Friday, October 31, 2008

Where's Anderson?

Watching Anderson Cooper 360° tonight, it makes me wonder if he's not in the New York bureau. Instead of the normal wide shots of the studio from time-to-time, they are deciding to keep a tight shot on just Anderson's head/shoulders and the top of his chest. Maybe he's in Los Angeles or elsewhere tonight?

When he tossed to John King at the "Magic Wall", it was obvious Anderson wasn't broadcasting from the Time Warner Center in New York.

Either way, they're not mentioning it on the show, the blog, or in the tease during the John King-hosted Larry King Live. Plus both Erica Hill's webcast and the studio-cam are offline tonight.

Any ideas?

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Larry King Interviews Cindy McCain on Eve of Election Day

CNN Press Release - Cindy McCain, wife of Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, appears on CNN's Larry King Live in an interview with Larry King on Monday, Nov. 3, at 9 p.m. (ET), the eve of one of the nation’s most historic presidential elections. King conducted an interview with John McCain on Wednesday, Oct. 29.

Larry King Live airs nightly from 9-10 p.m. (ET). For more information on upcoming shows or to locate past transcripts, visit http://www.CNN.com/larryking. Wendy Walker is the senior executive producer of Larry King Live.

CNN Worldwide, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner Company, is the most trusted source for news and information. Its reach extends to nine cable and satellite television networks; one private place-based network; two radio networks; wireless devices around the world; CNN Digital Network, the No. 1 network of news Web sites in the United States; CNN Newsource, the world’s most extensively syndicated news service; and strategic international partnerships within both television and the digital media.

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CNN.com Offers Customizable Race Tracking, Voter Irregularity Reports, Unrivaled Video Experience for Election 2008

CNN Press Release - The week of the election, CNN.com – the premier online destination for news and information about Election 2008 – will provide users with up-to-the-minute reporting, analysis and results, as well as the ability to customize their online experiences for the latest information on national, state and local races.

“While utilizing the full force of CNN’s vast resources, CNN.com will blanket the nation on Election Day and provide users with accurate, immediate information in a manner that’s both easy-to-understand and fully customizable,” said Mitch Gelman, senior vice president and senior executive producer of CNN.com. “On Election Night, there is no better place for Web users to find the election results that matter to them most, whether it’s on a national, statewide or county level.”

Leading up to and on Election Night, CNN.com users can customize their online election tracking through the site’s newly launched “Your Races” feature. At CNN.com/YourRaces, users are able to follow the latest developments in up to 35 different races at once, including presidential, congressional and gubernatorial contests, as well as key ballot measures. Additionally, the latest information about users’ top three races will “follow” them throughout CNN.com in a module on the right hand side of the Web page. Mobile users also can obtain instant results to the races that matter to them most – from the president to local district representatives – simply by entering a ZIP code into the “Your Races” field on the homepage of the CNN.com Mobile site.

The information-rich and easy-to-use CNN Election Tracker, found at CNN.com/Tracker, provides users with detailed state-by-state information related to the presidential election across several different categories, including polling, fundraising, ad spending and past election results. The Election Tracker also makes it possible for users to “mash-up” and compare the candidates’ campaign strategies across two of those categories through the “Power Play” interactive at CNN.com/PowerPlay. Additionally, the CNN Electoral Map Calculator at CNN.com/Map enables users to make their own predictions about which candidate will capture the electoral votes in each state, as well as compare different scenarios. As the polls close on Nov. 4, the CNN Electoral Map Calculator will automatically update, providing the latest Electoral College results in the battle for the White House.

CNN.com also is providing its users with the latest information about voting problems or irregularities through its Voter Hotline Map. Found at CNN.com/VoterHotline, the interactive map is powered by CNN’s own Voter Hotline which launched earlier this month. On this map, users can click each state to find out how many total complaint calls have been received; the top three counties in the state with the most complaints; and the top three types of problems reported in that state. To date, the hotline has received more than 18,000 calls with the expectation to handle hundreds of thousands of calls by Election Night. To report problems at the polls, call 1.877.GOCNN08 (877.462.6608).

Beginning on Monday, Nov. 3, CNN.com Live, the site’s live, multi-stream video news service, will provide users access to a wide variety of content, including the candidates’ final campaign stops and stump speeches, live and in their entirety. The streaming video service also will feature special replays of the recent presidential and vice presidential debates, convention speeches and special CNN programming profiling each candidate.

