Ruminations

BANNED IN BOSTON: Boston is the first NBC affiliate to balk at airing the prime time Jay Leno program. Jay grew up in nearby (well as the crow flies) Andover -- not a big greeting for a local boy done well. NBC has threatened the affiliate -- which thinks it can get better numbers by airing a newscast -- by dropping them from NBC. Given the dearth of hit network programming, it seems like a bluff. This could be the first of many defections.

HUFF, THE TRAGIC EDITOR: Richard Huff, the TV & radio editor for the NYDN, reported on the dismissal of a popular local sportscaster and the cancellation of "The Guiding Light" a long running soap opera. You know how much money was saved by these acts? Well, if Richard Huff knows, he's not telling. Or, he's incompetent. Your pick.

HERE AND THERE: As I alluded in January, Obama is acting tough at home (e.g., canning the chief of GM). But he's sweetness and light overseas (e.g. bowing to the King of Saudi Arabia at the G20 summit). If there's a method to the madness, I can't fathom it.

EYE OF THE STORM: One doesn't normally consider themselves recovered from an illness until after a day or two of normal operations. You don't think yourself healed because you're able to sit up in your sick bed. That's my analogy for the current uptick in the stock market. It's a good sign but it doesn't mean you'll be running any time soon.

BATTER UP: Obviously the reception was poor when George Steinbrenner and Jeff Wilpon, the chiefs of the Yankees and Mets respectively, gazed into their crystal balls. Despite having contending ball teams, I don't expect boffo box office with the prices that they will be charging to see grown men play, well, a game. in their posh new facilities. Had they built the new stadiums in the late 1990s, well that's a different story.

NOW THEY NOTICE: Bravo to the NYDN for exposing the mockery that is called the New York State legislature. It's essentially a three-man circus -- the governor, the Assembly leader, and the Senate leader. Every other elected official is an extra -- or in some cases -- a prop. However, this isn't news -- this set up has been the governing MO for decades. However, the NYDN is still upset that the governor didn't select sweet Caroline Kennedy as the senator -- so now it's news. (Alas, Kirsten Gillibrand doesn't sell papers.)

THE SHIP BE SINKING: Did the NYT spike a story that would connect ACORN and the Obama campaign? It doesn't look good. Neither does the mindset of their executive editor for that matter.