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June 22, 2007
GE Couldn’t Make the Numbers Work
This morning, I learned in the New York Times that GE was no longer considering making a bid, along with Pearson, for Dow Jones & Co. and the Wall Street Journal because it “couldn’t make the numbers work,” according to WNYC’s “Marketplace.” I also learned on Media Post that “PER THE NEW YORK POST, NBC is paying $1 million to grab the first after-jail interview with Paris Hilton. The interview, scheduled for sometime next week, will probably be done by Meredith Vieira of "Today." Apparently, ABC was in the lead when NBC chief Jeff Zucker called Hiton's dad and made the pitch.” The New York Times also reported on Paris Hilton/NBC story, but I couldn’t find anything in the paper online this morning that dealt with the obvious and absurd connection between the two stories.
So for the benefit of this blog’s readers, here’s the grand irony: 1) NBC’s parent company, GE, was considering making a bid for America’s second largest circulation newspaper with one of the three most prestigious and credible newspaper brand names in the world, primarily to protect the WSJ’s relationship with CNBC, but backed out because it couldn’t make the numbers work—couldn’t make enough money on the deal. 2) NBC’s CEO Jeff Zucker inserts himself into the competition with ABC to get the first post-jail interview with society slut Paris Hilton and agrees to pay her and her family $1 million. Yes, that’s $1 million for an interview with Meredith Vieira on the “Today” show.
The whole thing is a perfect example of the current values of the television medium, which I mentioned in yesterday’s blog—profits above all and trash above journalism. Two of the most famous women in the last 10 years have become celebrities for performing oral sex—Monica Lewinsky and Paris Hilton—the goddesses of the Web and TV. I supposed we get the presidents, vice presidents, and celebrities we deserve.
GE CEO Jeff Immelt should realize that the desperate Zucker (he has to be desperate to offer $1 million for a Paris Hilton interview) is not going to pull NBC out its rating hole and Immelt should quietly put NBC up for sale—get rid of it before Zucker spends $2 million for a picture of Britney Spears's crotch. Maybe GE could sell NBC to Larry Flynt.
Posted by Charles Warner at June 22, 2007 09:45 AM
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