Viewpoint Extra: NBC Universal to launch CNBC Life?

A follow up to a previous post. I have just seen a new promo advertising CNBC Life. They announced that the programming block, which will air on weekends begins 23rd February. No further information available at this time, but it does seem like this will basically be the same as the old CNBC Weekend brand that they used a couple of years back.

WPITW on Countdown: Clinton got a lot of passes!!!

I have to agree with Keith Olbermann on this one. I don't think former President Bill Clinton got any passes. CNN, Headline News, Fox News, MSNBC, were all around back then and were all over the Clinton Lewinsky 'scandal' like a bad rash 24/7/365 for 2 years plus! He didn't get any form of pass at all. Anyway, have a look at the WPITW segment from last night's Countdown With Keith Olbermann. That is, if my HTML skills are up to scratch!

From American Gladiators to the WWE!

Wrestlezone.com is reporting that former host and commentator of both American Gladiators and International Gladiators Mike Adamle is to debut at the Royal Rumble this Sunday.

I'm not sure if he is being groomed as an eventual replacement for good ol' JR, Jim Ross, or whether he will join Michael Cole eventually on SmackDown, but at the moment he will be joining the RAW team, alongside Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler and Todd Grisham.

I think this is a good move for WWE, as because of his background with American Gladiators, he is probably more qualified than some others that WWE have taken on before. He was also an NFL star back in the 1970s, so he is quite used to the rough and tumble of sports. I look forward to seeing Mike Adamle in action on WWE programming.

Viewpoint Extra: Heath Ledger 1979-2008

As a follow up to the obituary I wrote, I notice that the Dark Knight website, the one for the new movie to be released this summer in which Heath plays The Joker, has been replaced by a simple page. A touching and fitting tribute to a real actor, who worked for the joy of acting, rather than for any twisted notion of fame. He will be greatly missed by us all.

Red Eye's Fixed Noise "Alert!"

Fox News Channel has a late night news/talk/comedy show called Red Eye, which normally fails to be any of the three, never mind all of them. However, one recent edition did manage to include a real comedy gem, for about a whole 20 seconds!

20 seconds, out of the myriad hours of output they have wasted on this show. Still, it is a gem worth sharing. Kudos to the mystery newsreader, whoever you are...



And kudos to the guy who recorded it and put it up on YouTube for all to see.

Viewpoint Extra: NBC Universal to begin CNBC life?

To follow up on a recent post of mine here, it would seem that CNBC Life is NOT a new channel, at least not yet.

By checking around various forums, I have discovered that CNBC Life is a new programming block coming up in February on CNBC Europe. I have to thank Digital Spy forum member Epsom for discovering the information. Unfortunately at the moment, no further information seems to be available. I'll let you know as soon as there is more info.

Heath Ledger 1979-2008

Heath Ledger was perhaps best known for his starring roles in two films. The first was the role that first brought him to public attention, Sir William Thatcher in the 2001 film A Knight's Tale. It featured among its soundtrack, a cover version of the old Queen track, We Are The Champions by Robbie Williams, which no doubt helped propel a film which had no strong star names to sell it on.

The other role, was the one that garnered him an oscar nomination. Ennis Del Mar in the 2005 film Brokeback Mountain, the film who garnered a ton of noteriety when it was revealed that it was about two gay cowboys.

Ironically, a lot of people I know were looking forward to his next big performance, that of The Joker in the follow up to Batman Begins, The Dark Knight. Pictures had already begun to circulate showing him in the Joker make up and a real buzz was growing about this role. It was very likely that his performance in that film would have catapulted him from superstardom to megastardom.

IMDB has him listed as being cast in a film called The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, which is the next film from Python member Terry Gilliam. Whether he will appear in that film now remains to seen.

According to the press reports I have seen, it is believed that his death may be drug related. It also could be suicide, which given the information made available so far, is a possibility. We won't know for sure for a while yet. Heath Ledger, born in Perth, Western Australia, was just 28.

R. I. P.

New Five News - Coming Soon

There is a new blog from Five News which is written by new presenter Natasha Kaplinsky, as part of the build up to the relaunch of Five News under the name "Five News with Natasha Kaplinsky".

In her first video post, she talks about having done research for the new show at CBS News. So, we can expect to see a bulletin modeled on the "CBS Evening News with Katie Couric". She talked about sofas and the new set being built, and a more casual look. The casual approach to news has been done before, very successfully too, but it's very difficult to do without looking too gimmicky.

