| ABC: Stupid is as Steppy Does
(Note: the AP text below is in the form of segments lifted from a larger piece, which was even worse than what we brought over. There is a limit to what we will subject our readers to.) Nightline', 'This Week' to Merge Staffs
By DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer NEW YORK - ABC News took a bold step Thursday toward reviving George
Stephanopoulos' struggling "This Week" by bringing the Sunday show under
the wing of "Nightline." Tom Bettag, executive producer of
"Nightline," OMED: We predicted the disaster a year ago, months before Steppy took the helm. We described exactly what was going to happen and why. (read it for yourself) As to this being a "bold step," that is a very revealing statemant. Not about This Week or ABC, but about the author of this piece of journalistic crap, AP Television Writer, David Bauder. It indicates either that he has no idea what drives news program ratings these days (which would tag him as a moron), or that he does know what drives news program ratings these days and is misleading his readers (which would tag him as a liar). We'll select the moron title for him, because the other one stinks of the record promotion payola of a few decades back, or the more recent analyst stock pumping scandal. Bauder is just a partisan leftist moron, and by definition unable to see the truth if it does not serve the purposes of his liberal massas. Bettag said he wanted to create a new show around Stephanopoulos, emphasizing more produced pieces over the panel discussions that dominate the Sunday morning format. Stephanopoulos' story this week about a day in the life of John Kerry's campaign was a template. OMED: You may read this as follows. Steppy's round table is chock full of pure partisan leftists who believe they are unbiased journalists. Since anybody old enough to be interested in the news knows that to be ridiculous, nobody old enough to be interested in the news bothers to watch the program. The only way to repair this fraud, and still do a competant job of misinforming the public, is to de-emphasize the roundtable leftist journalists and introduce campaign info-mercials for Democrat candidates. This is not to say that Bettag is aware of the above. It is quite likely that he actually believe his line of baloney. Another possibility is that he is lying because what he thinks is the truth is sort of insulting to a program audience. By this, I mean, what if he actually believes everything hangs on "star quality?" Most liberals believe that. They have long tried to find somebody with the "star quality" to compete with Rush Limbaugh. The reason they haven't been able to do it is simple. Limbaugh's success has nothing to do with "star quality." His success resides entirely in show content. Not his musical political parodies, which millions enjoy, but the actual factual content of the program. With rare exceptions, this content is the truth, and even when it isn't, it isn't a lie. It's just a mistake. All Limbaugh did was fill a need. There was a massive audience out there which for half a century had suffered the daily BS dished out by the networks, the New York Times and all their clones from sea to shining sea. The first time they heard somebody speak the truth to them, it was like the tolling of a perfect silver bell in crisp, clear country air. They flocked to him like trout to a Mayfly hatch. Liberals like those who run ABC and its news division cannot grasp what you just read. They don't believe there is such a thing as truth. You don't believe in the tooth fairy. They don't believe there is truth. "Even if it weren't having trouble, it's time to invent a new form," Bettag said. OMED: it is to laugh. Invent a new form? De-emphasize the round table chat and emphasize prepared features which are introduced by the host? Has anybody at ABC ever heard of 60 Minutes? Surely, they've heard of 20/20 (not the cheap fortified wine favored by bums, but the television program). After all, 20/20 is on ABC. No doubt, instead of investigating evil businesses which make a profit, and lionizing noble non-profit organizations which foster socialism, this "new" This Week format will investigate evil Republicans who support the idea of profits, and lionize noble Democrats who support non-profit organizations which foster socialism. Since it's cheaper to produce a round table
show than a magazine style show, I smell a rat, here. Perhaps its
initials are the last two letters in ABC. The show will be kept alive
as a promotional vehicle for the Democrats involved in the '04 election,
then allowed to slip away until it is needed in 2007.. I can see
the news release by Bettag.
With newsmagazines skewing toward celebrity coverage, Sunday is one of the few times television devotes to serious discussion of Washington issues, he said. Despite that, "I don't think any of the Sunday morning programs are as good as they could or should be in trying to give serious people information, well-delivered," he said. OMED: it is to laugh, again. Tim Russert's Meet the Press at its worst is head and shoulders above the junk Georgie dishes out on This Week -- a program that under the direction of its originator, David Brinkley, was a treasure. Thank the television deity for FOX's Tony Snow & Friends (ignoring Mara Liason and Juan Williams, neither of which has a clue). Without FOX's Sunday morning show, which is the real descendant of the Brinkley legacy, all would be lost in the Holy Morn. Stephanopoulos took over on "This Week" last fall and though ABC professes happiness in his progress, it hasn't shown up in the ratings. A long decline has continued, with "This Week" dropping below CBS' "Face the Nation" to third place for the first time since at least 1987. OMED: When you consider that Face the Nation host, Bob Schieffer, knows less about what is going on than Mara Liason and Juan Williams, this was an amazing accomplishment on Georgie's part. The staff merger will more than triple the amount of people available to work on "This Week." Bettag said he anticipated no layoffs. OMED: No additional ones, he means. ABC has made drastic internal cuts in recent times. We're talking 25% salary reductions running way up the executive ladder. There are also no plans for "Nightline" host Ted Koppel to work weekends, Bettag said, but it's possible he may make some contributions to "This Week." OMED: Put that one in the back of your noggin. Teddy damn near got canceled. He knows that the Sunday programs are the prestige programs. When Sam Donaldson didn't get This Week, he probably began to drool. When they gave it to Steppy, he must have needed anti-seizure medication The changes shouldn't be interpreted as putting Stephanopoulos on shaky ground. Bettag said ABC News viewed Stephanopoulos as a key to bringing a younger audience to the Sunday morning shows, where the viewers average 58 years old. OMED: Right there is the key to the very intellectual soul of ABC's entire executive structure. Right there is proof they have a combined IQ that by comparison makes a garden slug look like Einstein.. Never in the history of television has anybody made a more stupid statement than the one Bettag made, above. Most of you don't have marketing backgrounds, so won't understand this one very well, but here goes. You can't sell compressed air to a vacuum tube manufacturer. He wants less air in his tubes, not more. (The definition of the word "vacuum" is "not much air there.") Eagles don't walk much, Rhinos don't fly much and young humans aren't interested in the news much. Water does not run uphill, air does not move from low to high pressure areas, the content of coffee cans does not increase in weight over time, not one used car salesman has ever been named a saint by the Catholic Church, there never has been and never will be a ballet star by the name of LeRoy, and young humans aren't interested in the news. Steppy can no more attract a youthful audience to a Sunday news program than a lion can charm an impala. Nobody can attract a youthful audience to a Sunday news program. Youthful audiences are not interested in watching a Sunday news program. If ABC's management had an ounce of sense
between them, they would put someone on the program who would please the
hell out of 58 year olds! Frogs are the primary target for people
who want to eat frog legs, and adults past their physical prime are
the people most likelly to watch a news program. You'll find more
worms than mountain goats when you dig a hole in your yard and you'll find
more people in their fifties and sixties than people in their twenties
and thirties watching a god damned Sunday news show because that's
the way things are!!!
Get it?
"We see him as one of the bright stars on the horizon," Bettag said. "If you can help him get a dominant position on Sunday morning, he is in a position to be a journalistic leader for the next 30 years." OMED: I think that means they want him to take over the Evening News when Peter Jennings retires. God help us. © 2003 Oregon Magazine |
will
take over as behind-the-scenes chief of "This Week" and the two Washington-based
programs will merge their staffs, the network said.