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Christine O’Donnell Walks Off Piers Morgan Interview

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday August 17, 2011 @ 6:16pm PDTTags: CNN, Piers Morgan, Piers Morgan Tonight
Nellie Andreeva

In a bizarre incident, former Delaware GOP Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell today walked out of the taping of an interview for CNN’s Piers Morgan Tonight, which is set to air tonight. The tipping point was Morgan’s question about her stance on gay marriage. (By that point, he had already quizzed her on witchcraft and sex with the tension between the two visibly escalating, especially when Morgan repeatedly asked O’Donnell to address old comments about masturbation she had made in an 1990s MTV documentary special.) “You’re being a little rude,” she told him several times before asking her handlers “Are we done?” and taking off her microphone. But not before schooling Morgan on conducting interviews: “Don’t you think as a host if I say ‘This what I wanna talk about’, that’s what we should address?” O’Donnell was on the show promoting her book Troublemaker. “My first ever walk-out in 25 years of interviews,” Morgan wrote on Twitter. “I guess viewers can decide if I was ‘rude’ or not tonight.” Here is the video, judge for yourselves. UPDATE: After airing the unfinished interview on his show tonight, Morgan invited O’Donnell to return tomorrow and promised not to be rude.

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Brit Politicians Call For Piers Morgan To Meet Police

By TIM ADLER in London | Wednesday August 3, 2011 @ 6:29pm PDTTags: CNN, Fox News, News Corp, News of the World, Piers Morgan, President Obama, Roger Ailes, Rupert Murdoch, Wall Street Journal

UPDATE: Politicians over here are saying that it is not enough for CNN chat show Piers Morgan to issue communiqués from America saying that he knows nothing about phone-hacking. Morgan has denied he knows anything about Heather Mills, Paul McCartney’s ex-wife, having her phone hacked – although in 2006 he admitted to once listening to one of her mobile phone messages. Therese Coffey, a Conservative MP who sits on a UK Parliament committee investigating phone-hacking, told the BBC that Morgan must help police with their inquiries. Harriet Harman, deputy leader of the opposition Labour Party, also weighed in, saying Morgan has questions to answer. “It’s not good enough for him to say, or somebody to say on his behalf, I always comply with the law,” Harman told Sky News. Of course, there’s an element of people rubbing their hands here. A lot of politicians who have scores to settle with the CNN chat-show host would like to see him take a fall; and Morgan’s bosses in Atlanta will doubtless be taking a dim view of this unwelcome publicity. But the political committee that recently grilled Rupert Murdoch tells me it won’t be calling for Morgan to give evidence. Morgan himself was unavailable for comment.

PREVIOUS: The burgeoning News Corp phone-hacking scandal continues to make waves for Rupert Murdoch in the UK, and increasingly they’re crossing the Atlantic. Today, CNN anchor Piers Morgan’s efforts to battle allegations that he was involved in phone hacking while editing News Corp.’s UK tabloids News of the World and the Daily Mirror suffered a setback. Paul McCartney’s ex-wife, Heather Mills, leveled her own accusation against Morgan in an interview with BBC Newsnight. Mills claims that a journalist with the Mirror Group, which owns the Daily Mirror, admitted to her that he hacked into her voicemail in 2001 and listened to a message McCartney left her after she’d left for India in the wake of a fight. The BBC notes that while the journalist in question wasn’t Morgan, the CNN anchor did tell the Daily Mail in 2006 that he had listened to a “heartbreaking” message McCartney left Mills while she was in India following a “tiff.” While not accusing Morgan of engaging in phone hacking himself, Mills points a finger at the former Daily Mirror editor. “There was absolutely no honest way that Piers Morgan could have obtained that tape that he has so proudly bragged about unless they had gone into my voice messages,” she said. Morgan, who also serves as a judge on NBC’s reality competition show America’s Got Talent, denied the allegations in a statement. Read More »

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Hacking Update: James Murdoch May Be Quizzed About Possible Cover-Up; MP Apologizes To Piers Morgan

