Taking over the Empire

Well, it looks like we all know who is Rupert Murdoch's favorite Son.

Lachlan Murdoch will become non-executive co-chairman of both entertainment company 21st Century Fox and publishing operation News Corp, sharing both roles with his father.

He rejoins the company after quitting as deputy chief operating officer nearly 10 years ago amid friction with other News Corp executives.

James, 41, will become Fox's co-chief operating officer alongside longtime Murdoch stalwart Chase Carey, the latest step in the younger son's comeback after he was forced to relinquish some roles during a phone hacking scandal in Britain.

"I think it underlines the fact that it remains a family dynasty in spite of being a listed company," media commentator and former Murdoch editor Roy Greenslade said in a telephone interview. "The two boys are being prepared to inherit."
Each son has at various times been seen as heir apparent, and it is unclear how well they will work together when Murdoch finally hands over the companies.

The Murdoch family controls both Fox and News Corp through a trust that has a 38 percent ownership stake of Class B shares with voting rights.

"If there is any surprise, perhaps it's bringing Lachlan back into Fox," Evercore analyst Alan Gould said in a telephone interview, referring to the movie studio and broadcaster split off last year from the News Corp media holdings. "I would assume it does set up a little bit of a bake-off as to who will ultimately succeed at Fox."

H/T HuffPo

WPIX Beefs Up Investigative Unit

WPIX (New York) today announced the formation of PIX11 Investigates, a unit dedicated to investigative journalism with a laser focus (whatever that means) on keeping our viewers and their families safe.

PIX11 Investigates will be spearheaded by Mary Murphy, Howard Thompson, his Help Me Howard series, and Arnold Diaz, who joins the PIX11 team on March 31.

Diaz is well known to New York viewers from decades of reporting for WCBS, WNYW and 20/20. The creator of the Shame on You and the Shame, Shame, Shame brands, Diaz regularly exposed wrongdoing and incompetence by private industry and government agencies. His work has led to his winning 48 Emmy Awards, the National Press Club Consumer Journalism Award and the Consumer Federation of America Media Service Award.

The station says that together under one umbrella, Murphy, Thompson and Diaz come together to create a powerful brand in PIX11 Investigates.

“Howard and Mary have built their reputations on helping right wrongs. Now with the addition of Arnold Diaz, who has a storied career as an investigative consumer reporter, we strengthen PIX11’s goal of keeping our viewers informed,” said Mark Effron, Vice President/News, PIX11.”

LA Station Finally Gets Around to Naming News Director

KTTV the Fox O&O in LA has finally gotten around to naming a new News Director.

The station named Bill Mondora VP/News Director.  

Mondora is a longtime CBS News staffer working at CBS Newspath.

He worked with Fox boss Dennis Swanson for years at CBS and now joins Swanson in the Fox family.

“I am excited to join Kevin and the talented team of journalists at FOX 11 News. I look forward to working together to create interactive, engaging and powerful news content for our viewers,” Mondora said in a statement.

He replaces Kingsley Smith who was pushed out of the station in October.

People think Comcast/TW Merger is a Bad Deal

It seems that most Americans think that the Comcast deal to buy up Time Warnner is not a good thing.

In a Reuters/Ipsos online poll, a majority of Americans are skeptical about the proposed merger of Comcast Corp and Time Warner Cable Inc, and they are not convinced the U.S. government is doing enough to prevent monopolies.

The poll found that 52 percent of those surveyed believed that mergers such as the Comcast-Time Warner Cable deal result in less competition and are bad for consumers, while 22 percent believe they allow cable and internet providers to be more efficient and provide better service to consumers.

The two rivals said last month they were planning a $45 billion combination that would have just under 30 percent of the U.S. pay television video market and a similar share of the high-speed Internet market. The deal is expected to draw close scrutiny from antitrust enforcers and communications regulators, as well as from members of the U.S. Congress.

"These types of mergers give people pause. They make them a little bit nervous about how it will affect them as consumers," Ipsos pollster Julia Clark said.

H/T HuffPo

Sometimes the Most Dramatic Video....

