Michelle Caruso-Cabrera Named Chief International Correspondent by CNBC

CNBC announced today that Anchor and Reporter Michelle Caruso-Cabrera (no relation to this blog's author) has been named the business television network's Chief International Correspondent.

Here is her CNBC bio:

Michelle Caruso-Cabrera is an anchor and reporter for the network’s Business Day programming and is currently part of the "Power Lunch" (1-2PM ET) ensemble with Sue Herera and Tyler Mathisen.

Previously, Caruso-Cabrera was co-anchor of "Worldwide Exchange" (M-F, 4 a.m. - 6 a.m. ET), CNBC’s first global daily business news program utilizing the resources of CNBC, CNBC Europe and CNBC Asia. She was also the co-anchor of the second hour of CNBC’s "Morning Call" (M-F, 11am – 12 pm ET) and anchored CNBC’s "Wake Up Call" (M-F, 5 a.m. - 6 a.m. ET).

Caruso-Cabrera reported for NBC News from Baghdad, covering the elections and its impact on Iraq's post-war economy and has also traveled to Cuba, Brazil and Venezuela to report on and produce groundbreaking stories about the economies of those countries.

Caruso-Cabrera joined CNBC in 1998 from WTSP-TV in St. Petersburg, Fl., where she spent four years as a general assignment reporter. Prior to joining WTSP-TV, she was a special projects producer for Univision, where she won an Emmy Award for a five-part series on children with AIDS, as well as an Emmy nomination for a report on sexual abuse by clergymen. At Univision, she gained extensive experience covering Latin America. She began her career in 1991 as a stringer for The New York Times, reporting on education issues.

Caruso-Cabrera writes a personal finance column for Shape en Espanol focusing on issues of particular importance to Latinas. Previously, she was a monthly contributor to People en Espanol.

Caruso-Cabrera has also been awarded Broadcaster of the Year from the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and was named one of the "100 Most Influential Hispanics" in the country by Hispanic Business Magazine. She earned a bachelor's degree in economics from Wellesley College.

CBS Orders Full Season of 2 Broke Girls

Another day, another full season pick-up.  Today, CBS announced that 2 Broke Girls, which has done well in the ratings sandwiched between How I Met Your Mother and Two and Half Men, will get a full season run of up to 22 episodes.  The show, produced by Whitney Cummings, stars Beth Behrs and Kat Dennings as diner waitresses struggling to make it.

Erin Burnett's Homage to Mark Haines, her Former Co-Anchor

Erin Burnett's new show on CNN debuted yesterday.  Called OutFront and airing at 7 p.m. weekdays, it will be a news show designed for younger viewers.

Burnett ended her first show with a tribute to her old CNBC co-anchor, Mark Haines, who died unexpectedly last Spring.

Burnett has a lot of class to do so and she demonstrated that she's deserving of an anchor spot on her own high profile show.  Lots of luck to her and here's the video of her homage to Haines:

Station Breaks: Playboy Club Cancelled and More

The Playboy Club is gone.

NBC announced today that it was cancelling Playboy Club after three episodes.  Ratings were pretty low and the critics didn't like it either.  In its place, the network will present reruns of Prime Suspect until October 31st when Brian Williams' news magazine, Rock Center debuts.  NBC also  announced it is picking up Up All Night with Christina Applegate and Will Arnett and Whitney for the full season.

Fox boasted in a news release today that three of its new shows had the best week two retention stats.  Terra Nova, New Girl and the X-Factor kept 100%, 94% and 93% of their audiences, respectively.  That is pretty good.  Other new network shows maintaining their numbers from premiere week to week two are: Person of Interest (CBS, 87%), Unforgettable (CBS, 86%), A Gifted Man (CBS, 86%), Pan Am (ABC, 84%).

Interestingly, Playboy Club kept 81% of its viewers, which is considerably lower than 100%, but and just goes to show how unimportant that stat is if NBC already gave the show the ax.

Below is the list of last week's top 10 shows demonstrating that CBS had 20 of the 30 most watched programs with Two and a Half Men in the top spot.  On average, the networks had the following numbers: CBS, 12.2 million; ABC, 8.7 million; Fox, 7.4 million; NBC, 7.1 million and The CW, 1.8 million.