On Election Day, CNN.com Live will provide live reports from polling stations across the country. As polls close, special Election Night coverage is anchored by Melissa Long live from the CNN Election Center in New York and Reggie Aqui, Naamua Delaney and Nicole Lapin from CNN Headquarters in Atlanta. Election Night coverage includes real-time election results, and live analysis from CNN correspondents and contributors. Also, as the races are called, CNN.com Live users can watch all acceptance and concession speeches in their entirety from candidates for president, vice president, the House of Representatives, the Senate and governor.

Just as it has throughout the entirety of the campaign, the CNN Political Ticker - the Internet’s No. 1 political news blog according to Nielsen Online, will provide up-to-the-minute analysis from the “Best Political Team.” Also, through The Forum, CNN.com’s destination for social and political self-expression, users are empowered to engage in real-time discussions with The Forum’s other registered members – and also invite their Facebook friends to join in the conversation through the recently launched Facebook Connect.

In addition to providing detailed coverage and thorough analysis through its political news gateway at CNNPolitics.com, CNN.com will showcase a countdown clock for the first state poll closings; provide detailed exit-poll data across numerous categories such as age, gender, key issues and race; and closely track the “balance-of-power” in the Senate and House races.

CNN.com is the world's No. 1 destination for online and wireless news, garnering the greatest audience share of total minutes among current events and global news sites. Launched in 1995, CNN.com draws from the resources of CNN Worldwide and its many partners to provide consumers with the most enriching, immediate interaction with news anywhere, seamlessly combining articles, videos, images, interactive features and user-generated content. CNN.com’s news video offering – both live and on-demand – is unparalleled on the Web. CNN.com’s recent awards include an Edward R. Murrow award, a National Headliner award, four EPpy awards and the Online News Association’s award for general excellence.

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Weekend Specials Offer Election Preview in Final Days before Nov. 4

CNN Press Release - In the days before the last votes are cast and counted in the 2008 presidential election, CNN will air special election programming throughout the weekend that features lead political anchor Wolf Blitzer and other members of the Best Political Team on Television.

On Saturday, Nov. 1, at 5 p.m. (ET), CNN political contributor and Christian Broadcasting Network senior correspondent David Brody will host the one-hour special Election Countdown: View from the Right. This roundtable discussion will examine the strength of the McCain-Palin ticket, the priorities for conservatives after the election and top issues on voters’ minds, including national security and the economy. Brody will be joined by Amanda Carpenter, national political reporter for Townhall.com; Brian DeBose, editorial writer for The Washington Times; Stephen Hayes, senior writer for The Weekly Standard; and Kevin Madden, Republican strategist and former press secretary for Gov. Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign.

On Sunday, Nov. 2, Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer expands to a three-hour election special, airing from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. (ET). Blitzer will be joined by McCain and Obama campaign surrogates and members of the Best Political Team about expectations on Election Day. Chief national correspondent John King will be on hand with the “Magic Wall” to zero in on the hotly contested battleground states and calculate electoral math based on the latest polling. Reliable Sources host Howard Kurtz will join Blitzer to lead panel discussions with fellow journalists about the coverage of the election.

To cap off the weekend, Blitzer will anchor a one-hour election preview special on Sunday at 8 p.m. (ET) He will be joined by members of the Best Political Team live from the campaign trail. Senior political analyst Bill Schneider will zero in on the latest polling data, and King will again break down the electoral map county-by-county in his analysis of battleground states.

Encore presentations of the 90-minute CNN Presents documentaries McCain Revealed and Obama Revealed will air back-to-back on Saturday at 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. (ET), respectively.

CNN Worldwide, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner Company, is the most trusted source for news and information. Its reach extends to nine cable and satellite television networks; one private place-based network; two radio networks; wireless devices around the world; CNN Digital Network, the No. 1 network of news Web sites in the United States; CNN Newsource, the world’s most extensively syndicated news service; and strategic international partnerships within both television and the digital media.

