Free Republic

Excerpts - NBC Universal is slashing its news budget and abandoning high-cost dramas in the 8 p.m. hour, paring expenses in traditional television as viewers and advertisers flock to new kinds of media. ~ snip ~ Operations for the cable-news channel MSNBC in Secaucus, N.J., will be shuttered and moved to Rockefeller Center in Manhattan and another facility in New Jersey. ~ snip ~

Less than a day after the website FireDavidGregory.com launched, it has collected nearly 1,000 signatures for a petition calling on NBC to fire its chief White House correspondent. As of 1 p.m. Saturday, the petition had 905 signatures. The petition is addressed to NBC Chairman Bob Wright, and it asks that he “immediately fire Mr. Gregory or ask him to resign.” As HUMAN EVENTS first reported yesterday, the petition was inspired by two recent incidents involving Gregory that made him “part of the stories he is supposed to cover.” The petition says, “This is not the proper role of a...

This is a "vlog," i.e., when you click the link, you'll get a Windows Media or RealVideo dialog between Bob Wright and Mickey Kaus, caused by Mr. Wright freakout over being accused by Ann Coulter of having "affection for terrorists." I found Wright's meltdown pretty funny. And now I must go to work. Enjoy.

Many people have e-mailed asking for my opinion on the emerging Operation Able Danger story--in which army intelligence personnel were barred from notifying the FBI about Mohammed Atta. While I agree that the Pentagon lawyers who stopped the Able Danger operatives from notifying the FBI are culpable, and their behavior is an outrage, my take is different from most conservative commentators. I really don't think the FBI would have acted on the information. Instead, today, we'd be sweeping under the rug yet more ineptitude by the, unfortunately, "lead agency" in the War on Terror. Let's look at what the FBI...

The peacock's feathers are fraying. After more than a decade as the dominant broadcast network, General Electric Co.'s NBC is having a rocky fall. So far this season, the network has endured double-digit ratings declines in both total viewers and viewers aged 18 to 49, the demographic that advertisers pay a premium to reach. Particularly troubling: For the first time since 1987, NBC is losing the ratings race on Thursdays, the night that by far draws the most advertising dollars and has been the bulwark of NBC's "Must See TV" franchise. NBC Universal Chairman Bob Wright, publicly putting a brave...

New York Daily News - http://www.nydailynews.com MSNBC's boss is on thin ice Wednesday, November 6th, 2002 MSNBC boss Erik Sorenson's future at the troubled cable news network is looking shaky. Sorenson's boss, NBC CEO Bob Wright, left doubts about Sorenson's tenure in an interview with the Daily News. When asked whether the MSNBC boss would keep his job, Wright declined to respond, saying only that he "is working his tail off" at turning around the network. "It clearly signifies his tenure is short-lived," said Jack Myers, editor of media newsletter Myers Report. Wright was down on MSNBC, saying the...