David Bohrman, CNN, ABC and NBC News veteran has been named president of Current TV, which is further proof that they want to be competitive with the cable news networks.  The news came only three days after Bohrman announced that he would be leaving CNN for a “fantastic new opportunity.”

Bohrman, one of the most innovative producers in news, moved to the West Coast this spring after taking on the role of Chief Innovation Officer at CNN.  Best known for his creative eye and his ability to make risks pay off – he was the driving force behind the first CNN/YouTube debate, hologram correspondents and John King’s “magic wall.”

Read the NY Times article by Brian Stetler who first predicted the news via Twitter here and the entire announcement from Current TV here.

WHC Insider News Media Brian Stetler, CNN, David Bohrman

Katie Thomson with Nicholas Kristof at Goldman Sachs Reception in NYC, September 2010

Katie Thomson, one of ABC News‘ top producers is named Senior Broadcast Producer for “Piers Morgan Tonight.” Here is an excerpt from the CNN press release:

Thomson joins CNN from ABC News where she spent 15 years working primarily with legendary journalist Barbara Walters, delivering and producing award-winning interviews for 20/20 and The Barbara Walters Specials.  She has produced interviews with the last four presidents, celebrities, and top newsmakers of the day including Barbara Walters’ interview with Monica Lewinsky which was seen by more than 70 million viewers and was the highest-rated news event ever broadcast by a single network.

“I’m thrilled Katie Thomson is joining the Piers Morgan Tonight team. She brings unmatched experience and leadership in the booking and producing of big-name interviews and she will be instrumental in helping lead a talented team of bookers and producers,” said Jonathan Wald, executive producer of Piers Morgan Tonight.

To read the full press release go here.

WHC Insider News Media ABC News, Barbara Walters, CNN, Katie Nelson Thomson, Piers Morgan

Piers Morgan with Sarah Brown (wife of former UK PM Gordon Brown) and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of the World Bank

WHC Insider’s Tammy Haddad for the Huffington Post:

Dear Piers,

Don’t listen to the critics. If Larry King had given a thought to the naysayers back in 1985, he would have returned to radio after the first week. When we launched the show 25 years ago, no one liked the idea of an hour-long interview program.

Ted Turner figured out the advantage of television for long-form interviews. I remember the night Ted was our guest on the Larry King Radio Show, broadcast from the bowels of Mutual Radio headquarters in Crystal City, Virginia.

It was such a thrill to finally score the bigger-than-life media mogul and winner of America’s Cup. At the time, Larry King was an established radio host, but Turner saw the primetime potential.

The producers’ biggest fear switching to TV? How to go from three-hour interviews (one hour interview, two hours questions from listeners) to just one. Imagine that concept now? Good interviews don’t happen by accident, but are a complicated dance between interviewer and subject. The best interviews are ones where the audience doesn’t see the individual dance steps, but a sweeping verbal theater. You are the lead, the director and choreographer. You get people talking from their head and their heart.

People don’t just want to hear what their favorite stars have to say; they want to watch them squirm, fidget, freeze… and yes, sometimes cry. In your first week, you have shown your star guests to be real and relatable, abrupt and self satisfied, and sometimes fragile. I learned something about each one.

Ignore the critics who are stuck on the fact that you’re taping the interviews. The additional research, the ability to pluck out the most interesting bits, to weave together the complete package, is invaluable. You’re right to put your viewer’s interests first.

And for those that think the interviews should be shorter: Ross Perot didn’t announce he was running for president on Larry King Live until about 35 minutes into the show — and he changed an election.

Piers, thanks for crossing “the pond” to get some really big stars and headline newsmakers back on TV with all their foibles and follies. We are watching, tweeting and laughing along with you and the critics.

Tammy Haddad is President of Haddad Media and was one of the creators and executive producer of Larry King Live, and MSNBC’s former Washington VP.

WHC Insider Uncategorized CNN, Larry King, Piers Morgan, Tammy Haddad

Howard Kurtz sheds the print skin at the Washington Post and joins up with Tina Brown’s The Daily Beast.

According to TV Newser, the long-time media columnist for the Post will become the Washingotn bureau chief for the online magazine built by the house of Brown and Barry Diller’s IAC. Kurtz will keep his show on CNN.