....is not shot by a News Photographer, but just someone with their cellphone.

Watch as this construction worker, working on the Houston Apartments,  is saved at the last second by Firefighters. At the end of the video you can see just how close this was to turning out really badly. 

Study: Viewers Tuning out Cable News

A new Pew study shows that people are not watching as much cable news.

Pew says that in 2013, the cable news audience, by nearly all measures, declined. The combined median prime-time viewership of the three major news channels—CNN, Fox News and MSNBC—dropped 11% to about 3 million, the smallest it has been since 2007. The Nielsen Media Research data show that the biggest decline came at MSNBC, which lost nearly a quarter (24%) of its prime-time audience. CNN, under new management, ended its fourth year in third place, with a 13% decline in prime time. Fox, while down 6%, still drew more viewers (1.75 million) than its two competitors combined (619,500 at MSNBC and 543,000 at CNN).

The daytime audience for cable news was more stable, holding flat at about 2 million viewers across the three news channels. CNN (up 12%) and Fox (up 2%) actually experienced growth here. That was counterbalanced by more deep loses at MSNBC (down 15.5%).

Sorry CNN, Fox News Topped Missing Plane Ratings

CNN would like you believe that their coverage of the missing Malaysian flight had propelled them to the top of the cable news ratings.

There is no doubt that the CNN's total smotherage of the missing plane gave them a ratings bump, but it is nowhere near what they would like you to think it is.

Fox News was still on top of the ratings during CNN's all in missing plane coverage.

From March 8th to the 24th, the time the flight went missing, Fox News beat CNN in prime time by 135% in total viewers.

Although the demos were closer, FNC also was past CNN in their coverage. See the chart below:

As FTVLive told you, many even some inside CNN questioned their wall to wall ignore all other news coverage of Flight 370.

Some expect as the news cycle returns to normal, that this overblown coverage could even end up hurting CNN in the long run. 

Time will tell.

CNN Staffers Tried 3 Times to get into WTC Site

Word is the two CNN staffers that were arrested yesterday for trying to make their way onto the World Trade Center site, tried three different times to get in before being arrested.

Two CNN journalists were arrested as they attempted to report on recent security lapses at the site, police said.

Reuters says that Yon Pomrenze, 35, and Connor Fieldman Boals, 26, first tried to talk their way in through the main gate to the center in lower Manhattan, much of which is still a construction site, according to the police account. One was holding a video camera, the other had a video camera strapped to his head.

Foiled, Boals then twice tried to climb over the perimeter fence. That did not work either.

A few minutes later, the men were attempting to force their way through an electronic gate about a block away when police arrested them.

The two men, identified as CNN producers, were filming a report on recent security breaches at the World Trade Center, a spokeswoman for the news network said.

Four men were arrested on Monday for organizing a late-night parachute jump from the top of One World Trade Center, the tallest structure in the United States, after sneaking through a hole in a fence in September.

And a 16-year-boy with a camera was arrested a few days earlier after evading capture by security staff at night and getting to the skyscraper's 104th floor.

On Tuesday afternoon, the two CNN producers had said to the officer at the main gate that if a 16-year-old was able to get in, then so should they, said Joseph Pentangelo, a spokesman for the Port Authority Police Department.

"He had enough sense to try it at 4 o'clock in the morning," he said of the 16-year-old. The CNN producers commenced their less successful attempt shortly after lunchtime on Tuesday.

"This is very wasteful of valuable law-enforcement time and energy," Pentagelo said.

The men were arrested on charges of criminal trespass, obstruction of governmental administration and disorderly conduct, police said.

Barbara Levin, a CNN spokeswoman, said in an email the two producers were on assignment but "were not asked to sneak onto the WTC site."

"They were in the surrounding area to do a story about the recent incidents at the WTC and other sites," she wrote, "and the notion that daredevils are being drawn to them."

I think They are Looking at you CNN....

Bad Ratings Sunk Boston News Director

Yesterday, FTVLive told you that WBZ in Boston had parted ways with News Director John Verrilli.

So why did the ND get kicked to the curb? 

