Dennis Miller Canceled Rplaced with Biz Show Rerun

Right-wing "comedy" and commentary has run its course.


CNBC is canceling comic Dennis Miller's low-rated political talk show after less than 16 months, replacing it with a business show rerun.

Miller's prime-time program, featuring a mixture of comedy, interviews and his conservative political opinion, was seen by an average of 168,000 viewers since its January 2004 launch, according to Nielsen Media Research.

That number has dipped to 114,000 this year with the presidential election campaign over.

His show, seen at 9 p.m. EDT, will be replaced by a rerun of "Mad Money with Jim Cramer," three hours after its original airing.

Told of the cancellation, Miller "has let me know that his strong preference is to leave the program immediately," CNBC President Mark Hoffman wrote in a memo to his staff.

Miller's last episode will be Friday, he said.

CNBC, which has struggled to find an audience for anything in prime-time, will introduce a new business program at 7 p.m. later this year and continue with "The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch" at 10. The network airs reruns of NBC entertainment programming at 8.

Miller simply took the option of getting off the sinking ship before the water got to his shoes..

Chrissee wrote:

Right-wing "comedy" and commentary has run its course.


CNBC is canceling comic Dennis Miller's low-rated political talk show after less than 16 months, replacing it with a business show rerun.

Miller's prime-time program, featuring a mixture of comedy, interviews and his conservative political opinion, was seen by an average of 168,000 viewers since its January 2004 launch, according to Nielsen Media Research.

That number has dipped to 114,000 this year with the presidential election campaign over.

His show, seen at 9 p.m. EDT, will be replaced by a rerun of "Mad Money with Jim Cramer," three hours after its original airing.

Told of the cancellation, Miller "has let me know that his strong preference is to leave the program immediately," CNBC President Mark Hoffman wrote in a memo to his staff.

Miller's last episode will be Friday, he said.

CNBC, which has struggled to find an audience for anything in prime-time, will introduce a new business program at 7 p.m. later this year and continue with "The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch" at 10. The network airs reruns of NBC entertainment programming at 8.

Seeing as how they are having general issues with their primetime lineup I'm not suprised. I guess the Irish guy is still holding strong in that time frame.

I wanted to let you all know that we will be expanding our signature Business Day programming up to Primetime on the East Coast and will be adding an additional airing of "Mad Money with Jim Cramer" at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

We will be introducing a new Business Day program at 7 p.m. ET sometime in the Third Quarter. I will share additional details about this program in the coming weeks.

As the Business News Leader, it is incumbent upon us to ensure that our influential, out-of-home audience has access to our signature Business Day programming throughout their business day from coast to coast.

I have spoken with Dennis Miller about these plans and he has let me know that his strong preference is to leave his program immediately. Therefore, the final episode of "Dennis Miller" will air this Friday, May 13.

Dennis is an exceptionally talented comedian with an unmatched wit and he and his team consistently delivered a very entertaining program. I want to personally thank Dennis, Eddie Feldmann and their entire group. We are all very proud of their accomplishments and wish them nothing but the best for the future.

"Late Night with Conan O'Brien" will continue to re-air on the network at 7 p.m. ET/PT until the launch of the above mentioned new program. "The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch" will remain at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

CNBC is a trusted, real-time investor network and our viewers rely on us for actionable information wrapped in the most compelling business stories of the day. This announcement reinforces our commitment to delivering on that expectation and our mission.

Mark"

Source

This past week saw a bit of a palace coup at the kingpin of business television, General Electric's (NYSE: GE) CNBC. The network's Nielsen ratings have plummeted over the past four years, having lost more than 60% of its viewership, down to 134,000 households. CNBC's prime-time lineup can best be described as a "cost center," given that the shows tend to attract fewer viewers than does the average small-town mountain oyster festival. Even CNBC's flagship show, Squawk Box, seems to be flailing: It averaged only 94,000 viewers in January, down more than 40% from the previous year.
Source

Fox now the big dog in cable news -- and growing

Fox now the big dog in cable news -- and growing
By MIKE TIERNEY
Cox News Service
Monday, May 09, 2005


New York ?- When Fox News Channel first elbowed its way into the growing colony of cable TV networks and onto the air in late 1996, it had little more than an attitude, a visionary at the helm and the approval to reach into Rupert Murdoch's deep pockets ...

