Hurricane Coverage: Networks Insufficient While Social Media Amateurs Are Timely and Accurate

TV Newser has a survey on its site asking how its audience, made up mainly of media professionals, feels about coverage of Hurricane Irene.

Here are the results:

Yes. The media coverage was over-the-top and only driven by a desire for ratings.	39.45%
No. The media has a responsibility to prepare viewers for the worst.	31.25%
Sort of. The amount of coverage was warranted, but the dramatic live shots and foreboding graphics were too much.	27.81%
Other.	1.5%

I voted “sort of.”  I believe the amount of coverage was warranted and, judging by the number of people who have been flooded, lost power or had trees fall on their homes or cars, it was necessary to warn of the dangers.  The storm was huge and affected such a large part of the country so strongly that conveying information was an absolute necessity.

Further, the media was egged on in this case by public officials like New York City Mayor Bloomberg who was adamant about closing down the mass transit system and evacuating portions of the city.  Governor Christie of New Jersey acted likewise by closing the Garden State Parkway and ordering evacuations.  With that, the media was given license to go all out.

What was completely unnecessary was having reporters stationed on piers trying to hold their ground amidst the wind and flying sand.

Standing by the ocean proves nothing.  Any of us who have been to the beach know that when you’re next to the Atlantic, it’s windy.  That’s why we go to the beach.  The wind during a storm by the shore is by no means an indication of what’s happening a mile or more inland.

I saw a reporter (I can’t remember who) warning about flying objects.  When he picked up an item, he had to admit it was a piece of foam.  Folks, foam flies in the wind during an everyday thunderstorm.

I’m not saying the wind wasn’t fierce, but it was only bad at certain points for a couple of hours at a time.  With apologies to the families of the 44 people who lost their lives, this was not Armageddon.

Having watched a good deal of coverage on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and having listened to CNN, FOX and MSNBC throughout most of Sunday, I can say some networks were better than others.

Surprisingly, the Weather Channel, was not the best.  While this outlet is made for the type of disaster experienced, coverage was shoddy.  There wasn’t enough of an overview and there was too much concentration on one location or another at the expense of so many.  If you were looking for the big picture, the Weather Channel wasn’t the place to go, perhaps because they don’t have enough field reporters.

CNN and MSNBC (sister network of the Weather Channel which uses some of its feeds) were better.  While they did display maps with timelines and radar pictures, they also had people out there at various points and did an adequate “round robin.”  Still, they didn’t have enough people.  On MSNBC during the New York part of the storm, there was Mike Taibbi in Freeport, Peter Alexander at Battery Park in Manhattan and Al Roker on Long Beach.

No one was stationed on the North Shore, which was getting pounded, and no one was in the five boroughs or Connecticut.

And that’s where social media comes in.  I’ve heard it said and I agree that it was easier to get information about my hometown and my general area via Facebook and Twitter.  Individuals who were in those towns were giving minute-by-minute reports which proved to be accurate.  Some were posting pictures and a few posted video.

It may not be true that these amateurs had the resources of the professionals and they may not have the experience, but they were purveying news in the most timely manner and they were doing it without hype and embellishment.

I was skeptical, but I am now beginning to believe that we are seeing the future through the eye of Hurricane Irene and it does not look good for the major media outlets.  They will not be extinct, but unlike the storm, they will not be downplayed.

Celebrity Splits Reported this Week

It's been a big week for celebrity break-ups. Who will these stars snuggle up with during the storm? Reported to be breaking up are:

- Will and Jada Pinkett-Smith, though they're denying it.

- Minka Kelly and Derek Jeter. This news comes as she is about to star in the new Charlie's Angels series on ABC.

- Bruce Boxleitner and Melissa Gilbert, who have been married 16 years.

"We have loved each other for a very long time and we share four incredible sons together," said Gilbert in a statement issued in March when the pair announced they were separating.

