Nightly PBS show The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer may be popular with Propeller Scout Corey Spring, but a New York Times story about the show's funding difficulties wasn't a hit with users. As reported by the Times earlier this week, Archer Daniels Midland--the country's leading producer of ethanol--has withdrawn its funding, ending a 14-year deal that had helped pad out the program's roughly $27 million budget.

The story went on to detail the show's difficulties in securing corporate sponsorship, Corporations "no longer sponsor public television program for purely philanthropic reasons," according to the paper; instead they prefer a more targeted, marketing approach. Overall, PBS has seen its corporate underwriting drop 40 percent in the last five years.

As a result, the budget for the NewsHour is "several million dollars short" this year, according to the paper. According to the Times, Linda Winslow, the program's executive producer, "is still figuring out new ways to operate under a budget squeeze. Open jobs, including a correspondent and a senior producer, are not being filled for now. Longer term, she is investigating partnerships, but covering the news remains her top priority, a sentiment echoed by Mr. Lehrer. 'We've always played it close to the chest financially,' he said. 'That's part of who we are, part of being in public broadcasting.'"

The show, originally conceived as the half-hour Robert MacNeil Report, first aired on New York's channel 13 (WNET) in 1975. Reporter Robert MacNeil moderated the show, while Lehrer served as the Washington correspondent. In September 1983, The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour launched, and the revamped NewsHour with Jim Lehrer debuted in 1995.

Anne Bell, public relations manager for the NewsHour, tells Propeller that there has been "a lot of reaction" in the wake of the Times story. "Calls, emails, everyone from individuals and corporations, asking 'How can I help you?'"

Bells says she has been telling individuals to donate to their local PBS stations--that way, individual stations will have the funds to air the NewsHour. Needless to say, this media attention has been helpful. But as Bell points out, long-term strategies still need to be hammered out. "We are looking at all options right now," she says. "We are in discussions with PBS and foundations and we're looking at the overall strategy."

It's worth noting that the fiscal pinch isn't the result of dwindling viewers. While the award-winning NewsHour sees significantly lower ratings than the news shows of the three major networks, the broadcast does pull in about the same nightly audience as The Daily Show with Jon Stewart or some of Fox's talk shows.

And NewsHour isn't the only PBS show obliged to rethink its funding strategies. "The entire landscape has changed," says Bell. "It's no longer the three networks and us. There are more and more cable television programs. Now underwriters are spreading out their advertising--it's not one charity that underwrites the program exclusively."

In an email to Overlooked, Spring explained his interest in the story: "I submitted it because I've always respected Jim Lehrer as a newsman. He is very evenhanded and just gives you the news straight, which is what a good journalist should do. It's a shame that the show is on the ropes, because journalistically, it's one of the better ones on television.... And no one knows it." Spring adds that the story's lack of traction on Propeller was somewhat predictable. "I wasn't really surprised it didn't get more votes, because PBS isn't really popular (at least in ratings) with the general public."

MSNBC stars Tim Russert and Brian Williams

Overlooked story: CNN Beats Out Fox News and MSNBC in New Hampsire
Submitted by: TimALoftis

As recent media reports have pointed out, the presidential race isn't just between Hillary, Obama, and McCain, but the three big cable networks: CNN, MSNBC, and Fox. And if CNN has long trailed behind Fox in the ratings race, the network placed first during the recent New Hampshire primary. According to the New York Times, CNN had 3.3 million viewers, nearly double the number of viewers during the 2004 New Hampshire primary, while Fox had 3.06 million viewers and MSNBC, which claimed 1.64 million viewers.

"This was one of the first times that CNN overtook Fox in quite a while," says Steve Krakauer, associate editor at TV Newser. "So it came as a bit of a surprise." According to Krakauer, CNN first raised its profile last summer by broadcasting the YouTube debates. Since then, the network has aggressively marketed itself to viewers, adopting the "Best Political Team" tag line, while bringing in special guests such as Carl Bernstein and Bill Bennett to round out coverage by longtime anchors Wolf Blitzer and Anderson Cooper. Additionally, this week CNN announced a new nightly show, CNN Election Center. According to the AP, the show will air opposite competitors Bill O'Reilly on Fox and Keith Olbermann on MSNBC.

Sharpening its election coverage, Fox has shuffled programming, having Greta Van Susteren and Shepard Smith report together in a pairing that's unique for the network since the two don't usually share air time, according to Krakauer. The network is also prominently featuring longtime duo Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes. For its part, MSNBC is using Tom Brokaw as a special correspondent, while continuing to plug longtime anchors Tim Russert and Brian Williams, as well as Olbermann and Chris Matthews of Hardball.

Increased eyeballs translate to increased advertising dollars for the cable networks, points out Anthony Crupi, senior editor at Mediaweek. And given the WGA strike, is there anything better to watch? According to Crupi, some of the cable networks are quietly pitching the election to advertisers as the "ultimate reality television" show. "The fact that these debates can be factious is helping ratings," says Crupi.

If MSNBC's Russert raised his profile by covering the elections in 2000, and the same gig helped to make Ashley Banfield a star in 2004, there haven't been any breakout stars spotted at the news desk this season, according to Crupi. "My guess is that the networks want to have more established newspeople," says Crupi. "It's such a wide open field, and they want a sense of gravitas."

Nevertheless, with February's Super Tuesday primary elections looming, expect the competition between the networks to heat up as even more viewers to tune in. "People are generally interested in this process," says Crupi.

