Aaron Brown, who was removed from CNN to make room for Anderson Cooper in 2005, quietly ran out the remainder of his contract behind the scenes. Now that his tenure there is up, he's moving to PBS, and he gave New York his exit interview, where they asked: "Do you have psychic scars from CNN?"
Replied Brown: "Mostly I laugh about it. In my time there, they paid me to go away, they paid Connie Chung probably a lot to go away, they paid Paula Zahn to go away."
Funny, because Greta Van Susteren, who also left CNN, had an entirely different experience. She, in essence, paid them. CONTINUED »
Four More Years CNN prez Jonathan Klein has re-upped his contract for another four years. Klein started at CNN in December, 2004, and is best known for making stars out of Anderson Cooper and Wolf Blitzer. Also, he dropped Aaron Brown. [Hollywood Reporter]
Viewers may not watch the evening news, but they want it to be the evening news, because they get that it's different from a primetime news program or morning TV. They get it. When you're doing a newscast at 10 at night, you're competing not just with Greta — though God knows we were, and she beat us — you're also competing with ER and CSI and all those programs I don't know, as entertainment.
I think viewers see these [primetime] news programs as at least one part entertainment. If you are, as I am, kind of a dinosaur, old school anchorman, it's pretty tough to compete with that."
–Aaron Brown, a veteran anchor from CNN, opens up in an exclusive interview with TVNewser
Which means he's now free to get another job … and run his mouth. Which he's doing! Too bad it's not about CNN prez Jon Klein :(
• "Mother Nature" as Time's Person of the Year? First they change it from Man of the Year, now it's Whatever The Fuck Goes of the Year. [Reuters]
• Meanwhile, I Want Media is searching for its own "Media Person of the Year," so while we're bending categories, why not name MySpace.com? [I Want Media]
• Why you would ever be intersested in what's going on at CBS News behind the camera will forever confuse us, but thanks to these new things called blogs, every newsroom is your newsroom. [LAT]
• Friendster, having quickly lost out on the "cool social networking site" race, is looking to unload itself on an unsuspecting, deep pocketed mogul. [News.com]
• Desperate to stay relevant after his ouster at CNN, Aaron Brown says he'd gladly plop down in the anchor chairs at CBS or ABC, so long as they Febreeze Peter Jennings' old seat to get rid of that smokey smell. [Philadelphia Inquirer]
• It's actually quite comforting to see evidence that Donald Trump is as unpersonable as he appears, especially when it comes to the gays. [MSNBC]
• With 10 articles totaling 11,500 words, the Washington Post makes it clear: Nobody gives a fuck about Prince Charles and Lady Camilla. [Slate]
• New ads promoting Howard Stern's move to Sirius are, fittingly, not appropriate for radio or TV. [NYP]
• Celeb weeklies are in a sales funk? Say it isn't so — we need a reason to exist beyond the $2.99 price point. [NYP]
• Why did Aaron Brown's NewsNight suck so much, at least compared to Anderson Cooper? Not because of his talent but because of the shitty way the show was produced. So they say. [Radar]
• Six hybrid cabs have hit the streets of New York and, while they won't officially be unveiled until next week, try your hand on getting the only ride in a Ford Escape you can brag to your friends about. [NY1]
• Construction has begun on the World Trade Center site, and we mean more than a ribbon cutting. In fact, actual concrete has been poured. [NYT]
We're usually ignoring Don Imus because 1) He runs his mouth way too early in the morning; and 2) He runs his mouth way too often. But when he's harping on the very network that puts his Marlboro Man mug on the airwaves every A.M., we pay attention, especially when it's on topic.
Yesterday he had some wise words regarding the Anderson Cooper-Aaron Brown situation at CNN, which some might call a "snafu" while we refer to it as "gay rights in action."
Which means there will be, very soon, 'The Aaron Brown Report' here on MSNBC, because the MO for MSNBC is [that] anybody at either Fox or CNN who can't get it done, they hire 'em here, thinking I don't know what . . ." A television insider recently described MSNBC as "an elephants' graveyard."
Elephants' graveyard. Elephants in the room. Same difference.
Last Resort [Page Six]
The reverberations of Aaron Brown's ousting at CNN is still being felt through the network — but you already knew that. It's early, and we're struggling to write ledes here.
You also know CNN president Jonathan Klein got rid of Brown to make room for his new superstar Anderson Cooper. But let's not forget about Wolf Blitzer — and how can you when him and those TV screens practically take over your afternoon.
Mr. Klein said the moves were made chiefly to elevate the profiles of the two news figures whose popularity has been growing at CNN, Mr. Cooper and Mr. Blitzer.
"We want to expose Anderson and Wolf to more people," Mr. Klein said.
That is, three hours already dedicated to Wolf aren't exposure enough? We're just not sure how much more you can raise his profile without flicking on some of those video monitors to cover the two hottie blog reporters, but hey, CNN doesn't do sensationalization.
We don't have many details, but we do know this: Aaron Brown has been let go at CNN.
Make room for Anderson Cooper 360 24/7.
UPDATE: TVNewser has the memo from CNN prez Jon Klein.
Aaron Brown Is Leaving CNN; "He Will Be Missed;" Was He Forced Out? [TVNewser]
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