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Friday July 29, 2011 @ 9:37am PDTTags: Glenn Mulcaire, James Murdoch, News of the World, News of the World Hacking, News of the World Phone-Hacking Scandal, Piers Morgan

UPDATE, 4:30 PM: As part of Justice Department and FBI probes into allegations of bribery and the potential hacking of voice mails of 9/11 victims, News Corp today asked employees at its New York Post to save any information related to phone hacking or government bribes. The Wall Street Journal said a memo from editor-in-chief Col Allen said the measure was related to the scandal engulfing the News Corp-owned News of the World and “not because any recipient has done anything improper or unlawful.”

PREVIOUS, 9:37 AM: We have some interesting developments today in the Murdoch phone-hacking scandal:

James Murdoch should prepare himself for another appearance before the UK Parliament’s Culture, Media and Sport Committee. Chairman John Whittingdale said today that “the chances are” members will recall him to determine whether he lied to them last week. Murdoch said he approved a keep-quiet payment to a News Of The World hacking victim two years ago thinking that just one reporter had engaged in the practice. Three former News Corp officials contradicted him, saying that Murdoch had seen an email that made it clear at least one other reporter was involved — suggesting Murdoch was trying to cover up the extent of the scandal. The committee will question Murdoch’s challengers. “If they do come back with statements that are quite plainly different from those given by James Murdoch, we will want to hear James Murdoch’s response to that,” Whittingdale says.

Murdoch also may have a new problem with Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator who pleaded guilty in 2007 to hacking for NOTW. In a statement today, Mulcaire says that he was “effectively employed” by NOTW and that “as an employee he acted on the instructions of others.” Last week Murdoch agreed to stop paying for Mulcaire’s legal bills.

Also, today Louise Mensch — a member of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee — apologized for saying last week that CNN’s Piers Morgan hacked phones when he worked on Fleet Street. Read More »

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Piers Morgan Faces Fresh Accusations That He May Have Known About Phone-Tapping

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday July 27, 2011 @ 12:30am PDTTags: News of the World, Phone-Hacking Scandal, Piers Morgan
Nellie Andreeva

Is this the smoking gun linking former News of the World editor Piers Morgan to the phone-hacking scandal that led to the shutdown of the veteran tabloid and has been shaking News Corp to its core? Not exactly, but it does raise some doubts about the CNN anchor’s recent statements that he knew nothing about the shoddy practices while at the helm of the British paper. In a 2009 BBC radio interview obtained by The Daily Beast, Morgan is asked about questionable newsgathering methods employed by tabloid reporters like him. Read More »

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Larry King And Piers Morgan Spar Over Morgan’s ‘Dangerous’ Label

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday February 24, 2011 @ 12:31am PSTTags: CNN, Larry King, Piers Morgan
Nellie Andreeva

Piers Morgan brought in his predecessor Larry King on his CNN show tonight to set the record straight over King’s recent comments that Morgan “may have been oversold” to American audiences. “He was going to be dangerous. He was going to be water cooler talk,” King told BBC Radio … Read More »

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Piers Morgan To Interview Larry King

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Monday February 21, 2011 @ 11:13am PSTTags: CNN, CNN Piers Morgan, Piers Morgan, Piers Morgan Tonight, TV
Nellie Andreeva

In a face-off that is bound to feel awkward and uncomfortable, CNN’s Piers Morgan will interview his predecessor Larry King this week. The encounter comes on the heels of King’s statement last week that Morgan “may have been oversold” … Read More »

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Larry King On Piers Morgan: “I Think He May Have Been Oversold”

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday February 17, 2011 @ 8:00pm PSTTags: CNN, CNN Piers Morgan, Larry King, Piers Morgan, Piers Morgan Tonight, TV
Nellie Andreeva

In an interview for BBC Radio 4 in his successor Piers Morgan’s native Britain, former CNN host said Morgan was a “fine” host but may have suffered from overhyping. “I think one of the problems (CNN) did was over sell … Read More »