Gilbert, 47, and Boxleitner, 61, have one biological son together, 15-year-old Michael for whom they are seeking joint custody. Gilbert has a son, Dakota, from her previous marriage to Bo Brinkman. Boxleitner has two from his marriage to Kathryn Oglivy, Sam and Lee.

Name of Katie Couric Talk Show Revealed

It shouldn't come as a surprise to any TV watchers that Katie Couric's upcoming talker will be called simply, Katie.

The program, promised as a mix of celebrities, issues and anything else that comes up, will premier in September 2012 on ABC stations across the country.

Sounds remarkably like the big talk show with a title to match the female host's first name that just left the airwaves. I wonder if Katie has a best friend named Gayle?

Gore on TV: Good or Gratuitous?

Does anyone else think there are too many shows on TV that revolve around grizzly dead bodies, especially as a percentage of all the primetime shows out there?  And do you think they’re getting more and more so?  I do.  A Rizzoli & Isles scene a couple of weeks ago prompted this post when Dr. Isles (Sasha Alexander) extracted a baby from a cadaver.

Here’s a list of all the dead body shows I can name.  (Please feel free to add any in the comments section.)

• CSI
• CSI: Miami
• CSI: New York
• NCIS
• NCIS Los Angeles
• Bones
• Rizzoli & Isles
• Castle
• Body of Proof
• Criminal Minds
• Dexter

Why are there so many and why do the discovery and autopsy scenes get more and more disgusting? 

Almost all of these shows follow a formula.  A group of normal people, many times children, are hiking in the woods, walking down the street or throwing something in the trash.  The music intensifies and here it comes.  A badly decomposed body jumps out or is revealed in shocking fashion.  Cut to the theme song, credits, back from commercial and a familiar team of detectives is combing through the muck.  For me, that’s when the good part starts, the deduction and sleuthing.

It’s my contention that producers are competing with each other for shock value because the gruesomeness has been ramped up in the past year or so.  There have been bodies in pizza ovens, eaten by worms, gnawed at by animals and left to decompose in the hot sun.

The question is how much of this sensationalist TV is gratuitous and how much is actually pertinent to the story.

Viewers mustn’t care too much because the ratings are strong and there have even been features in such respected publications as New York Magazine with the title, “The Ten Grossest Dead Bodies of the TV Season” (May 26, 2011),

And, an informal poll shows many viewers are unfazed by the gore.

“Some of the close-up scenes in NCIS can be a little gross but nothing to stop anyone from enjoying one of the better shows around,” says Archie Schiano.  He’s actually impressed with the way private parts are concealed with “judiciously positioned lighting that keep scenes quite decent.”

Don Sileo, a former member of SAG and Actor’s Equity, now a marketer, is also a fan.   He says, “Good writing and strong ensembles keeps me tuned in. I like the plots that are lifted from recent cases. The special effects are good for action, unless I'm eating.”

Joan Lohnes says, “They don’t scare me.  I’m a nurse!”

And, Dorrie Burke, who at one time spent a day at the Medical Examiner’s office as part of a job with the Department of Investigation, longed for a long ago HBO program called Autopsy: Confessions of a Medical Examiner (1994). 

“I was absolutely fascinated by it.  It was a documentary; real cases, evaluated by one-time New York City coroner Michael Baden.  At the time, I didn't find it gory at all.  It was such a unique view into an unseen world.” 

Burke did say that real life peek at the coroner’s office was off-putting.   “For a while I was afraid to eat, fearing food would block my windpipe after they showed us cross-section of a child's throat with a wedged lima bean.  Cause of death was choking.”

In case you’re interested, the producers of procedural shows, as they’re called, are spending millions to dress up mannequins and pay actors to play dead.  According to the Wall Street Journal, "NCIS" and "CSI" use dummies molded in the likeness of the actor playing the victim at a cost of about $7,800 each.  The paper says a typical crime drama is shot in eight days at a cost of about $2.5 million.