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Thursday, October 30, 2008

Blitzer, Team of Anchors, Analysts to Lead CNN’s ‘Election Night in America’

CNN Pressroom - After more than a year and a half of debates, primaries and political rallies, the U.S. presidential election will culminate on Tuesday, Nov. 4, with live, comprehensive programming and in-depth analysis across the powerful resources of CNN Worldwide platforms.

CNN’s “Election Night in America” coverage begins at 6 p.m. (ET) – one hour before the first polls close – with Wolf Blitzer leading the Best Political Team on Television along with Campbell Brown and Anderson Cooper from the Election Center headquarters in New York.

As he has throughout most of this presidential election cycle, chief national correspondent John King will use the latest technology as well as his reporting from every battleground state of this campaign to zero in on hotly contested states and provide analysis – down to a county-by-county level – to explain CNN’s projections in each state. Using CNN’s “Magic Wall” and a 3-D, 6-foot-long virtual U.S. Capitol, King will break down data about the presidential race and report on updates to the House and Senate balance of power.

In addition, Soledad O’Brien and Bill Schneider will, for the first time, showcase exit-polling data simultaneously from all 50 states with demographic comparisons. By using two 103-inch interactive plasma screens, the team will display a state-by-state breakdown of polling data according to any number of demographic and political groups. The new way of presenting polling information will allow viewers to compare how others in their state voted compared to those in different states.

Throughout the evening, senior analysts Gloria Borger, David Gergen and Jeffrey Toobin and political contributors Paul Begala, Bill Bennett, Donna Brazile, James Carville, Alex Castellanos, Amy Holmes, Roland Martin, Ed Rollins, Hilary Rosen, Leslie Sanchez and Tara Wall will provide analysis and commentary. CNN political correspondents Candy Crowley, Suzanne Malveaux and Jessica Yellin will report live throughout the evening from Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign headquarters in Chicago, while correspondents Dana Bash and Ed Henry will be on the ground at Sen. John McCain’s headquarters in Phoenix. In addition, CNN correspondents will be on the ground reporting from key battleground states.

Adding to what promises to be one of the most technologically advanced events in CNN’s 28-year history, CNN will enhance interviews with remote correspondents and guests using hologram projection. The network has built sets powered by hologram technology at both campaign headquarters making it possible to project three-dimensional images into the Election Center. From the New York set, anchors will exhibit more natural conversations with newsmakers and CNN correspondents in the field by interacting in real time with their 3-D virtual images.

CNN Programming Pre- and Post-Election Day

Amid CNN's multi-platform coverage, anchor Lou Dobbs will provide his independent perspective on this pivotal election. Special editions of Lou Dobbs Tonight will air live on Headline News on Monday, Nov. 3, and Tuesday, Nov. 4, at 9 p.m. (ET).

CNN’s live pre-Election Day coverage begins on Monday, Nov. 3, at 6 a.m. and will continue through Thursday, Nov. 6. On Monday evening, CNN’s prime-time coverage kicks off with Campbell Brown: No Bias, No Bull and includes two live hours of Anderson Cooper 360° followed by a live midnight airing of Larry King Live. CNN/U.S. will remain live from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m., at which time American Morning with anchors Kiran Chetry and John Roberts will begin its Election Day coverage. On Wednesday, Nov. 5, American Morning will follow-up on the election news of the day before beginning at 3 a.m. (ET)

CNN Coverage of Voter Irregularities:

On Election Day, CNN will assemble “go teams” of correspondents and producers who will report on breaking election news and voting irregularities. Throughout the day, CNN’s Ali Velshi will anchor reports on voting irregularities from the “go teams,” and legal experts will track and analyze such issues across the country.

As announced earlier in the month, CNN launched the Voter Hotline at 1.877.GOCNN08 (877.462.6608) to assist voters in reporting any problems or irregularities noticed at the polls. To date, the hotline has received more than 15,000 calls with the expectation to handle hundreds of thousands of calls by Election Night.

CNN.com Election Coverage:

As the premier online destination for Election Day coverage, CNN.com will showcase real-time election coverage and live results for national and state races, detailed exit-polling data, video and audio feeds, photo galleries and games. Users can customize their online experience by selecting the races they most care about and viewing results by state and county, as well as scorecards, maps and live streams of speeches.

