Brian Stelter, a media reporter at the New York Times discusses his recent book, Top of the Morning: Inside the Cutthroat World of Morning TV (Grand Central, 2013) and more, with Joseph Planta.

Top of the Morning: Inside the Cutthroat World of Morning TV by Brian Stelter (Grand Central Publishing, 2013). Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: Top of the Morning

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, at TheCommentary.ca.

This past spring saw the release of a fascinating book on the morning television shows in the United States. A lot of us in Canada find ourselves ditching local programming to see what the American networks have on in the morning. The book is called Top of the Morning: Inside the Cutthroat World of Morning TV. It does for the morning shows what Bill Carter did for the late night shows. It gives us the inside scoop on what was happening at NBC before, during and after the ouster of Ann Curry as Today Show host, and what in the world Matt Lauer’s role was in all of this. It also sheds light on Good Morning America and their struggle and subsequent overcoming of the Today Show ratings juggernaut, that saw GMA behind in the ratings for over 850 weeks, some 16 years. Brian Stelter joins me now. He wrote this book and covers the media for the New York Times. You might remember him from that terrific documentary on the Times, Page One, where the much beloved David Carr suspects that Stelter is a ‘robot assembled to destroy him.’ He’s an avid viewer of television news, going back to before he was at the Times; his founding of TVNewser is the stuff of legend. Mr. Stelter does a terrific job taking us behind the scenes, and illustrating just why these shows matter in the gathering and delivery of news, as well as reflecting the public and what they want to watch. You also get a sense of these personalities, and the big bucks involved what with million-dollar salaries for the hosts, and millions more drawn in through advertising. @BrianStelter is his Twitter handle. The book is from. Grand Central Publishing. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, in New York, Brian Stelter; Mr. Stelter, good morning.

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