'Friday night's exclusive "Nightline" interview with former presidential candidate John Edwards, which rocked the media landscape earlier in the day, did little to boost the news program's ratings, although it was able to hold its audience against the Olympics opening ceremony on NBC. Friday's "Nightline" averaged a 2.6 household rating in the preliminary local people meter markets measured by Nielsen Media Research. That was on par with the previous week's household ratings. Also on par was the show's 1.2 rating in adults 25-54. But that in itself isn't a loss as "Nightline" managed to hold its own against the NBC Olympics juggernaut, not losing much in the way of audience as other shows did.' [THR]
Rielle Hunter, the confirmed mistress of John Edwards and lunatic web publisher, did not father the ex-senator's love child, if you're to believe his interview last night with ABC News (video). But Edwards is willing to take a paternity test, if only Hunter will participate, and share the results with the media. Know what? Hunter's sister Melissa thinks it'd be a good idea that Edwards take that test, which is a signal that at least part of the Hunter camp thinks — and is willing to say so publicly — Edwards is the father. (Worth nothing: Last month Extra reported that Hunter denied the Enquirer's allegations. Then again, Edwards was doing that up until two weeks ago.)
Edwards blames the whole thing on "narcissism" and on feeling "invincible." CONTINUED »
• Presidential candidates will expand their campaigns to include mass-advertising on websites and blogs.**
• Experts say there's no such thing as having a "face for radio" anymore; Rush Limbaugh disagrees.
• Dick Cheney will not be testifying the media circus shitshow that IS the Scooter Libby trial.
• If Nightline expands to a new hour-long format, it would thereby replace Jimmy Kimmer Live in the ABC line-up nobody watches.
• Government's "war on the press" is going about as well as the United States' war in Iraq.
• Diane Sawyer dons a head scarves and confronts the president of Iran, while Katie Couric anchors a news broadcast with a "gripping" report on mid-day napping.
**Related: Jossip would like to remind everyone of its fair, unbiased political coverage and excellent advertising rates.
It's not often we agree with Jon Friedman. Sure, we'd have plenty more mutual conclusions if he'd simply accede that most of his commentary falls flatter than Teri Hatcher — but while Marketwatch continues paying for his Media Web faux philippics, we doubt that's in our future.
So we have the revamped Nightline to thank for our rare agreement: ABC's post-Ted Koppel grouping of Terry Moran, Cynthia McFadden and Martin Bashir is more painful to watch than One Tree Hill. We're hating Jon-Jon for saying it, since it's really tarnishing our antipathetic track record with him.
It would have been nice to have a legitimate alternative to the procession of happy-talk celebrities on Letterman and Leno at that hour.
"Nightline Jr." loses me because so many of its segments have a jarring, end-of-the-world tone. The show would grab me if its chief goal was to tell fascinating stories — as Koppel's version did — and let them resonate on their own merits. But to make it on TV nowadays, a show has to hype its findings and claim to have Deep Meaning (whether its segments really do or not).
Keep in mind these statements come from the same man who not-so-slienty professed his love for bloggers (though not us), professed his love for Bob Woodward and professed his love for Chris Matthews.
So how would Friedman save the Nightline namesake? If you'll return to his October suggestion for a minute, it goes something like this: add more entertainment and sports segments. Martin Bashir is, after all, ready with tougher Q's than Billy Bush could ever muster.
And just when we were this close to giving Friedman a point on the scoreboard today.
(One final admission: We are just as curious as Friedman about Time Inc.'s firing of Time senior publicist Diana Pearson. Sure, the 104 other staffers may have been unnecessary, but it's Pearson who scored a year of mostly favorable coverage.)
Sadly, the new 'Nightline' is a failure [Jon Friedman, Marketwatch]
Related: Here's An Idea: Make news more irrelevant
Related: All Jon Friedman coverage
• Without Ted Koppel, the new Nightline looks more like 20/20. And without Barbara Walters, the new 20/20-esque Nightline looks like decoupage. [USA Today]
• Get Eliot Spitzer's heart medication. Not only is the radio industry engaging in payola tactics, but now the U.S. military is buying off Iraqi newspapers to publish favorable stories penned by American soldiers. [LAT]
• Brian William's nightly news lead continues to grow, thanks to all that viewer email he's responding to. [AP]
• At John Huey's super secret succession initiation at Time Inc., where Norm Pearlstine finally moves on out, guests were treated to hot water-revealing mugs of Huey's, ahem, mug. [Gawker]
• Since the U.S. is far too flooded with celebrity weeklies, they're now invading Canada. British tabloid Hello will set down across the northern border next August, where it'll hope to beat native Bonnie Fuller at her own game. [Toronto Star]
• Blogger Panopticist goes way too far with the half-assed satirical rumor of the New York Times buying Gawker. Way. Too. Far. [Panopticist]
• Obligatory note: NBC makes official Steve Capus' position as NBC News president, a role he's filled since September anyhow. [NYT]
• If you count Web visitors, newspaper circulation is doing just fine. Harper's circulation, meanwhile, still isn't. [E&P]
• Last night's Nightline – the first sans Ted Koppel – was live, Live, LIVE. [TVNewser]
• Turns out all those reports of gang rape, shooting at helicopters and carjackings during the Hurricane Katrina relief effort were peddled by none other than the Associated Press and other news outlets, even though there was nary a scent of confirmation. But rest assured, the blacks were still "looting" while the whites were "finding." [Reason]
• Yes, we get it: There's no such thing as off the record, especially in a room packed with journos. [Slate]
• Remember that obnoxious bar code-reading CueCat device? Yeah, it's back — but only in Germany, thankfully. [Wired]
