Saturday, March 19, 2016

The GREAT Debate!

"Good evening and welcome to the premiere of GDN, the GREAT Debate Network. I'm Megyn Kelly here at the GDN anchor desk, and I'm joined by my co-anchor Jake Tapper. First, a few words to introduce this new venture!"

"Whether you're a Democrat or a Republican, odds are you've tuned into one of the more than dozen debates that have been held this year involving more than 20 candidates for President of the United States. Well, we've noticed too. Viewership has averaged an astounding 13 million people. Contrast that an episode of ‘Grey's Anatomy' at about seven and half million, ‘The Blacklist' with six and half million and ‘The Vampire Diaries' with a little over a million viewers. It seems that you just can't get enough of the back and forth, right Jake?"

"It is unbelievable, Megyn. By far the highest rated programs have been the simplest: a bunch of people standing on stage before an audience responding to questions. No script, no car chases, no sex or violence, unless you count a few Donald Trump moments. At its top, 24 million of you tuned in. But even when Trump passed on appearing, twelve and half million of you flipped past the "The Goldbergs" and "2 Broke Girls" to watch. There's only one conclusion: you like to see people yelling at each other. And so the GREAT Debate Network was born."

"Every night we will bring together a diverse panel of luminaries and celebrities to take on a wide range of topics. Grilled by an equally all-star panel of journalists, pundits and opinion makers, we expect to see the sparks fly and the insults get heated. All in all, you'll have a place to go to see real human conflict, one which will give you plenty to talk about the next day with your friends as you wait in line at Starbucks. Megyn?"

"Jake, it promises to be an action packed schedule. To be sure, there are lots of important and hot button issues to discuss, from abortion to immigration to the Supreme Court. But there are lots of other topics, perhaps not so weighty, that engender passionate opinions on both sides. Android vs iPhones. Cones vs Cups. Miley Cyrus. In each case, about half the country adores one side, and the other half thinks the first half is crazy. Here on GDN, you'll get to hear it all, and for sure, someone will be saying out loud what you are only thinking. Jake, why don't you tell the viewers about what really makes GDN special, our interactive feature."

"You're right Megyn, that's key. With each of the presidential debates, surveys have shown that while people were watching on TV or online, an equal number had another device in hand, and were commenting on it or reading those comments. Nearly 2 million tweets were seen by nearly 8 million people on the last one alone. And so we will be incorporating that stream into our broadcast. If you look at the bottom of our screen now, you will see your comments, put downs, insults and snarky comebacks scroll across in real time. I see some of you are already getting into the spirit. And no, I don't use hairspray."

"Jake, the spray is all mine. Let's start with our inaugural debate. Live from the Allen Fieldhouse, home of the University of Kansas Jayhawks, let's throw it to our host for the evening, Anderson Cooper."

"Thanks Megyn. Let me say welcome to all our viewers, and on a personal note, what a thrill it is to be part of this new venture with such an all-star group of journalists. Tonight's first debate on the GREAT Debate Network is on gun control. On the stage tonight will be the head of the NRA Wayne LaPierre, former New York City Mayor and gun control advocate Michael Bloomberg, gun enthusiast and rock singer Ted Nugent, and actor and gun control advocate Bradley Cooper. They will be questioned by moderator Brett Baier, journalist Jorge Ramos, columnist David Brooks and reality TV star Kim Kardashian. And joining me at the breaks to take stock of what we are seeing will be former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and former gold medal winning decathlete when she was known as Bruce, and now TV personality Caitlyn Jenner. We'll be back for the opening statements right after this word from our sponsors. You're watching the GREAT Debate Network."

-END-

Marc Wollin of Bedford senses a ground floor opportunity. His column appears regularly in The Record-Review, The Scarsdale Inquirer and online at http://www.glancingaskance.blogspot.com/, as well as via Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

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