TVSquad

Here are the weekly cable ratings, by number of viewers.

I'm always a little surprised to find Anderson Cooper 360 in the top 10 ratings. Shouldn't there be another cable news show in the top 10, like O'Reilly? Not sure why he's not represented, though I'm sure the primary coverage last week helped CNN.

USA is happy that their shows (In Plain Sight, Law and Order: CI) continue to do well. But bring on Burn Notice!

1. Sprint Cup Racing - Pocono (TNT)
2. Monday Night RAW (USA)
3. Law and Order: CI (USA)
4. Anderson Cooper 360 (CNN)
5. Army Wives (Lifetime)
6. In Plain Sight (USA)
7. SpongeBob SquarePants (Nickelodeon)
8. SpongeBob SquarePants (Nickelodeon)
9. SpongeBob SquarePants (Nickelodeon)
10. SpongeBob SquarePants (Nickelodeon)

If you've been wondering why Anderson Cooper hasn't been on his CNN show this week (I believe Soledad O'Brien has been filling in for him), it's not because he was busy spending the day with Barack Obama for a special episode that airs tonight. It's actually because he had cancer surgery on Monday.

Cooper describes on the Anderson Cooper 360 blog that "a small spot of skin cancer" was removed from under his eye. He says he wasn't even going to mention the surgery, but he still has stitches, and when he returns to the show tonight people would have noticed and he'd have to explain anyway (of course, he's probably still going to explain what's wrong, since I'm sure a lot of people don't read the 360 blog).

Here are the weekly cable ratings, by number of viewers.

The headline for the Nielsen cable ratings this week is "Odd Baby Beats Up Wrestling Stars." Nickelodeon's new Fairly Odd Baby movie (from the Fairly Odd Parents series) got the #1 slot this week, as well as the #9 slot. The debate is Texas got the second slot, while the Anderson Cooper 360 analysis of the debate came in third.

1. Fairly Odd Baby (Nickelodeon)
2. Democratic Debate (CNN)
3. Anderson Cooper 360 (CNN)
4. Monk (USA)
5. WWE Monday Night RAW - 10pm (USA)
6. WWE Monday Night RAW - 9pm (USA)
7. SpongeBob SquarePants (Nickelodeon)
8. Tennessee/Memphis Basketball Game (ESPN)
9. Fairly Odd Baby (Nickelodeon)
10. SpongeBob SquarePants (Nickelodeon)

Dear Anderson:

I was just reading about you over at TV Newser. I guess this is the new trend in TV news shows, anchors blogging live while their show is still going on. Greta Van Susteren over on Fox News has been doing it, and now you're doing it too.

You called Wednesday night's first effort "an experiment." As far as I can tell, you didn't actually blog during the broadcast, you just answered viewers questions in the comments section of the blog (if I'm wrong about this let me know), but I can see how you're all trying to connect television to the web, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. I blog all day for a living, but I'm not sure I want to see my TV news anchors live blogging while they're doing a live show on television.

Here are the weekly cable ratings, by number of viewers.

Now this is a varied ratings list. Sure, we have Monday Night RAW in there just like every week, but thrown into the mix are politics (the Democratic Debate from CA, the State of the Union and analysis), Law and Order, a movie on Disney, an episode of Monk, and not one but two - two! - episodes of Anderson Cooper 360. The episodes were helped by the fact that they followed the Democratic Debate - one is from 9:52 p.m. on Thursday and the other from 10 p.m. the same night. Eight minutes later. Crazy ratings.

1. Democratic Debate (CNN)

It used to be that a band would debut a new song either on a tape that they handed out to fans at a club or on a radio station. Now they're debuting on cable news shows.

REM will debut their new song "Until The Day Is Done" tonight at 10 on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360. This isn't the first time they've used Cooper's show to debut something. The "Bad Day" video was first seen on the show five years ago. Tonight the song will be used during scenes from the special Planet in Peril.

Did you see Paris Hilton on Larry King Live last night? Here's the transcript. Jeez, she really did nothing to help her cause, eh? She seems honestly, sincerely, and deeply clueless. And as a guy, I don't even find her hot or appealing. She has the personality of a wicker chair. I found all of her talk about wanting to help people and learning her lesson and "reading the Bible" completely unconvincing.

After the jump is a roundup of what the internet is saying today about her appearance.

A while back I called Anderson Cooper "The Four Million Dollar Man." Looks like we're going to have to call him something else.

CNN has just given the anchor of Anderson Cooper 360 a big increase in pay. Cooper will be paid $50 million over the next five years. Yes, that's 5-0. That comes out to be $10 million a year, but it's up to you whether you want to call Coop "The 50 Million Dollar Man" or "The 10 Million Dollar Man."

So readers, is he worth it? It's really hard to judge whether one person is "worth" the amount of money they are given, whether it's Michael Jordan, Julia Roberts, or Anderson Cooper. But Cooper does indeed seem to be the future of CNN, the "face" of the network, if you will, and it looks like they want to lock him in for a long time to come.

Cooper hosts his nightly show at 10pm and also contributes to 60 Minutes over on CBS.