Kurtz has been the media reporter for the Post since 1990. He also famously updates on Facebook.

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The clock started clicking the minute Rick Sanchez said “I think Jon Stewart’s a bigot.”

During the remainder of his September 30th interview on Stand Up! with Pete Dominick went downhill. From there the accusations became how Jon Stewart’s targets (“Everybody else who’s not like him”) represent bigotry to the control of Jews running major media organizations like CNN.

[TheWrap provides a full transcript here.]

By Friday night, Sanchez was let go from the company with the briefest response possible:

Rick Sanchez is no longer with the company. We thank Rick for his years of service and we wish him well.

No apology or word of the interview remained on Sanchez’ Twitter, which now is likely abandoned as the 145+ thousand followers will forget they ever followed the anchor who made new media his entire shtick. In fact, CNN’s only discussion of the event came during Howard Kurtz’ Reliable Sources yesterday according to TVNewser.

Of course far be it from Kurtz to not dig the knife in deeper by leading into his segment first with The Daily Show’s Sanchez reel and then asking whether Sanchez should’ve been “suspended…or tazed?”

Smooth, Howie. Smooth.

But now it’s Monday, no word about what will happen to Rick’s Twitter, which commands 140+ thousand followers who don’t seem to be dropping off–even after Friday’s announcement. So what happens when an influential Twitter personality just stops? Does it make a sound?

John Lichman Correspondents, News Media CNN, Howard Kurtz, Jon Stewart, Pete Dominick, Rick Sanchez, The Daily Show, Twitter

Jon Klein knew he was doomed on a Wednesday.

In his first interview since being taken out from CNN with New York Magazine’s Daily Intel, the former CNN/U.S. president reveals the meeting couldn’t have been more brief:

On Wednesday afternoon, CNN Worldwide president Jim Walton, who was in New York visiting from Atlanta, called a meeting with Klein, but ominously didn’t tell him what it was about. When Klein arrived, Walton cursorily told him he was being removed, to be replaced by HLN chief Ken Jautz. It was a brief conversation.

“People get shot in our business. I got shot,” Klein said in a phone interview.

Going further, Klein seems just as shocked that he was let go before his Piers Morgan-Spitzer gambit could even start:

“I’m a big proponent of accountability. But I thought a judgment would come on three levels: one, quality; two, ratings; three, profitability.”
As for now, Klein’s taking it in stride and, as Intel informs us, will take in the Yankees game since he’s got a whole lot of nothing to do.

John Lichman Media Strategy, News, News Media CNN, Interview, Jon Klein, Media

CNN/U.S. President Jon Klein is ousted according to Fishbowl DC and will be internally replaced by HLN’s Ken Jautz. As Fishbowl notes, the departure is extremely odd since Klein’s brainchild is the upcoming Parker/Spitzer program and Piers Morgan takeover of Larry King’s slot.

The memo, via Fishbowl, below.

Read more…

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CNN has announced new details about its prime-time lineup. No surprise, but it’s official: Piers Morgan is taking over the “Larry King Live” time slot in January. The British TV host, known on this side of the pond as a judge on “America’s Got Talent,” will be based in New York.

Morgan’s new boss, CNN-US President Jon Klein, quoted on CNN.com: “Piers has made his name posing tough questions to public figures, holding them accountable for their words and deeds…He is able to look at all aspects of the news with style and humor with an occasional good laugh in the process.”

The show will air live on CNN-US at 9 p.m. ET and in more than 200 countries worldwide on CNN-International. While Morgan’s show has yet to be named, CNN revealed what the new 8 o’clock hour will be called: Parker Spitzer.

That would be Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Kathleen Parker and former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer. The show will premiere Monday, October 4. Check out the video announcement:

WHC Insider News Media CNN, Eliot Spitzer, Kathleen Parker, Larry King, Larry King Live, Parker Spitzer, Piers Morgan

The rumored hopeful was confirmed as headed to the cable news network according to The Wrap.  Jeff Gaspin, president of NBC Universal TV, confirmed the former host of America’s Got Talent joining the network during a press tour earlier today.

The rest of the details aren’t publicly available yet;  Gaspin gave a brief answer to Morgan having  dual duty at NBC and CNN (“Yes,” Gaspin  said.)

