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MIKE REYNOLDS
Neither recounts, hand counts nor lawyers were needed to show that cable's news channels benefited from the unfinished business of the presidential election in Florida.
During the eight-day period from Election Day Nov. 7 through Nov. 14, CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC all scored dramatic 300% spikes in ratings, households and viewership compared with recent results.
CNN led the way in both primetime and total day. On a total-day basis (3 a.m-3 a.m.), the Turner network notched a 1.4 ratings average, equalling 1.14 million homes and 1.4 million viewers.
FNC notched a 0.94 total day rating, registering 524,000 households and 648,000 viewers 2+ on average MSNBC, meanwhile, averaged a 0.96 total day (6 a.m.-6 a.m.) rating, with 589,000 households and 723,000 viewers 2+.
The networks' roles in prematurely naming a winner aside, FNC also suffered from the flap surrounding the hiring of John Ellis, George W. Bush's first cousin, for its election night coverage. Ellis has come under fire for sharing exit poll information with Bush and his brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
Many observers expect Ellis, who tendered his resignation to Roger Ailes, an offer the Fox News president turned down, may still be let go, despite News Corp.'s chairman Rupert Murdoch's defense of Ellis' hiring and actions.
n House Telecommunications Subcommittee Chairman Billy Tauzin, R-La., has said there is a "presumption of bias" in how broadcast and cable news networks reported Presidential election results. Tauzin cited evidence that news organizations were quick to call states for Vice President Al Gore when he held a 6% lead in the exit polls, while saying states were too close to call if Gov. George W. Bush had a similar lead.
n Cablevision Systems and Diva don't want the FCC to move up its deadline for security functions to be removed from cable set-top boxes. That deadline now sits at Jan. 1, 2005, but consumer electronics manufacturers have asked that it be bumped up two years. Cablevision and Diva say delaying the deadline would disrupt ongoing industry negotiations.
n Former AT&T Broadband CTO Tony Werner was named CEO of Aurora Networks, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based optical networking company.
n OpenTV has formed a joint venture with Motorola to integrate, test and develop digital interactive TV services in Motorola boxes.
n High Speed Access agreed to negotiate to provide services for affiliates of ISP Channel. The agreement may not assure a smooth transfer to some operators.
t RCN wants the FCC or the federal courts to speed up the approval of its cable franchise bid in parts of Philadelphia. The company began exploring other options last week when it learned that the city council may postpone ruling on the proposed contract until next year.
s Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment will use PacketVideo's MPEG-4 wireless-streaming technology to deliver full-motion video content to mobile devices. The companies also agreed to jointly market content to mobile operators.
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