It was a rare “I love the media” moment. Every once in a while they get one right, like this week when CNN mercy-killed the Larry King Show after twenty-five years.
The end came fifteen years after it should have, but better late than never.
Sprinkled in with the cheap shots at conservatives that viewers have come to expect from a CNN special were some fine moments. Regis and Donald Trump unintentionally brought attention to the elephant in the room (see 10:23 of the video) Regis said, “Why is he leaving?” and Trump responded, “Yes, what the hell is going on here?” The unspoken truth is, of course, that Larry wasn’t leaving – he was unceremoniously booted out the door due to years of dismal ratings.
Also notable, King said (18:05 of the video), “We’ll be back with America’s best news anchors” before being joined by Katie Couric, Diane Sawyer, Barbara Walters and Brian Williams. Not a one of them from CNN, the self-labeled “Worldwide Leader in News” and “Most Trusted Name in News.” Some people believe it was a subtle dig from Larry at the network that fired him, but let’s face it, Larry ain’t that sharp.
Unfortunately, they didn’t have room on the show for everyone. Guests we would like to have seen who were not invited include Sean Hannity, who did as much to make CNN’s nine o’clock hour as irrelevant as King himself, and the baseball instructor Larry hired for his kids, Hector “I had sex with Larry’s wife, in his bed, while watching him on TV” Penate.
To see Larry’s emotional, teary goodbye, watch the final 30 seconds.
Will the media make fun of him like they do Republican leader John Boehner? Yeah, right.
Author editor Posted on December 23, 2010 December 22, 2010 Categories News 2 Tags Larry King
The always modest Keith Olbermann used the occasion of Larry King’s retirement to do a little self-promotion. He tweeted a story about King being his second biggest fan (Olbermann, of course, is always his own biggest fan).
CNN President Jon Klein is smiling because he's not Keith Olbermann's boss The always modest Keith Olbermann used the occasion of Larry King’s retirement to do a little self-promotion. He tweeted a story about King being his second biggest fan (Olbermann, of course, is always his own biggest fan).
Mediaite asked CNN/U.S. President Jon Klein about the story.
Mediaite: Last night Keith Olbermann tweeted: “Larry King is a lovely, generous man who tried, for eight years, to convince his bosses to hire me to be his 8 PM lead-in at CNN.” Is this true?Klein: Well it didn’t work.Mediaite: But is it true?Klein: Larry’s got a million ideas a day.
Tranlation: “The senile old codger told a dozen other guys the same thing. Olbermann’s the only one who believed it.”
Source: Mediaite.com
Larry King announced on his website and at the beginning of his show Tuesday night that he’s ending his CNN program before the end of the year.
We’d like to say we didn’t see this coming, but a blind man could have seen this coming.
Larry King announced on his website and at the beginning of his show Tuesday night that he’s ending his CNN program before the end of the year.
Here’s King’s website statement:
Continue reading “Larry King Show going into suspendered animation, to end this fall after 25 years”
Selective amnesia struck Anderson Cooper when he aired a story about celebrity cheaters. They included Tiger Woods, Jesse James, Eliot Spitzer, Mark Sanford and David Letterman. But neglected CNN’s Larry King.
It's good to be King. Especially around CNN. Selective amnesia struck Anderson Cooper when he aired a story about celebrity cheaters. They included Tiger Woods, Jesse James, Eliot Spitzer, Mark Sanford and David Letterman.
But what’s even more interesting is who Cooper conveniently forgot to include.
“What was striking was who was absent — Larry King,” noticed radio producer Tom Somach. “His cheating scandal got as much press as any of the others. I guess the fact that King has a show on CNN protected him. It was ridiculous and an absurd conflict of interest.”
C’mon, Anderson. You claim to be a real journalist (despite that horrible New Year’s Eve gig you do with unfunny comedian Kathy Griffin ), yet your story on celebrity cheaters doesn’t mention Larry King, a guy who was on the front page of every newspaper in the country after he cheated on his wife with her sister.
That would be like doing a story about senile octogenarian talk show hosts who wear suspenders without mentioning ol’ Larry.
Source: New York Post
Larry King’s ratings are falling even faster than his pants would without those suspenders. Sad to say, but the gravel-voiced old duffer scored his lowest monthly viewer numbers in twenty years in May.
Is Larry King's head growing or is his body shrinking along wiih his ratings? Larry King’s ratings are falling even faster than his pants would without those suspenders. Sad to say, but the gravel-voiced old duffer scored his lowest monthly viewer numbers in twenty years in May.