The new programme is due to launch in February so we'll keep an eye on that.

NBC Universal to begin CNBC life?

I have been watching CNBC quite a bit recently, and I have noticed a promo which is very minimalist, but seems to indicate a new channel could be being launched by NBC Universal under the CNBC brand. It seems to be called CNBC life, and according to the promo, it will have sports, current affiars, entertainment and other things besides, and to me, with my memory, it reminds me an awful lot of the old NBC Super Channel that "appeared" in 1993, only to disappear in 1998.

This could mean some changes to the weekend schedule of CNBC Europe, which would be interesting to see happen. What would be on CNBC life exactly? Not sure, the advert wasn't too specific, but I hope that we will get to see NBC's Today show again, which I remember from back when Bryant Gumbel and Katie Couric were the hosts, now it's Matt Lauer and Meredith Viera. I also hope we will see material from MSNBC, such as Hardball with Chris Matthews and Countdown with Keith Olbermann. I would also like to see ITN providing World News again for the channel, although I have to admit I think it unlikely.

I do think however we might get to see full editions of The Tonight Show and Late Night on a small tape delay (less than 24 hours), which is better than what we're currently viewing now here in the UK and Ireland. The only thing it did say at the end of the promo was "CNBC life. February" so we won't have to wait too long to find out.

America Votes 2008: Iowa Caucus

So, the results are in, just about. We know who won, we know who lost, and we know who's heading for the race exit door.

On the Democratic side, which saw apparently a record turnout, Barack Obama polled 940 votes, John Edwards polled 744 votes and Hilary Clinton polled 737 votes. As far as the other candidates go, Bill Richardson polled 53 votes, Joe Biden polled 23 and Chris Dodd polled a single vote. 3 were uncommited. Neither Dennis Kucinich or Mike Gravel polled a single vote.

It was not long after the final result was announced that word came out from the relevant camps, that both Sen. Joseph Biden and Sen. Christopher Dodd, had pulled out of the race to become the Democratic nominee for this year's race to the White House.

Since neither Mike Gravel or Dennis Kucinich polled a single vote, both candidates must and should be, seriously considering whether their bids for the White House should continue. Even Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico, should be looking at whether his bid for the White House has much gas left in the tank. I still think he could come up on the rails and it is not inconcievable that he could pull of an unlikely victory, but more and more, this is looking like a three-horse-race.

On the Republican side, things are a little different.

With 96% of the precincts reporting, Mike Huckabee is leading and almost certainly has won, with currently 39,814 votes. Mitt Romney polled 29,045 votes. Fred Thompson polled 15,521 votes with John McCain polling 15,248 votes, just slightly behind Thompson. Ron Paul polled 11,598 votes whilst Rudi Guiliani came a bad sixth with just 4,013 votes. Duncan Hunter (who?) came in last with 515 votes.

On the Republican side, the pressure is really on for ALL the candidates. Miken Huckabee won Iowa, but it's considered that New Hampshire is a much tougher state for him because the kind of Christian Conservatives that he appeals to, just aren't there in New Hampshire. Mitt Romney also needs to come up big in New Hampshire. To keep him in the campaign, he really needs to win, or at least come a decent close second. Thompson really needs to pick up ground in New Hampshire, otherwise his campaign is dead in the water. Current polls there indicate he is way off the pace there with just 2%. John McCain also needs at worst a second place in New Hampshire or he is very likely to be truly out of the running.

Ron Paul and Rudi Guiliani on the other hand don't seem quite so badly off. Rudi hasn't strongly campaigned in either Iowa or New Hampshire and seems to pinning his hopes on Super Tuesday, February 5th, when 18 states go to the polls. The problem is of course that this strategy could backfire rather badly if Huckabee's momentum in Iowa spreads through New Hampshire and on to Super Tuesday. Ron Paul needs at least a third in New Hampshire to keep his momentum going, but even he wouldn't be entirely dead in the water if he didn't. But he would be in some degree of difficulty if he didn't.

As for Duncan Hunter, he may as well quit now. His chances were always remote and now seem about as likely as snow during a Florida Summer!

At the moment, I am watching coverage of the "Countdown To New Hampshire" live on MSNBC, via their web site. I hope they continue broadcasting live on the web, as out of all the US based news channels, only CNN broadcasts on the web, and that's audio only. I really would like to see more news channels broadcasting on the web and in video too.