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Piers Morgan Gets New Booker, Gets Ripped By Howard Stern & Ties Larry King’s Ratings

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday February 1, 2011 @ 11:48pm PSTTags: CNN Ratings, Piers Morgan, Piers Morgan Tonight, Piers Morgan Tonight Ratings, TV
Nellie Andreeva

It was an eventful day in Piers Morgan news world. After hitting a ratings and an all-around low for his interview with the Kardashian sisters last week, it became clear that Morgan should be going for better guests. His producers … Read More »

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No Ricky Gervais Viewership Bump For Piers Morgan But He Bounces Back In Demo

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Friday January 21, 2011 @ 2:09pm PSTTags: Cable News Networks, CNN Ratings, Hannity Ratings, Piers Morgan, Piers Morgan Ricky Gervais, Piers Morgan Tonight, Piers Morgan Tonight Ratings, Rachel Maddow Show, TV, TV Ratings
Nellie Andreeva

Well, with guest Ricky Gervais CNN’s Piers Morgan didn’t quite smackdown Sean Hannity. “If I don’t smack you down tonight with Howard, I’ll take you on Thursday with Ricky Gervais. love Piers,” Morgan tweeted to the Fox News host on Tuesday before his second show with Howard Stern. That night, he edged Hannity in 25-54, which has remained Morgan’s only ratings victory in his premiere week. With newsmaker Ricky Gervais as a guest last night, Morgan averaged 1 million viewers, slightly down from Wednesday night for a new low. He lost both the viewer and demo race to Hannity, drawing about half of what his Fox News competitor got. In 25-54, Morgan bounced back from the low on Wednesday. Morgan also returned to second place in total viewers after falling behind MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow on Wednesday. Here are the rankings for the cable news networks at 9 PM:

Thursday/Day 4 (Ricky Gervias)

FNC’s Hannity: 2,079,000 in P2+ (557,000 in 25-54)

CNN’s Piers: 1,025,000 in P2+ (279,000 in 25-54)

MSNBC’s Maddow: 976,000 in P2+ (264,000 in 25-54) Read More »

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Ricky Gervais Supported Steve Carell’s Decision To Leave ‘The Office’

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Friday January 21, 2011 @ 1:15am PSTTags: CNN, NBC, Piers Morgan, Piers Morgan Tonight, Ricky Gervais, Ricky Gervais The Office, Ricky Gervais Video, Steve Carell, Steve Carell The Office, The Office, TV, Video
Nellie Andreeva

UPDATED: On Piers Morgan Tonight, Ricky Gervais, co-creator and star of the original British version of The Office and executive producer of the U.S. adaptation, talked about his initial reaction to Steve Carell’s decision to leave the NBC series. “I sent him an email saying: I think you are doing … Read More »

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Piers Morgan Falls To Third Place On Day 3

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday January 20, 2011 @ 3:35pm PSTTags: Cable TV Ratings, CNN Piers Morgan Tonight, CNN Ratings, Hannity Ratings, Piers Morgan, Piers Morgan Tonight, Piers Morgan Tonight Ratings, Rachel Maddow Show, TV, TV Ratings
Nellie Andreeva

Piers Morgan started off promisingly as a close No. 2  cable news program at 9PM in its Monday premiere, then fell 40% on Tuesday but still finished second. Last night, Piers Morgan Tonight (1 million total viewers, 239,000 of them in the 25-54 demographic) slipped further to finish behind the time slot leader, Fox News’s Sean Hannity (2 million, 565,000 in 25-54) and MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow (1.1 million, 221,000 in 25-54). In the demo, Morgan edged Maddow to finish second after topping Hannity with the Howard Stern interview on Tuesday. Between his premiere and his third airing, Morgan lost half of his audience (1 million viewers.) Last night, Morgan featured his first non-showbiz guest, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Tonight he is back to entertainment with controversial Golden Globes host Ricky Gervais. Here are the standings at 9 PM for the past 3 nights: Read More »