The New York Times reports the details of the descent:
According to Nielsen data, the struggling CNN talk show had an average of 653,000 viewers each night in May, its lowest average since the data started being electronically stored in the early 1990s.
He had been averaging about 700,000 viewers each night this year, down markedly from last year.
Last week The New York Times detailed the low ratings of “Larry King Live,” a symbol of CNN’s struggle to compete in a partisan cable news environment.
CNN had no comment about Mr. King’s low ratings mark. In a news release it emphasized the eroding ratings of its higher-rated competitors, noting that both the reigning champ, the Fox News Channel, and the No. 2 cable news channel in prime time, MSNBC, had lost audience share compared with the same month in 2009. But CNN’s numbers have dropped more dramatically.
CNN also emphasized that its sister network, HLN, continued to post ratings gains. Mr. King’s competitor on HLN, Joy Behar, is beating him in the ratings with more regularity than ever.
One suggestion for the New York Times: Never again use the words “Larry King” and “regularity” in the same sentence.
We’re just sayin’.
Source: New York Times
The bad news is that Larry King is heading for divorce court for the eighth time. The good news is that he’ll soon be looking for lucky wife number nine. And what woman wouldn’t be attracted to this god who walks among mere mortals?
Good god, what would a hunk like Larry King be doing with a hideous woman like that? The bad news is that Larry King is heading for divorce court for the eighth time. The good news is that he’ll soon be looking for lucky wife number nine. And what woman wouldn’t be attracted to this god who walks among mere mortals?
The Associated Press reports the details of the talkmeister’s impending availability:
Larry King filed for divorce on Wednesday shortly before his seventh wife also sought to end the couple’s nearly 13-year-old marriage. The 76-year-old host of CNN’s “Larry King Live” filed hours before Shawn King filed her own petition. Both cited “irreconcilable differences.”
The couple were married in a hospital room in 1997 three days before Larry King underwent surgery to clear a clogged blood vessel. They have two sons, ages 11 and 9. The petitions differ in that Larry King is seeking joint custody, while his 50-year-old wife wants physical custody.
Larry King is also asking a judge not to award his wife any spousal support and to invalidate an agreement in which he transferred property to her, court records show.
Shawn King’s petition seeks spousal support from her husband, along with ownership of the couple’s home in Beverly Hills, Calif., and two properties in Utah.
“His major concern is the welfare of his children,” said Howard Rubenstein, a spokesman for Larry King, adding that the talk-show host would not comment further on the divorce.
There is no truth to the rumor that King sidled up to an attractive bailiff after the hearing and rasped, “Come here often, honey?”
Source: Associated Press
Larry King, Charlie Rose, David Letterman and Barbara Walters all turned thumbs down on interviews with celebrity biographer Kitty Kelly, whose unauthorized bio of Oprah will soon be released.
The media protect their own by refusing to interview Oprah biographer Kitty Kelley And considering Oprah’s current girth, a very wide circle it is.
Larry King, Charlie Rose, David Letterman and Barbara Walters all turned thumbs down on interviews with celebrity biographer Kitty Kelly, whose unauthorized bio of Oprah will soon be released.
Odd, one might have to conclude, considering the gleeful receptions Kelley received from those same hosts when she penned a scandalous bio of George Bush a few years ago.
Margo Howard reports the hypocritical headlines:
“… most of the kingpin interviewers in the mainstream media were astonishingly up front about saying they would not help Kitty Kelley promote her book because they didn’t want to offend Oprah! They didn’t even make up excuses; they flat-out said they didn’t want to offend Oprah. It was surprising, to say the least, that interviewers such as Larry King, Charlie Rose, David Letterman and Barbara Walters all shut her out. Walter’s turn-down was especially interesting in that she said she wouldn’t even have Kelley on “The View.” I mean, that’s a show with four or five babes nattering on, where no guest is on for more than maybe seven minutes. Walters told Random House publicity she didn’t want to “upset” Oprah. Letterman said he didn’t want to “disrupt” his détente with Oprah. And ABC, whose name might as well now stand for “All ‘Bout Cowards,” made an across-the-board decision that Kelley’s book would be boycotted by all ABC shows. Even second-tier people like Joy Behar followed suit. And Rachael Ray! A cooking show, no less.
Much to our surprise, Kelley has booked an appearance in one unexpected place.
… To their credit, the top show for people flogging books, “The Today Show,” will be Kitty’s first publicity stop when the book is released. Bill O’Reilly will be the second. I find all this really interesting. What is it, I wonder, that has major television people so afraid of Oprah? It is a question whose answer I look forward to finding in Kelley’s book. I will get back to you when I’ve read it.
