Cable Channel to Televise Bin Laden Film Before Election

October 4, 2012, 10:32 pm

By BRIAN STELTER

The National Geographic Channel plans to televise a feature film about the killing of Osama bin Laden on Nov. 4, two days before the presidential election.

The film, titled “Seal Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden,” is a re-creation of the May 2011 killing of the terrorism mastermind, which was arguably the crowning national security achievement of President Obama's term in office. Scheduling the premiere shortly before the election may turn the film into a political object, though a National Geographic Channel executive said Thursday night that politics was not a factor in the timing.

Instead, said Howard T. Owens, the channel's president, said Nov. 4 was selected “to take advantage of our fall schedule” of shows, which will have their premieres in the days and weeks after “Seal Team Six.”

“Other than being commercially opportunistic, we weren't considering the election,” Mr. Owens said.

Similar questions were asked last year when a competing bin Laden film with a much bigger budget, “Zero Dark Thirty,” was tentatively scheduled for release in theaters shortly before Election Day, Nov. 6. Amid a partisan debate about whether the film would help Mr. Obama's chances at the polls, Sony Pictures, the distributor, moved the premiere date to Dec. 19.

“Zero Dark Thirty” also came under scrutiny because the filmmakers, Mark Boal and Kathryn Bigelow, were given special briefings by the CIA. Representative Peter King, Republican of New York, has accused the Obama administration of “unprecedented” and “potentially dangerous” collaboration with the filmmakers, but the administration has said M r. Boal and Ms. Bigelow were provided with the same information as other reporters, producers and movie-makers.

“Seal Team Six” has not been subject to the same accusations. National Geographic said Thursday that the film mostly sticks to the facts about the raid, though “some aspects of the characterizations have been dramatized for creative reasons.” It said the sequences in the film were “vetted by a team of experts including a recently retired Navy Seal, a top CIA operative and one of the most renowned bin Laden historians.”

The film was titled “Code Name Geronimo” when it was produced this year. Harvey Weinstein's company snapped up distribution rights to the film during the Cannes Film Festival in May. He contemplated a theatrical release in the United States, but instead came to a distribution deal with National Geographic last month.

The film's total budget is not known, but it's believed to be a fraction of the $30 million spent on “Zero Dark Thirty.”

Though it is making its debut on television and not in theaters, “it feels like a feature,” Mr. Owens said, calling it “incredibly well-made” and citing a two-minute trailer that was posted online this week.

The trailer incorporates some news video of Mr. Obama and other officials alongside fictional sequences set at the CIA headquarters and in Pakistan.

“Seal Team Six” was produced by Nicolas Chartier, who previously partnered with Mr. Boal and Ms. Bigelow on the Oscar-winning film “The Hurt Locker.” The director was John Stockwell, who previously directed “Into The Blue” and “Crazy/Beautiful.”

For the National Geographic Channel, majority-owned by News Corporation, the film is a marketing opportunity - a reason for people who would otherwise never look for the channel on their cable lineup to look it up. Buying the TV rights to the film also makes a statement about the channel's foray into scripted pro gramming. Early next year it will show a film about the killing of Abraham Lincoln.

When asked if he thought the timing of the election would benefit the film, Mr. Owens said, “I think we will benefit by being first to the market,” by beating “Zero Dark Thirty.”

“We saw the success that '60 Minutes' had,” he said, referring to the newsmagazine's hourlong interview with a former Navy SEAL about the bin Laden raid in September, which drew 12.3 million viewers. Further, he said, “we're all mindful of the book that's been a best-seller the last four weeks,” referring to “No Easy Day,” the same SEAL's published account of the raid.

Presidential Debate Drew More Than 70 Million Viewers

By BRIAN STELTER

The first of three presidential debates between President Obama and Mitt Romney reached more than 70 million viewers on Wednesday night.

Nielsen, a television measurement company, said 67.2 million viewers watched on television - the highest number for a first debate since 1980. That year, 80.6 million watched the only debate between President Jimmy Carter and Republican presidential candidate Ronald Reagan.

