John King On CNN Ratings, Lou Dobbs And Plans For His New Show

Q&A

by Steve Krakauer | 2:00 pm, November 19th, 2009

» 5 comments

One detail about his new 7pmET CNN program is set in stone – you’ll see the ‘Magic Wall.’ “Of course you will,” King told Mediaite. “One of the things we think is very important is to use technology in ways to make information more accessible, understandable and interactive with our audience.”

“The world has changed. People have amazing access to whatever they want, whenever they want it. The wall is one piece of technology we have at our disposal to take people closer.”

CNN has made a big push for interactivity – with Twitter, iReports and more – but there hasn’t been as much incorporation in a way that impacts the audience in the evening hours. King’s show could be a good first step. “The world has changed,” he said. “People have amazing access to whatever they want, whenever they want it. The wall is one piece of technology we have at our disposal to take people closer.”

One thing about King’s current role is the travel it requires. Seeing the country (again, 45 states in 45 weeks) as a whole has given the CNN anchor a unique perspective. “The country is a very complicated jigsaw puzzle, and it’s easier for me to understand why it’s so hard for even Democratic Senators to agree on things,” he said. “Some are from Little Rock and some are from San Francisco and those are very different places, even if you’re a Democrat.”

CNN’s choice of King is not a surprise, and some may even call it a safe pick. The Sunday morning show has been a training ground for a larger role at the network, and King’s 2008 Election work pegged him as an objective, fair and interesting anchor. But it doesn’t rock the boat. If King can separate himself from the pack of anchors, distinguish his program as not just another ‘news’ program currently on CNN prime time, the show will be a success. But will it happen? We’ll see next year.

Here’s a look behind-the-scenes as King prepares for interviews earlier this year:

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http://www.facebook.com/people/Maggie-Denson/100000117356468 Maggie Denson

Mr. King, I suppose you will be talking IN FAVOR of the Obama Administration. IF NOT, you won’t last on CNN either! It is very disgusting that there is ONLY ONE station we can count on for Truthful information. That, of course, being Fox News. Yes, they do make mistakes, but who is perfect. When they do, the will apologize for it, which is more than any other station would do. When they tell you something, you are sure to believe it bcause it is always about their man, the president. I believe all stations should give us the news, NOT just tell us how great and what wonderful things this president is doing, which is of course, NOT the truth. When I happen to go back another station, I usually get some dirty words said about anyone who may say something they do not agree with and put them down. Why can’t all stations tell the true things that really have happened, not the things they say WILL happen?”
TfT

“One thing he said he does expect is to have extended interviews, upwards of 8-10 minutes, to let the story breathe. ”

Now that would be a refreshing change during primetime. With the exception of the occasional superstar (Sarah), the interview segments during prime time are way too short.

We’ll see if King can help CNN — they came in fourth place again last night. They are in sorry shape.
libra blue

Excellent post Steve. John King is one of the few, very few, journalists that I admire and respect on CNN which coincidentally includes his wife Dana Bash, who is a first rate journalist in her own right.

Although in theory I agree with John’s statement that “If you over-worry about [ratings] then you don’t have consistency and don’t have foundation,” I don’t believe he or CNN are unconcerned with the low ratings they have been receiving lately and that they are not trying to do something to change them. I think his new appointment is a direct result of those efforts.

When Nancy Grace is beating all of your highly paid and highly promoted talent in the ratings, not only in the total viewers, but in the heavily sought after demo, how can you, and your sponsors, not be concerned? As I recall, CNN was very braggadocious when AC360 briefly beat On the Record in the ratings last year. It even prompted its host to make one of his rare appearances on the AC360 blog thanking the viewers for their support:

John will have a tough competitor in “The Fox Report” with Shepard Smith, which is everything John promises his new program will be, “fun, fair, interesting, provocative and compelling,” but it also has the charm of Shepard Smith which is difficult to dispute. Even though I think John is affable, he will have to compete with Smith on a different level, which may just be those longer interviews which I would definitely be interested in watching.

My one piece of advice to John would be to respect his audience. Lou Dobbs understands that, but it is the one thing that all of the anchors and most of the reporters on CNN don’t seem to care about.

However, it is something that FNC understands perfectly.

I look forward to watching John’s new show.
libra blue

@Maggie Denson, I have to agree, that is one of the challenges King will have to face. However, he and his wife Dana Bash, have done their best to try and inject fairness into the pre and post election, heavily biased, pro Obama CNN panels that have become a regular feature of every CNN program.
Sunnyr

Frankly,Scarlett………………I don’t watch CNN. Does anyone?