News > CBS's Senior VP is In Denial
May 10, 2007
divulges some truly awkward and depressing news: after hearing that the CBS Evening News recently recieved its lowest ratings since 1987 this week, network Senior VP Paul Friedman said the following.
"Obviously it's not the best news one could get on a Tuesday morning, but we know we're on the right track now, and we know most nights we're the best broadcast on in the evenings."
Wait, what? Your show is failing, and from that you conclude that you're on the right track? Questions of the show's quality aside, how do you look at Nielsen ratings that inform you your ratings are at a twenty-goddamn-year low, and conclude that your show is just hunky-dory?
Friedman is evidently enthused that the evening news has reverted to a more traditional prime-time news show format, and now considers that the show is truly at its best. He is also suffering from what psychologists refer to as the first stage in accepting the death of a loved one (or, in this case, a loved TV show). First comes denial, then anger, then bargaining, then depression, and then acceptance.
Looks like Friedman's got a lot of anger to look forward to in the next few weeks.
