Fox News shuffles daytime lineup; CNN makes changes
Both Fox and CNN announced schedule changes on Monday, Jan. 11, 2021. Both Fox and CNN announced lineup changes Monday, as is often the case for news organizations with a new president about to take power. For years, first with Shepard Smith and then with MacCallum, Fox has stressed news instead of opinion in that hour. In fact, Newsmax issued a statement that its improved daytime and 7 p.m. ratings since the election has triggered changes at Fox. Since the election, CNN has averaged 1.92 million viewers in those daytime hours, with Fox and MSNBC both at 1.53 million.
For media following Georgia, nail-biting and lots of numbers
As the hour slipped past 2 a.m. on the East Coast, Democrat Raphael Warnock beat Republican Kelly Loeffler. King and MSNBC's Kornacki dominated their networks with headache-inducing number crunching. Warnock and Ossoff jumped to early leads, but as more votes came in, the Republicans swung in front. After midnight, the Times judged both Warnock and Ossoff had a better than 95% chance of winning. Fox News spent less time on raw numbers to showcase their prime-time stars, Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham.
2020 indelible TV moments: Trebek, debate bluster and Floyd
Trebek made no secret of the fight with pancreatic cancer that claimed his life on Nov. 8. Here are a selection of the defining moments of 2020 from the perspective of The Associated Press' media and television writers. ALEX TREBEKThe “Jeopardy!” host made no secret of the fight with pancreatic cancer that ultimately claimed his life on Nov. 8. Millions of viewers will see the story resolved on their own time, creating countless individual moments rather than a communal one. The actors were conciliatory toward each other about what occurred during a marital separation, but Will Smith couldn’t resist revising his wife’s description.
After waiting game, media moves swiftly to call Biden winner
Because votes are counted state by state, verdicts by the media outlets' decision desks serve as the unofficial finish line for the presidential race. The closeness of the race in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, Nevada and North Carolina proved another challenge. “We just have to be certain before we call a winner in the presidential election,” said Sally Buzbee, executive editor and senior vice president of the AP. Heading into Saturday, CNN, CBS, NBC and ABC — which coordinate their vote counts and exit polls — had Biden at 253 electoral votes. All know that calling a presidential election wrong is a career-wrecker.
Networks cut away from Trump's White House address
NEW YORK – ABC, CBS and NBC all cut away from President Donald Trump on Thursday as he spoke from the White House to make an unfounded accusation that the presidential election was being stolen from him. Trump was more subdued Thursday, yet offered a litany of complaints about “suppression” polls, mail-in voting and fraud that he never specified. Cordes said there is no indication of a substantive number of illegal votes cast, and said Trump's reference to votes arriving late was “another falsehood.”MSNBC cut away from Trump to anchor Brian Williams. “There are no illegal votes that we know of, there has been no Trump victory that we know of.”After ABC ended its coverage, the network’s White House correspondent, Jonathan Karl, also said there was no evidence of illegal votes. But especially in this election.”While CNN kept Trump on the air, a chyron displayed under him said, “Without any evidence, Trump says he's being cheated.”Anchor Jake Tapper looked weary when it was over.
After tense night, election mystery remains for media
A man stops to watch election returns on electronic billboards in Times Square, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in New York. Cable and broadcast news divisions followed the story closely, even as they learned that election night coverage was a relative dud with viewers. An estimated 56.9 million people watched coverage over 21 networks during primetime hours Tuesday, down sharply from the 71.4 million viewers on election night 2016, the Nielsen company said. For weeks, media outlets had warned that Americans would need patience on election night and beyond, and that turned out to be their most accurate prediction. Even if Biden won the presidency, Democrats were sure to face questions about why the race was so close and why predicted gains in Congress didn't materialize.
Trump complains of roll call coverage; nets cut speech off
President Donald Trump points out into the audience after speaking during the first day of the 2020 Republican National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., Monday, Aug. 24, 2020. President Donald Trump complained about spotty coverage of the roll call vote that renominated him as the Republican candidate for president, and some television networks abandoned Trump's informal, 54-minute acceptance speech for aggressive fact-checking. Democrats turned the traditional roll call vote into a well-received television production, with delegates stationed in their home state or territory to proclaim allegiance to Joe Biden. Republicans had 336 delegates a fraction of the normal amount support Trump at the Charlotte Convention Center in North Carolina. Trump specifically complained about CNN and MSNBC, although he also grumbled that Fox News Channel had announcers talking over the vote.
Coronavirus upends conventions, changes TV coverage
LOS ANGELES The Democratic and Republican conventions will lack for crowds but not television coverage. The Democratic meeting will be virtual, with Biden planning to make his acceptance speech from Wilmington, Delaware. Broadcast networks ABC, CBS and NBC plan an hour of nightly coverage of the conventions at 10 p.m. EDT. CNN's commentators for the Democratic meeting include Van Jones, Jennifer Granholm, Andrew Yang, and Scott Jennings. Commentary for the Republican convention will be handled by Rick Santorum, David Urban, Amanda Carpenter and Granholm.
Florida man sets hospital bed on fire to get nurse’s attention, police say
NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. – A man who felt like he was being ignored set his hospital bed on fire while another patient was in the room in an attempt to get a nurse’s attention, according to the New Smyrna Beach Police Department. King’s roommate in the hospital explained to officials that he had seen King light a small object on fire, but convinced him to put out the flame, records show. The smoke is in the room,” the roommate told the nurses, records show. According to the hospital’s administrator, the bed was damaged beyond repair and a new one has to be ordered to replace it, which costs $4,000. King was originally admitted to the hospital for respiratory failure and admitted he had no intention of harming himself or anyone else, records show.