As you read this, the war is fading from memory and we’re back to mowing the lawn, enjoying a green April, and eating the leftover Peeps. With our national attention span as long as the average kindergartner’s, the troops have rolled through Baghdad and we, too, are moving on.But in the post-mortems on television coverage of the war, a scary little fact emerged. Scary, at least, to the traditional broadcast networks still clinging to the white male “dino-anchors” (and that would be all of them). In the battle for viewers during the war, cable conquered, and viewers tuned out the Big 3’s evening newscasts. Overall, CBS and ABC were down 10 percent, with NBC (the only one with a cable outlet, MSNBC) was up a bit. Cable? On some days, news networks were up by as much as 300 percent.
This wasn’t the case after the September 11 terrorist attacks. My take is that wall-to-wall coverage on cable, no matter whether it was CNN, Fox, MSNBC, or a remote-flipping sample of all of them, appealed to people who took in the war in small doses, or just when they were able to tune in for an update.
More than one media watcher calls it a “watershed moment” in terms of how we watch TV news. The question will be how many of them stick around, or go back to old habits.
The two American journalists who died in Iraq bring home the seriousness of reporting during wartime. In particular, the death of NBC’s David Bloom, who was coming into his own, was particularly sad. That loss was felt over on Billy Graham Parkway, where the network’s feed service, NBC Newschannel, is based. Charlotte-based freelance videographer Ross Bennett shared his thoughts about Bloom in an e-mail:
“I worked with David on many occasions, including seven weeks with him in Tallahassee, FL, covering the election for NBC, and also the 2002 Winter Olympics. He treated everyone with respect and dignity. I will never forget his smile and laughter before and after a live shot, regardless of how hard the story was. He would always offer to help carry my gear. I was on a five-day shoot when my soundman told me of his passing on that morning and I had a very hard time shooting the rest of the day. I will probably never work with someone who I admire more than David both on a personal and professional level.”
In a deal that makes sense in terms of sports “synergy,” WCCB-TV takes over the local Carolina Panthers TV contract until 2006. It makes sense because Panthers games are televised on the Fox network, WCCB’s network affiliation.The contract, last held by WSOC-TV, gives Fox Charlotte (they’ve dumped the channel 18 tag) four pre-season games, a pre-game/coach’s show, specials, and a weekly post-game show. Dollars for the deal aren’t being disclosed, but basically, the team pays WCCB for airtime, but keeps all the ad revenue.
As they did for WSOC, the Panthers’ in-house television production unit produces the shows. Though WCCB will possibly add a new sports set and cooperative coverage and material for the Sunday night post-game show, the rest is all coming out of Ericsson Stadium.
Greg Brannon, executive producer of TV broadcasting for the NFL team, told us, “This (contract) provides more opportunities for consistency, where all the shows are in one place.”
In addition to producing the Panthers’ shows, Brannon’s unit is responsible for the programming on Panthervision, the massive video screens inside the stadium. He’s helped by Mike Craft, who shoots and reports, and former WBTVer Charlie Frederick. As they say in the biz, the football shows are “turnkey,” in particular Panthers Huddle with John Fox, which goes out to 10 stations in the team’s coverage area. “There are few NFL teams who do all their TV production like we do,” Brannon adds.
LAST BUT LEAST BIN WSOC-TV moves on to the national contest, after winning a regional Edward R. Murrow Award for its spot news coverage of last December’s ice storm. . .Clay Aiken mania rages on for fans of American Idol. The UNCC student and Raleigh native is still in the hunt for the title. We’ve heard of viewing parties around town, but Fox still won’t grant an interview with the crooner until he loses. I know, because I’ve asked. Sad to say, looks like a Ruben win to me. . . A Charlotte actor we met in the Fall when the soap As the World Turns chose him for a bit part has a shot at the big time. Will Poston will be on the CBS Early Show on April 23: At UNC-Chapel Hill, we hope the navy-blazered sports braintrust will trot over to the PR faculty and offer their services as guest lecturers. How about a seminar on “Stupid Ways to Dump A Coach and Hire the One You Wanted All Along”? Roast crow and mashed potatoes a la Doherty will be served at the luncheon. . .Stay tuned. . .
Shannon’s media column runs every other week in CL. She’s an independent television producer and former news manager at WBTV. E-mail at Shannon.Reichley@cln.com.
This article appears in Apr 23-29, 2003.