More recently, about 52.4 million viewers tuned into the first debate in 2008, according to Nielsen, though that debate was held on a Friday night, typically a lower-rated night of the week. About 62.5 million viewers tuned into the first debate in 2004, which similarly featured an incumbent president and a challenger.

Nielsen's total, however, did not count any of the millions of people who accessed the debate on computers, tablets or phones. Nor did it count people who watched outside the home (in offices, bars or airports) or who watched in other countries. CNN.com said it recorded 1.2 million live streams of its debate coverage around the world.

YouTube, the Web video giant, said its partners had “millions of live streamed views of the debates,” but declined to release specific numbers.

Of the 11 channels that televised the debate, ABC was the most-watched, with almost 11.3 million viewers during the commercial-free debate, Nielsen said. NBC and CBS were close behind with 11.1 million and 10.6 million, respectively.

Fox News Channel was as big as any broadcaster, with about 10.4 million viewers during the debate (up from 8.2 million in 2008 and 9.6 million in 2004). The Fox broadcast network attracted about 6.9 million; CNN, 6 million; and MSNBC, 4.7 million. (Fox News, MSNBC and CNN all skew toward older viewers, but interestingly, CNN had a surge of 18- to 34-year-old viewers for the debate - nearly 1.5 million, vers us 882,000 for Fox News and 772,000 for MSNBC.)

More than 2.6 million Spanish-language viewers watched on Univision, and another 248,000 watched on Telemundo, according to Nielsen. (Telemundo showed the debate on a tape delay.) The lowest-rated of all the channels with the face-off was Current TV, Al Gore's fledgling liberal cable channel, which had about 100,000 viewers.

Another measurement company, Rentrak, found that the total audience for the debate was remarkably stable from 9 to 10:30 p.m. The company, which tracks viewership behavior in one million homes, found a slight uptick at 10 p.m.

TiVo, which tracks the rewinding behavior of digital video recorder owners, found that the most-rewound moment of the debate came at 9:27, when Mr. Romney mentioned his plan to cut funding from PBS (and gave Big Bird a shout-out).

Digital Notes: A Royalty Dispute Spills Over Online

Music October 4, 2012, 4:13 pm

By BEN SISARIO

Normally the negotiations over music royalties are almost painfully dry affairs. The most excitement might be a few words tucked amid reams of gray financial reports.

But a bill in Congress that would change the process by which rates are set for Internet radio services like Pandora has gone loudly public since it was introduced last month, with Pandora and various groups representing musicians taking their arguments to the public online.

The bipartisan bill, called the Internet Radio Fairness Act, concerns the obscure legal standards under which a panel of federal judges determine royalty rates for digital radio. There are two slightly different processes for Internet radio companies (like Pandora) and satellite radio (Sirius XM). The bill would align them all on the satellite standard, which includes a crucial provision allowing judges to consider whether rates would have a “disruptive” effect on the industry.

As the bill was being introduced, Pandora began sending letters to its users from the service's founder and public face, Tim Westergren. He asked users for their “urgent help,” and directed them to their Congressional representatives to support the bill. The letter points out that last year Pandora paid more than half its revenues in music royalties, while Sirius XM Radio “paid less than 10 percent.” Pandora has more than 150 million registered users.

In response, the MusicFirst Coalition, whose members include the Recording Industry Association of America and the American Federation of Musicians, posted a statement calling Pandora's proposal “dishonest” and “misleading,” and saying that it would be “devastating to music creators.”

The A.F.M. has also taken to its Facebook page - and to Twitter - to promote a petition titled “Say No to Slashing Musicians' Pay.” Among others who have weighed in against Pandora are Bob Lefsetz, a gadfly commentator who is followed widely in the music industry.

Pandora argues that its current standard - known as “willing buyer, willing seller” - results in an unfairly high royalty rate. The musicians' groups, as well as some financial analysts, counter that its effective royalty would decrease if the company made more money from advertising and subscriptions. (Pandora pays a “penny rate” - a fraction of a cent each time a song is streamed - and its total royalties must be a minimum of 25 percent of its gross revenue.) They also note that Pandora actually pays a preferential rate - less than that of radio companies for their online streams - negotiated after the last rate fight in Washington several years ago.

