60 Minutes Caught Again

CBS's 60 Minutes used to be the goldstone when it comes to Journalism, but the gold is starting to tarnish.

First it was Lara Logan (who is still of forced leave from 60 Minutes) and her  Benghazi report.

Now, the news magazine has been caught editing sounds into a story done by Scott Pelley.

CBS News claims editor made an "audio error" in dubbing the sound of a loud traditional car engine over footage of the much quieter Tesla electric car in a story that aired Sunday. As an electric car owner myself, I can tell you the car runs almost silent. 

A spokesperson for 60 Minutes said today that the loud car audio has been edited out of the online version of the story on Tesla founder Elon Musk. Anchor Scott Pelley reported the story, and CBS said he wasn't aware of the added audio ahead of time.

Gawker owned website Jalopnik.com caught the mistake and called CBS out. 

No word yet on the future of the editor that made the mistake. 

CNN Bottoms Out in Q1 Ratings

CNN might be riding the missing plane all the way to the bottom of the Indian Ocean and they might just find their first quarter ratings when they get to the bottom.

Despite their constant coverage of the missing Malaysian Airliner it's enough to save CNN from one of their worst quarterly primetime results ever.

Deadline says that between December 30, 2013 and March 28, 2014, the Jeff Zucker run cable news network pulled in an average of 498,000 total viewers between 8 PM and 11 PM and 169,000 among adults 25-54.

While CNN saw a slight 3% dip in the key news demo, it slid 16% in total viewers from from Q1 2013.

That viewership result slide tumbles CNN down to the third worst quarter it has ever had in total audience. Only the Q2 2012’s 446,000 and Q4 2013’s 474,000 were worst for network.

Ouch!

TMZ: Josh Elliot Took a Pay Cut to go to NBC

Josh Elliott was so disgusted with ABC ... he took a pay cut of more than a million dollars ... multiple sources connected with both ABC and NBC tell TMZ.

TMZ sources say ABC offered Josh between $4 and $5 million to stay, but he chose NBC despite the fact that they offered him just over $3 million.

It should be pointed out that FTVLive pegged Elliott's salary at GMA between $700-$800 thousand. It is correct that ABC offered in the $4 million range in a new deal, but if the $3 million number is correct it is still a big hike from what he was making. 

TMZ goes on to say that Elliott  was at the point of no return when Robin Roberts signed a $14 million a year contract to anchor GMA.  He felt slighted by the ABC offer and just wanted out.

Sources say the feeling is mutual.  As one source put it, "He's definitely an abrasive guy."  Another source says, "People hated him.  He was always just rude."

TMZ goes on to dish that just weeks ago Sr. VP of ABC News James Goldston confronted Amy Robach -- Josh's replacement on GMA -- and called her "toxic" because she created tension on the set.  Indeed, we're told Amy and Lara Spencer "hate" each other and can't hide their contempt.

Another source says Robin Roberts hasn't helped matters -- one person saying she acts like a "diva" on the set. 

As for Josh's future ... our network sources say NBC did NOT promise Josh any role on "Today," but we're told there's no doubt he's got to the top of the heap as the likely successor to Matt Lauer.

Morning TV ... it's just like grade school, only all the students are really rich.

The Money Honey Pulls a Good Number

Maria Bartiromo kicked off her Sunday morning talk show last week and she pulled a decent number.

The 10 AM ET debut of Fox News Channel‘sSunday Morning Futures With Maria Bartiromo pulled in 1.078 million viewers and 312,000 in the demo.

The Money Honey's show took the top spot in cable news, beating CNN‘s Fareed Zakaria GPS (643,000, 169,000) and MSNBC ‘s Melissa Harris-Perry (391,000, 168,000) combined in overall audience and nearly doing same in the demo. 

Sunday Morning Futures’ also helped FNC's lamest on air talent, Howard Kurtz and his MidaBuzz. 

Thanks to Bartiromo, Howie's show delivered its highest demo rating since debuting back in September with 353,000.

H/T Deadline

Lame Savannah Lame

Savannah Guthrie tried to pull off one of the oldest April Fools pranks there is. She took the cream out of Oreo cookies and filled it with toothpaste. The trick is about as old as dirt and when she tried to pull it on her Today Show co-anchors, it didn't work too well.

Here's the video:

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

No Joke

FTVLive looked at every April Fool's day as a chance to write up some goofy story and see how many people fell for it.

Since now it seems that every website does this and FTVLive's love of going against the grain, we will not be doing an April Fool's story Today. 

We thought about it, we really did.

We had a good story about CNN hiring George Zimmerman and putting him a flight simulator. But, we said no to the jokes, it has become so blasé.

So FTVLive is a Joke free zone on the Internet this year. And judging by what I have seen so far Today, we might be the only place on the web that is. 

So, Carry on.... 

CNN's Dark Place

Just when you think CNN's coverage of the missing plane can't get anymore insane, they seem to be able to push the insanity line just a bit further. 

