CNN President Fears Facebook More Than Fox News

[DToTheJ]

At a media summit in New York today, Jonathan Klein, who runs CNN, said that, while he wished his viewers would stick around longer than the average Fox News viewer, he admitted that there is one thing that concerns him more:

“The competition I’m really afraid of are social networking sites,” he said in a keynote interview at Bloomberg BusinessWeek’s Media Summit New York. They provide “an alternative that threatens to pull people away from us.” After all, Facebook friends and Twitter members are “trusted news sources,” Klein explained.
Full story:
http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/03/1...orry-about-facebook-and-twitter-instead/44523

 

[azumanga]

“...Facebook friends and Twitter members are “trusted news sources,” Klein explained.

I believe that the same way I believe that Wikipedia is a more-trusting authority of knowledge that Britannica or The World Book Encyclopedia -- the info is only as good as its source.

 

[JeeperOne]

I believe this piece of TRIPE like I would believe news that NBC overtook CBS in the daytime, primetime & latenight hours & ABC all day & night.

In fact, the way NBC is going down the toilet, one might be able to throw Fox, The CW & MyNetwork into that mix as well. *LOL!*

If NBC begins to have problems keeping themselves afloat with only ION below them, Comcast may as well put a fork in the network.

Just my opinion.....

Cheers

 

[searadiofreak]

I wouldn't discount Facebook. I didn't get it either until my station built a fan page. Now, we get more comments, more feedback, etc. than phone calls and email combined. This is for real, atleast until the next big thing comes along. The definition of "news" and how one gets it is undergoing a huge transformation here in 2010.

 

[DToTheJ]

I'd be curious to know if your station has/had a Myspace page and whether or not that had as much activity as the aforementioned "fan page" on Facebook does now. Obviously, Facebook is the new Myspace. These days, Myspace would be grateful to be mentioned alongside references to Facebook and Twitter in many instances... like, the story linked in the original post on this thread, for example...

 

[FreddyE1977]

I will say that I know more than a few young people in their early 20's who have moved out
of Mom and Dad's house, and into new digs where they do not even own a television!

So long as they have their laptop and high-speed internet access, they seem perfectly content
that they are able to find all of the entertainment they need.

I guess Mr. Spock was correct when he spoke in that one episode of Star Trek.
"I believe you are referrring to television. That particular form of entertainment did not
survive much beyond the start of the 21st. century".

 

[KeithE4]

I will say that I know more than a few young people in their early 20's who have moved out
of Mom and Dad's house, and into new digs where they do not even own a television!

So long as they have their laptop and high-speed internet access, they seem perfectly content
that they are able to find all of the entertainment they need.

I guess Mr. Spock was correct when he spoke in that one episode of Star Trek.
"I believe you are referrring to television. That particular form of entertainment did not
survive much beyond the start of the 21st. century".

I prefer to think of my TVs as computer monitors with tuners built-in, for when I occasionally want to watch that quaint, old-fashioned "entertainment" (and I use that term loosely) media called "Television." ;D

It's not just the youngsters, folks. It's middle-aged guys like me as well. I watch more video on my laptop than on my TV, unless the laptop VGA connector is attached to the TV. Wish this had been possible when I was young (and I didn't watch much TV other than sports back then either - there was no cable in my area, or internet, in the '70s).

 

[searadiofreak]

I'd be curious to know if your station has/had a Myspace page and whether or not that had as much activity as the aforementioned "fan page" on Facebook does now. Obviously, Facebook is the new Myspace. These days, Myspace would be grateful to be mentioned alongside references to Facebook and Twitter in many instances... like, the story linked in the original post on this thread, for example...

We didn't have a station myspace page before. We were asking listeners to "friend" us at facebook via the morning show, but have found the fan page is easier for the audience. We asked our friends to become fans. And they did.

 

[DToTheJ]

Good way to go. Some Facebook members frown upon adding friends that don't possess a proper person name.

 

[FreddyE1977]

I will say that I know more than a few young people in their early 20's who have moved out
of Mom and Dad's house, and into new digs where they do not even own a television!

So long as they have their laptop and high-speed internet access, they seem perfectly content
that they are able to find all of the entertainment they need.