To his credit, Matt Lauer actually gave Kelley a pretty good grilling when she appeared on the Today Show to hype her bio of George Bush.
Our advice? Don’t bother with Lauer and the Today Show. Wait until Kelley appears on Fox.
Source: Wowowow.com
CNN’s idea of balance? In a discussion on Afghanistan, one guest says everything that’s gone wrong in Afghanistan is Bush’s fault, but the opposing guest insists that Obama be given credit for everything that’s gone right in Afghanistan.
CNN’s idea of balance? In a discussion on Afghanistan, one guest says everything that’s gone wrong in Afghanistan is Bush’s fault, but the opposing guest insists that Obama be given credit for everything that’s gone right in Afghanistan.
And that, my friends, is what passes as a balanced discussion on CNN.
Those poor devils at CNN must wonder why they’re frowned on by the gods of media.
We do not believe the rumor that Larry King is about to star as Bernie in a remake of "Weekend at Bernie's" Those poor devils at CNN must wonder why they’re frowned on by the gods of media.
MediaBistro.com has the details of the original news network’s latest humiliation:
Glenn Beck may not have thought much of his interview with former Rep. Eric Massa yesterday — he apologized to his viewers saying, “I think this is the first time I have wasted an hour of your time.”
But Massa did not have the same pull for CNN. His second interview, with Larry King at 9pmET, drew just 669K Total Viewers (169K in the demo) — fourth place for the hour among the cable news nets after Sean Hannity on FNC, Rachel Maddow on MSNBC, and Joy Behar on HLN.
Good lord. You interview the guy who is arguably the biggest headline maker of the day and you finish behind Rachel Maddow and Joy Behar? Depressing.
King’s response?
“Is it Tuesday yet? I like Tuesdays because that’s shuffleboard night here at the home.”
Source: MediaBistro.com
Joe Biden is the best talk show guest ever. Because viewers know they can just sit back and wait for that moment when he says something really stupid.
Joe Biden is the best talk show guest ever. Because viewers know they can just sit back and wait for that moment when he says something really stupid.
Here are two examples from Wednesday’s interview with Larry King:
“I’ve been really impressed with the success we’ve had building on the last administration in dealing with these (terrorist attacks).”
What? Say what? What the hell? Did he really say that the Bush administration was successful in combating terrorist attacks? Obama’s going to have to take Joe to the woodshed again.
“Someone just strapping on a backpack of them with explosives that are indigenous.”
What? Say what? What the hell? Indigenous explosives. What the hell are indigenous explosives?
Interview over now? Somebody wake up Larry King and tell him it’s time to go home.
Consider this a perfect example of the pot calling the kettle black Larry King being an idiot during an interview with Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann.
Consider this a perfect example of the pot calling the kettle black Larry King being an idiot during an interview with Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann.
King: Would you want the Limbaugh, that crowd — would you want them to be your voice as the Republican Party stands in this country?
Bachmann: Well remember it’s who the American people are referring to Larry. And the American people are looking to voices like Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin, Glenn Beck –
King: I just told you — it’s 2 percent of America. It’s 2 percent!
Senility is a terrible thing. Larry still thinks people watch his show.
Source: MofoPolitics.com
Beck’s ratings are higher than ever. Remarkably, his show doesn’t run during primetime, yet his audience is larger than every prime time on every cable news network except Fox News’ O’Reilly-Hannity tandem. How long until Fox moves him into a more prominent time slot? And who will go to make room for him?
Glenn Beck rules the ratings with an iron fist
If President Obama’s henchmen are organizing a boycott of Glenn Beck, the ratings show that no one’s paying attention.
Beck’s ratings are higher than ever. Remarkably, his show doesn’t run during primetime, yet his audience is larger than every prime time on every cable news network except Fox News’ O’Reilly-Hannity tandem.
How long until Fox moves him into a more prominent time slot? And who will go or move to make room for him?
Ratings for Monday, August 24, 2009
Network
Program
Total Audience
Fox News
O’Reilly
3,440,000
Fox News
Hannity
2,937,000
Fox News
Beck
2,810,000
Fox News
Greta
2,450,000
Fox News
Baier
2,066,000
Fox News
Smith
1,860,000
MSNBC
Olbermann
1,114,000
CNN
King
1,063,000
MSNBC
Maddow
885,000
CNN
Cooper
827,000
MSNBC
Hardball
640,000
VIDEO Ditzy actor/producer/boytoy Ashton Kutcher is now competing with CNN for 1,000,000 followers on Twitter. It’s a death match.
