Even Disney’s Bob Iger believed CBS was really getting into bed with CNN probably still does, pressures ABCnews.comers to be all they can be

By SDH With the web still abuzz about a possible CBS News, CNN join up, Disney CEO and Wall Street darling Bob Iger talks about why he had to pass on an ABC News, CNN join up. He says that CNN wanted an actual joint venture when all he was looking for was a news gathering agreement. The way it sounds is as if CNN wouldn’t budge on their stance at all. Iger does admit that the lack of a cable news partner puts ABC News at a disadvantage but, he isn’t looking to change that by acquiring one. Could these reasons be the same reasons why CBS News is now saying they weren’t in talks with CNN? Was CNN trying to muscle them into a joint venture as well?

CBS News: CNN, what CNN?

By SDH Someone either leaked info on the deal or CBS News really isn't thinking about using CNN for news content, because they are denying any back door talks with CNN. Reports popped up all over the internet yesterday following a New York Times article saying CBS was about to enter a partnership with CNN to use the cable news giant's news gathering services. The deal was supposedly being negotiated by CBS News Prexy Sean McManus and CNN International president Jim Walton. We think a deal was in the works but word got out too soon so McManus is playing it down now. "We are extremely satisfied with and proud of our newsgathering operation," a CBS News spokeswoman said Monday. "No outside arrangement is being negotiated."

Ted Turner still hurting over CNN, Doesn't want to be chummy with Rupert Murdoch, and thinks news networks are hiring too many chickens

By SDH Ted Turner the one time media mogul, who suffers from a rare case of foot in mouth disease, sat with PBS's Charlie Rose for a one on one where he spoke about his current rolls as Chairman of the United Nations Foundation and Restaurateur. Ted says he would love to see all nuclear weapons wiped off the face of the earth and more steps taken to produce cleaner energy. But what caught our ears the most was when Ted spoke about how angry he was when the AOL Time Warner deal went to hell. He also shared that Michael Milken, Liberty Media boss John Malone and two others he refused to name told him to support the deal thinking it would have been a huge success. But as it turns out they were wrong. Ted also spoke about his long time feud with News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch which was not too long ago put to rest over lunch at Ted Turner's restaurant, Ted's Montana Grill. But even though they buried the hatchet, he doesn't want to be too chummy with Rupert and is still wondering if he should invite him to his 70th birthday bash. Asked about what he thinks about CNN today and other news networks, Turner went into his usual shotgun mouth mode and said, CNN is too giddy and needs to be more serious because he believes news should be serious especially in these times. He is also not pleased with the networks letting quality journalists go in favor of eye candy, which he called chickens. When asked about the very opinionated Lou Dobbs, Turner basically said Dobb’s needs to shut up and just report the news. Turner says that Dobb’s has become too opinionated. He said if he was still running things at CNN he would put Dobbs in check, which he claimed to have done in the past when he was running things at CNN. Ted talked about how he almost bought CBS, ABC and NBC at some point but each of them slipped through his fingers. Ted sounds like he misses the media business and feels like he could do more. When asked by Rose if he would team up with Rupert Murdoch on a project, he didn’t brush it off. So is Ted Turner done with the media business? At almost 70 and all those major brands under his belt, it’s easy to say he is done. But with all his money and connections, we don’t see any reason to right him off just yet.

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

Dobbs Radio

-YOSH CNN's straight from the hip anchor, Lou Dobbs is taking it to the radio airwaves with a new 3 hour talk show syndicated by United Stations Radio Network. Funny, we always saw Lou as a satellite radio kinda guy. The new show is titled what else, but “The Lou Dobbs Show”, even though we think "Straight from the hip with Lou Dobbs" would have been a little catchier. “Lou Dobbs brings a true independent voice to Talk Radio, occupying the vital middle ground between the conservative and liberal voices that dominate much of the segment today, particularly as we move toward a critical election for our country,” said Nick Verbitsky, chairman and CEO for United Stations. “We look forward to stirring up the competitive mix in Talk Radio.” CNN's Lou Dobbs Breaking Into Radio [Mediaweek]

