After seeing the numbers from Tuesday night's election coverage we should all feel a bit vindicated. Seems ATA readers knew more about what viewers didn't want to see than CNN did. To put it bluntly all politics all the time failed CNN miserably. Here's TVNewsers chart:
So what did AC360 lead with on Wednesday night......of course politics. Tom Foreman crunched the numbers, Liz Cheney did the Republican spin and David Plouffe was in for the Dems. 
Tony Perkins and Evan Wolfson (Exec. Dir. Freedom to Marry) joined Anderson to talk about the defeat of same sex marriage in Maine. This one broke my heart for personal reasons. I've talked before of my aunt and her partner who have been together for over 40 years. They live in Maine and the whole family was hoping we would be attending their wedding in the near future. I haven't had the heart to call them today. I'm sure they are very, very disappointed. 
The State of California has issued a report detailing the failures that state agencies made in the Garrido case. There were repeated incidences of malfunctions in the GPS tracking device that Garrido wore with no follow up by parole officers, huge gaps in supervised time....some lasting as long as a year and a total failure rate in supervision of 90%. Federal authorities didn't have a good record of supervision either. Jeffrey Toobin and Lisa Bloom joined AC to discuss the legalities.
I swear when AC was teasing The Shot he came very, very close to saying boob job, but switched it to augmentation surgery at the last second. Here's the talk of Ms. California's boobs and sex tape and an animal video and giggles thrown in for good measure.
I have a couple of extras for you tonight. First this new picture of Anderson Julie found on Flickr and posted by nyunewsdoc. 
I'll leave you with Jon Stewart's astute, and funny as hell, observations on CNN and it's pundits. Have a great weekend everyone. ~Phebe
12 comments:
Anderson's interview with Liz Cheney was OK. It got better when Anderson started getting a little feisty with her. To me it seemed like she just rambled on and on and never really said anything. She talks way too much and yet really doesn't say anything.
Anderson's interview with Tony Perkins and Evan Wolfson was interesting. Tony Perkins gets on my nerves. He seems to take joy in the fact that people are being told who they can and can't marry. Everyone has the right to marry who ever they want to. I just don't see why Tony Perkins sees same sex marriage as such a bad thing. Two people of the same sex getting married isn't going to hurt anyone.
The shot was amusing and brought out the Andergiggles which is always a good thing. And that cat massage video Erica mentioned, I've seen it. I rented it from the library once. It was a weird video.
360 was OK last nite. It was certainly better than monday nite. That had to be one of the worst 360's ever. Hopefully tomorrow will be better than last nite. 360 just seems to have a politics addiction. The need to lay off politics for a while. Although I don't think anything even poor ratings will make CNN move away from politics.
Phebe: Jon nailed Campbell Brown tonite for something she said last nite. It will probably be on TVNewser tomorrow. As always...Jon's the man everyone is starting to get their news from. He's the only one who can make Candy Crowley look really stupid and that's hard!
In your ratings break down you only showed the demos. But TVNewser does show totals and CNN did not do well, but not as poorly as in the demographics. They were smashed by FOX in Totals and well, they deserved it.
Is it just me or does AC really really dislike Liz Cheney? I get the feeling he'd like to "eat her alive" if he could, but that's just my interpretation.
Again 360 had to dissect the election results, as though this was the first and only time anyone had analyzed it.
@judy, yes I know the 2+ were even worse, but those aren't the numbers that count....only the demos. Funny thing is that Cooper's 2+ numbers are less than what he used to do in the demo. They are probably already out of ad inventory to make up to advertisers the underdelivery and the numbers just keep getting worse.
I didn't pay much attention to the political news and panels because I didn't think there would be anything new in there. However, Randi Kaye's report about Garrido and the investigation into his life over the years was excellent. The panel with Toobin and Bloom was the best of the night, IMO.
The animal massage video made me wonder how much money that woman makes for instructing people how to pet their cat or dog. From the clip 360 showed, I've already known how since I was a little kid.
Jon Stewart was right; I've never liked too many pundits on a panel no matter what the topic.
Liz Cheney and Tony Perkins make for a nightmarish 360 - I just can't bring myself to listen to Liz Cheney, I find her completely disgusting and think her credentials are dubious, but she's great at spinning/lying. I hope her appearances on the show are few and far between. The same goes for Tony Perkins - the last gay rights/marriage discussion on 360 with Corey Johnson and Dan Savage was better - we already know what the homophobes think - I'd rather hear from people who are directly affected by these prejudicial decisions. Phebe, I'm sorry to hear that your aunt and her partner won't be able to marry in Maine - 40 years together is remarkable - there are plenty of straight couples who haven't been able to reach that milestone. It makes me sick that the ignorant and intolerant public is allowed to vote away other people's civil rights.