CNNPolitics.com, the site’s political news gateway, will feature complete coverage and analysis as the results are tallied. Members of the Best Political Team will share their insights on the Political Ticker, the Internet’s No. 1 political news blog according to Nielsen Online. Also, through The Forum, CNN.com’s destination for social and political self-expression, users are empowered to engage in real-time discussions with other registered members and invite their Facebook friends to join in the conversation through the recently launched Facebook Connect.

CNN.com Live will stream “Election Night in America” in its entirety, plus provide real-time election results and commentary from CNN analysts, contributors and correspondents. Throughout the day, CNN.com Live anchor Melissa Long will co-anchor a live Election Special from the CNN Election Center in New York with various guests, contributors and members of the Best Political Team on Television. As results start coming in, CNN.com Live will have special Election Night coverage with Long from New York and Reggie Aqui, Naamua Delaney and Nicole Lapin from CNN Headquarters in Atlanta. CNN.com will also offer users the ability to watch past candidate speeches online through video on-demand, CNN.com Live and full text transcripts.

CNN Grill/Times Square Viewing Party:

Building upon the success of the CNN Grills at both conventions as well as 2006’s “CNN Election Nite Blog Party,” the network will open a CNN Grill inside the Time Warner Center Park Café from 6 p.m. to midnight (ET). Internet reporter Abbi Tatton will report live for CNN.com Live from the Grill throughout the night. Comments from bloggers in the Grill will post at CNN.com.

Also on Election Day from noon to midnight, CNN will hold a viewing party in Times Square in conjunction with the Times Square Alliance. The public, on a first-come, first-served basis, will be able to view CNN’s election coverage on Spectacolor HD, ClearChannel Spectacolor’s digital display, located at the corner of 47th Street and Broadway. Similar viewing events for Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama’s nomination acceptance speeches attracted more than a thousand spectators to the heart of Times Square.

CNN’s International Coverage:

Viewers from around the world also will also have the opportunity to follow the U.S. presidential election as CNN International simulcasts many hours of CNN’s non-stop coverage. The network has teams in place in more than 32 countries with correspondents in Obama’s ancestral home town in Kenya as well as in Iraq, Israel and key capitals of Europe, Asia and Latin America. CNN en Español also will provide rolling coverage of America Votes 2008. In addition, CNN-branded global networks and digital services such as CNN IBN in India, CNN Turk in Turkey, CNN+ in Spain and CNNArabic.com, CNN’s Arabic language Web site will provide on-going coverage of “Election Night in America.”

CNN Radio/CNN Newsource/CNN Students News:

CNN Radio will have continuous anchored Election Night coverage by CNN Radio Capitol Hill correspondent Lisa Desjardins and CNN anchor Kyra Phillips. It will be available to CNN Radio affiliates worldwide and streamed online at CNN.com beginning at 7 p.m. (ET). CNN Radio correspondent Jim Roope will report live from McCain campaign headquarters and CNN Radio correspondent Amanda Moyer from Obama campaign headquarters. Also contributing will be CNN Radio correspondents Steve Kastenbaum, Ed McCarthy and Dick Uliano along with members of CNN’s Best Political Team on Television. CNN Newsource will provide its affiliates access to custom reports from correspondents Kate Bolduan and Sandra Endo and RunningMate correspondent Samantha Hayes.

The day after voters head to the polls, CNN Student News will focus on the last-minute campaigns and voter turnout and present the results of the presidential and congressional elections at its regularly scheduled programming time. Teachers, parents and students can visit CNN Student News for election activities and discussion questions about the elections. The “Talking Democracy” link provides additional free content that focuses on election-related concepts, such as the right to vote, campaign finance and debates. CNN Student News is a 10-minute commercial-free program on Headline News at 4 a.m. (ET) Monday through Friday, streamed online at www.CNNStudentNews.com or as a free iTunes podcast.

CNN Worldwide, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner Company, is the most trusted source for news and information. Its reach extends to nine cable and satellite television networks; one private place-based network; two radio networks; wireless devices around the world; CNN Digital Network, the No. 1 network of news Web sites in the United States; CNN Newsource, the world’s most extensively syndicated news service; and strategic international partnerships within both television and the digital media.

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Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Questions Pouring in for Obama

In our earlier post, we mentioned that CNN is soliciting iReport questions for Senator Barack Obama for use in an interview with The Situation Room host Wolf Blitzer. Here is one great question from my good friend Derrick. He is a medical student in St. Louis, MO. As of this writing, almost 80 questions have been chosen.



