Christiane to ABC News suits: what part of vacation don't you understand?
NYP Page Six: Newly hired Christiane Amanpour has irked her ABC News bosses by refusing to start until August -- because she wants to spend the summer in the south of France. The respected CNN chief international correspondent, who will take over as anchor of ABC's Sunday morning show "This Week," told network honchos that she wouldn't start until after her regular summer vacation. Some ABC News chiefs are concerned that the delay, while Jake Tapper fills in as host, could hurt ratings. A source told Page Six, "Christiane made it clear she would not start until August because she wants to spend time at her family house in France."
TVNewser: ABC White House ace Jake Tapper, frontrunner for "This Week" until Amanpour dropped into the picture a few weeks ago, isn't talking. He's disappointed, newsroom insiders say, but he's manning up to keep the seat warm for Amanpour, whom he admires.
There are a lot of predictable sour grapes among surviving ABC News grunts amid layoffs.
Tom Shales Wash Post: If being the moderator of "This Week," ABC's Sunday morning news-talk show, required Senate approval, then journalist Christiane Amanpour.... would already be in big trouble.... As if outside opposition to Amanpour weren't enough, ABC News is practically in a state of internal revolt over her selection, according to such industry-watchers as TV Newser, which quotes ABC insiders as resenting Westin's hiring of a highly paid celebrity interloper for a job that many thought would go to White House correspondent Jake Tapper or to "Nightline" co-anchor Terry Moran. Either would have made a better "This Week" anchor, and neither would put ABC News in the position of having to rationalize spending big bucks on an superstar while making brutal cutbacks in the division.... Referring to the ABC staff as "too demoralized to care" about the nomination, an unnamed network veteran told TV Newser, "The appointment of Amanpour is a sideshow" because "the future of a Sunday morning talk show is trivial to people who believe they have no future at ABC News." ....Giving Amanpour the "This Week" job seems like one more bitter pill for ABC professionals to swallow, even as they overdose on all the others they've been forced to gulp down. After artfully orchestrating a smooth transition from Charlie Gibson to Diane Sawyer on ABC's "World News," Westin now seems to have ended his winning streak with a resounding clunk.... From many angles, it was a bad choice -- one which could create so much consternation that Westin will be forced to withdraw Amanpour's name and come up with another "nominee" for the job. That would hardly be a tragedy -- considering how many others deserve it more than she does.
There are a lot of predictable sour grapes among surviving ABC News grunts amid layoffs.
Tom Shales Wash Post: If being the moderator of "This Week," ABC's Sunday morning news-talk show, required Senate approval, then journalist Christiane Amanpour.... would already be in big trouble.... As if outside opposition to Amanpour weren't enough, ABC News is practically in a state of internal revolt over her selection, according to such industry-watchers as TV Newser, which quotes ABC insiders as resenting Westin's hiring of a highly paid celebrity interloper for a job that many thought would go to White House correspondent Jake Tapper or to "Nightline" co-anchor Terry Moran. Either would have made a better "This Week" anchor, and neither would put ABC News in the position of having to rationalize spending big bucks on an superstar while making brutal cutbacks in the division.... Referring to the ABC staff as "too demoralized to care" about the nomination, an unnamed network veteran told TV Newser, "The appointment of Amanpour is a sideshow" because "the future of a Sunday morning talk show is trivial to people who believe they have no future at ABC News." ....Giving Amanpour the "This Week" job seems like one more bitter pill for ABC professionals to swallow, even as they overdose on all the others they've been forced to gulp down. After artfully orchestrating a smooth transition from Charlie Gibson to Diane Sawyer on ABC's "World News," Westin now seems to have ended his winning streak with a resounding clunk.... From many angles, it was a bad choice -- one which could create so much consternation that Westin will be forced to withdraw Amanpour's name and come up with another "nominee" for the job. That would hardly be a tragedy -- considering how many others deserve it more than she does.
Veteran radio programming gurus Chickaboomer polled at last weekend's Talkers magazine's NYC New Media Seminar predict Christiane's going to bomb in the ratings. Perhaps ABC News president David Westin's crystal ball
Liberal radio talker Alan Colmes nailed it on the head to me: ABC News wanted to get Christiane into the fold. Read between the lines of Westin's Amanpour announcement.
Wouldn't you want to vacation in the south of France if you could? I would.
ReplyDeleteWell, YE-AHHHH!
ReplyDeleteDo they have Walmart?
ReplyDelete