Awhole bunch of years ago, a Post colleague spent a few nights as the substitute host of a local radio show. One night, handed some advertising copy to read, he dutifully read it.
The ad was for another New York newspaper, and the fellow from The Post read it word for word, including the part about this other newspaper being “the best in the city.”
Well, our boss was in a car, listening to the radio, when he heard his guy read and recite that about a competitor. You bet, he was livid. Actually, he didn’t reach livid, again, until he calmed down a bit. My colleague’s job was spared, but not his feelings.
To that end, if I were a top Fox station executive, I’d grab Anderson Cooper by his figurative collar, shake him, then tell him that if he ever does anything like what he did two Fridays ago, his “Anderson Live” will quickly have to find dozens of new stations on which to be seen.
While Cooper’s weekday afternoons “Anderson Live” is syndicated, the show’s overwhelming viewership watches on Fox stations. From the four most populous cities — New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Houston — to cities such as Cleveland, Tampa, Hartford, Las Vegas and Boston, Cooper’s show is seen on Fox.
Yet, during his show, two Friday’s ago, Cooper exploited his nationwide platform — and took Fox for a sucker’s ride — by extensively promoting his next project for CBS’s “60 Minutes,” a project that would appear two days later.
So, with the “60 Minutes” logo prominently displayed on the screen — and on Fox’s biggest stations — Cooper aired clips of himself scuba diving among killer crocodiles. Not sure why “60 Minutes” felt that to be newsworthy, but Cooper certainly seized it as worthy of promotion for himself and CBS.
And say, you Fox viewers from Maine to California, Florida to Washington, don’t miss me, Anderson Cooper, this Sunday night on CBS!
If I ran Fox stations, I’d put a stop to that, one way or the other, and fast.
* * *
Why does it or should it matter who hosts NBC’s “Today” show? Given that it long ago was reduced to little better than a what’s-on-tonight or what-was-on-last-night NBC infomercial; bring in anyone who can bang a drum or look sincere while selling baskets of NBC biscuits.
Last week’s guest co-host was Carson Daly. Of course, he was. Daly’s the host of NBC’s “The Voice,” which was re-launched last week.
So Daly’s prime-time NBC show became the daily theme of last week’s “Today” show. Pathetic.
* * *
Ever buy a small bottle of soda, a cup of coffee, a tuna sandwich, a bag of nuts — anything — in a New York-area airport? Talk about a captive audience forced to dig!
And at least a mugger looks at you when he swipes your money.
That’s why it was both curious and fascinating to have recently heard a radio ad campaign encouraging people to shop within the terminals at Newark’s Liberty Airport, which we were further told is the place to be for many, many great deals! Who knew?
Ya want long-term parking with that hot dog?
* * *
Rudy Giuliani is a hoot. He’s incorruptible, can’t be bought or even borrowed. Yet now he’s appearing in infomercials for an identity- theft prevention come-on. Does he not know that infomericals are synonymous with fractional truths, false claims, per-se scams and, most remarkably, 10-minutes-left clocks that never expire?
Reminds me of when he was mayor and handed down an edict demanding that City Hall appointees and employees cease consorting with known and convicted felons.
Couple of days later, Giuliani was seen watching a Yankee game from the Yankee Stadium luxury box owned and often inhabited by George Steinbrenner, a twice-convicted felon.