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Producers at CNN's Global Headquarters were in touch with him earlier this afternoon about using his question. Congrats, Derrick! We'll be keeping our fingers crossed.

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Larry King Interview with John McCain

Just an FYI that tonight's Larry King Live interview with John McCain will be simulcast on CNN En Español.

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‘13th Amendment’ Wins Grand Jury Award in Inaugural iReport Film Festival

CNN Press Release - CNN Worldwide this week announced the winners of the iReport Film Festival, the network’s first user-generated short film competition. Following the theme “Campaign 2008,” the iReport Film Festival challenged filmmakers to document this year’s presidential campaign from their personal vantage point, whether they were volunteering for a campaign or had compelling stories about this election they wanted to document creatively.

Two short films were honored: “13th Amendment” received the Grand Jury Award, selected by a blue ribbon panel of judges; and “The Electoral College: Barack Obama and John McCain College Roommates” was bestowed the Audience Award, voted on by the iReport.com community.

“It's exciting to give our audience the opportunity to express their creativity around this election,” said Sue Bunda, executive vice president of content development and strategy for CNN Worldwide. “This film festival marks just one of numerous ways where we have engaged our users and empowered them to take a part in this election.”

For the Grand Jury Award-winning short film “13th Amendment,” Mike Dennis of Philadelphia, Pa., followed his 90-year-old grandmother on her trek to vote for Barack Obama in the 2008 Pennsylvania primary. The film, depicting the lifelong voter’s first opportunity to cast a vote on behalf of a black man for U.S. president, can be found at http://www.iReport.com/docs/DOC-90261.

In comments about “13th Amendment,” Grand Jury member and film reviewer Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times said: “In less than five minutes, Mike Dennis tells a complete story with an inspirational message. I was impressed by all the entries, and I'm sure I'll see many of these names on feature-length films and documentaries in the years to come.”

CNN also presented an “Audience Award” to “The Electoral College: Barack Obama and John McCain College Roommates” based on votes cast by iReport.com users. Submitted by Franco Carapellotti and Zach Hawrot, this short film takes a comedic look at the trails and tribulations of what would happen if Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama were assigned to the same dorm room in college. This short film can be found at http://www.iReport.com/docs/DOC-114339.

As part of their awards, the filmmakers will receive a trip to Washington, D.C., during the presidential inauguration and a high-definition video camera.

For the selection of the Grand Jury Award, CNN enlisted the following blue ribbon panel of industry experts: Lee Daniels, president and CEO of Lee Daniels Entertainment and producer of the award-winning film Monster’s Ball; Robert Davi, an actor whose resume includes a villainous role in the James Bond film License to Kill; Rachel Campos Duffy, a pioneer of reality television pioneer and host of the AOL Living Web site; Alex Gibney, 2008 Academy Award® winner for best documentary for Taxi to the Dark Side; Dennis Haysbert, an actor best known for his role as President David Palmer in the television series 24; Evan Coyne Maloney, a documentary filmmaker, video blogger and editor of the Web site Brain Terminal; Kimberly Rivers Roberts, 2008 Grand Jury Sundance Film Festival winner for Trouble the Water; Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times columnist and former co-host of At The Movies with Ebert and Roeper; and Fred Willard, an actor known for his comedic roles in such films as Best in Show and Waiting for Guffman.

CNN Worldwide, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner Company, is the most trusted source for news and information. Its reach extends to nine cable and satellite television networks; one private place-based network; two radio networks; wireless devices around the world; CNN Digital Network, the No. 1 network of news Web sites in the United States; CNN Newsource, the world’s most extensively syndicated news service; and strategic international partnerships within both television and the digital media.

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CNN’s Wolf Blitzer Secures Interview with Sen. Barack Obama

CNN Press Release - Wolf Blitzer will sit down with Sen. Barack Obama on Friday, Oct.31, just five days before the presidential election. The interview will air throughout the three hours of The Situation Room later that day. Blitzer will travel for the face-to-face interview with Obama and plans to anchor The Situation Room from the road.