"Bad ratings," said a station insider to the Boston Herald. WBZ newscasts were mired in last and next-to-last place.

General Manager Mark Lund met with staffers yesterday to break the news. Verrilli, who had been at ’BZ since 2009, will be replaced temporarily by assistant news director Sarah Burke until a permanent successor is named.

“We know ratings have been a challenge,” said one station snitch. “We have to get better.”

In the February ratings, WBZ was in third place in the 5, 6 and 7 p.m. newscasts, behind WCVB-TV (Ch. 5) at No. 1 and WHDH-TV (Ch. 7) at No. 2. The station’s 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. news were in last place behind Channel 5, Channel 7 and Fox 25. Numbers-wise, Ed Harding and Heather Unruh on Channel 5’s 6 p.m. newscast drew nearly twice as many viewers as Jack Williams and Lisa Hughes on ’BZ (211,000 to 119,000). At 11 p.m., Channel 5 had 153,000 viewers, compared with Channel 4’s 104,000.

Verrilli was well-liked and respected by the staff; however, he was hired by former station GM Ed Piette.

Going Drone

Despite the gray area with the FAA, it seems that TV stations can't get resist the urge to use or air footage taken by drones.

When the big dust storm hit Phoenix yesterday, KNXV got their hands on some drone video, shot by a vacationer in town and used it on the air. 

To be honest, the video didn't really show anything spectacular but hey it was shot with a DRONE!

Here's the raw video:

Ummmm.....

I think I know what the graphics department at KAMC (Lubbock, TX) was smoking when they made up this over the shoulder for the newscast.

We're pretty sure the graphic should have read "BOND Meeting." 

Kathie Lee Gifford Gets her Own Line of Wine

The Today Show's Kathie Lee Gifford is proving that drinking on the job can be a good thing. 

Gifford has now launched her own line of wine.

The wine is called "GIFFT," which — according to a press release, is based on "Kathie Lee Gifford’s last name and her belief that friendship, love and laughter are gifts to be cherished."

She added, "It’s well documented that I am a wine lover," which is the same thing as Barack Obama saying, "It's well documented that I am the President of the United States."

Kathie Lee and Hoda gave up wine for a month last year, but the two are now back to drinking the vino once again. 

H/T HuffPo

Two CNN Staffers Arrested for Trespassing at WTC Tower

Uh oh!

Two CNN employees were busted Tuesday afternoon while trying to sneak onto the World Trade Center site.

The New York Post reports that Connor Boals, 26, and Yon Pomrenze, 35, were nabbed at the gate to Ground Zero at Vesey and Washington streets, law-enforcement sources said.

“They were trying to prove a point. I guess they thought anybody could get in,” one source said. 

Both were charged with trespassing, obstructing governmental administration and disorderly conduct.

Thrill-seeking daredevils have repeatedly breached security at the world’s top terror target. Last week, a New Jersey teen was busted after climbing onto the Freedom Tower’s iconic spire, and on Monday, three men — including a former ironworker at the site — were charged with parachuting from the building in September.

Boals’ LinkedIn profile says he graduated from Columbia Journalism School in 2010 and has worked as a CNN producer since January.

Pomrenze’s LinkedIn profile says that he’s worked as a New York-based CNN producer since March 2012 after earlier working for NBC News in New York and Moscow.

CNN said the men weren’t at the site on orders from the cable network.

“We were just made aware of this and are actively looking into it,” a CNN spokesperson added.

Boston News Director is Out

WBZ News Director John Verrilli is out after 5 years at the CBS O&O.

Verrilli came to Boston from KDKA in Pittsburgh. 

He was also the Managing Editor at WCBS in New York from 2002 to 2004.

No word yet on a replacement. 

Nancy Grace wants you to Enjoy Porn with your Breakfast

You spend the morning getting ready for work, feeding the kids breakfast and you have Good Morning America on to catch you up on the latest news.

Thanks to Nancy Grace, you also got your morning porn discussion out of the way early. Although the rest of the GMA Anchors tried to ignore it, Grace was going to keep saying porn over and over again until someone would listen to her.