During last night's missing plane wall to wall coverage, CNN's Tom Foreman had the lights turned out in the studio, to show viewers just how dark it is at the bottom of the Indian Ocean. 

We're guessing he could have just asked viewers to close their eyes, but this was much more "dramatic."

And while the power was shut off at CNN, the Twitterverse had a field day mocking the cable network.

You've Got No Mail

FTVLive told you about the layoffs that happened at CNN on Friday. Well, the Video Editors and the Producers weren't the only ones to catch the falling blade.

Word is that the mail room staff was also chopped from the budget.

The mail duties will be outsourced. 

Now that is NOT Funny!

Everyone likes to use Today to pull jokes on their friends, but every now and then, there is someone that goes just too far.

Today, that Someone is HLN's Jane Velez-Mitchell and he Tweet that Robin Meade is leaving HLN's Morning Express.

Robin Meade leaving wasn't a good enough joke for Velez-Mitchell. She had to come up with everyone's worst nightmare....Robin is being replaced by Nancy Grace. 

NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! Could you think of anything worse?!

Like we said, there is always one person that takes the joke too far. 

No Nancy you didn't fool me, but you did scare the hell out of me with the possibility. 

Ummmm....that looks a bit off (Update)

We get that Fox News is not a fan of the Affordable Healthcare Act, which of course they always refer to as Obamacare.

But when Fox News put up a graphic showing the latest enrollment numbers it seem more than a bit off:

Fair and balanced? Ummmmm....NO

Some folks of Twitter tried to help the FNC graphics department out:

Update: Fox News did correct the graphic in later reports.

It's Going to be a Hot one in LA Tomorrow

If you were watching KNBC in LA last night then you know Wednesday's weather in the Mountains is going to be crazy.

According to KNBC, Wednesday Mountain forecast shows that the low of the day will be 17 degrees, But I wouldn't bother wearing a jacket if I were you, because it is going to heat up to 434 degrees by the afternoon!

434 degrees?!

We would call the station's PR person Terri Hernandez Rosales for her comment on this very bold weather prediction, but.....you know. 

Not Again?! Thieves Rip Off Another San Francisco News Crew

Once again another news crew in San Francisco was robbed of their gear in Oakland.

Thieves broke into a KTVU news van parked in Oakland and stole camera equipment over the weekend, the latest in a spate of crimes targeting the media, authorities said.

SF Gate says that the theft happened after Reporter Katie Utehs and photojournalist Jacob Unger parked their van in a lot at 35th Avenue and East 12th Street in the Fruitvale District about 10:45 a.m. Sunday to cover an event, sources said. When they returned to the van, they found that someone had smashed the locks on the passenger side and stolen a LiveU portable camera-backpack system used for live broadcasting, a laptop computer, a tripod and other gear.

The episode is the latest in a spate of holdups or burglaries targeting the media in Oakland, some in the middle of the day. In one incident, a robber grabbed a camera during a live noon broadcast.

In response, several TV stations, including KPIX, KRON and KGO, have hired security guards to accompany reporters and camera operators in Oakland. Many of the guards are retired police officers.

KTVU does not automatically send security guards out with its crews, but employees who are concerned about their safety can request the escorts, several KTVU staffers said.

One employee who didn’t wish to be identified said “We are afraid,” in light of recent confrontations involving the media. “Our crews continue to be crime victims.”

Are you Joshing me?

From the it makes no sense department....

Page Six claims that Matt Lauer had better watch his back — sources say ambitious former “GMA” star Josh Elliott is after his job as host of “Today.”

“Now Josh is going to NBC Sports,” our source said. “He can’t work for the NBC News division for six months because of the non-compete terms of his ABC contract. But he is still pushing hard , aiming for Matt Lauer or Bob Costas’ job.”

FTVLive pointed out Yesterday that Elliott could be looking at the heir apparent to Bob Costas, but Matt Lauer's job?

GMA is number 1 and the Today Show is number 2, why would Elliott leave 1 to go to 2? The Page Six story is off the mark if you ask us. 

You just knew that when....

....Jenny McCarthy signed on to host The View, it was just a matter of time before she got naked on the show.

Let's go to the video:

FCC Says No to Joint Sales Agreements

It is a rule that will have an impact on a number of stations.

The FCC ruled by a 3-2 vote that TV broadcasters generally may not form new joint sales agreements in which one station sells 15% or more of the advertising time of another separately owned station in the same market.

Some broadcasters have been using JSAs exceeding 15%, usually in concert with shared services agreements, to operate second TV stations in markets where outright ownership is prohibited by agency rules.

Also under the new regulation, existing JSAs would generally be required to unwind within two years, unless the broadcasters involved can persuade the FCC that a particular arrangement genuinely serves the public interest.

The commission said the Media Bureau will consider waiver requests within 90 days of the closing of the record on the requests.

You can expect a lot of stations will be filing and requesting a waiver. 

Stay tuned....

H/T TVNewsCheck