Blitzer will focus in on the most important domestic and national security issues facing voters, especially issue No. 1: the ailing U.S. economy. Blitzer discussed similar issues with Sen. John McCain during a one-on-one interview last week. Viewers can submit questions for Obama online at www.iReport.com/Obama.

The Situation Room airs from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. (ET). Eric Sherling is the program’s executive producer.

CNN Worldwide, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner Company, is the most trusted source for news and information. Its reach extends to nine cable and satellite television networks; one private place-based network; two radio networks; wireless devices around the world; CNN Digital Network, the No. 1 network of news Web sites in the United States; CNN Newsource, the world’s most extensively syndicated news service; and strategic international partnerships within both television and the digital media.

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Tuesday, October 28, 2008

CNN Special Reports on Crime Fighters in New Orleans

CNN Press Release - Soledad O’Brien Shadows New Inspector General, DAs and NOPD as They Fight ‘One Crime at a Time’

In 2007, two years after Hurricane Katrina decimated their city, New Orleans’ law enforcement was fighting another battle: a soaring rate of homicides. The city’s 209 homicides gave it the highest per capita murder rate in the nation. A year later, the situation could be even worse as crime, corruption and bureaucracy bring new threats.

In a one-hour documentary, CNN anchor and special correspondent Soledad O’Brien is on the frontlines with the foot soldiers working to bring law and order to the Big Easy. CNN Presents: One Crime at a Time takes a critical look at the factors that plague New Orleans and endanger its future. The program premieres on Saturday, Nov. 22, and Sunday, Nov. 23, at 8 p.m., 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. All times Eastern.

O’Brien’s reporting begins on the violent streets of New Orleans, where city homicide detectives investigate murders during shifts that can last as long as 30 hours. O’Brien rides along with Detectives Anthony Pardo and Harold Wischan. Twenty-year-old Guy McEwen is murdered in broad daylight in front of a dozen witnesses just a week after he testifies in a high profile murder case. Despite evidence, detectives have a difficult time arresting his killer.

One Crime at a Time tells the story of a law enforcement community determined to save the city by defeating corruption, crime and violence.

Because of the city’s understaffed police department, arresting killers and prosecuting homicides is difficult at best. Despite the odds, Assistant District Attorneys Mary Glass and Tanya Faia are finding some success. After nine months on the job, they’ve won or secured guilty pleas in all of their cases. But even with new leadership in the district attorney’s office and a stepped-up focus on homicide prosecutions, O’Brien finds that progress is slow.

Bob Cerasoli, the city’s new inspector general, fights the battle on a different front. He was hired in 2007 to cut down corruption, waste, fraud and misappropriations in New Orleans. If the city provides Cerasoli with the tools he says he needs, he believes he can save tens of millions of taxpayer dollars. But Cerasoli still doesn’t have enough staff or resources to launch as many investigations as he would like.

Mark Nelson is the vice president and senior executive producer for One Crime at a Time. Michelle Rozsa is senior producer; Jody Gottlieb is the managing editor.

CNN Worldwide, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner Company, is the most trusted source for news and information. Its reach extends to nine cable and satellite television networks; one private place-based network; two radio networks; wireless devices around the world; CNN Digital Network, the No. 1 network of news Web sites in the United States; CNN Newsource, the world’s most extensively syndicated news service; and strategic international partnerships within both television and the digital media.

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Sen. John McCain Talks with Larry King on Wednesday, Oct. 29

Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain appears on CNN’s Larry King Live Wednesday, Oct. 29, at 9 p.m. (ET) for an interview with Larry King, the same evening Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama delivers his paid half-hour television network address. King and McCain will discuss the election and the quest for the presidency with just seven days left in the historic race.

Larry King Live airs nightly from 9-10 p.m. (ET). For more information on upcoming shows or to locate past transcripts, visit http://www.CNN.com/larryking. Wendy Walker is the senior executive producer of Larry King Live.

CNN Worldwide, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner Company, is the most trusted source for news and information. Its reach extends to nine cable and satellite television networks; one private place-based network; two radio networks; wireless devices around the world; CNN Digital Network, the No. 1 network of news Web sites in the United States; CNN Newsource, the world’s most extensively syndicated news service; and strategic international partnerships within both television and the digital media.

