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发帖数: 29846 | 1 CNN Pulling the Plug on Low-Rated Loser Piers Morgan
by Jammie
He won’t be missed.
There have been times when the CNN host Piers Morgan didn’t seem to
like America very much — and American audiences have been more than willing
to return the favor. Three years after taking over for Larry King, Mr.
Morgan has seen the ratings for “Piers Morgan Live” hit some new lows,
drawing a fraction of viewers compared with competitors at Fox News and
MSNBC.
It’s been an unhappy collision between a British television personality
who refuses to assimilate — the only football he cares about is round and
his lectures on guns were rife with contempt — and a CNN audience that is
intrinsically provincial. After all, the people who tune into a cable news
network are, by their nature, deeply interested in America.
CNN’s president, Jeffrey Zucker, has other problems, but none bigger
than Mr. Morgan and his plum 9 p.m. time slot. Mr. Morgan said last week
that he and Mr. Zucker had been talking about the show’s failure to connect
and had decided to pull the plug, probably in March.
Crossing an ocean for a replacement for Larry King, who had ratings
problems of his own near the end, was probably not a great idea to begin
with. For a cable news station like CNN, major stories are like oxygen. When
something important or scary happens in America, many of us have an
immediate reflex to turn on CNN. When I find Mr. Morgan telling me what it
all means, I have a similar reflex to dismiss what he is saying. It is
difficult for him to speak credibly on significant American events because,
after all, he just got here.
I received a return call from Mr. Morgan and was prepared for an endless
argument over my assumptions. Not so. His show, he conceded, was not
performing as he had hoped and was nearing its end.
“It’s been a painful period and lately we have taken a bath in the
ratings,” he said, adding that although there had been times when the show
connected in terms of audience, slow news days were problematic.
“Look, I am a British guy debating American cultural issues, including
guns, which has been very polarizing, and there is no doubt that there are
many in the audience who are tired of me banging on about it,” he said. “
That’s run its course and Jeff and I have been talking for some time about
different ways of using me.”
Perhaps he can get coffee for Zucker. |
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