and now this morning's worthy media news mentions

-By YOSH Jeff Zucker to Las Vegas: The little big man at NBC Universal will yap it up at NATPE 2008. Overall, NATPE 2008 will focus on the convergence of programming, advertising and emerging media, with a theme of “Where Now Meets Next.” Why not throw in some dancing and singing postman while you're at it? The Royal Mail, the British postal service, which has been hit hard by the effects of the Internet, is trying to stimulate business by appealing to the senses. A new initiative, aimed at marketers who use the mail to reach potential consumers, encourages them to incorporate a scent, taste or sound in their snail mailings. You mean all those reports weren't their's? CNN Worldwide plans to increase its staff of correspondents by 10 percent as part of a major effort to increase its ability to produce its own reports. Fox News likes Giuliani for one reason and one reason only. He will go into Iran if he wins According to Regan's suit, "This smear campaign was necessary to advance News Corp.'s political agenda, which has long centered on protecting Rudy Giuliani's presidential ambitions." Does CBS have the smartest internet strategy? At the NewTeeVee conference, CBS Interactive president Quincy Smith demonstrated why he and CBS deserve to be viewed as having the smartest Internet strategy of the major TV networks.

Morning Wire: Someone told MTV and AOL that you care that much about music lyrics, and more in this morning's not so worthy media news

MTV and AOL wants to help you learn your favorite song by providing a new song lyric search service. where do they come up with this shit? [NYP] CNN in second life [NYP] Advertisers will do anything for attention, they are now turning their scopes on people with physical or mental disability via a website called disaboom.com. Soon they will find a way to communicate with your dog. [NYT] Tribune Co and Gannett Co Inc team up all in the name of revenue [Reuters] Martha Stewart living, continues to take Yahoo's left overs [Reuters]

Lou Dobbs is the shit

If Lou Dobbs were any more full of himself, the tub would overflow. In the autumn resplendence of his telecasting career, Dobbs's self-regard, never meek or slender, has ripened into the pompatus of love. I am Lou, hear me moo, in numbers too big to eschew. It isn't just that the ratings for CNN's starship enterprise Lou Dobbs Tonight have been climbing while those of other cable news shows are being intubated, but that his force of personality and power of persuasion have elevated him to the status of a major public-opinion shaper—a heavy-lumber political slugger. If he were a Robert Ludlum hero, this chapter of his life could be called "The Dobbs Supremacy." Sounds like a good candidate to be Jeff Bewkes's number two at TimeWarner don't ya think? Father Dobbs [VF]

Thank Cho Seung-Hui for your traffic spike

-NEIL YOSHIDA We were wondering how long it would have taken for someone to point out how others are benefiting from the Virginia Tech murders. Mediaweek's Mike Shields takes us through how traffic has picked up at major online news portals as the story unfolds. Why do we feel that somewhere at each of the major websites mentioned in Shields' article some sick individual is saying or has said, "If only we could get a story like this every month". But its not geometry, major events brings more traffic and/or newscast viewership. Category leader Yahoo News saw its audience swell 13 percent to more than 8 million uniques on Monday versus the previous week. Meanwhile, MSNBC.com and CNN.com experienced monster gains, as their unique audiences surged by 47 percent and 45 percent respectively. Each site continued to see its total user base grow on Tuesday as more details of the story emerged, with Yahoo and MSNBC’s unique audiences hitting 8.5 and 8.4 million uniques that day. Web Traffic Surges As Virginia Tech Story Unravels [Mediaweek]