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CNN is No. 1 at 10 p.m. in 2008 Among Adults 25-54

CNN Press Release - CNN is No. 1 at 10 p.m. in 2008 Among Adults 25-54Year to date, Anderson Cooper 360° remains the No. 1 show at 10 p.m. among cable news networks with 461k in 25-54, 4 percent ahead of On The Record’s 443k and 77% ahead of MSNBC’s Countdown replay (260k).

In prime time (M-Su), CNN grew the most during the month of October versus last year, increasing by an impressive 241% among adults 25-54 (840k vs. 246k), FNC grew 160% and MSNBC was up 212%. Beginning at 7p, CNN showed record growth in October with Lou Dobbs Tonight increasing 115% in total viewers (1.333 vs. 621k) and growing 110% among adults 25-54 (428k vs. 204k). At 8p, Campbell Brown: No Bias No Bull (formerly Election Center) increased more than any cable news program in the hour, up a whopping 190% in total viewers (1.604 vs. 554k) and increased 202% in 25-54 (610k vs. 202k). Larry King Live at 9p also posted significant increases, up 93% in total viewers (1.962 vs. 1.014k) and increased 128% in adults 25-54 (674k vs 296k). Anderson Cooper 360° at 10p posted the greatest growth in its hour with an increase of 238% in total viewers (2.451 vs. 726k) and up a staggering 297% in 25-54 (989k vs. 249k). Anderson Cooper 360° at 11p continued to post the most growth in its hour with 256% increase in total viewers (1.699 vs. 477k) and 263% in 25-54 (770k vs. 212k).

CNN is now the #1 network among adults 25-54 during five key hours: 3p, 4p, 5p 10p and 11p. At 3p, CNN Newsroom hosted by Rick Sanchez averaged 312k in 25-54 in October compared to FNC’s Studio B with 309k and 178k for MSNBC Live. At 4p, The Situation Room ranked #1 with 341k in adults 25-54, compared to 334k for FNC’s Your World and MSNBC Live’s 203k. At 5p The Situation Room posted 369k compared to 336k for FNC’s Election Headquarters and MSNBC Hardball’s 313k. At 10p Anderson Cooper 360° ranked #1 for the month with 989k in the demo versus 862kfor On the Record, and 512k MSNBC’s Countdown. At 11p, the second hour of Anderson Cooper 360 ranked first with 770k versus FNC’s O’Reilly Factor repeat 597k and MSBNC’s repeat of Rachael Maddow trailed with 351k.

During October, CNN’s coverage of the presidential debates rated #1 among cable news networks in 25-54 (three of the four debates aired in October). Additionally, CNN’s coverage of the vice presidential debate set a new record for the network in 18-34 with more than 3.166 million tuning in, the highest number for a scheduled broadcast in the network’s 28-year history.

Headline News grew its total viewer and demo audience by double-digits during every weekday hour and in every daypart in October. The network showed impressive growth with an 82% increase in total viewers in M-Su prime (666k vs. 365k) and a 94% increase in demo viewers (262k vs. 135k). Nancy Grace posted the most growth on the network with an increase of 127% in total viewers (1.191 vs. 454k) and 149% increase in 25-54 (454k vs. 182k).

CNN continues to reach more viewers in October with 79,012,000 total viewers tuning in during the month, FNC had 62,927,000, MSNBC 57,904,000, and HLN 55,323,000. Among 25-54 CNN again ranked first with 36,378,000; MSNBC was second with 28,235,000, FNC had 27,222,000 and HLN had 25,797,000.

In September, the CNN Digital Network ranked #1 among all Current Events and Global News sites, registering 1.7 billion total minutes for the month. This is the highest month on record for CNN.com since tracking began in 2001. (Source: Nielsen Online Home/Work Panel, September 2008)
During September, the CNN Digital Network also:
· Ranked #1 in share among all Current Events and Global News sites; (Source: Nielsen Online Home/Work Panel)
· Registered 44.4 minutes per person, the highest average time per person among the Top 5 News and Information sites based on reach – and the highest average time spent on CNN.com in more than two years; (Source: Nielsen Online Home/Work Panel)
· Registered 37.3 million unique visitors in September, CNN.com’s second highest unique visitor count since tracking began (Source: Nielsen Online Home/Work Panel); and
· Generated 1.9 billion page views, the highest monthly count in almost three years. (Source: Nielsen Online Home/Work Panel)
· Served 144 million videos, the highest month ever for CNN.com video. (Source: Omniture SiteCatalyst, Global)

