The ten most powerful people in TV news
I'm not exactly sure what they mean by "powerful" whenever these lists come out. Does it mean influence? Does it mean the most-watched? Probably a mish-mash of both, since the list includes anchors and network executives. Here's the list, according to TV Week. Last year's rank is in parentheses.
1. Roger Ailes - Chairman and CEO of FOX News (1)
2. Steve Capus - President of NBC News (2)
3. Charles Gibson - ABC World News anchor (new)
4. David Westin - President of ABC News (6)
5. Tim Russert - Managing Editor and Host of Meet The Press (4)
6. Keith Olbermann - host of MSNBC's Countdown (new)
7. Sean McManus - President of CBS News (3)
8. Jon Klein, Ken Jautz, and Jim Walton - Top execs at CNN (10)
9. N.S. Bienstock - Talent agency (8)
10. Jon Stewart - host of The Daily Show (5)
Why is Gibson so high on this list? No Bill O'Reilly? And is Stewart really as influential as this list says? If he sees this list he's probably going to cringe, since he doesn't himself in that role (and if the 2000 and 2004 elections are any indication, the youth aren't exactly going out to vote). Not surprised to see Roger Ailes in the top spot I guess, though I wonder if the heads of ABC News, CBC News, and NBC News weren't just put on the list because, well, you need a nice round number like 10 and the networks have to be on here somewhere.
If you're wondering what the N.S. Bienstock talent agency is, they handle O'Reilly, Anderson Cooper, Chris Mathews, Paula Zahn, Glenn Beck, John Roberts, Robin Roberts, and a ton of other news personalities.
[via TV Newser]

8 Comments