLED FOR
BEING TOO LEFTISH. NBC CHIEF DOESN'T SEEM TO KNOW THAT.
[From Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting <http://www.fair.org>]
Appearing at a recent media conference, NBC Chairperson and CEO Bob
Wright offered a novel rationale for the exclusion of left-leaning
voices on cable news: Progressives don't watch TV.
During an interview with conservative MSNBC host Tucker Carlson, Wright
responded to a question about offering a left-leaning channel by saying
that progressives "don't listen to a lot of radio and they don't watch a
lot of television" (Broadcasting & Cable, 13 Nov 2005).
It is ironic that Wright would say this to Carlson: If there's one
program many viewers don't seem to want to watch, it is Tucker Carlson's
MSNBC show. In its first weeks on the air, Carlson's show was averaging
a mere 200,000 viewers (Washington Post, 30 July 2005).
Other MSNBC fare also seems unpopular. The channel's prime-time audience
in August was about 325,000 viewers (New York Times, 29 August 2005). So
if ratings are really what matter, one could argue that MSNBC's strategy
of veering right--with shows hosted by Carlson and former Republican
Congressmember Joe Scarborough--has clearly been a failure.
To the contrary, recent history suggests that MSNBC makes programming
decisions based on politics rather than audience share. Phil Donahue's
MSNBC show was cancelled even though it was the channel's highest-rated
program at the time, averaging more than 400,000 viewers when it was
cancelled (New York Times, 26 February 2003).
Internal MSNBC memos revealed that network management worried that
Donahue would be a "difficult public face for NBC in a time of war,"
because Donahue "seems to delight in presenting guests who are anti-war,
anti-Bush and skeptical of the Administration's motives" (FAIR Action
Alert, 7 Mar 2003).
The relative success of the Donahue show would seem to disprove Wright's
claim that liberals don't watch TV, or that viewers aren't interested in
hearing left-of-center views. It appears that NBC's corporate managers,
not the viewing public, are the people who aren't interested in such
perspectives.
Take Action
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Contact NBC CEO Bob Wright. Let him know whether you watch TV, and
whether you would watch a cable program hosted by a progressive:
Bob Wright
Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer
NBC Universal
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10012-0036
e-mail: bob.wright-AT-nbc.com (change "-AT-" to "@")
Phone: (212) 664-4444
More Information
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FAIR alert of 7 Mar 2003 describing internal memoranda about Phil
Donohue being a "difficult public face for NBC in a time of war":
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1631
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