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Piers Morgan Drops 40% In Viewers On Night 2, Inches Up In The Demo With Howard Stern

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday January 19, 2011 @ 11:06am PSTTags: CNN Ratings, Hannity Ratings, Howard Stern, Piers Morgan, Piers Morgan Tonight, Piers Morgan Tonight Ratings, TV, TV Ratings
Nellie Andreeva

Despite a popular and controversial guest, Howard Stern, the second edition of Piers Morgan’s new talk show on CNN drew 1.27 million viewers, down almost 40% from its Monday premiere. But Stern proved its demo mettle … Read More »

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Solid Ratings Start For Piers Morgan On CNN: 2.1 Million Viewers Tune In

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday January 18, 2011 @ 10:57am PSTTags: Cable TV Ratings, CNN Piers Morgan Tonight, CNN Ratings, Piers Morgan, Piers Morgan Ricky Gervais, Piers Morgan Tonight, Piers Morgan Tonight Premiere, Piers Morgan Tonight Ratings, Rachel Maddow Show, Ricky Gervais, TV, TV Ratings
Nellie Andreeva

In his heavily publicized debut last night, CNN’s Piers Morgan Tonight drew 2.1 million viewers, 520,519 of them in the 25-54 demographic. Morgan couldn’t dethrone the reigning king in the 9 PM slot, Fox News’s Sean Hannity (2.4 million, 599,800 … Read More »

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Piers Morgan’s CNN Debut Not “Surprising”

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Monday January 17, 2011 @ 8:24pm PSTTags: Cable TV, CNN, Oprah Winfrey, Piers Morgan, Piers Morgan CNN, Piers Morgan Oprah Winfrey, Piers Morgan Tonight, Piers Morgan Tonight Premiere, TV
Nellie Andreeva

At the very end of the premiere episode of his new CNN show, Piers Morgan Tonight, Morgan turned to his first interviewee, Oprah Winfrey, and asked “How have I done?” “You have been surprising,” was her carefully chosen answer. “Surprisingly … Read More »

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Tenor Tale Hits Right Notes For ‘Devil Wears Prada’ Helmer David Frankel

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Wednesday November 10, 2010 @ 10:53am PSTTags: David Frankel, Justin Zackham, Movie Deals, Movies, Piers Morgan, Simon Cowell
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: David Frankel, director of The Devil Wears Prada and Marley & Me, has just agreed to direct One Chance, a feature based on the unlikely overnight success story of Paul Potts, a schlubby British cell phone salesman who showed … Read More »

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Piers Morgan Talking To Jonathan Wald To Executive Produce New CNN Talk Show

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Saturday October 9, 2010 @ 12:52pm PDTTags: Cable News Ratings, Cable TV, CNN Ratings, Jonathan Wald, Jonathan Wald CNN, Larry King Live, Larry King Live Piers Morgan, Larry King Replacement, Piers Morgan, Piers Morgan CNN, Piers Morgan Larry King Live Changes, TV, TV News

Piers Morgan is making good on his promise to Deadline that he was “about to” lock down his new CNN show’s Executive Producer. I’ve confirmed that hard news veteran Jonathan Wald, the former CNBC topper who left last year after taking the business channel to new ratings highs, is in negotiations with Morgan and the new CNN head Ken Jautz to lead the news channel’s replacement show for Larry King Live. (Broadcasting & Cable reported this first today.) Trust me, he won’t come cheap. But it’s hard for me to imagine that, given all his experience, Wald would be content running just one show when he’s been in charge of entire programming schedules. I can’t help but wonder if this is a way in for Wald at CNN which certainly could use his proven ability to get cable news ratings and keep them. Read More »

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CNN’s Piers Morgan Vows Format And Other Changes To Beat Fox News Competition: Promises “I’m Going To Be There To Win” And “It’s Time To Kick Some Ratings Butt”

By NIKKI FINKE AND JEN YAMATO | Wednesday October 6, 2010 @ 5:13am PDTTags: Cable TV, CNN, CNN Low Ratings, CNN Piers Morgan, CNN Ratings, Larry King Live Piers Morgan, Piers Morgan, Piers Morgan Larry King Live Changes, TV

