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POPSNBC's Zucker: The Industry's Punching Bag Though Zucker's resume includes far more successes (cable, news, today show) than it does failures (prime-time), he is most associated with NBC' prime-time problems and will remain a press pinata until the network climbs out of the ratings basement -- or Comcast brass replace him, whichever comes first.
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POPSWhat Oprah Did Right A study in what Oprah has done (and continues to do) right, reports the NY Times. Will signing off after 25 years to focus her efforts on OWN be added to the list? If history is any indication, the answer is yes.
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POPSBBC-Ya Garth Ancier’s list of impressive positions he formerly held just got longer. Before joining BBC America as President 3 yrs ago, he held chief roles at Fox, NBC and the since-shuttered WB. During his tenure at BBC, he’s credited with doubling the networks ratings, raising the company's profile and increasing profits nearly 80%. No reason for his replacement has been provided.
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POPSOdds of conception
I saw this posted on Slate, and just want to make a comment about the math. The "extraordinary odds" of a 43-year-old conceiving naturally are only 1-3 (or maybe 5)% in a given month, says the article. Question: what are the odds in two months? This is just a basic probability question. What are the odds of not getting pregnant two months in a row? Say there's a 5 percent chance of getting pregnant, there's a 95% chance of not getting pregnant. The odds of not getting pregnant for two months are thus (.95*.95=.9025). So there's a .05 chance in one month but a .0975 chance of pregnancy in two months. For three months it's (.95*.95*.95=.857). For a three month affair, that'd be a 14.43% chance of pregnancy. Still unlikely but not really extraordinary. Say an affair lasts for 16 months, from February 2006 to May 2007 perhaps. At 3 percent per month, the math works to a 41% chance of getting pregnant. At 5% it's a 59% chance of pregnancy. "Extraordinary odds"? The math says not
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POPS9 Questions for Ben Bernanke This is very sharp. A lot of commentary on the Fed quickly devolves into conspiracy theory and pumping gold portfolios, and so it's refreshing to see some substantive ideas.
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POPSIn Denial About Financial Reform Also see Dan Indiviglio over at The Atlantic: http://business.theatlantic.com/2009/09/why_is_washington_ignoring_the_real_causes_of_the_crisis.php The danger of putting a lawyer in charge of something like this is, in my opinion, best exemplified by Neil Barofsky, the attorney they put in front of TARP oversight. Barofsky has used his pulpit to put out some really meaningless and misleading numbers. We need real information from these guys, not noisy innumerate numbers. See: http://www.forbes.com/2009/07/27/bailout-bad-math-business-washington-barofsky.html
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POPSiPhone 3GS vs. Palm Pre BillShrink.com CEO Peter Pham explains why someone would choose the iPhone over the Palm, and vice versa. His company helps users decide on the best phone to meet their needs across all networks
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POPSFinally, Some Late-Night Stability As NBC tests the waters with another (risky) hour of late-night fare (in prime-time) CBS is wise to hold on to its stable alternative. After a decade-plus at no. 2, the tiffany network's veteran host has a real shot at poaching former Leno viewers and winning the ratings war.
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POPSThe Sad State Of Online Comments "Sweetie," "dear," and "zionist stooge liar." Virginia Heffernan, writing about foreign affairs columnist Ann Applebaum, sums up the quality of discourse going on in the reader comment sections of most news sites.
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POPSAre credit card rates out of control? As President Obama makes controlling credit card rates a priority, banks are pushing back saying they have to raise rates to accommodate for the rising costs of doing business in a challenging economic environment.
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POPS"Prime" Ain't What It Used To Be Those nice prime borrowers are getting hit hard. Delinquencies were up 50% last month, and yet the after-shock of the U.S.'s rising unemployment rate has yet to really kick in...
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POPSObama to Lunch with Credit Card Execs Credit card debt is a huge burden to the average American. Since rates can jump at anytime to any level, cash-strapped consumers are at the mercy of cc companies. Here's an idea: why not refinance credit card debt instead of mortgages? That's the real interest rate crunch and principle writedowns wouldn't be necessary since it's the interest accruing and not the amount owed that's the trouble.
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POPSDelta Bags More Fees Delta Airlines will slap a $50 fee on all passengers checking a second bag on international flights, pressuring competitors to do the same. Delta also reports a $794 million quarterly loss, but says the worst may be behind it.
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POPSLSE Loses Top Exec Jerusalami's promotion suggests LSE is gearing up to go head to head with NYSE Euronext and Nasdaq OMX's expansion into derivatives..
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POPSPalm Pre Launch Nears With First Print Ad As Gearlog notes, when a carrier pays hundreds of thousands to run a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal, it means a phone is launching soon--within weeks. Sprint has done just that for the much-anticipated Palm Pre--pictured above, along with Twitter's Bluebird mascot.
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POPSOutsiders Serve Up iPhone Nanos Outsiders meaning firms with absolutely no connection to Apple. Ubergizmo spotted this clamshell, iPod-like design (above) from China's HiPhone. Other knockoffs (like the second example, from Thailand) are just scaled-down versions of the original iPhone. Apple will likely update the iPhone line in June.
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