Fox News riding dirty, the only way they know how

The gang at Fox News are getting dirty in the battle with rival CNN who's ass they usually kick in ratings anyway. But now King Rupe's network is taking shots at CNN personalities starting with CNN it boy Anderson Cooper, calling him of all things "the Paris Hilton of Television News" without the night vision sex tape of course....well we think. This is what happens when the bosses go on vacation while their network is in quicksand. But CNN isn't taking any blows from Fox without throwing some back. The ad also claims CNN has shelled out "tens of millions of dollars in advertising" to put Cooper on the map, "and he still gets beaten every night by 'On the Record With Greta Van Susteren' - the No. 1 show at 10 p.m." But don't expect CNN to take the insulting swipe sitting down. "They are preparing their answer to the Fox ad and you can expect something next week . . . It's war," a CNN insider told Page Six. A CNN flack called Fox's ad an "act of desperation because Greta's audience has been eroding and 'Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees' is getting closer. This is a sign they are starting to panic." The rep also denied CNN had spent tens of millions to hype Cooper, but wouldn't say what it has doled out. 'PARIS' TEASE FLUMMOXES CNN [NYP]

What do you do when your network is tanking in ratings? You go on vacation baby!

While CNN was crying out for help as it sank further into the ratings cesspool, CNN Prexy Jon Klein, CNN International Prexy Jim Walton and 98 other CNN execs went off on vacation to the Bahamas soaking up the sun while rivals stayed ahead of the ratings challenged network. Wonder if Dick and Jeff approved this? The FTVLive site says that while "CNN suits are partying it up," network lackeys back home are "trying to keep a lid" on the tropical trip. "CNN claims that they exceeded their financial budgets so instead of putting it back into the company and giving some much deserved raises, they decided to break their arms by patting themselves on the back," the Web site said. "[There are] a lot of unhappy people in Atlanta, especially those who didn't get to go on the trip," the site reports. "Sadly, we also hear that there will be people who won't be getting raises this year due to 'cutbacks.' Well, except for Anderson Cooper - he's the golden child." Cooper just signed a new contract for $4 million a year. SAD CNN SUITS FLEE TO TROPICS [NYP]

Yahoo! and Reuters desperate for news

Following in the desperate foot steps of CNN, Yahoo! and Reuters wants you to report news for them if you have a camera phone. Hoping to turn the millions of people with digital cameras and camera phones into photojournalists, Yahoo and Reuters are introducing a new effort to showcase photographs and video of news events submitted by the public. “There is an ongoing demand for interesting and iconic images,” said Chris Ahearn, the president of the Reuters media group. He said the agency had always bought newsworthy pictures from individuals and part-time contributors known as stringers. Have Camera Phone? Yahoo and Reuters Want You to Work for Their News Service [NYT]

CNN finally answers the question we all have been asking

CNN Prexy Jon Klein said that he feels confident that we will still be at war come the year 2014, killing the hopes and dreams of troops wanting to come home for good. CNN officials announced that they will be carrying the popular news show This Week At War through the 2014 season. "We're confident that we'll have at least eight full seasons worth of material for this property," said CNN President Jonathan Klein during the dedication of the new 11-story TWAW news headquarters in Kuwait City. "And believe me, we're going to be going in some surprising new directions. A premise like this can go on for a generation." The Bush Administration can relax now that CNN has confirmed what they have delayed doing. CNN Renews This Week At War For Next Eight Seasons [The Onion]

And In Closing: CNN, Big Radio, Small Fry

CNN Aiding terrorists? A Midwest hotel chain has pulled CNN from the TV channel lineup in its guest rooms, saying the cable network was aiding terrorism with the broadcast of a video showing Iraqi snipers shooting at U.S. troops. Wow and here we were all this time thinking the folks at CNN were just doing their job. Will Clear Channel lose it's mojo? Clear Channel is the biggest radio broadcaster in the nation. But when it goes private the company plans to sell off over 400 of it's 1,150 stations. Does this mean they lose their status having the biggest dick in radio broadcasting? It said the station sales are not contingent on closing its deal to be taken private in a $18.7 billion buyout by the Mays family and equity firms Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital Partners LLC. The scramble for hundreds of stations could bulk up smaller players and bring in new ones, leaving an industry of many players ready to compete for advertising as well as listeners. More heads may roll out at AOL With a new leader moving into the top job at AOL, we won't be shocked if more departures are announced at NBC Universal where AOL's new CEO Randy Falco is leaving. However the waves are already hitting shore at AOL. Blogger boss turned AOL exec Jason Calacanis has reportedly left or will leave because his mentor Jon Miller got the boot, or something like that.