...From those humble beginnings, the feisty upstart has largely redefined televised news. Fox News' motto ?- "fair and balanced" ?- has become a fuse for debate over the network's merits. The more appropriate catchphrase might be "search and destroy," given how it has annihilated cable news rivals in the ratings.

Now negotiations for contracts with cable distributors are tilted in Fox's favor. Industry sources have told the trade publication Multichannel News that the current licensing fee of 23 to 25 cents per subscriber that the network receives from the cable companies could double ?- a potentially astonishing increase in the current climate. ...
... Why all the fuss over a network where only an estimated one in four channel-surfers stop regularly? It's a respectable ratio on a dial with as many clicks as a roulette wheel, yet Fox News still breathes the fumes of broadcasting's big four.

But, in the fragmented world of TV watching, numbers are relative, and the most significant one is this: eight, where Fox News ranks in the cable channel universe. It overtook CNN in December 2001, though the Atlanta-based 24-hour news pioneer has shown gains in some viewer categories during the past few months.

The eyes of the media industry are trained on this alternative choice for news and views. And wondering: How'd they pull it off?

The scrutiny comes as no small source of amusement to Bill Shine, Fox News' senior vice president of programming.

"I'm always surprised at how people can't figure out why we're successful," Shine said recently in his Midtown Manhattan office, a U.S. map broken down by red and blue states over his left shoulder ...

... The back-and-forth on bias and coloring the news overshadows a fundamental truth that, by today's standards and tastes, Fox News is good TV that draws an audience from across the spectrum.

A study released last summer by the Pew Research Center concluded that 48 percent of Fox News devotees do not consider themselves conservative. Its admirers include CNN/U.S. President Jon Klein, who has said, "They are interesting. They're exciting."...

... As Fox News approaches its 10th anniversary, it is well positioned for an extended run. Ailes reported profits in excess of $200 million last year. Ad revenue has leaped nearly 30 percent in a year, with a projection of $500 million in 2005, says Paul Rittenberg, senior vice president of ad sales.

"Fox is now the media elite," Thompson, of Syracuse University, said. "These [networks] that shape themselves as the Davids going against the media Goliaths ?- Fox is a Goliath."

Yet Thompson expects Ailes to veer little from his current course, a notion seconded by ex-CNN chief Schonfeld.

Said Smith, "When things are going so well, why would you change?"

What part of quit before cancelled don't you understand, Chrissee?

timberlandko wrote:

What part of quit before cancelled don't you understand, Chrissee?

Oh, come on, Timber. CNBC told Miller they were replacing his show with another and as a courtesy, asked him if he wanted to leave right away or hang on for a short time.

How on Earth does that make Miller any less fired?

Talk about humiliations. Miller's replacement is reruns. Reruns! That's like a boss firing you and telling you that he has no plans to hire anyone to do the job you did. What an insult!

Dennis Miller Says So Long to CNBC


By John Higgins -- Broadcasting & Cable, 5/11/2005 5:25:00 PM


CNBC doesn't have to cancel its low-rated prime time shows these days, because the hosts decide to leave first. Dennis Miller, host of Dennis Miller, became the latest one to do so, exiting the weekday talk show. The final episode airs Friday. Miller has been on the network since January 2004, but the audience never got very large, averaging just 100,000 total viewers last week. Miller's exit follows that of Tina Brown, who is ending her weekly show, Topic A with Tina Brown, which got even weaker ratings. In a memo to employees, CNBC President Mark Hoffman says he bumped Miller out of its slot, planning to rerun Mad Money with Jim Cramer in Miller's 9 p.m. ET time slot.

Have it your way. I read "... I have spoken with Dennis Miller about these plans and he has let me know that his strong preference is to leave his program immediately ... ",

Miller's show certainly wasn't a ratings leader - but nothing on CNBC primetime has been.