Read more…

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TVNewser confirms August 1st as the start date for Christiane Amanpour’s premiere at This Week, which sadly ousts Jake Tapper from the temporary position. Meanwhile, Rick Sanchez is being bumped up to 8 pm on July 22nd until the Fall premiere of the Untitled Eliot Spitzer/Kathleen Parker Show.

Read more…

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Monday turned out pretty well if your name is Money Magazine.

CNNMoney and the social networking/geo-tagging site Gowalla teamed up, according to Fishbowl NY, to correspond with the “100 Best Places To Live” feature in the current issue; users can sign up for specialty mobile alerts at both CNN Money and Gowalla.

In case you were wondering, yes, this does mean the heat wave has lifted in NYC and the Beltway is still trying to get out of the muggy malaise.

John Lichman Correspondents, News, News Media CNN, CNNMoney, Gowalla, Social Networking

Larry King announced on Tuesday that he will step away from his CNN chair in the fall after a remarkable 25 years on the air, earning the Guinness Book of World Records title for the longest running show with the same host in the same time slot on the same network.

“It’s time to hang up the nightly suspenders,” he told viewers, confirming what his Twitter followers learned just before showtime. As the host of the first-ever worldwide phone-in TV talk show, the breaking news reached the realm of new media as “Larry King” quickly became a trend in the social web.

While King, 76, will no longer be hosting his nightly program Larry King Live, he has signed a contract with CNN to do specials for the cable network. King hopes the new schedule will allow “more time for my wife and I to get to the kids’ Little League games.”

There will be plenty of time to head down memory lane; it’s estimated King has done about 50,000 interviews. Tammy Haddad, Larry King Live Executive Producer from 1985-1993, told NBC’s Today Show that King’s secret to success was that “people would get so comforable with him they would say things they didn’t plan on saying…he engaged them at such a level.”

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The months ahead are also sure to be full of speculation over who will fill King’s seat. Rumors hint at British talk show host Piers Morgan, but King disclosed on Tuesday’s broadcast that American Idol host Ryan Seacrest would be his choice.

WHC Insider News Media CNN, Larry King, Larry King Live, NBC, Piers Morgan, Ryan Seacrest, Tammy Haddad, Today Show

CNN may be celebrating its 30th anniversary, but that’s about all they have to be happy about these days.

According to the latest Nielsen Media Research, MSNBC beat CNN in primetime in the first half of 2010 among both total viewers and in the key adult demographic. MSNBC also beat CNN in primetime for second quarter of 2010. Year to date, MSNBC is on track to beat CNN for the second year in a row among Adults 25-54 and for the first time ever among total viewers.

MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” is pacing to beat CNN for the year for the first time since 2000 in its time period. Meanwhile, CNN’s “Larry King Live” and “Campbell Brown” had their worst quarters ever among both Adults 25-54 and total viewers. This was CNN’s worst performance in primetime in nine years, since 2Q 2001.

CNN isn’t the only one losing viewers these days. Turns out all three major broadcast network evening news programs were down in 2Q 2010 compared to the same period last year.

WHC Insider News Media 2010, 2Q, ABC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, NBC, Nielsen, Primetime, ratings

Roger Ailes

The verbal skirmishes between the White House and Fox News continue, despite last month’s “Fox Summit” between Obama’s Senior Adviser David Axelrod and Fox Chairman Roger Ailes, leading the NYT to offer: “But shots are still being fired, which animates the idea that both sides see benefits in the feud.”

The back and forth between the administration and Fox — reignited by White House Communications Director Anita Dunn’s suggestion that the cable channel was “a wing of the Republican Party” — has started a blogosphere discussion of CNN (Democrat) versus Fox (Republican) and lining up other networks and programs on one side or the other.

Click here for Michael Sherer’s Swampland from Time.

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Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore To Have High-Profile Company at Cabler’s Table

In addition to Kutcher and Moore, CNN will be bringing actors Val Kilmer, Kyra Sedgwick, Bradley Cooper and supermodel-turned-talk-show-host Tyra Banks. But anchor Wolf Blitzer has invited a local bold-faced name — Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

BTriplett WHCD 2009 Guests ashton kutcher, Bradley Cooper, CNN, Demi Moore, Janet Napolitano, Kyra Sedgwick, tyra banks, Val Kilmer