Jackson Memorial Service Coverage

[firepoint525]

Did anyone here watch the coverage live? If so, why the (apparent) delay? I was in McDonald's around noon on Tuesday (I live on central time), and one of the TVs in there was on CNN, carrying Jackson's memorial service. Around noon, Smokey Robinson made a statement, then it seemed like for the next half-hour, the "talking heads" on CNN filled time, until the service was ready to start.

Also, how long did the service last, and what time was it (finally!) over? Apparently, with the pre-emptions, it ran longer than the networks intended. I'm wondering if this delay had something to do with that. (It was noisy in McDonald's, so I could not actually hear the TV, I could only see the images on the screen.)

 

[bpatrick]

I was able to catch only CNN early this morning, before
the network shows came on, but it doesn't surprise me
that they are keeping up the Jackson coverage.

I watched only a few minutes (part of Queen Latifah
and part of Lionel Richie) before I had to teach a class,
but I heard the service lasted three hours, about twice
as long as the networks had anticipated.

 

[searadiofreak]

I'm sensing the coverage is really starting to die down today (Thur. 7/9). The service has come and gone, and while the burial is still up in the air, I really think the public interest is starting to wane. Of course, any new news (such as cause of death), will bring it back to the forefront for sure. The media did what it needed to do in this case, keep it alive as long as there was interest. I think the media actually had a good "read" on the story, and overkill will be minimized. Afterall, the reality is we have a lot of deeper problems right now than MJ. A distraction for a week or two, but now back to reality.

 

[johnnya2k6]

By the way...the service was watched by 31 million viewers; the Ronald Reagan burial and Princess Diana funeral as well as the inauguration of President Barack Obama all ranked higher.

 

[DToTheJ]

I was able to catch only CNN early this morning, before
the network shows came on, but it doesn't surprise me
that they are keeping up the Jackson coverage.

Between the three major cable news networks, it appears CNN is clearly trying to keep the Jackson story in the news. Yesterday morning, one of the top stories on Google News was MJ's dermatologist, Arnie Klein, disclosing on "Larry King Live" the previous night that he once donated sperm but he's not the father of MJ's children. The source of the story? CNN.com. (I also DVR-ed yesterday's "American Morning" and it appears that they were milking some segments from Dr. Klein's "LKL" appearance throughout the show.) But wait, there's more, as the late Billy Mays would say. Yesterday afternoon, one of the top stories on Google News was MJ friend Cicely Tyson disclosing that the reason MJ started wearing his iconic white glove was to cover up a skin condition called vitiligo. The source of the story? Yup, CNN.com - and Tyson was actually a guest on that same "LKL" on Wednesday night after Dr. Klein's appearance. But last night seemed to take the cake. At the start of "Larry King Live," I was greeted by the guest host saying Larry was off... the guest host? Jim Moret from "Access Hollywood." And the show began with "breaking news" which actually was an exclusive interview disguised as "breaking news", the interview being with LAPD chief William Bratton, telling a CNN correspondent that the death of MJ might be ruled a homicide or an accidental overdose. This despite the fact that the coroner's inquiry is not yet complete. The "LKL" panel then spent the remainder of the hour talking about the "news" and even replaying some clips of Dr. Klein's appearance on "LKL" the previous night! And yes, I just checked Google News and sure enough, one of the top stories is Bratton's statement that the MJ death might be ruled a homicide or overdose, with many outlets citing his interview with CNN as the source.

With all that said, I can't blame CNN for taking this route. After falling behind Fox News and MSNBC and even their own sister station HLN in some demos and dayparts, it looks like CNN is trying to milk this story for all it's worth.

 

[firepoint525]

So how much longer will it be before Inside Edition, the Insider, and Entertainment Tonight finally move on to something else? : Michael Jackson has been Diane Dimond's bread and butter for many years, so I don't look for her to give up the gravy train anytime soon! :

Amazingly, I still haven't seen any salacious headlines in the National Enquirer and other similar papers, but I suppose that's still coming. Sometimes it takes a while for the print media to catch up!

 

[azumanga]

Amazingly, I still haven't seen any salacious headlines in the National Enquirer and other similar papers, but I suppose that's still coming. Sometimes it takes a while for the print media to catch up!

Though oddly, magazines such as Time and People already released special issues on Jacko's death.

 

[searadiofreak]

So how much longer will it be before Inside Edition, the Insider, and Entertainment Tonight finally move on to something else? : Michael Jackson has been Diane Dimond's bread and butter for many years, so I don't look for her to give up the gravy train anytime soon! :

Amazingly, I still haven't seen any salacious headlines in the National Enquirer and other similar papers, but I suppose that's still coming. Sometimes it takes a while for the print media to catch up!

These outlets are different, obviously, than the regular news outlets. I think they will stick with it as long as it continues to be the biggest "entertainment" story. Which means, just about forever.

 

[azumanga]

Amazingly, I still haven't seen any salacious headlines in the National Enquirer and other similar papers, but I suppose that's still coming.

I think they will stick with it as long as it continues to be the biggest "entertainment" story. Which means, just about forever.

Wait about 20 years, and we'll start seeing headlines in these rags announcing that Michael Jackson was spotted working at a Michigan Burger King.

 

[cspotrun]

in case you didn't hear, "Micheal Jackson" coverage will actually be a NEW "Series" this fall on NBC!

 

[nightfly61]

...I was watching the Sister Sister marathon on BET...

Is your mind/body healed after that ordeal? ???

There probably aren't many black people on this site but it's always easy to read between the lines what most of the (especially older men) on here are referring to when slamming Michael after he's dead & ripping newer pop CHR & R&B music(not so much on this thread but definately others here) and what's so bad about "Sister Sister"? The show's amusing, the girls are hot & I'd rather watch that when there's nothing else on than annoying reruns of Scrubs.

 

[johnnya2k6]

These outlets are different, obviously, than the regular news outlets. I think they will stick with it as long as it continues to be the biggest "entertainment" story. Which means, just about forever.

Actually, the Michael Jackson stuff is slowly starting to die down. Case in point: On Friday's ET, the "Real or Rumor?" segment was back after over a two-week absence, though they still had the "ET Network" pieces for non-Jacko news.

Over on Access Hollywood, the "Hollywood Radar" segment also returned on Friday. But of course, both shows' sites have videos of other news to make up for it.