In some cases, actual people are used because as NCIS executive producer Mark Horowitz has said, “nothing looks more realistic than an actor playing dead.” 

I think it’s great that creative people are being put to work in these tough times to make dead bodies look more and more horrible.  And actors need to earn a living, too. I still think the practice could be toned down a bit.  In yet another recent episode of Rizzoli & Isles, Dr. Isles pulled a heart out of a body and sliced it in pieces to determine something or other.  PLEASE.  That was too much.

Jack Wagner and Heather Locklear Engaged

Soap fans will be interested to know that Jack Wagner, formerly of Melrose Place and General Hospital, is engaged to Melrose and Knots Landing actress Heather Locklear.  They are 51 and 50, respectively.

Locklear has a child with her ex-husband, Richie Sambora of Bon Jovi.

Wagner has two children with his ex, actress Kristina Wagner, his longtime co-star on GH.  They played husband and wife.   He is a semi-pro golfer who has also had a singing career.

Susan Lucci May Stay with All My Children

TV Guide is reporting that Susan Lucci will continue to play Erica Kane when All My Children starts its online run next year.

The show, one of the longest running programs on television, will leave the ABC airwaves on September 23rd.

Lucci, 64, is the last remaining original cast member.  She is a native New Yorker who has been traveling to the West Coast to tape her scenes on AMC.  Lucci's failure to bolt is a good sign that other actors will remain, though there is still a lot of speculation about that.  One star, Jacob Young, will be leaving and returning to his old soap, The Bold and the Beautiful on CBS.

In other news, a number of former cast members are returning to AMC for the final month, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Sarah Michelle Gellar, CSI: Miami star Eva La Rue (Maria Santos Grey), Josh Duhamel (the dearly departed Leo du Pres), Thorsten Kaye (Zach) and Cady McClain (Dixie).  They are back or soon will be.

The online version, backed by Prospect Park, will be available on the net beginning in early 2012. The company is also seeking a cable outlet for AMC and ABC's other outgoing soap, One Life to Live.

ABC is replacing All My Children with The Chew, a one-hour food/lifestyle program.  (Yuck!)

Storage Wars: I Don’t Get It

Storage Wars on A&E was the 12th most highly rated program on cable last week.  It regularly scores in the top 20.  I embarked on a mission this weekend to figure out why.  I’m still shrugging my shoulders. 

The show seems formulaic, dull, full of characters lacking couth and, worst of all, there doesn’t seem to be a pay-off.

Each installment starts with an auction of the unclaimed contents of someone’s completely filled storage locker.  The bidders can’t examine the material within; they can only scope it out from the door and decide in an instant if they’re going for it. They will bid blindly on hunches based on what they can see and whether those few visible items are a tip-off to what lies beneath.  I guess this is where the suspense comes in.

A completely incomprehensible auctioneer then takes bids from the few regulars gathered and a winner is declared.  Fortunately, there are graphics to let viewers in on what’s happening, because it really is difficult to follow.

Eventually, the program gets around to showing the winners as they explore what’s inside the locker to see if they got what they paid for, if they were completely taken, or if there was treasure within.  Did the winning bidder strike gold and find the Holy Grail amidst someone’s long forgotten junk?

The concept is promising, along the lines of Pawn Stars and Antiques Road Show, but it’s too seldom that there’s anything more than stuff.

And the people.  In one episode a couple, presumably husband and wife, bicker when he repeatedly allows her to be hit by falling debris, the piles of containers that tumble when the guy is sifting through the locker.  Later, he throws something that hits her accidentally.  When she complains, he tells her to tough it out and concentrate on finding something valuable.  Hence, the uncouth part.

It should come as no surprise that a reality show is littered with low-lifes, but I don’t get the mass appeal of this one.  There doesn’t seem to be one redeeming quality, at least not one that would make this program more popular than White Collar or Covert Affairs, for example.  I would understand if these lockers contained valuable objects and if the aforementioned hillbillies were making thousands upon thousands of dollars for their investment of hundreds, but that’s not the case. 

