Posted by Bud on February 01, 2010 at 21:33:17:
In Reply to: Monsters and Money in the Morning posted by Justin on February 01, 2010 at 12:16:57:
No dividend yet for 'Monsters & Money,' but Mike North and company eventually might merit investment
"Monsters & Money in the Morning" is going to have to get ahead of the news, rather than simply talk about what's already happened in a flitting, fleeting way if it's going to be worth waking up for weekday mornings at 5 a.m. on CBS-owned WBBM-Ch. 2 .
Today's two-hour debut of Channel 2's bold experiment -- a teaming of sports guys Mike North and Dan Jiggetts (the so-called Monsters) with financial commentators Terry Savage and Mike Hegedus -- moved along at a decent pace and certainly showed the potential to engage and amuse, sometimes intentionally.
But a reasonably intelligent, well-informed viewer, particularly one already interested in sports and business, would be hard-pressed to come away from the roundtable discussion with much in the way of new information or insights.
The program has been positioned by WBBM management as a non-news program, ostensibly to free it of constraints governing news operations, especially when it comes to advertising and creating other revenue opportunities. But if the audience isn't going to learn anything or be encouraged to look at something they already know about in a different way, where's the dividend for the investment of time and attention?
The set and graphics look sharp. The co-hosts, particularly North, showed they can get by to a degree on the way they say what they say, rather than the substance. And, in fairness, this is Day 1. It's already a big improvement on the largely unwatched and indistinguishable early morning newscast it replaces on Channel 2.
So we'll recommend a hold on the stock for now and see how things play out.
If you slept in, meanwhile, here's some of what you missed:
4:59 a.m. Dan Jiggetts introduces Mike North, Chicago Sun-Times columnist Terry Savage and CNBC alumnus Mike Hegedus. So much for needing caffeine. That high def picture will wake you up. These people look so much better in person. Jiggetts, who seems to be first among equals as the show's host of hosts, introduces Susan Carlson, who was part of Channel 2's previous morning show, and weathercaster Mary Kay Kleist, another refugee from WBBM's actual news teamrew. They seem awfully happy for not having seats at the table yet. Especially Kleist, who's literally standing in Carlson's shadow.
5 a.m. "This is like a big table here, Jiggs, as you know," North says to the others seated around the big table. "I'm going to tell you something right now. I'm going to go against the grain. I know you three want to make a lot of money for the show. I know you want advertisers for the show. You want us to so-called prostitute ourselves for the show, but I'm not going there. I'm going to tell you straight out and out, we just got to do what we got to do. Don't encourage sales or anything like that." Holding a box of Raisin Bran with slapdash sign on it that says Cereal Sponsor Needed, he adds, "Just pour the cereal in the bowl and enjoy yourself."
Still 5 a.m. "For anybody who's listening not watching, it says 'Cereal Sponsor Needed,' " Savage notes, either anticipating a radio simulcast or a distracted audience. North says: "If you're not watching, you're not seeing us. No. 2, I think the people out there can read, otherwise we're in trouble."
5:01 a.m. Jiggetts: "What about the milk?" North: "I can only go so far on the first day." Time to go to weather with Kleist, as Carlson takes a seat at the table.
5:02 a.m. Carlson says she's "excited to be here" and that it was an "exciting night in chicago so to speak" with a "a lot of things going on while you were catching your Zs." Those things? Two fires.
5:03 p.m. Jiggetts leads a discussion of the Toyota recall. North calls it "their Katrina."
5:05 p.m. Just noticed the countdown timer for each conversation topic. We've got to listen to two minutes on the Pro Bowl? Even with the male-skewing target audience for "Monsters & Money," chances are if you woke up with your TV set to Channel 2, you went to sleep watching the Grammys and not football. Good thing they're moving on early.
5:12 a.m. Savage is getting her first exposure to mixed martial arts fighting, seems to think it's savage. It seems the on-screen timer is there for decoration only.
5:13 a.m. Let's go to the first commercial break.
5:20 a.m. Thanks to sponsorship logo deals, it appears Kleist's seven-day forecast has been certified and endorsed by the National Weather Association, the American Meteorological Association and the Bedding Experts.
5:21 a.m. Is Jiggetts really pretending to be amazed there's such a thing as novelty proposition bets on the Super Bowl? You know, North is really well-informed on the subject of sports wagering. There is no talk of how and why proposition bets tend to be sucker wagers.
5:23 a.m. Apparently these guys are going to have a special at 10 a.m. Sunday, right after "Face the Nation" and as a prelude to more than six hours of pre-Super Bowl programming football programming.
5:25 a.m. Savage is not a fan of Eminem. That's a stunner. Hegedus thinks the language used on the Grammy telecast probably scored street cred. It's fairly clear none of these four are the target audience for rap. Another conversation where the on-screen timer is mercifully irrelevant. They've got to lose the clock.
5:31 a.m. That camera on a spindle in the middle of the table reminds me of HAL from 2001. "Daisy, Daisy ..."
5:45 a.m. Jiggetts welcomes Chicago Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz, who also showed up on the first edition of the last TV show Jiggetts and North did. To his credit, it's clear Jiggetts did not have to read the script on the prompter behind Wirtz which reads, "Rocky, we are thrilled to have you with us this morning."