Animal Planet host Jeff Corwin was tossed by an elephant while filming a segment with CNN's Anderson Cooper. Corwin is a regular correspondent for Cooper's show, Anderson Cooper 360, for a segment called "Planet in Peril". The duo was in Cambodia at the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center when one elephant put Corwin's arm in his mouth and shook him. On his blog, Cooper describes what happened to Corwin as being "tossed like a ragdoll". Corwin also posted on the blog, and describes the incident in very little detail and a non-alarmist way. It's apparent from his post that he's more concerned with the plight of the Cambodian elephants than with what happened.

The video is on Cooper's blog (and on YouTube) right now, and once you watch it, you'll be amazed to know that Corwin was generally okay. His arm wasn't even broken, just badly twisted and bruised. After the incident, Corwin continued filming with Cooper and then went to get checked out by a doctor, who put him in a sling. He may have some ligament damage, but will have to wait to know for sure when he returns to the U.S. I was actually very impressed with Cooper's reporting because he didn't let the incident overshadow the real reason for being with the elephants.

Video after the jump (the attack happens at 2:40 into the video):

[Thanks, Tim UF!]

I like Keith Olbermann. I've interviewed him in the past and I watch his show regularly. I find myself agreeing with him more than disagreeing, especially when it comes to his "Special Comment" segments and Bill O'Reilly. But I'm wondering if he hasn't gone too far (needlessly) this time.

I didn't see this episode of Countdown last week, but Olbermann named CNN host Anderson Cooper a "Worst Person in the World" because of something Cooper said in a Men's Journal interview, about being approached to do a nightly newscast on another network:

"Doing 22 minutes of news from a desk in New York is not for me."

That's the quote that earns him a "worst person" nod?

Anderson Cooper has been going after Fox News for some of the things they've said and the way they've handled various news stories, and now the cable network is going after Cooper.

Not only are the hosts of Fox & Friends and Greta Van Susteren hitting back on the air, Fox has also taken out a full-page print ad. How can they possibly say those things about him, accuse him of being "manufactured" and that he hasn't earned his position? Are they kidding me? When was the last time we saw Steve Doocy traveling all over the world, reporting from dangerous countries and conflicts? Cooper is the one who bought a handheld camera and went to foreign countries to report before he even had a gig, when he was really young. I think he's earned it. (In related news, Fox News actually tried to hire Cooper.)

After the jump, two videos of FNC's campaign against the CNN host.

(But come on readers, if Fox News wants to say something like that, we can think of something better to call them. How should we fill in these blanks? "Fox News is the _____________ of TV news.")

Update: Looks like Fox even got the facts wrong.

CNN's Anderson Cooper has just signed a new contract with the cable network, and this one is estimated to be worth $4 million dollars a year, a raise from the $2 million dollars a year he is getting under his current contract.

The Broadcasting & Cable article linked above also says that because Cooper is no longer available, producers of The Early Show are going to have to look elsewhere for a new host for the morning show. Though I never heard definitive word that Cooper was in line for the gig, just that the show was undergoing major changes.

Cooper hosts the nightly news show Anderson Cooper 360 and has started to also contribute to CBS' 60 Minutes. The new contract is a multi-year deal.

So readers...is he worth it?

[via TV Newser]

They're having a contest to find the best Anderson Cooper videos. If that sentence doesn't make sense to you, let me explain. The web site All Things Anderson is searching for the best Anderson Cooper-centric fan video. (What, you wanted to see Nancy Grace videos?)

Robin does a montage of photos set to Johnny Rivers' "Secret Agent Man," while Book Asylum's entry is "Inside The Tornado" (though shouldn't it be a song with "hurricane" in the title?). My favorite is probably Robin's "Comfortably Numb," because it seems to fit the montage the best, though Rachel's "The Boy From New York City" hits the mark too.

And now I think I've seen all of the Anderson Cooper music videos I ever need to see. Voting is still open, so head on over there.

[via TV Newser]

TV Newser (or maybe a reader of the site) found this promotional site for CNN's Anderson Cooper 360. It has all the usual stuff you'd find on such a site: a bio of the host, video, behind the scenes info, etc. But this one is hosted by a talking, mini Anderson Cooper himself!

Cooper walks into the right side of the screen and tells you about the show, and when you click the various categories he gives you a little introduction to what your'e about to see. If you click on "About Anderson" he explains how he's bored of talking about himself. If you click on "Behind AC360," he says they've edited out all the yelling and screaming that goes on behind the scenes of the show. You can even buy Anderson Cooper shirts and hats and pens! Unfortunately, he doesn't have anything funny to say about this, the link just goes to the Turner Networks store.

You can even find out what Cooper has on his iPod. He seems to like Elvis Costello, Arctic Monkeys, Radiohead, Johnny Cash, Sugar, and The Hives.

[via TV Newser]

That's the question the industry is asking today, after the veteran 60 Minutes reporter died of leukemia a couple of weeks ago.

CBS News and Sports President Sean McManus says that he is going to start looking for additional reporters for the Sunday night show after the New Year rolls around, though he doesn't say that they will be "replacements" for Bradley. But people are starting to talk about it anyway, wondering if CBS will get another big name to fill the vacancy. Some are saying it might be CNN's Anderson Cooper, though those rumors about Cooper joing the network (probably as host of The Early Show) have surfaced before. Others are saying Lara Logan or Byron Pitts, though many think it will be somebody who already contributes to 60 Minutes, like Bob Simon or Scott Pelley.

Who do you think should replace Bradley, if anyone? Just a couple of reporters to add to the rotation, or a star to actually say the words at the start, "I'm ______ _______."