LAWRENCE, Kan. – Audience metrics are a funny thing. Enormous value is given to what are simply estimates. In “traditional media” like radio and television, they have always been admittedly flawed in one form or another. After all, in the days before cable, how could anyone possibly know how many people are actually watching a television show? The same has always been true of radio. It’s impossible to measure with absolute certainty an audience receiving an over-the-air signal.

Filed under:
Technology, Television by Scott A. Winer

LAWRENCE, Kan. – I can sum up Super Bowl XLIV in a phrase: good but not great. Save a commercial here or a play call there, little about either the game or the telecast was particularly noteworthy. As much as the many fans who’ve proclaimed themselves members of the “Who Dat Nation” would like to think that this game will go down “as one of those sports moments,” it won’t.

Filed under:
Sports TV, Television by Scott A. Winer

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Let me begin by making a couple things clear.

First, as most people who have read my blog, visited my sites, listened to my podcasts or followed my tweets would know, I have worked for CBS Sports off and on as a runner and tape logger since I was a sophomore in high school. (That’s 2001 for those not keeping score.)

Second, I am gay. I came out when I was 17, began to have some doubts when I was 20, and ultimately came out for a second time shortly after my 23rd birthday. Was I gay that entire time? Yes. Was I sure? No, but I am now. For me and practically every other person, sexual orientation isn’t just black and white, cut and dry. It’s nuanced and complicated.

So too is CBS’ criteria for accepting and rejecting Super Bowl commercials.

Filed under:
Sports TV, Television by Scott A. Winer

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Here are portions of the June 12 episode of “Smokey and the Bear,” when I weighed in on the David Letterman-Sarah Palin fiasco:

This whole thing about David Letterman and Sarah Palin. Basically, my opinion is this.

David Letterman made a few jokes the other night about Sarah Palin and Sarah Palin’s daughter. He was intending the jokes to be about the 18-year-old who had a baby that, by the way, Sarah Palin’s husband on an interview on the Today show referred to–with his daughter and baby in hand. He’s sitting next to his 18-year-old daughter, who’s holding her baby, and he refers to the baby as “a mistake.” Right there. I’m like, Jesus, what an awful grandfather! My grandparents have had their moments over the years, but I don’t think they ever called me a mistake–at least, not that I knew of. Same with my parents. But either way, it’s just like. What a jackass!

Filed under:
Music/Variety, Television by Scott A. Winer

LAWRENCE, Kan. – In a rare moment, reporter Mary Joe Fernandez landed a live interview from James Blake’s box in Arthur Ashe Stadium with older brother Thomas, who spoke candidly during the fifth set. As the younger Blake mounted a comeback, he failed to capitalize on three match points, and Tommy Haas answered by forcing a tiebreak.

Meanwhile, the trio of Dick Enberg, John McEnroe and Mary Carillo, who spent much of the afternoon in jocular exchange, flipped on the serious switch when the occasion called for it and provided excellent, meaningful commentary that viewers have come to expect; and coordinating producer Bob Mansbach, working his 27th U.S. Open, expertly selected relevant replays that director Bob Fishman interwove with dramatic live shots of the players, their families, coaches and fans in what Enberg declared the highlight of the two-week tournament.

Filed under:
Opinion/Editorial, Sports TV by Scott A. Winer

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Saturday Night Live may have suffered one of the biggest losses in the show’s 32-year history. The show returned last weekend without director Beth McCarthy Miller calling the shots, for the first time in 11 years. Reports from USA Today and Variety have been unclear about who made the decision to end McCarthy Miller’s reign as director, and it’s even more baffling how Don Roy King was chosen as her replacement.

McCarthy Miller came to SNL after rising to the rank of senior director at MTV before leaving to direct The Jon Stewart Show, whose short lifespan perfectly coincided with the late Dave Wilson’s retirement from SNL. Wilson’s departure, however, appeared to have been far more premeditated as a live shot in the control room showed him salute at the close of the 1994-95 season finale. McCarthy Miller had no such curtain call.

Filed under:
Late Night TV, Music/Variety, Opinion/Editorial, Television by Scott A. Winer

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Chalk another one up to Sean McManus, the president of CBS News and Sports. McManus, whose 9-year term at the helm of the network’s sports division has been marked by over a dozen high-profile on-air additions, can now add Katie Couric to that list. This morning, the 15-year veteran of NBC News’ Today Show officially announced that she will leave NBC in May to assume the roles of anchor and managing editor of the CBS Evening News. The highly-anticipated announcement comes after a year of speculation regarding Couric’s future, and McManus was the perfect person to seal the deal. While the Today show has lost ground in the morning ratings game, CBS Evening News has been on the way up under the leadership of interim anchor Bob Schieffer. The two networks’ news divisions seem to be heading in opposite directions. With people like McManus and Couric revamping CBS News, the eyes have it. As for NBC News, the peacock is for the birds.

Filed under:
Opinion/Editorial, Television by Scott A. Winer