I guess Mr. Spock was correct when he spoke in that one episode of Star Trek.
"I believe you are referrring to television. That particular form of entertainment did not
survive much beyond the start of the 21st. century".

I prefer to think of my TVs as computer monitors with tuners built-in, for when I occasionally want to watch that quaint, old-fashioned "entertainment" (and I use that term loosely) media called "Television." ;D

It's not just the youngsters, folks. It's middle-aged guys like me as well. I watch more video on my laptop than on my TV, unless the laptop VGA connector is attached to the TV. Wish this had been possible when I was young (and I didn't watch much TV other than sports back then either - there was no cable in my area, or internet, in the '70s).

Great point. It has just struck me lately that for the first time since the 1940's the TV set is not being regarded as a
crucial piece of furniture.

 

[arnoldevns]

Why does anyone pay attention to what the president of CNN has to say?
He has succeeded in cutting the audience of CNN in half. No one at CNN ever understood that they should ignore Fox News since it's not really in the same business as CNN. Well, it wasn't until CNN tried to copy Fox News by doing talk.

Here's what CNN should do.
1. CNN should go back to being a news channel. No talk. No anchor opinions. Just news - both long and short form. They could go back ot having some specialty shows on the weekends and maybe a sports and entertainment shows late night on weeknights, but otherwise do news.
2. HLN should go back to being CNN Headline News: 24/7 of news done on a 30 minute newswheel. No more Nancy Grace or Jane Valez Mitchell, etc. Just headline news.
3. Create a network to take on Fox News. CNN Talk could be the name. Put Nancy Grace there if you must keep her employed. (I'd fire her on day one, but that's just me) This would be an all news/talk network. The hosts would be hired to give their opinions and conduct interviews. It would be clearly defined as not a "news" channel.

 

[searadiofreak]

Why does anyone pay attention to what the president of CNN has to say?
He has succeeded in cutting the audience of CNN in half. No one at CNN ever understood that they should ignore Fox News since it's not really in the same business as CNN. Well, it wasn't until CNN tried to copy Fox News by doing talk.

Here's what CNN should do.
1. CNN should go back to being a news channel. No talk. No anchor opinions. Just news - both long and short form. They could go back ot having some specialty shows on the weekends and maybe a sports and entertainment shows late night on weeknights, but otherwise do news.
2. HLN should go back to being CNN Headline News: 24/7 of news done on a 30 minute newswheel. No more Nancy Grace or Jane Valez Mitchell, etc. Just headline news.
3. Create a network to take on Fox News. CNN Talk could be the name. Put Nancy Grace there if you must keep her employed. (I'd fire her on day one, but that's just me) This would be an all news/talk network. The hosts would be hired to give their opinions and conduct interviews. It would be clearly defined as not a "news" channel.

Some interesting ideas. I like the idea of CNN just focusing on news. I think that is their strongest perceptional brand right now.

HNN is a tougher nut to crack. Nancy Grace, and other such shows, do reasonably well. The 24 hr. newswheel might have been popular in the 90's, but with on-line news options today, not sure it would be as successful.

"CNN Talk" is an interesting idea, but it is extremely difficult and complex, not to mention time consuming, to build a new CNN channel in this day and age. Don't see that happening, but not a bad conceptual idea.

 

[mjlarochelle]

Social media is not a credible news source, simple as that. I am loyal to and will continue to be loyal to traditional media.

 

[quadraphonic]

Social media is not a credible news source, simple as that. I am loyal to and will continue to be loyal to traditional media.

But if traditional media or some credible trusted news source you already know distributes some part of their news on social media where mass numbers of people are fans of it, wouldn't that be different?

 

[searadiofreak]

Social media is not a credible news source, simple as that. I am loyal to and will continue to be loyal to traditional media.

You know, I completely understand that mindset, as I was there not more than a year ago. But I have come to discover that old beliefs can't stop change. Social media sites are for real, not because you or I are comfortable with them, but because 18-44 females are. "simple as that", to quote you. You can continue to be loyal to traditional media, and that is fine, especially for those who work in traditional media. However, you will be left behind at some point, and I believe that is sooner rather than later. I am slowly realizing that 2010 is a far different world from 1980, and why wouldn't it be? Just compare the changes from 1950 to 1980...seriously.