Nearly eight years have passed since the last Simpsons CD compilation hit the stores. "It's hard to believe it's been that long," says composer Alf Clausen. "We figured the time is right for a new one. And as you might guess, we've collected of a lot of material to choose from." The Simpsons: Testify, which went on sale in late September, should satisfy even the most ardent fans. It features 41 previously unreleased tracks from the series, including four unaired bonus tracks. Yes, you can finally hear The B-52s signing "Glove Slap," Ricky Gervais singing "Lady," and Kelsey Grammer (as Sideshow Bob) singing the "Hullaba Lula" song--all in the privacy of your own home. Propeller's Stephen Head recently spoke with Clausen about the creation of Testify, what it takes to produce weekly orchestrations, and the upcoming season's most challenging musical episode.

Propeller: In putting together this new CD, what were the main things you took into consideration?

Alf Clausen: First of all, input from the fans. I like to read Internet bulletin board postings and stuff like that, to see what the fans really like and what they don't like.

Propeller: Which tracks in particular made the cut due to fan input?

Clausen: Oh, a lot of them. Everybody really loved the "My Fair Laddy" episode, a homage to My Fair Lady. They really liked "Glove Slap" with the B-52s and the "Everybody Hates Ned Flanders" medley with David Byrne. But the other fifty percent of it is that the songs have to have a certain length. There were some impressive bits that were deleted only because they were very, very short and they didn't hold up as cohesive songs.

Propeller: With these shorter pieces, did you feel that perhaps there was something extend? Or would you even consider composing a piece specifically for the CD?

Clausen: In many cases, the shorter bits included guest artists. And if we were to extend or rerecord something or do something new--well, it's difficult enough to get the artists to come in and do the recordings in the first place. It would require a lot of scheduling. But I'm happy with the choices we made for this.

Propeller: Do you have a particular favorite, something you're very excited about?

Clausen: One of my favorite pieces is "The Very Reason That I Live," where Kelsey Grammer is singing as Sideshow Bob. It's really impressive. I think he did such a perfect job capturing that "arch villain" aspect of the song. I love the sensitivity of it, and Kelsey sings it so beautifully, in a way I couldn't imagine it could be done.

Propeller: I assume you've worked with him many times in the past.

Clausen: He's been on the show for a while, but believe it or not, I've never had the chance to work directly with him. When he comes in to record his vocals, I'm busy composing the score for another episode and can't get away to the recording session. Most of the time, my music editor Chris Ledesma comes in and conducts the vocal sessions for me.

Propeller: Do you telecommute, or do you work in an office?

Clausen: I go in to record the score, but apart from that, I basically work at home. I have a detached studio at my house which I use as my office and my writing space. It's very private and quiet, and that's very helpful.

Propeller: The tracks by Ricky Gervais are fantastic. Can you discuss how they came about?

Clausen: This was one of those cases where the scriptwriters worked with Ricky and they came up with a set of lyrics. They had the framework, and then they gave Ricky carte blanche to do what he does. In the end, he came up with his own song and his own guitar playing--his own performance.

Propeller: Do you work closely with the lyricists? Are you working for them, or are they working for you?

Clausen: They lyrics are written by the scriptwriters. I know almost all of them personally, and work very closely with them. Sometimes I'll get to a point where, for example, I'll find that one phrase in stanza number one doesn't match up with the phrase in stanza number four. Or I'll call them and say, "You've got three syllables here and I need five." Then they'll do a little rewrite to match my phrasings. It's a very nice, collaborative process.


Propeller: Can you connect with them any time of day? Or do you have some non-Simpsons time set aside?

Clausen: [Laughs] Oh yes. I try to leave a little bit of time for myself, but it's very difficult. Normally when I'm composing, I start at about 9:00 in the morning and work until 10:00 at night, and I do that five days a week. On the sixth day I go to music spotting in the afternoon and record the music I've just composed in a 3-to-4-hour session, with a 35-piece orchestra. Sundays are off. Crash and burn time. And then on Mondays I start all over again.

Propeller: Do you have a regular group of musicians that you work with?

Clausen: The musicians are pretty much the same every week. And I'm so blessed to be able to work with the Los Angeles studio musicians because they're the best in the world. The depth of the talent pool is remarkable.

Propeller: What makes you happy about composing for The Simpsons?

Clausen: Well, it's a different kind of show. It's like no other, as far as I'm concerned. I'm not a household name, I'm not a household face. But there are those times when I go to the grocery store, and I hand the clerk my credit card, and he'll say very quietly, "I love the music you do on The Simpsons." Or I'll go to a pizza joint and hear the same thing. And I think, "Wow! What are the chances that this happens in life?"

Propeller: That's a nice way to connect. It might even happen if you're getting carded at a bar.

Clausen: [Laughs] Right!

Propeller: What can we look forward to musically in this coming season of The Simpsons?

Clausen: It's very hush-hush because we love the element of surprise. But I'll say there is one episode coming up where Homer injures his back. And while he's on the table at the hospital, they discover that Homer can sing opera. He becomes an opera singer. Placido Domingo is in the episode and it's pretty funny.

Propeller: You must have been excited when the writers sprang that story line on you.

Clausen: Well, opera is really not my world. I had to do some very quick research on the pieces that Homer sings, which I have to rerecord with my orchestra. So I was excited, but also a little panic-stricken.