• After giving Aaron Brown the shaft in order to put Anderson Cooper on his pink pedestal, CNN has yet to see its gray haired mascot pull in a ratings payoff. [Media Week]
• Matt Lauer and Katie Couric didn't bother to mention the Macy's Parade balloon accident even once during their coverage, thanks to entertainment producers who didn't see the incident worthy of coverage. So much for Matt and Katie maintaining their "hard news" edge. [NYDN]
• Paper magazine, not content with being a hipster bible in New York only, plans to show up in L.A. with a hackneyed public artsy performance project to generate some buzz. [WWD]
• Some editors actually stand by their writers when faced with job-jeopardizing criticism — and we'd like to meet them. Well, except for Brandon Holley. [Mediabistro]
• For its 1,000th cover, Rolling Stone is going 3-D. The plans are already in the works, even if the issue won't pop up till May 2006. And, of course, it was Jann Wenner's idea. [NYT]
• Valerie Plame manhunter Patrick Fitzgerald is calling Time magazine's Viveca Novak in front of a grand jury to talk about her conversations with Karl Rove's attorney Robert Luskin. This marks the second Time reporter Fitzgerald has summoned and the 198th time we fell asleep while reading a Fitzgerald-related article. [Reuters]
• Another Bazaar staffer leaves. Giggle. Said staffer immigrates to Vogue. Double giggle. [Page Six]
• Hearst's latest women's weekly Quick & Simple has been slow & lagging at the newsstand, selling just 70,000 to 80,000 copies a week. It's fun knowing we're beating Hearst in at least one category. [WWD]
• And lastly, the new Nightline debuts tonight, sans Ted Koppel. We know you're giddy to get your Martin Bashir on. [AP]
Ted Koppel is signing off from Nightline tonight with a tribute show — but not his own. After 25 years behind the ABC news desk, Ted waves goodbye by showcasing Morrie Schwartz, the Brandeis professor that let Ted's cameras follow him during the last year of his life battling Lou Gehrig's Disease.
And it's probably for the best. Back in 1980, when Ted came to us manning the Iran Contra beat, he courted viewers with his impersonal reports and has done so ever since. But in the era where Anderson Cooper's tears and Brian Williams' anger are what drives ratings, the days of Koppel are kaput — which leaves us wondering if we're better or worse off without him.
• Judith Miller is in talks with top brass at the New York Times over her future with the publisher — and options may include a severance package now that both Arthur Sulzberger Jr. and Bill Keller have reneged their support for their once-prized reporter. [WSJ]
• New York Daily News editorial director Martin Dunn expressed his fondness for his fading star gossipist: "Lloyd Grove is a fucking idiot. His page is stupid." We swear we weren't thinking the same thing. [Page Six]
• The merger between Village Voice and New Times will be most interesting because, of course, one is a union paper and the other is not. Oh, we forgot this: !! [NYP]
• Incoming Nightline exec producer James Goldston is bringing longtime correspondents John Donvan and Chris Bury on board (with hopes of Lisa Ling and CBS correspondent Byron Pitts as well) as part of a permanent four-person team, which has a collective goal of angering Ted Koppel enough that he rages in dualtone (at the very least). [NYO]
• Apparently, throwing together a host-less standardized radio format and then broadcasting the same thing in every city might end up sounding very "white." And the title "Jack" probably doesn't help. [Newsday]
• Doesn't anyone care that incoming CBS News head Sean McManus has exactly zero news experience? Anyone? [TVNewser]
Ted Koppel already has a departure date set for ABC's Nightline: November 22. And if you listen to the chattering classes, he's already got his next gig lined up .. at HBO.
The Time Warner company is said to have secured a multimillion dollar deal with the aging newsman that will end up as 14 hours of televised programming. Meanwhile, Koppel is also bringing over four producers from his expiring home, though Koppel's camp says they aren't signing any deals until their ABC contracts run up.
Which is just fine, as HBO execs might need another couple nights to think about what type of audience they're really going to bring in with his staid delivery. Why not use the cash for extra Bill Maher episodes? After all, Arianna Huffington could use more outlets.
HBO Tempts Ted [Page Six]
• Jane Pratt's been spotted at Time Inc. meeting with chief Norman Pearlstine, fueling rumors she's ready to put out that 35-and-up magazine she's been chatting about. Meanwhile, Brandon Holley takes a stab at explaining to Jane readers why her name isn't, in fact, Jane.
• Not even Maureen Dowd agrees with the New York Times' fee wall, TimesSelect. While the paper promised its start columnists would offer bonus content for those willing to pay, she's delivered nothing but her twice-weekly column.
• Chatting with Loud Dobbs, Judith Miller says Patrick Fitzgerald's "zealousness" and decision to detain her might be justified if he actually indicts everyone. Meanwhile, Lou is hanging on to his grudge.
• Mediabistro editor Liz Spiers is shopping around her first memoir via ICM but, whether it fetches four or six figures, her tenure at the media social club site sounds limited. At least she could get back at Lauren Weisberger.
• Oh, those pesky right-wing conspiracies and political jihads. Mary Mapes, who was at the center of last year's infamous Memogate scandal with Dan Rather, claims she was the victim of a group of "loosely knit Internet bloggers" who plotted her downfall. Not surprisingly, she's got a new book out in November.
• Those wacky folks at Fox News are now expanding into a gay dating service, at least for Condi Rice. In a truly bizarre interview with the Secretary of State, FNC's James Rosen suggested her hooking up with Lauren Green of Fox and Friends. No word yet on if Bill O'Reilly will make this a "talking points memo."
• Nightline blesses us with Ted Koppel's departure then reprimands us with a live from Times Square proposition? When will the torture end?
Editorial Director