September was also a record-setting month for CNNMoney.com – CNN’s exclusive business site and the online home of FORTUNE, MONEY and FSB: FORTUNE Small Business magazines – as its reach and engagement grew more than any other site in the business and financial news category according to Nielsen Online. CNNMoney.com’s year-to-date numbers have also increased significantly with 142% growth in page views, a 121% increase in total minutes, a 73% rise in time per person and a 30% increase in unique users over this time last year. (Source: Nielsen Online and Omniture SiteCatlyst, Global)
In September, CNNMoney.com’s month-over-month percentage increases were the highest among the top 10 business and financial news sites; and the site generated record-breaking traffic:
· 10.4 million unique visitors – up 46% versus prior month
· 257.2 million page views – up 58% versus prior month
· 192.8 million minutes – up 67% versus prior month

Additionally, CNN.com set multiple records on its political news and live video platforms during the month of September. On Monday, Sept. 1, the day Hurricane Gustav made landfall and the first day of the Republican National Convention, CNN Digital garnered more than 43 million page views and brought in more than 5.4 million unique users (Source: Nielsen Online Home/Work Panel). Also on that day, CNN.com Live served a record-breaking 1.8 million streams, a 124% increase over CNN.com Live’s previous high on Feb. 21, when it served more than 700,000 streams amid the Democratic presidential debate in Austin, Texas. (Source: Omniture SiteCatalyst, Global)

During the four days of the Republican National Convention, CNN Digital was the most used online news entity with 207.6 million usage minutes, 42.5 million more than Yahoo! News and 45.6 million more than MSNBC Digital.

On Friday, Sept. 26, the day of the first presidential debate, the CNN Digital Network ranked #1 in unique visitors, total minutes and page views. Also, on Sept. 26, the Political Ticker, the #1 political news blog according to Nielsen Online, set a new daily traffic record when it generated 4.8 million page views, nearly doubling its previous daily record, while CNNPolitics.com generated 12 million page views, a 91-percent increase over the prior four-week period. (Source: Omniture SiteCatylist, Global).

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Monday, October 27, 2008

CNN's iReport Film Festival selection Grand Jury Winner

CNN Press Release - For his short film “13th Amendment,” Mike Dennis of Philadelphia, Pa., followed his 90-year-old great-great-grandmother on her trek to vote for Barack Obama in the 2008 Pennsylvania primary. The film, depicting the lifelong voter’s first opportunity to cast a vote on behalf of a black man for U.S. president, took the Grand Jury Award at the iReport Film Festival, CNN’s first user-generated short film competition.

In comments about “13th Amendment,” film reviewer Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times said: “In less than five minutes, Mike Dennis tells a complete story with an inspirational message. I was impressed by all the entries, and I'm sure I'll see many of these names on feature-length films and documentaries in the years to come.”

Following the theme “Campaign 2008,” the iReport Film Festival provided a platform for filmmakers to document this year’s presidential campaign from their personal vantage point, whether they were volunteering for a campaign or had compelling stories about this election they wanted to document creatively. This short film can be found at http://www.iReport.com/docs/DOC-90261.

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New AC Interview

Check out this interview with Anderson Cooper in Elle Magazine. It's a pretty long story but a great one nonetheless!

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Wednesday, October 15, 2008

D.L. Hughley To Host Saturday Night CNN Show

Variety has the details on this new show coming to CNN on Saturday evenings.

Brian Stelter has more on his TV Decoder Blog.

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Tuesday, October 14, 2008

CNN To Debut Daily Broadcast From Abu Dhabi

Next year, CNN International plans to launch a live daily broadscast from Abu Dubai. The program is untitled as of yet.

"Our UAE expansion is one of our boldest editorial undertakings of recent years and one that builds on our existing newsgathering heritage in the region," said Tony Maddox, CNNI's Executive Vice-President and Managing Director in a press release.

(from TVNewser)

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Thursday, October 02, 2008

What's The Backstory?

Michael Holmes is set to host BackStory on CNN International. When? We're not sure. Until then, you can follow the show on Twitter. Rehearsals for the show were held at the network's headquarters in Atlanta today.

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