ABC on CNN: Politics brings CNN and ABC News together

Either CNN Prexy Jon Klein had nothing for the 7-8pm time slot tonight, or he loved the New Hampshire debates that ABC News broadcasted so much he had to air it on his network. Dian Sawyer was even on CNN which was kinda weird. In an interview CNN's Jon Klein said that he believes the lines between media giants are slowly being erased and CNN airing ABC's content is just another step forward in the no barriers direction. Now we can start speculating about some kind of deal in the works and this is just a public test run, but we won't. Jon Klein spoke about how the whole thing came about saying, he called his good buddy David Westin, who is President of ABC News who was getting on a plane to head to New Hampshire and asked if he could re-air the New Hampshire debates and it was a go. Is this really where big media is headed? Will we see Jeff Bewkes calling Sumner Redstone asking if he can air Nickelodeon content on the Cartoon Network? Or Rupert Murdoch calling Jeff Zucker at NBC asking if he could air Mad Money on Fox Business Network? Ok so that’s a stretch. But is no barrier, media industry workable where media companies trade content? Sure media companies buy syndication licenses to air shows of other networks that are no longer on the air but that’s the norm. What was the agreement on the back end of CNN airing ABC's New Hampshire debates? Is ABC News getting a cut from Ad revenue or was it just an agreement between two friends, CNN's John Klein and ABC News's David Westin. -SDH

And now this morning's worth mentioning media business news

-YOSH Rupert Murdoch, is setting expectations high for his Sky News saying he wants it to be more like Fox News. that's easy all they have to do is spread the Republican agenda and talk up Rudy Giuliani [MG] That kid who runs the FCC, yeah Kevin Martin, is having a hard time getting his fellow FCCers to support his effort to regulate cable television companies more tightly. Good luck Kevo [NYT] ABC and Facebook now working together to bring you closely to politics. As if you would want to be soclose to that dirty thing. [NYT] Seriously though, why does Rupert Murdoch want to kill the WSJ.com paid wall when it brings in so much money every year? Whoever is in charge of ad sales will have to work their ass off even more to match offset that immediate loss of revenue. [Mediaweek]

is ABCnews pimping it's cancer stricken news anchor?

-ZOE S. According to TVNewser ABCnews.com is getting some extra online love thanks to Good Morning America's Robin Roberts who is battling cancer. We understand why people would be drawn to her story but do we really need to hear about how many people watched the video and how many people are visiting ABCnews.com to view it? Can't this woman just share her story without numbers being analyzed? it's not like it's being analyzed for the purpose of how many people care about her story. its being analyzed for the purpose of actual traffic to the site. Roberts' Story Sends Viewers to the Net [TVNewser]

Anchor not afraid to show his assiness

A public figure shoots off his mouth about a provocative subject, unleashing a lot of bad press and popular disapproval. He then realizes his mistake and the depth of public reaction to his comments, and an apology usually follows, preferably on camera. So far, par for the course.But how often do we see one of these loudmouthed characters render an apology while wearing donkey ears -- as if to say, "Yup, I behaved like an ass, and now I have the ears to prove it."Fernando Sánchez Dragó, an anchor with the Madrid-based TV station Telemadrid, now has the dubious distinction of being the first man to observe this unusual practice. He donned the donkey ears during his nightly news broadcast and apologized for comments made in a local newspaper called 20 Minutos (20 Minutes). MORE... In the interview, Sánchez Dragó was asked about his feelings about Madrid. Never one to miss an opportunity to be controversial, he responded by saying, "Spaniards are among the dirtiest people on earth and as for Madrileños (Madrid citizens), there's no need to say any more." Adding fuel to the fire, he continued: "And the immigrants are even worse. There are no Madrileños anymore. Now they are black, copper-colored, yellow ..." As news of his remarks filtered through Madrid -- 20 Minutos is distributed free every morning to commuters throughout the city -- events assumed a political overtone. The publication says they print 1,150,000 copies daily, and with editions in 14 different cities. This was perhaps inevitable, given that Sánchez Dragó works for a station that is owned by the Madrid government. Local elections are scheduled to take place in two months and Telemadrid is firmly behind the ruling, conservative Popular Party. Sánchez Dragó's comments could not have come at a better time for the opposition Socialist Party, which seized upon the issue. They declared the television anchor a xenophobe and said that he did not deserve to anchor a Madrid news telecast given his apparent disdain for the city's inhabitants. The opposition candidate, Miguel Sebastian, accused Sánchez Dragó of insulting his viewers and even went so far as to demand his resignation. As for the offended audience, they reacted with ... well, silence. No strangers to Sánchez Dragó's antics to whip up controversy, the audience chose to maintain a resolute silence over this latest salvo, letting the politicians talk instead. And talk they did, until Sánchez Dragó apologized, but not without causing more of a stir. The evening news began in the usual way, and the anchor rendered an apology for his remarks, denying charges of xenophobia. But then, all of a sudden, halfway through the show, he once again expressed his regret and out came the donkey ears. He did this, he said, "to show his feelings." When he was questioned later by ABCNEWS.com, he shrugged and said: "I give lots of interviews and tend to say the first thing that comes to my mind. I say things as I feel them. Even the donkey ears were something I thought of just five minutes before the show started." A colleague of Sánchez Dragó told ABCEWS.com that "nobody knew that he was going to do something like this" even though the anchorman has a reputation for courting controversy. Will his actions set off a new trend of "donkey-eared" apologies? Maybe ears are the new tears, and the ultimate word when it comes to regret? Or maybe Sánchez Dragó just wanted to keep people talking about him. Francisco Medina reported this story from Madrid. Copyright © 2007 ABC News Internet Ventures