“I find it astonishing that one person can actually have as big of a voice online as what an entire media company can on Twitter,” Kutcher said. “I just thought that was kind of an amazing comment on the state of our media.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcewDFh42Ps “Are you kidding,” asked CNN’s Larry King. “Do you think you can take on an entire network? Do you know how big we are? Do you know what CNN is? Kutcher, you’re playing out of your field. You’re in another time zone. This ain’t gonna work. CNN will bury you!”
Two thoughts:
First, who in their right mind would want to follow either of these boneheads? Second, can you remember a phonier, more obviously-rehearsed publicity stunt?
But what the hell. If it works, it works. We officially challenge NewsBusters.org to see which of us can be first to get 5,000 Twitter followers. Are you with us or against us? Hey, they’re ten times older and ten times bigger, but we hope our dedicated viewers will get behind us
Source: WilshireAndWashington.com
Glenn Beck ratings at Fox News is the big story in cable news this week. He has leapfrogged Sean Hannity to #2. What was CNN thinking when the let this guy get away?
Note: here’s a more current article on the ratings: O’Reilly-Hannity-Beck go 1-2-3 in cable news ratings again, Fox destroys competition again
The biggest news in cable news this week is the remarkable rise of Glenn Beck at Fox.
As for the rest of the cable news pack, some were up a little, some were down a little. And Larry King continues to be CNN’s last man standing.
The accompanying chart looks at the top 10 cable TV news shows for March 13, 2009.
Source: MediaBistro, Nielsen Media Research
Poor Bill Maher. If he believed in the first coming of Christ, he would undoubtedly have told us that Barack Obama was the second coming of Christ. That’s how much he believed in his candidate.
But now that Obama is president, the “comedian” seems to be feeling a little less confident. Obama’s only been in office for three weeks, but Maher sounded a bit defensive on last night’s Larry King program.
“I think Obama is learning, and he certainly is the smartest guy we’ve had there that I can remember,” Maher puffed. “But there’s always a learning curve.”
Had it been anyone other than Larry King conducting the interview, they would have posed some interesting follow-up questions.
Larry simply continued his brief nap before cutting to a commercial.
For the full transcript go here .
Highlights of this week’s cable news ratings. Fox continues its run of dominant ratings thanks to growing dissatisfaction with the Keystone Kops administration in Washington, DC. Larry King topped Keith Olbermaniac. Rachel Maddow climbed back into the top ten dispite rather lackluster numbers.
Here’s a look at the top ten cable TV shows for February 11, 2009:
Network Program Total Audience
Fox News
O’Reilly
3,494,000
Fox News
Hannity
2,658,000
Fox News
Beck
2,370,000
Fox News
Baier
2,305,000
Fox News
Shep Smith
2,190,000
Fox News
Greta
1,847,000
CNN
King
1,761,000
MSNBC
Olbermann
1,485,000
CNN
Cooper
1,286,000
CNN
Blitzer
1,246,000
MSNBC
Maddow
1,240,000
UPDATE: Math was never our strong suit. Looks like Maddow didn’t climb into the top ten after all. Her show was actually Number 11.
VIDEO Larry King, the King of Overstatement, is at it again. Apparently Obama’s victory has left him in such a state of euphoria that he told viewers we could have “a lesbian” in the White House within ten years.
At least we think he said lesbian. To be completely honest, we usually lose interest in Larry’s show at about the 15 minute mark. He may have said “Lebanese.” We weren’t really paying attention.
King’s contract runs through 2010. But we strongly urge CNN to buy Larry a nice condo down in West Palm now, so he can spend his golden years frolicking on the beach during Spring Break with his next five wives.
Putting that aside temporarily, we would like to nominate Shakira for president. Definitely Lebanese. Definitely not lesbian. See her attached campaign commercial. Shakira 2012.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXJI3dpO_A4 Ancient orange-haired septuagenarian talkmeister Larry King has revealed that his youngest son (from his seventh marriage) is so enamored with Barack Obama that he wants to be black.
“My younger son Cannon, he is eight,” said King. “And he now says that he would like to be black. I’m not kidding. He said there’s a lot of advantages. Black is in.”
When pressed by reporters, King also admitted his son wishes he hadn’t been named after a fat TV detective from the 70s, wishes life with his father wasn’t quite so much like “Weekend At Bernie’s,” and wishes he understood why seven women have seen fit to marry daddy.