Storage Wars is just another train wreck waiting for a crowd to gather.  So far, the crowd is getting what it wants.

News on Three Cable Shows: In Plain Sight Cancelled

USA has renewed In Plain Sight with Mary McCormack for one final season of eight episodes that will air during the spring of 2012.  It will be cancelled after that.

TNT recently announced it is renewing the Timothy Hutton caper drama Leverage for a 15-episode fifth season.  The fourth season, airing now, is doing very well in the ratings.  The next season will air next summer.

Suits on USA, starring Gabriel Macht and Patrick Adams,  is also getting another pick-up after its current inaugural season.

Who are the Highest Paid TV Stars?

TV Guide released its annual salary survey this week.  Here is the 2011 list, which includes some performers who haven't even hit the airwaves in these roles yet:

Ashton Kutcher – $700,000 per episode (Two and a Half Men)
Jon Cryer – $600,000 per episode (Two and a Half Men)
Patrick Dempsey – $275,000 per episode (Grey’s Anatomy)
Kate Walsh – $275,000 per episode (Private Practice)
Johnny Galecki – $250,000 per episode (The Big Bang Theory)
Kaley Cuoco – $250,000 per episode (The Big Bang Theory)
Jim Parsons – $250,000 per episode (The Big Bang Theory)
Angus T. Jones – $225,000 per episode (Two and a Half Men)
Tim Allen- $225,000 per episode (Last Man Standing)
Kiefer Sutherland – $225,000 per episode (Touch)
Ted Danson – $225,000 per episode (CSI)
Tom Bergeron – $150,000 per episode (Dancing With The Stars)
Nick Cannon – $70,000 per episode (America's Got Talent)
Cat Deeley – $60,000 per episode (So You Think You Can Dance)
David Letterman – $28 million per year (Late Show with David Letterman)
Jay Leno – $25 million per year (Tonight Show)
Ryan Seacrest – $15 million per season (American Idol)
Anderson Cooper – $11 million per year (syndicated talk show and anchoring on CNN)
Jimmy Fallon – $5 million per year (Late Night with Jimmy Fallon)

Of the news/news talk types, Matt Lauer earns $17 million a year for the Today show, which is $4 million more than Brian Williams who anchors NBC's Nightly News broadcast.  Diane Sawyer makes $12 million from ABC, just a tad more than Bill O'Reilly's $10 million from Fox News Channel.  Keith Olbermann is getting $10 million a year and an equity stake in Current TV.

TV Guide reports that some TV news personalities are making less than their predecessors and even their own prior salaries.  It says after Katie Couric left the CBS Evening News, Scott Pelley started at under a third of her $15 million a year.  Regis Philbin is leaving Live! instead of taking a cut in his $15 million salary. And Piers Morgan is getting less than a third of what Larry King earned during his final year at CNN.

3 Interesting News Tidbits: Lopez Cancelled, J-Lo Back on 'Idol,' a Bachelorette Runner-Up Gets a Big Date

There were three TV-related news items in the past 30 minutes.

American Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe announced unofficially today that Jennifer Lopez will return to the program this fall, which is a big one with the competition coming from    On Ryan Seacrest's radio show this morning in LA, Lythgoe said, "I believe we're still waiting for the official announcement, but I am delighted to say that all three judges, along with the brilliant hot of American Idol, is back for the next season."  No word on how much money she's getting, but word is Steven Tyler is not too happy because he'll be making somewhat less.

TBS just announced that it's cancelling Lopez Tonight, the talk show with comedian George Lopez after two seasons.  Thursday is his last program.  Says the network:  "TBS has reached the difficult decision not to order a third season of Lopez Tonight. We are proud to have partnered with George Lopez, who is an immensely talented comedian and entertainer. TBS has valued its partnership with George and appreciates all of his work on behalf of the network, both on and off the air."

