JW Vs. Cable News: a.k.a. How I will revolutionize Cable News.
As all of you know, cable news networks are the furthest thing from what news networks should be. Sure they display stories, sometimes break them, sometimes report them but overall they are sort of like the YES network is for Yankees fans. You watch Fox news for the GOP side and root for your team as the sweat furrows from their brows while they use every bit of their determination to obsess over and criticize the president during their shows. You watch MSNBC if you’re into the president as their shows house personalities with their eyebrows firmly arched in that one eyebrow arched manner as they do the guffaw, smug, “look at how dumb these yokels are” to the GOP heads while defending the president. All of it works fine if you have a firm side, but really if you have a firm side you’re just rooting for a button and a dominant color.
So what do you do if you want news, personalities but you don’t root for a team? Well if you’re me you create your own cable news network in which you have an eye towards entertainment, diverse personalities and also giving people the plankton that they want.
Because here is how it is and here is how it should be. Cable news right now has a bunch of networks that cater to certain demographics because they are a business and businesses don’t care about doing things like say…. being responsible reporters. Instead they hire people WHO LIKE TO YELL and who support the party of the network and if you’re into it you dig it and think you’re getting the straight and narrow truth. Instead of staying the hell out of the way and having a balance, you just sit down and watch the skewed view of your choice.
But I can get with that - I don’t want just dry news reporting. I like my entertainment too but I don’t have any predisposition’s about lying to you all about being balanced. It’s 2010 and I want to educate you AND give you entertainment. So here is what would happen if I all of a sudden got a ton of money, assets and the ability to create a news channel. Let’s loosely break it down by time.
9:00 A.M. - 11:00 A.M. ish: you get your news that repeats, much like Sportscenter. For those of you that watch Sportscenter, you get to sort of drift in and out of it with the knowledge that you’re going to see it again in 30 minutes. It’s perfect for waking up because you can pay a little bit attention and through determined repetition you can get the stories of the day. I’m thinking 2 to 3 anchors, casual switching between the anchors and there will be one attractive woman and one British guy on the show. Why? Because you want something pretty to look at, and because English accents lend a sort of intelligence to it.
11:00 - 12:00 - Dan Rather travels through America and reports on America’s hidden places. Because Dan Rather does this show already, or he should do it if he isn’t. He’s the legendary newsman, from a time in which people took these people seriously. Also, because he still carries enough demographic weight for the olds.
12:00 - whenever: More news, because what happened overnight/morning needs to be updated in the afternoon. Plus people have lunch breaks, and this way instead of talking heads they can get their issues reported on. We can even set this up like they do it now, with the money segments, an entertainment segment, etc. I also want a section on world news, because sometimes shit happens outside of your backyard too. Plus, if something breaks, we have plenty of time to cover it.
5:00 - 6:00: A Politically Incorrect style, roundtable show with Dennis Miller and Bill Mahar as dual hosts. I want the talking head shows to be balanced, so we get super liberal Maher and Super GOP Miller to team up. If they can’t be in the same room then we do it via satellite. Nonetheless, we get two opinionated ex comics who can co host a show with a panel. You get your yelling, you get your opinion, you’re happy.
6:00 - 7:00: Nightly news, rotating host style. Every day we have someone new hosting, and they are in control. Maybe one day it is a Shep Smith type, maybe one day it is an Olberman type, maybe we snag someone from the BBC. Because the 6 o’clock hour is important for news but the idea of a single host that we have to fret over to choose because we want “America to trust them” is gone. Also this show will be interactive via Twitter and chats. As will most of our network, because it is 2010 and this is how we do things now.
7:00 - 8:00: Karl Rove vs. James Carville - PTI style show. The two guys who helped get the victory for the last two-term presidents, and the two most vicious guys in politics. If you’ve never seen “Pardon the Interruption” (a.k.a. “PTI) it is a show on ESPN in which two sports writers have timed debates on the topics of the day in sports. The topics are on the right hand side of the screen, and it moves quick. These two guys would be insane and great and don’t tell me you wouldn’t watch that show.
8:00 - 9:00: Interview time with seasoned host. Who knows who we can get, but since we’re reporting news and having these talking head shows at the very least we should be getting these quotes from the news makers themselves. Because when we get the Barry O interview, it will be here for the whole hour or 1/2 hour.
9:00 - 10:00: I have nothing scheduled for here, but I am thinking about some sort of Anderson Cooper type thing where instead of the Rather show being in America, our host travels the world.
10:00 - 11:00: News.
11 PM - 12 Midnight: The Sarah Palin show. Yep, you heard me right, because she’s not running for president and she clearly is looking to be Oprah for the hayseeds. Her show is set up talk show style, like Leno/Letterman. No monologue, but she can have guests on, maybe a band, maybe a musical guest. It will be news related, but if she does get some famous person on to plug their movie and talk about politics, why not? Plus, you know that every other comedy show would have a FIELD DAY WITH THIS. Which leads me to…
12 midnight - 1 AM: Late Night With Bill Clinton. FUCK AND YEAH. I’m thinking jazz band, velvet chairs, Bill and guest sit down for a chat about the days events. It will be the yang to the yin of Palin’s show, everyone gets equal time between both shows and both shows will be breezy and chat like. Also it is abundantly clear that Bill Clinton is ready to host a talk show.
So there you have it. It would probably take billions of dollars, but when you have a lineup like this do you turn this down? Exactly.