There are no new shows in the top 10 with viewers overall, but 2 Broke Girls, New Girl and X-Factor make the list in the 18-49 demographic:

1. Two and a Half Men, CBS, 20.5 million
2. NCIS, CBS, 19.5 million
3. Sunday Night Football, NBC, 18.9 million
4. 60 Minutes, CBS, 17.1 million
5. NCIS: Los Angeles, CBS, 16.3 million

6. Dancing With the Stars Monday, ABC, 16.2 million
7. The Big Bang Theory, CBS, 14.7 million
8. Dancing With the Stars Tuesday results show, ABC, 14.4 million
9. Mike & Molly, CBS, 13.9 million
10. Modern Family, ABC, 13.4 million


Here's the breakdown in the 18-to-49 age group:

1. Sunday Night Football, NBC
2. Two and a Half Men, CBS
3. Modern Family, ABC

4. The Big Bang Theory, CBS
5. Mike & Molly, CBS
6. 2 Broke Girls, CBS
7. (tie) How I Met Your Mother, CBS/New Girl, Fox
9. NCIS, CBS
10. The X Factor, Fox

Pan Am's Ratings Fall in Week Two

The ratings for ABC's new show, Pan Am, dropped considerably from week one to week two.  Last night's broadcast scored a 2.5 among adults 18-49, down 19% from last week's 3.1.  Desperate Housewives, the program's lead-in also dropped, but only 9%. 

Topping the network ratings for Sunday night was Sunday Night Football on NBC with a whopping 7.5 or 19 million viewers.  (The Ravens clobbered the Jets.)

Also doing well was the combination of Amazing Race and The Good Wife on CBS which were both delayed due to football.  They had 60 Minutes and Andy Rooney's farewell as a lead-in.

Fox had a bad night on Sunday.  The Simpsons followed by The Cleveland Show, Family Guy and the new addition, American Dad, lost 23%, 16%, 15% and 10% respectively from last week's premieres.

ABC & Yahoo Team Up to Deliver News

ABC News content will now be seen on the Yahoo! front page and on Yahoo! News.

According to both companies, the partnership is in response to a growing desire on the part of audiences for online news and information.  Ben Sherwood, ABC News president, said the two organizations haave a combined online audience of more than 100 million people in the U.S. and that that is the size of a typical audience for the Super Bowl.

Since Yahoo! News is the most visited news website in the world, ABC gains from the move. 

ABC said its journalists, like Katie Couric, Christina Amanpour and Barbara Walters, will create content directly for the Web and that some TV pieces will be repurposed for the Internet.

Couric was quoted by the Associated Press as saying, "it's an incredible opportunity to do extended interviews" and delve deeper into subjects without the constrains of "TV time."

The deal calls for both entities to work together to sell advertising. 

Yahoo! has strugged with advertising revenue in recent years with competition from Google and Facebook.

CBS Sitcom Gentleman has Laughs and a Message

David Hornsby and Kevin Dillon

How to Be a Gentleman, the new CBS sitcom, starts off with a bang, a big bang.  The network gave it the plum spot following The Big Bang Theory Thursdays at 8:30 p.m.

I hope that's enough because there's an important message delivered through the comedy in this one.

In Gentleman, our hero is Andrew Carlson (David Hornsby, also creator, executive producer ), a young, refined columnist for a men's magazine reeling from the break-up of his engagement.  Now,  his boss, played by Dave Foley (News Radio), informs him that the mag's new owners are lowering its demographic to the least common denominator - those who don't read.

Andrew, thin, pale yet well-dressed with niceness and distinction, is forced to conform and sets off on a mission to man up - or down.

In the first episode he meets up with an old classmate, gym owner Kevin Dillon (Entourage) who becomes a life coach for macho.

Andrew is also prodded by his sister, Janet (24's Mary Lynn Rajskub) who recalls her brother's childhood schoolyard victimizations to spur him to toughness.  (Her side story is a bit messed up.  She has a wimpy husband who follows her as she has a fun-filled dinner with a male co-worker.)

How to Be a Gentleman might not be the best thing since the Sheldon and Leonard crew of nerds arrived at CBS, but it has a solid cast, decent writing and a worthy premise.

For those who miss having their phone calls returned and actual RSVPs, it's validating, yet bittersweet, and hopefully entertaining.  Gentleman offers a chuckle while reminding us of the lost art of manners and decorum, both missing of late from reel and real life.