And, Perez Hilton is reporting that Jennifer Love Hewitt is dating Ben Flajnik, the runner up to JP Rosenbaum on the most recent installment of The Bachelorette.  According to Hilton, Love Hewitt flew to San Francisco this past weekend to have an intimate getaway with the 28-year-old winemaker. The two were spotted "making out" at a club called Lion's Pub. Apparently, she tweeted that he should call and he responded.

Jersey Shore Goes to Italy and Wins in the Ratings (With Apologies to Italy)

Italy's loss at having to host those reprehensible, appalling and dreadful cast members from the Jersey Shore has meant great ratings for the show and MTV.  I guess, in the end, the trip has been good publicity for Italian tourism, but what a negative image for the U.S.

Jersey Shore topped the cable ratings last week as Snooki, J-Wow and The Situation traveled to Florence.  Last week's numbers were good all around for reality shows and for cable, especially America's Got Talent, The Bachelorette and Big Brother.

Other winners for the week were repeats of NCIS (plain and LA) and the dramas on USA and TNT, including The Closer, Rizzoli & Isles, Royal Pains and Burn Notice.

One broadcast network drama with original summer programming is doing pretty well, Flashpoint on CBS.

In the network vs. network race, Fox was on top in the broadcast category among viewers 18-49, thanks to Hell’s Kitchen and Master Chef, which aired two episodes each.  With Falling Skies and other programs mentioned above, TNT is making quite an impression on cable. 

Primetime Broadcast Network Total Viewers, week ending August 7, 2011:

Rank	Program	Network	Day	Viewers (000)
1	America’s Got Talent	NBC	Tuesday	11,916
2	America’s Got Talent	NBC	Wednesday	9,963
3	The Bachelorette	ABC	Monday	9,752
4	NCIS (Repeat)	CBS	Tuesday	9,690
5	Bachelorette: After… Rose	ABC	Monday	9,313
6	60 Minutes (Repeat)	CBS	Sunday	8,864
7	NCIS: Los Angeles (Repeat)	CBS	Tuesday	8,134
8	Big Brother 13	CBS	Sunday	7,842
9	Big Brother 13	CBS	Thursday	7,425
10	Big Brother 13	CBS	Wednesday	6,897
11	Wipeout	ABC	Thursday	6,644
12	Wipeout	ABC	Tuesday	6,604
13	Flashpoint	CBS	Friday	6,333
14	Hell’s Kitchen	FOX	Tuesday	6,318
15	The Big Bang Theory	CBS	Thursday	6,303

Top 25 Basic cable shows, week ending August 7, 2011:

Rank	Program	Network	Day/Time	Viewers (000)
1	Jersey Shore Season 4	MTV	Thu, 10-11 pm	8,788
2	Phineas and Ferb Movie	DSNY	Fri, 8-9:30 pm	7,642
3	The Closer	TNT	Mon, 9-10 pm	6,553
4	Rizzoli & Isles	TNT	Mon, 10-11 pm	6,454
5	Falling Skies	TNT	Sun, 9-10 pm	5,703
6	Pawn Stars	HIST	Mon, 10-10:30 pm	5,654
7	Pawn Stars	HIST	Mon, 10:30-11 pm	5,593
8	Falling Skies	TNT	Sun, 10-10:58 pm	5,541
9	NASCAR Sprint Cup L	ESPN	Sun, 12:55-5:12 pm	5,485
10	Royal Pains	USA	Wed, 9-10 pm	5,642
11	Burn Notice	USA	Thu, 9-10 pm	5,211
12	Storage Wars	A&E	Wed, 10:30-11 pm	5,177
13	American Pickers	HIST	Mon, 9-10 pm	5,163
14	True Blood	HBOM	Sun, 9:30-10 pm	5,143
15	A.N.T. Farm	DSNY	Fri, 9:30-10 pm	4,929