TVSquad

So now the election is over and we have a new President-elect. Congrats to Barack Obama.

We covered the coverage of the election last night on various stations, including ABC, CNN, FOX News, NBC, MSNBC, and Comedy Central. I covered CBS to see how Katie Couric did on her first night as election anchor. I'm a fan of Katie's, and for the most part I haven't agreed with the criticisms against her (beyond the growing pains she and the show had when she started), and I think she did a fine job.

So let's go over the good and the bad.

Midnight: Coming tomorrow morning: post-game summary and thoughts about how Katie did anchoring her first Presidential election night on CBS.

11:59: Obama starts his speech. Time to pay attention.

11:59: Waiting for Katie or somebody to mention Michelle Obama's flaming red and black dress.

11:58: OK, Obama taking the stage. They stop the music like at the start of movies when they stop the music and the coming attractions come on.

11:55: Katie asks Noonan to stick around until after the commercial, but they don't go to a commercial. Nice swell of music, though.

11:54: Peggy Noonan is back. Hey, isn't she usually on MSNBC or NBC?

11:45: Katie makes reference to The Patty Duke Show! Something to do with the Udalls and twins, I think.

11:39: Katie corrects Greenfield yet again: it's Nevadda, not Nevahda. Greenfield says the election is over, he doesn't care anymore.

More from Katie and Company:

10:07: Switching over to see what PBS and FOX News are up to. Know why? I'm a maverick.

9:49: Will I have another drink tonight? TOO CLOSE TO CALL.

9:42: I have a real crush on Peggy Noonan. Not sure why.

9:31: Is anyone even paying attention to the sides of the CBS HD screen? I'd rather see cartoons or Three Stooges shorts played, picture-in-picture style.

9:24: Schieffer and Greenfield both call the election after Ohio goes to Obama. That's it for the election! Good night everybody! You would think they'd let it go a little bit longer considering the 2000 fiasco.

9:04: McCain HQ is playing Eddie Money? No wonder he's behind.

8:50: Jeff Greenfield says "Sarah Palin was Norma Rae for two weeks, then she was somebody else." Maybe when they come back from commercial he'll say who. Any guesses?

8:49: Bob Schieffer says Katie partly responsible for Sarah Palin's fall. Katie says "keep it up Bob and you're next."

Some quick notes on the Katie Couric-anchored election coverage on The Tiffany Network:

7:26: They've gone to local coverage for a bit. Good time for my first gin and tonic of the evening. I'll be back later with more, and stay tuned for posts from CNN, MSNBC, and more.

7:18: Now Katie says "Can you hear me now? I sound like a Sprint commercial" to Obama spokesman. Can't she get any of her commercial icon references right tonight?!?

7:14: First glitch of the night: can't hear what Obama spokesman is saying. Katie goes to McCain spokesman instead. CBS IN THE TANK FOR MCCAIN!

7:07: CBS's "Magic Board" (or whatever they're calling it) isn't as good as CNN's. It's the Sony Walkman to CNN's iPod.

7:05: Jeff Greenfield is firing off sports/weather cliches to describe the election. I already miss Dan Rather and his Ratherisms: "This race is tighter than a cranberry muffin at an auto show."

After the executive session, it was CBS News' turn to face the critics and talk about their election coverage. Via satellite from their New York studios was CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric, Face the Nation moderator Bob Schieffer, senior political correspondent Jeff Greenfield, and CBS News and Sports president Sean McManus.

Right away, a reporter brought up Katie Couric's job status. "I'm glad you got right to it," Couric joked. "I thought [the speculation] had died down considerably." She said she "can't control what media writers write. We live in an echo chamber," with media reporters more fascinated by her status than the general public is. "The attention befuddles me," she continued. She's concentrating on doing "the best job I can."

I'd just like to say that there are a lot of TV sites on the web, but TV Squad is "The Best TV Site That Has Ever Existed Or Will Ever Exist On This Planet Or Any Other." And that's official, by the way.

Now that I've announced that, there seems to be a little battle going on with the cable news channels and even the regular networks when it comes to coverage of this year's Presidential election. CNN reminds us every three and a half minutes that they are "The Best Political Team On Television," almost as much as they remind us that "we're in The Situation Room"), and now CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric has jokingly named her team of Jeff Greenfield and Bob Schieffer "The Best Political Team In The Galaxy." They liked that, especially Greenfield, who used to be the political expert over on CNN.

Katie,

There's been a lot of talk lately about the third place ratings that The CBS Evening News continues to get. There are people saying that you aren't professional enough and that the show doesn't cover hard news the way it should. You even fired your executive producer and hired another, and then this week fired a producer for plagiarizing (and just what are those first person "Notebooks" if other people are writing them?). These are all things that you have to fix, but may I make one suggestion that might help immediately?

Don't lead your newscast with news about Don Imus on the day that there was a major bombing in Iraq.

The latest from the land of CNN, MSNBC, and FOX News:

1. Jeff Greenfield is leaving CNN. He's going over to CBS to become part of their Election 2008 (or whatever CBS is calling it) coverage. The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz says that Greenfield hasn't been too happy with the way CNN has been using him lately.

2. Dan Abrams to lose his title at MSNBC. Last year he got a promotion from on-air host/analyst to general manager, but it looks like Abrams will lose that title when the cable network moves from New Jersey to 30 Rock in NYC. The move probably won't happen until the end of the year.

3. Nancy Grace and John Gibson news. Both of their shows (Grace on CNN Headline News and Gibson over on FOX News) had "Breaking News" reports that Michael Jackson was really ill in the hospital, when he actually is just a little sick and not in the hospital at all. Yet more evidence that the "Breaking News" and "This Just In" and "Developing News" graphics are waaaaay overused. Don't the networks use judgment anymore?

[via TV Newser]