"MSNBC challenges credibility of new CNN commercial"--that's the headline atop Joe Flint's blog post in the LA Times this afternoon. And MSNBC's Alana Russo accuses CNN of "fiction writing."
The Cable Gamer never got very far in economics and statistics, but she does remember one adage from her (sigh) long-ago school days: "If you torture the statistics long enough, they will confess."
And that's what CNN seems to have done--and then some. As Flint explains:
Confused? We can help. CNN is using a cumulative number that reflects anyone who watched CNN for six minutes in a given month, a tidbit it chose not to disclose in the ad. That's not a standard that advertisers traditionally embrace when trying to decide where to put their money, and CNN's rivals consider it a dubious number.
"We want to reach loyal viewers who tune in for longer lengths of time ... and hopefully are more engaged," says Andy Donchin of Carat, a media buying firm that spends heavily on cable news.
MSNBC is calling the ad fiction and has asked ratings service Nielsen to weigh in. While Nielsen approves all print ads based on its data, it does not require such approval for TV spots. But if questions about an ad are raised, Nielsen can step in and request that claims be substantiated on screen. Nielsen has sent a request to CNN to discuss the spot.
"If we see it is misleading, we will advise them to change it," a Nielsen spokeswoman said.
Said MSNBC spokeswoman Alana Russo: "MSNBC beat CNN in prime time last quarter. It seems to have driven our competitor from news to fiction writing."
"Fiction writing." Zing!
Speaking of zingers, Fox's Irena Briganti added one, too: "Jeff Bewkes is too smart to buy [CNN U.S. president] Jon Klein's [nonsense]." Jeff Bewkes, of course, is the chief of Time-Warner, and thus Jon Klein's boss. Although given CNN's poor showing, and yet Klein's survivorship despite failure, TCG has often wondered, "Who's on top of whom in that relationship?"
H/T -- One of the great movies of all time, QT's "Pulp Fiction," starring, among others, Uma Thurman.
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