360's ratings have been horrible lately, but it all seems to be rolling off AC's back, he doesn't seem particularly affected by it - I hope he knows something we don't that is going to ultimately improve and turn the program around in the near future.
That woman in the cat/dog massage video was kind of creepy, but I did enjoy AC's giggle fit as usual.
Hello Phebe! Hello friends!
I miss the AC360, but this week I think I can only watch on Friday. Thankfully, there ATA to keep me informed on what has happened in the show.
Too bad! What were those numbers on Tuesday?
The staff of CNN needs to wake up to life! Lol ...
Hugs ... see you!
I was actually kind of interested in last night's show. There was more energy and an upbeat tone, and different guests. I enjoy watching people talk whose opinions differ from mine, if they're intelligent and articulate, and enthusiastic about their subject. The lively debate makes it exciting and thought-provoking. It's boring when everyone agrees. I sure wish 360 would scrap the taped interviews. They don't compare to the live dimension of Now. Anything can happen in a live interview.
Many of us up here, both straight and gay, were disappointed by the Question 1 results. I have many gay friends and I was crushed for them.
The only bright side - it was a close race (which I figured it would be, no matter which way it went). Hopefully next time (and there will be a next time) will be better. It blows my mind because Maine has such a history of a "live and let live" attitude. But the anti-gay camp ran such a twisted, scare-tactic campaign and did their best to convince everyone that "the gays are out to brainwash your kids". It was truly disgusting.
After looking at the voting breakdown, I can take some small comfort in knowing my town voted correctly!
I have been out of commission for awhile here on the Blog, but I see nothing has changed in several months.
Aries Moon – unbelievable – those were my exact sentiments while watching the program. When are these guys going to learn, one wonders?
This really sucks for the folks in Maine. This certainly is proving to be a tuff fight for folks in all States across the country wanting the same sex marriage laws changed. It makes one wonder if this will really happen in our lifetime. I’m usually a “glass half full” kind of guy, but this piece of legislation seems like it just can’t catch a break for whatever reason.
Judy – if Anderson really dislikes Liz Cheney that much, why have her on his Program. The Program does bare his Name – IMHO Anderson would certainly have some decision making capabilities as to whom he does and does not wish to have panel discussions with, don’t you think? I seriously don’t think Anderson would accept to being a puppet on his own show and not have the testicular fortitude to challenge decisions that are being made about his own Program. It irritates me to no end that he hasn’t taken a stand thus far. What the hell is he waiting for? Ugh!! This is absolutely bloody frustrating; it’s just beyond me what the hell is going on over there at CNN. Ugh!!!!!
I thought last night's 360 was better than the previous two night's. That said -- I could have done without Liz Cheney and Tony Perkins. I couldn't believe it when Liz said POTUS was raising taxes in an economic downturn. Did I miss a tax hike going through congress? Maybe if the tax cuts in the 90's hadn't been done and the unending spending (Iraq War) by her daddy's administration - we wouldn't be in this fiscal mess.
I feel bad that same sex marriage in Maine was defeated. (Didn't realize you aunt lived in Maine, Phebe. And congratulate her on 40 years for me.) I just hope that some day our country wakes up and equal rights are granted no matter what one's sexual orientation. I was a little off-put that Anderson asked the question if POTUS was responsible for the defeat. Must POTUS be blamed for everything these days? I did enjoy Evan Wolfson explaining how the politics of Maine plays out - and sounds like there is hope for the future.
I was hoping for more from AC's interview with David Plouffe. The editing was very obvious -- If they are going to do the "Big 360 Interview" segment, I wish it would be a double segment and not broken into pieces and edited down so much.
The grassroots movement Plouffe started is alive and well. I get tons of e-mails. In fact yesterday I had one form him. (And yes, I know it wasn't a personal e-mail, but it was personalized and a call for action.) The man does now how to "rally the troops" - Not sure AC liked it, but Plouffe was right when he said the OFA was very active on healthcare this summer / fall, but not in a way that drew TV coverage, because it wasn't screaming town halls, or tea party marches. I did a telephone hall with over 1,700 participants and got to ask my question. It was very informative. I've also been asked to rate potential TV spots for healthcare reform. They do know how to involved people in the process -- just not in a way that makes for good TV - no screaming & yelling!! I have contacted my congressman and senators more in the last 6 months than in the past 10 years!
Phebe, I'm not sure AC was going to say "boob job" but have a feeling he couldn't bring himself to say the word "breast" on TV and just went with augmentation. There was a definite pause there.
Whilte I didn't find the shot that funny -- I do love when the show ends with the Andergiggles. Just seems a good way to end the show.
Thanks for the post.
@Parker: That's just my point. I think he does have some say, and AC sometimes likes going after people he really dislikes and you can't help disliking Liz Cheney. It makes for good television.
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