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24-hour Katrina coverage continues on TV
Expect wall-to-wall coverage of Katrina to continue for some time on cable news, along with occasional specials and evening news coverage on the broadcast networks.
This massive tragedy is not going away any time soon. In fact, the aftermath is likely to deepen the crisis.
Fox News continues to be the most-watched cable news network, but CNN has the biggest contingency of reporters covering it. CNN has more than 100 reporters, producers and camera operators on the ground in Louisiana and Mississippi. Fox has about 50.
Among the broadcast networks, ABC has the largest contingency, with 70-plus newsies, followed by 60 for CBS and 35 for NBC. Affiliates in Houston, Dallas and Miami are helping keep the ground troops supplied with food, gas and necessary news-covering supplies.
You can tell by watching that this is not an easy story to cover, on many levels. Logistically, TV newsies are having trouble getting in and out of the region, with some reporters using video phones, cell phones and even Blackberries to communicate.
Like many of the refugees, reporters and staffers are sleeping in vans and existing on energy bars and bottled water. Many of the on-air crew are beginning to show signs of fatigue and distress.
CNN’s Jean Meserve, for example, spent all day Monday and Tuesday on the ground, delivering hard news about the unfolding tragedy. By the time she appeared on Aaron Brown’s prime-time show the second evening, her voice was quivering and she struggled to control her emotions. The devastation and misery have simply become overwhelming.
Not surprisingly, viewers are riveted to the horror. Prime-time coverage on the cable news networks is totaling about 10 million viewers a night. Ratings for the networks’ prime-time specials are not yet available, but competing mostly with preseason reruns, the viewership is expected to be high.
“Yes, Dear” and “Earl” producer: “That’s not what I meant.”
Greg Garcia, executive producer for the critically praised new NBC comedy “My Name Is Earl,” phoned me yesterday to complain about Tuesday’s TV column about the resurgence of comedy in the new season.
Garcia, who also helms CBS’s critically lampooned sitcom “Yes, Dear,” said I misunderstood what he said during a press conference at the Television Critics Association meetings in Los Angeles. I understood him to say that pans of “Yes, Dear” fueled him to be funnier on “Earl.”
“It upsets my cast when it looks like I’m bad-mouthing that show (‘Yes, Dear’),” Garcia said, clearly upset. “All I meant was, when I got bad reviews on ‘Yes, Dear’ it fueled me to get up and work even harder on ‘Yes, Dear’ every day… . I came up with ‘Earl’ because it was time to come up with another show. I’m extremely proud of both shows.”
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