5:46 a.m. Savage says the Hawks success is all about money, then asks him about a mid-November Forbes magazine report.
5:52 a.m. Channel 2's Pam Zekman will have an investigative report you'll have to wait until 10 p.m. to see.
5:53 a.m. Little tip to people asked to participate in the ad for Florida tourism. When asked a question about the site of America's first colony by someone with a "Visit Florida" microphone, the answer is probably somewhere in Florida.
5:54 a.m. North is touting a bankruptcy law firm in an ad. Hmmm. What comes to mind when you think of legal problems, money problems and Mike North?
5:57 a.m. Jiggetts asks Wirtz about "Limogate." Wirtz says at least young star Patrick Kane took a limo this time.
6:06 a.m. Savage says Metra raising tickets prices violates every law of economics because it pushes riders away, mentions that giving seniors free rides increased their use of system. She offers no answer for how Metra can afford to carry them or carry on. "If you could cut prices enough ..." she says, noting stores that trim prices are packed. Wonder how many are Going Out of Business sales?
6:08 a.m. Wirtz owns a sports franchise, a liquor distributorship and various other businesses. So why is he giving Hegedus, Savage, Jiggetts and North two boxer briefs with their show's logo on it? It seems as though he has access to better swag than that.
6:13 a.m. Hegedus had no interest in the Pro Bowl once he realized that, like every other Pro Bowl, no one was going to hit anyone and turned off the Grammys after Beyonce grabbed her crotch. No one's even bothering to ask about HBO's "Big Love." If they make a movie, TV show or play about "Monsters & Money," they have to get Steppenwolf Gary Cole to play Hegedus.
6:16 a.m. There seems to be a standing order to be more conversational in delivering headlines, which is fine. Carlson reported that President Barack Obama will be proposing NASA budget cuts that "would ax money to send astronauts back to the moon by 2010, but it wouldn't eliminate the entire space program. There would still be some money set aside for a mission to Mars. So evidentally, the president prefers Mars to the moon. Go figure." News of the White House shift in priorities away from a plan to send astronauts back to the moon by 2020 broke almost a week ago. (A sleepy writer proofreading his own work a few hours later will concede everybody can and will makes mistakes, like typing "divident" instead of "dividend.")
6:22 a.m. Savage is pressing Wirtz on his team's TV deals. She doesn't seem to understand that much of the success the franchise derives in that regard is through sponsorship deals and its part-ownership of Comcast SportsNet Chicago, which carries many of the games, as opposed to rights fees. Jiggetts, who was teamed with North at CSN, fills in the blank.
6:26 a.m. If Hegedus is going to cast aspersions on the chances of blockbuster "Avatar" to win Best Picture, why would no one at the table mention any other Oscar contenders? Bet they talk about movies later this week with Academy Award nominations set to be announced Tuesday. They should have opinions now, no?
6:31 a.m. Rocky Wirtz gets to leave for work.
6:35 a.m. Jiggetts says "some sources tell me that the Times of London says the Goldman Sachs CEO is thumbing his nose at President Obama" by taking a $100 million bonus. Jiggetts needs multiple unnamed sources to know what's in the Times of London? He can't just read the story, which quoted an unnamed banker at one of Goldman's rivals, here?
6:46 a.m. CBS Sports announcer Phil Simms is talking about something from Miami. Probably football. There's some tie-in to FedEx, which has a big distracting logo behind him, but it's not immediately clear.
6:49 a.m. Ah. Jiggetts finally asks him about FedEx. There's some sponsored award. There will be a press conference this week. Donations will be made in support of pedestrian safety. Subtle as a delivery truck hitting ... wait, better not go there.
6:50 a.m. Simms thinks "Monsters & Money" looks like an NFL pregame show. Wow. Is he watching or guessing?
6:51 a.m. Hegedus, North and the gang are talking about former Chicago Bulls center Tyson Chandler and Chicago Bears quarterback Rex Grossman mistiming the real estate market. Timing is so important. It was reported last week on the Chicago Tribune's Web site that Grossman sold the 36th-floor condo he bought in 2008 for $2.681 million for $2 million and that the home Chandler bought for $4 million in 2006 has been listed for sale at $3.395 million since Jan. 15.
6:55 a.m. As "Terry's tip for the day," Savage touts that morning's Chicago Sun-Times column on new credit-card laws, reminding people to read the fine print when sent notices from lenders. North, bless him, says: "Mike's tip for the day is wear a jacket when you go out. It's cold outside."
6:56 a.m. The first edition of "Monsters & Money" comes to a close. North holds up his Raisin Bran box in hopes of landing a cereal sponsor. Savage holds up the underwear Wirtz gave them in hopes of landing, who knows, more undergarments?
6:57 a.m. Promotional consideration apparently provided by L.L. Bean, which is famous for its lenient return policy. Good to know, in case things don't work out.
6:58 a.m. The first ad after the show is a promo for CBS' "CSI: Miami." Some pedestrian gets hit by a car. Phil Simms and FedEx will not be pleased!