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Tag: cable news

  • Fox Hires Scott Brown to Comment on Politics

    Fox News this week announced that former U.S. Senator Scott Brown has been hired to provide political commentary across a variety of Fox News programs. He will appear on both daytime and primetime programming for the cable news network.

    Brown is a former “half-term” U.S. Senator from Massachusetts who won a special election for the seat in 2010, after Senator Ted Kennedy died. Brown was defeated by now-Senator Elizabeth Warren in last year’s election after a relatively close and well-publicized campaign.

    “I am looking forward to commenting on the issues of the day and challenging our elected officials to put our country’s needs first instead of their own partisan interests,” said Brown.

    Brown made his debut on Fox News on Sean Hannity’s primetime show last night, February 13. In his appearance he explained his decision not to run in a special election to fill the Senate seat vacated by John Kerry, who became U.S. Secretary of State at the beginning of this month. Brown cited his many recent campaigns and the massive fundraising that would be needed for such a run as factors, but also called congress “dysfunctional and extremely partisan.”

  • Anderson Cooper Plugging Google+ A Good Sign For Google

    Anderson Cooper is plugging Google+. Does this mean that there’s a “big three” now? Will Google+ join Twitter and Facebook as social entities that companies feel compelled to plug?

    If you watch enough TV, you’ve probably heard this on cable news shows, advertisements, etc.:

    “Follows us on Twitter and like us on Facebook.”

    It’s a common request to close on, and a way for shows and brands to promote more interaction with fans and customers. In my experience, it was “like us on Facebook” first, and then Twitter became a powerful enough social network to be included. Now it looks like (at least some) organizations are looking at Google+ in the same way they look at Facebook and Twitter.

    Google engineer Joseph Smarr caught the Silver Fox’s plug and took a picture. He said, “Oh snap, +Anderson Cooper 360 just said “add us to your circles” live on CNN (first time I’ve heard it). Achievement unlocked.”

    Since then, it has become a much-shared post across the platform – especially by Googlers. Some users have commented that Anderson Cooper has been good about promoting Google+, making sure to do it on every episode of AC 360 – but it’s definitely not a universal practice. Plenty of cable news shows end with the “follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook” spiel, but personally I haven’t seen many others plugging Google+.

    Google+ is growing, there’s no denying that. The latest reports tout 90+ million users for the new social outlet. The White House just joined Google+ and on January 30th, President Obama will host his first-ever Hangout.

    Since Google is adamant that Google+ is Google, little things like this Anderson Cooper shoutout really matter. In the future, will we see a little G+ logo next to the iconic Twitter and Facebook logos everywhere?

    Have you seen any Google+ plugging on any other shows or ads? Let us know in the comments.