EXCLUSIVE: Piers Morgan tells us that he’s planning big changes to the Larry King Live interview slot he inherits in January. “The format, everything, will change. I’m not just going to be another man sitting in the CNN studio wearing red braces.” Morgan also promises he’ll beat his Fox News rivals (see below) — but not if he expects to do that with overexposed guests like Simon Cowell and Donald Trump or what he says is his top “get”, President Obama. The production team needs to be finalised before guests are signed, he says. Morgan tells us he hasn’t locked down his show’s executive producer yet, “though we are about to. What I would say is that there will be significant format changes, and the show will look and feel different and distinctive to Larry’s. I don’t want to copy him because he’s a legend. You don’t follow Sinatra at the Sands and try and warble My Way…”

The show will be mostly filmed in New York apart from 3 months in the summer when Morgan is in Los Angeles judging America’s Got Talent. He notes, “One key change will definitely be that I will pre-tape many of the interviews so I can market and promote them in advance of them airing, which I believe will increase ratings. I’ve done this very successfully with my Life Stories series in the UK, with subjects as diverse as Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Simon Cowell, and Richard Branson.”

Morgan also tells us his mission is to help boost CNN’s sagging primetime line-up against Fox News, MSNBC, and other rivals. Larry King Live scored its lowest monthly viewer total in nearly 20 years in May, averaging just 653,000 viewers each night. And, last week, CNN underwent a management shakeup. CNN overall is a ratings mess right now and getting its clock cleaned by Fox News. So the older cable news channel brought in the guy who talent-scouted Glenn Beck, Nancy Grace, and Joy Behar to fix it, HLN’s Ken Jautz. The TV world has changed since Larry King first began interviewing 25 years ago, says Morgan, noting that back then there wasn’t any Fox News or even MSNBC. Since then, there’s been an explosion in cable TV with rapid-fire hosts like Glenn Beck who don’t do long interviews with newsmakers. “Don’t get me wrong, they’re great at what they do,” says Morgan. “But I think there’s a gap in the market. For years, Larry King has shown the power of the extended interview, which is something I’ve specialised in with my British talk shows. When it comes to my rivals, however long it takes, I’m going to be there to win.” Morgan says, “The main message I want to communicate is that I intend this show to be a game-changer in terms of how interview shows are conducted on American TV. And I haven’t joined CNN to come 2nd, 3rd, or 4th.

“America’s Got Talent has been the No. 1 show for five years, Britain’s Got Talent has been No. 1 in the UK for four years, Life Stories is the No. 1 talk show in the UK, and I won Celebrity Apprentice. Losing is not really something I’ve either experienced on TV, or wish to experience. A character trait hardened by my time working for the likes of Rupert Murdoch and Simon Cowell. It will take time, but we’ll get there.” Read More »

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NBC Renews ‘America’s Got Talent’

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday August 31, 2010 @ 1:48pm PDTTags: Howie Mandel, NBC America's Got Talent, Nick Cannon, Piers Morgan, Sharon Osbourne
Nellie Andreeva

No surprise here: NBC has renewed summer series America’s Got Talent for a 6th season. Celebrity judges Piers Morgan, who recently signed a multi-year deal with NBC, Sharon Osbourne, and Howie Mandel will return along with host Nick Cannon. This is … Read More »

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How CNN Botched Larry King’s Exit From His Talk Show & Search For His Successor

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday July 15, 2010 @ 2:26am PDTTags: CNN, Jeff Zucker, Jonathan Klein, Larry King, Larry King Departure, Larry King Live, Larry King Live Piers Morgan, NBCU, Piers Morgan, Replacing Larry King, Simon Cowell
Nellie Andreeva

CNN-logoFor someone who has been the face of the network for the past 25 years, you’d think CNN would have handled the departure of veteran Larry King with a little bit more dignity and respect. But a series of CNN blunders have … Read More »

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