Ted Kalo, the executive director of the MusicFirst Coalition, said in an interview on Thursday that his member groups' use of social media was necessary to counter Pandora's huge reach.

“We agree that there should be parity between platforms,” Mr. Kalo said, “but that parity shouldn't be a race to the bottom.”

Ben Sisario writes about the music industry. Follow @sisario on Twitter.

Ann Romney to Be a \'Good Morning America\' Co-Host

By BILL CARTER

Already on a roll in the morning, ABC's “Good Morning America” has booked Ann Romney as a guest co-host for the Oct. 10 edition of the program.

Mrs. Romney was booked before this week's debate, so it was not a case of ABC's looking to follow up on positive reaction to her husband's performance. ABC has been booking celebrity guests to fill in for its co-anchor Robin Roberts, who is on medical leave.

Other names who have agreed to fill in include Oprah Winfrey, Jessica Simpson and Barbara Walters. Stephen Colbert appeared on the show this week. An ABC executive confirmed speculation that the show was in talks with Michelle Obama to serve as co-host on a future date.

Mrs. Romney will appear as the guest host alongside George Stephanopoulos in the show's second hour, starting at 8 a.m.

“G.M.A.” has taken command of the morning ratings over the longtime leader, the “Today” show on NBC. On Thursday, AB C reported that “G.M.A.” won the first week of the new television season for the first time in 20 years. The win was a big one, with “G.M.A.” defeating “Today” by 808,000 viewers.

Debate Format Comes Under Fire. So Does the Moderator.

By BRUCE HEADLAM

Critics on both sides of the aisle had plenty to say about the new presidential debate format unveiled on Wednesday. Those on the left were particularly withering about the performance of the moderator, Jim Lehrer. Bill Press, a liberal radio host, said Mr. Lehrer “lost control of the debate, and Mitt Romney ran all over him like a truck crushing a bug.” Brian Stelter has the full story here.

Book by Facebook\'s Sheryl Sandberg Will Be Published in March

By JULIE BOSMAN

Knopf has set a publication date of March 2013 for a new book by Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer of Facebook, that was written “to encourage women to aspire to and pursue leadership roles,” the publisher said on Thursday. “Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead” reflects on Ms. Sandberg's own personal and professional experiences and discusses the latest research on equality in the workplace. Knopf is planning to print 400,000 copies in hardcover.

In a telephone interview, Ms. Sandberg said that the book grew out of a TED talk that she gave two years ago; a video of the talk has been viewed millions of times online and has prompted a flood of letters to Ms. Sandberg on gender issues in the workplace.

“Real equality means that women can do anything,” she said on Thursday. “Real equality means that men have to be more fully engaged at home. The book isn't just written for women, it's written for men.” Ms. Sandberg first discussed the book in August.

New Dawn in Morning Television: \"GMA\" Bests \"Today\" in September Ratings Race

By BRIAN STELTER

“Good Morning America” is beginning the new television season as the No. 1 morning show in America, topping the “Today” show.

Nielsen ratings for the month of September, made public on Thursday, confirm the television sea change that started in the spring and swept through in the summer: NBC's “Today,” the No. 1 morning show for 16 years in a row, is now No. 2 to ABC's “Good Morning America,” or “GMA” for short.

In September, the race wasn't even close: “GMA” beat “Today” by 807,000 total viewers on a typical day. “GMA” averaged almost 5.1 million viewers, while “Today” averaged about 4.3 million. The viewership for “Today” hasn't eroded this much since 1995, the year that it recaptured the No. 1 title from “GMA.”

Officials at NBC and ABC attribute the reversal of fortune to any number of factors, including the friendliness of the “GMA” cast; the lighter content on “GMA;” the friction behind the scenes at “Today;” and the poor prime-time performance of the NBC network. But the biggest factor seems to be NBC's dismissal of Ann Curry in June. The morning after Ms. Curry tearfully departed “Today,” there was a huge spike in viewership for “GMA.”; aside from a short period of time during the Summer Olympics, “Today” hasn't won a week since. Ms. Curry was replaced by Savannah Guthrie, who has now been on the job for three months.

After the Olympics, “GMA” began winning decisively in the category that matters most to advertisers, the 25- to 54-year-old demographic. In September “GMA” bested “Today” by 169,000 viewers in that group. According to an internal ABC News e-mail, this represented the show's first monthly win over “Today” in the demographic since August 1994.

Last week the producer of “Today,” Jim Bell, said “Today” was taking the “long view” of the ratings.

Nielsen counts Sept. 24 as the start of the new television season, since the major networks tend to premiere their new prime time shows in September. “Today” won in both total viewers and 25- to 54-year-old viewers in the 2011-12 season that ended on Sept. 23. But one week into the 2012-13 season, “GMA” is ahead by 808,000 viewers and by 254,000 in the demographic.

The wide gap between “GMA” and “Today” is all the more notable because September was “GMA's” first month without Robin Roberts, the co-host who is on medical leave for treatment of M.D.S., a rare blood and bone marrow disorder. When Ms. Roberts left the show on Aug. 30, there was widespread anxiety at ABC about how “GMA” would fare without her. But it appears that her fans have mostly stuck with the show while she recuperates from a bone marrow transplant.

Ms. Roberts is expected to be away from the show for several more months. In the meantime, the cast o f “GMA” mentions her whereabouts every half hour and gives viewers regular updates on her recovery.

On Wednesday Ms. Roberts posted a picture to Twitter of a visit by two of her co-hosts, Josh Elliott and Sam Champion, and that picture was shown repeatedly on Thursday's show. In a blog post later on Thursday, Ms. Roberts wrote, “I have been in the hospital 25 days now. My bone marrow transplant took place exactly two weeks ago. The only numbers that matter are my blood counts and they are… GREAT!”

But Ms. Roberts, competitive as ever, has been eyeing another set of numbers from her hospital room: the Nielsens. And she loves what she sees.

On Safeguarding Your Student Aid PIN

By ANN CARRNS

Loanlook, a Web site that aims to help students and families manage their educational loans, has added access to private student loans, as well as federal loans. That should, in theory, make the site more attractive to students and parents looking for a way to keep track of all of their student loans in one place.

But it appears the site may be operating counter to guidelines from the Department of Education's Office of Federal Student Aid, which warn student borrowers to safeguard their financial aid PINs and refrain from sharing them with anyone. That may be another reason for users to be wary of the site, which already faces skepticism because its parent company, the Ceannate Corporation, also is in the business of student loan debt collection.

As Bucks reported in August, Loanlook asks users to provide their four-digit federal PINs, which are assigned by the student aid office so students can gain access to information in the National Student Loan Data System. The PIN allows Loanlook to obtain information like loan totals and terms on behalf of the borrower so it can help suggest optimal repayment plans.

According to the Federal Student Aid PIN Web site, the PIN is used in combination with a birth date and Social Security number to allow access to federal student aid records online and to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or Fafsa, form.

“Your PIN can be used each year to electronically apply for federal student aid and to access your federal student aid records online,” the site says. “If you receive a PIN, you agree not to share it with anyone. Your PIN serves as your electronic signature and provides access to your personal records, so you should never give your PIN to anyone, including commercial services that offer to help you complete your Fafsa,” the student aid application. “Be sure to keep your PIN in a safe place.”

Given that warning, some readers, including a former student aid counselor, questioned whether it was acceptable for students to use their PINs to get access to loan information through Loanlook.

So I tried to ask the Department of Education this question: If I'm a student borrower who wants to use Loanlook's services, is it O.K. for me to enter my PIN on the site? I contacted the department's press office several times. Finally, after mulling the inquiry for more than five weeks, the office said it would not comment on Loanlook specifically - even though the site's parent, Ceannate, is a contractor with the department, providing services like student loan collections. But it e-mailed this response on Wednesday from Daren Briscoe, the department's deputy press secretary:

“As guidance posted for borrowers on the department's Web site advises - you should never give your PIN to anyone, including commercial services.”

Not exactly a ringing endorsement.

Loanlook officials maintain that the site complies with federal guidelines. Some students have access to Loanlook through their colleges and don't need to use their PINs. Students who come to the site individually do provide their PINs, but the site does not store them, to help guard against potential misuse, said Loanlook's chief executive, Balaji Rajan. Students must re-enter their PINs each time they want to update their loan information.

“Loanlook only uses the PIN as a one-time event to confirm the identity of the borrower and the borrower's right to access loan data,” he wrote in an e-mail. He added, “It is important to note that the PIN is provided only to facilitate Loanlook's services (as an agent and representative of the borrower) to access loan data, and for no other purpose.”

Further, he said, when registering on Loanlook, users give approval on a Department of Education disclosure form that allows release of their informa tion.

Still, Loanlook posted an update on its blog last week stating that the Department of Education now offers a feature, called “MyStudentData Download,” that provides an alternative to using the PIN. The feature provides a text version of a student's loan information that can be downloaded from the National Student Loan Data System site, and then transferred to third-party sites, like Loanlook. That sounds cumbersome, though it does get around the PIN problem.

“We expect that most of you will continue to retrieve your student loan data with your NSLDS PIN (generally the quickest way to refresh loan profiles on loanlook.com),” the Loanlook post said. “But you will soon have the option to upload the text file provided by NSLDS to your Loanlook account as well.”

What do you think? Would you feel comfortable using your financial aid PIN to use loan management sites like Loanlook? Or would you take the time to download your files?

Steve Jobs\'s High School Girlfriend to Publish Memoir

October 4, 2012, 12:01 pm

By JULIE BOSMAN

Chrisann Brennan was one of Steve Jobs's first serious loves, his high school girlfriend and the mother of his daughter Lisa. Now Ms. Brennan will tell the story of her relationship with Mr. Jobs, the Apple co-founder who died in 2011, in a new memoir to be published next year. St. Martin's Press, part of Macmillan, said on Thursday it had acquired the rights to an untitled memoir by Ms. Brennan, who is now a painter based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

After meeting him at Homestead High School in Cupertino, Calif., Ms. Brennan later lived with Mr. Jobs in a cabin, meditated with him and attended lectures. “At 17, Steve had more than a touch of the cool sophistication of a Beat poet,” Ms. Brennan wrot e in an article in Rolling Stone after his death. While in her early 20s, she became pregnant and gave birth to their daughter, who is known as Lisa Brennan-Jobs. Mr. Jobs initially denied paternity of his daughter but later developed a closer relationship with her.

St. Martin's said Ms. Brennan's memoir would cover a range of subjects, including her relationship with Jobs, the founding of Apple and “Jobs's enormous appeal, energy and drive as well as his developing ambition and ruthlessness in business and personal dealings.”

How Lenders Make Money (and Create It Too)

October 4, 2012, 11:30 am

By PADDY HIRSCH

In this excerpt from his new book, “Man vs. Markets,” Paddy Hirsch, senior producer for personal finance at American Public Media's business radio program production house, Marketplace, explains the basics of lending from the bank's side of things.

Mr. Hirsch, perhaps best known for his series of whiteboard drawings and videos, leads the Marketplace team that produces two special newspaper sections and two hourlong radio shows each year in partnership with The New York Times.

Today most banks work this way: borrowing money from depositors at one rate of interest, and lending the money out again at another, higher rate of interest. And pocketing the difference.

You might think that makes ban kers pretty selfish. They pay measly rates of interest to their depositors and charge higher rates to people who want to borrow from them. In the end they're firmly focused on making a profit for themselves and their shareholders. The loans they make are a way to make that money.

Fortunately, the banks' lust for profits works to everyone's advantage.

The loans the banks make to companies and people usually do a great deal of good. The money helps us to buy everything from groceries to cars and houses, and it helps companies expand and hire. If people are able to borrow (and don't overstretch), the money they borrow can help grow businesses and create jobs, and that's good for everyone.

There's another benefit to banks' desire to lend money out in order to make profits: Lending creates money. Out of thin air!

This is how the magic works. One day, Mr. Smith comes to his bank and deposits $1 million. The bank keeps 10 percent, or $100,000, in reserve, in case Mr. Smith wants some of his money quickly.

The next day, Mrs. Jones comes to the same bank and asks for a $900,000 loan, to buy a private jet. The bank lends her the money. Suddenly the amount of money in the system has almost doubled. There's the million dollars that Mr. Smith has in his bank account. And there's the $900,000 loan the bank made to Mrs. Jones. Both are assets - Mr. Smith can point to his million-dollar balance on his statement, and Mrs. Jones has a briefcase full of cash - so both are real. The bank has turned a million dollars into $1.9 million, just like that.

Mrs. Jones drives out of the airport and gives the briefcase full of cash to Mr. Sharif, of Sharif Aviation. Mr. Sharif gives Mrs. Jones the keys to a gently used Bell 407 helicopter and puts the cash in his bank. The bank puts 10 percent ($90,000) aside as a reserve and lends $810,000 to a clothing manufacturer who needs to buy some new equipment. The clothing maker gives the equip ment salesman the $810,000. He takes it to his bank, which holds 10 percent in reserve, and . . .

You get the picture. That $1 million has now more than tripled, in terms of its purchasing power. And yet there's no new money in the system - it's still just a million dollars. It's the banks' ability to lend that money out, over and over, that creates a ripple effect through the economy and improves everyone's ability to spend and to grow. Lending and borrowing can be a good thing, in other words. So long as you don't overdo it.

Which means that banks aren't all bad. Yes, some banks - or the bankers who run them - do make mistakes. Some bankers cheat, some bankers lie, and some bankers take foolish risks that threaten the entire global economy. But most banks and bankers work to our mutual benefit, and the network of the country's banks has become an essential part of our economy, driving money through the system like a heart pumping blood around the body.

Ex cerpted from “Man vs. Markets: Economics Explained (Plain and Simple),” published by Harper Business. Copyright © Paddy Hirsch, 2012. Reprinted with permission.

The Breakfast Meeting: Grades Are Handed Out Before the Debate\'s Final Question

By BILL BRINK

“Grade the Debate,'' The Wall Street Journal said to readers, offering the option of letter grades A to F on a variety of subjects. But most readers probably didn't need an invitation. Reaction during Wednesday night's presidential debate and afterward careered around the Internet and filled hours on the television airwaves.

Jim Lehrer, the moderator, probably wouldn't want to read his report card. He was roundly criticized, Politico reports, by both conservatives and liberals alike, raising new questions about the format and the role of the moderator.

But President Obama didn't fare very well either, judging by much of the early reaction. Instant reaction polls by CBS and CNN showed that Mitt Romney, the Republican challenger, was the clear winner, Nate Silver wrote in The Times.

Left-leaning media seemed particularly aghast that the president looked so lackluster, Brian Stelter reported in The Times, an impres sion that was reinforced by the instant feedback on sharing platforms like Twitter. The reaction, he writes, “helped harden conventional wisdom that Mr. Obama had turned in a weak performance, even before he had finished speaking.''

Because we are a nation that loves lists - making them and reading them - a number of compilations made the rounds in the debate's aftermath. Politico offered up the five best debate lines by each candidate, and The Washington Post presented six reasons Mr. Romney won. Start making your own.

Ultimately, Alessandra Stanley wrote in The Times, it was “a glaringly public confrontation that looked oddly intimate and personal. And that may help explain why tens of million of people tune in - there is nothing else like it on television.''

Elsewhere (was there even an ‘elsewhere'?) in media news, Marjorie Scardino will step down as chief executive of Pearson, the global media and education company, Amy Chozick reported in The Tim es. Ms. Scardino was one of the highest ranking female executives in Britain. The company owns The Financial Times, and her departure, expected in January, raises questions about whether Pearson would sell it along with other publishing assets.

Natasha Singer reported that the Federal Trade Commission settled charges with the operator of a fan Web site for pop stars like Justin Bieber and Rihanna. The company, Artist Arena, agreed to pay a $1 million penalty after the government charged that it illegally collected personal information, like addresses and cellphone numbers, from thousands of children.

Thursday Reading: Why Some Students Believe They Must Cheat

By ANN CARRNS

A variety of consumer-focused articles appears daily in The New York Times and on our blogs. Each weekday morning, we gather them together here so you can quickly scan the news that could hit you in your wallet.