Brian Stelter, a media reporter for The Times, wrote this week's cover article about the struggle to save the "Today" show. His new book, "Top of the Morning," comes out tomorrow.
This article is adapted from your new book about morning television. Of all of the media reporting that you do, why did you choose to write a book on this in particular?
Morning shows set the television agenda for the day ahead, their advertising revenues basically subsidize the network news divisions that produce them and their attempts to balance news and entertainment are awfully hilarious to watch. Millions of Americans treat anchors like Matt Lauer and Robin Roberts like extended members of their families. But the shows haven't been subject to the same sort of scrutiny that network evening newscasts and cable news channels have. I saw an opening. As it turned out, "Top of the Morning" is really two books in one — the first is about the "Today" show, and the second is about "Good Morning America."
Why do the morning shows make such an enormous amount of money?
As the American television audience fractures into hundreds of pieces, the biggest pieces can charge advertisers a premium. That's what "Today" and "G.M.A." represent. Together they attract 10 million viewers every morning, including several million middle-aged women, precisely the demographic that morning advertisers will pay handsomely to talk to. They're not the only financial hope for NBC and ABC, but they're a bright spot in an otherwise bleak picture. Thus the "Today" show's fall to second place last year, after more than 16 years in first place, wasn't just a disappointment to the egos of NBC News — it was devastating.
You describe a somewhat troubling "boys' club" atmosphere at the "Today" show. How common is that at the networks?
It's more common than we'd like to think. I'm not aware of any bullying behavior at "G.M.A." or at other morning shows. But these shows are mostly run by men, even though there are a plethora of women behind the scenes. The chief executives of all the companies that own these shows (there are a dozen of them on broadcast and cable) are also men. In my reporting I was struck by something that Ann Curry said to her friends after being demoted. When TV critics said she lacked chemistry with Matt Lauer, she heard a euphemism being employed: she said "chemistry" is "an excuse generally used by men in positions of power to say, 'The woman doesn't work.'" And she rattled off historical examples, like CBS's pairing of Connie Chung and Dan Rather and ABC's pairing of Barbara Walters and Harry Reasoner.
I wondered if the effort to replace Curry on the "Today" show was called "Operation Bambi" because she was so new or because she was seen as doelike and not tough enough?
"Doelike" is a great way to put it. The concern was that demoting Curry would be akin to "killing Bambi," meaning that it would upset millions of her fans. Looking back, I think there's a consensus view, at least at NBC, that replacing Curry with Savannah Guthrie was the right thing to do, but that the people in charge went about it the wrong way. I personally wonder whether the alternative propounded by Steve Capus, the president of NBC News, was the right way. He wanted to wait until the end of the year before making any changes on the show, but he was overruled. We'll never know if that was the right way to go.
On the one hand, Curry was aggressively self-promotional. On the other, she was perhaps too emotional on television. But all the fan letters make it sound as if she had legions of supporters. Did they tend to be women?
That's right. Two-thirds of "Today" show viewers are women, and Curry was beloved by many of those women. Now, to be fair, others could barely stand her. But her fans punished "Today" for pushing her out — they turned the channel en masse the day after she signed off. Your point about Curry seeming too emotional is right on. Her overreactions were a turnoff to many women and men alike. For what it's worth, I don't think she was acting; unfortunately, the more emotional she was, the less sincere her emotions seemed to the viewers at home.
"Good Morning America" was always on in my house as a kid. What accounts for what the industry calls "the streak," when "Today" began defeating "G.M.A." in the ratings every week starting in late 1995?
Picture "Today" and "Good Morning America" as if they're children on a seesaw. Every time one goes up, the other goes down. The reasons are almost always the same: one competitor makes some smart choices (hiring a new host, focusing on crime or celebrity news, etc.) while the other screws up for one reason or another. In the mid-1990s, the perceived screw-ups by "G.M.A." were numerous and enormous — there were cast shake-ups, there were ABC managers who didn't know what they were doing and there were internal critics who were undermining the show, to name a few. Crucially, at the same time "G.M.A." was getting stale, "Today" was doing everything right. NBC was featuring a new street-level studio, it was giving viewers what they wanted (daily coverage of the O.J. Simpson trial, outdoor concerts) and it was playing up the popularity of its on-air family. Katie Couric was becoming America's Sweetheart. Matt Lauer was being named People magazine's "sexiest anchor." All of this gave "Today" a distinct advantage on the seesaw. But the choices made by "G.M.A." in 2011 — an emphasis on entertainment news, an ensemble of five co-hosts who genuinely liked one another — allowed it to get back on top after "Today" promoted and then demoted Ann Curry. The seesawing goes on and on.
If the networks are so concerned about what their audience thinks, why don't they just poll them? That way they could find out — for example — if Savannah Guthrie really is seen as "the replacement wife."
They do; NBC is actually the most data-driven of the three network news divisions. Executives bring up their focus groups and surveys in almost every private conversation I have with them. While some viewers rejected Guthrie after she replaced Curry, she wasn't grievously wounded the way some worried she would be. I think most viewers sensed that she hadn't set out to get Curry's job; in fact, she was downright reluctant to take the job when it was offered to her. The most recent data I've seen shows that Guthrie is well liked among people who know who she is — but many people barely recognize her, even nine months after her promotion. It's going to take a while before she's as well known as Lauer and Curry.
What do you think the odds are that "G.M.A" or "Today" would radically change the formula in pursuit of greater profits? Were any "nuclear" options discussed? Or will the tabloid approach remain?
Radical changes to "Today" and "G.M.A." are almost out of the question. Morning TV is all about consistency — that's partly why the only real morning innovation in the last few years has come from cable, specifically "Morning Joe" on MSNBC, which did away with some of the fake warm and fuzziness of the network shows. Lately CBS, the perennial also-ran of morning TV, has also tinkered with the formula, and what it has tried — hard news, intellectual interviews, very few viral videos or funny-looking animals — has shown some early signs of success. The network remains in third place though.
What has the reaction been like to your story so far? Have you heard from the networks?
When The Huffington Post asked NBC to comment on the article, the network responded, "We are focused on covering several major news stories this week and producing the best show we can for our viewers, not on year-old gossip." Smart answer, I thought. What they labeled "gossip" garnered a huge amount of attention on the Web, though, which I think gets to the core of the network's conundrum: it never really explained why Curry was removed or what Lauer's role was. Whenever there's an information vacuum, the Web will try to fill it.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
The 6th Floor Blog: Behind the Cover Story: Brian Stelter on the Drama at the ‘Today’ Show
Dengan url
http://koraninternetonline.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-6th-floor-blog-behind-cover-story_23.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
The 6th Floor Blog: Behind the Cover Story: Brian Stelter on the Drama at the ‘Today’ Show
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
The 6th Floor Blog: Behind the Cover Story: Brian Stelter on the Drama at the ‘Today’ Show
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar