Living room ambassadors

Forget the fighter-plane graphics and maps of Iraq. What attracts viewers to cable networks during the war are not the special effects, but the people giving them the news.

They like the integrity of CNN's Wolf Blitzer, the bravery of the late David Bloom of MSNBC, and the smooth delivery of Fox News anchor Shepard Smith.

If a reporter angers them or a host seems too jingoistic, they simply defect to another channel. And a little bit of candor apparently goes a long way: When a CNN anchor admitted recently that he couldn't read "tomorrow's headlines tonight" because they ran out of printer paper, he wowed one fan.

"Aaron Brown rocks my world," says Julie Swenson, the founder of a public relations firm in Minneapolis. "No one else would admit to something like being out of printer paper. They'd say something more haughty to cover it up."

TV news personalities are under more pressure during wartime to keep people from using their remotes, especially now that Americans have so many choices for news - both on TV and the Internet. Anchors and reporters serve as ambassadors for the networks, which would like people to stick around even after there's no more footage of toppling statues. During the war, viewership on all three of the major cable news networks has spiked 200 percent or more over the same time last year.

Networks try to emulate the Internet with frequent updates and Web-style menuing. But after spending eight hours at work getting information about the Iraqi war from their computers, what Americans really want their TV experience to focus on is people, say media critics.

"It becomes more about storytelling, and whether you trust that person who's telling the story," says Richard Hanley, a professor of communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn.

Figuring out exactly who will keep people watching has perplexed cable executives in recent years. Battling for an ever shrinking audience, they have relied increasingly on big-name hosts and reporters to "brand" their news and boost ratings.

CNN and MSNBC in particular have rotated people on and off the air with great frequency. MSNBC fired talk-show host Phil Donahue recently, but shortly before that, it had picked up former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura. And CNN canceled Connie Chung's program and canned the afternoon chat program "Talk Back Live," indicating a move toward hard news.

"A lot of networks are learning that the personality wars aren't working as well as they would have hoped," says Mel Coffee, a professor of broadcast journalism at Syracuse University's Newhouse School.

Ratings leader Fox has avoided some of the "schizophrenia" that characterizes the other networks, he says. "Fox really is focused on the coverage, regardless of who's in the anchor chair," observes Professor Coffee. That said, its outspoken host, Bill O'Reilly, dominates cable network ratings.

Most Americans turn first to CNN for breaking news, according to a TV Guide poll released last week. But Fox News is keeping them watching longer. The network was already typically winning the ratings war before the first bombs fell in Baghdad, and has remained the prime-time leader during the ensuing weeks.

The three main cable news networks are showing significant increases in viewership over the same time last year. But the number of those watching has dropped since the war's initial days, when Fox averaged 5.6 million prime-time viewers, CNN 4.4 million, and MSNBC 2.2 million, reports Nielsen Media Research.

Last week, Fox's average prime-time audience fell to 4.5 million, followed by CNN with 3.4 million, and MSNBC with 1.7 million. Even with the decline, Fox drew slightly more viewers last week than the previous week, the only one of the three to do so.

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