Brunette 1, Blond 0

To All,

It is with mixed emotions that I announce my departure from CNN, effective Thursday, August 2nd. I'd like to take this opportunity to express my tremendous respect for my good friends and colleagues, their talent and high standards.

It's been an extraordinary journey since my first day on the job, September 11th, 2001. During my 6 years with CNN, we've covered the war in Iraq, the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, the death of a Pope and the massacre at Virginia Tech. I am enormously proud of the work we've done covering these stories as a team.
Now is the right time for CNN and me to move ahead on different paths. I wish good luck and success to everyone I was fortunate to work with. And for the first time in 30 years, I plan to take a break between jobs and catch my breath before I take on my next role.
- Paula

As reported here on June 17th, one of my favorite TV news anchors, Paul Zahn, resigned from CNN yesterday. The news of her departure was of interest to many- primarily due to the speculation that she had no choice. Both TVNEWSER and The Huffington Post, report that she was literally reading about her fate via the media. Coincidentally, Campbell Brown, from NBC's TODAY SHOW, signed a lucrative contract with CNN the day before Zahn's resignation email (above) was sent out.

For those who did see Brown's on-air farewell this past weekend on the TODAY Show, she was smart in not mentioning where and what she would be doing. A very smart decision since she did not sign on the CNN dotted line until the other day.

It is uncertain who will replace Campbell Brown on the today show or what Paul Zahn will be doing after her departure from CNN? Maybe she should start a blog?

Now see this...

I have always been a a fan of the DVR (Digital Video Recorder) which basically replaced the VCR in our lives especially when it comes to recording shows on TV. Cable companies offer these special cable boxes for watching cable TV and recording shows. There are lots of bells and whistles these days with cable TV. You can watch a PIP (Picture in picture) or you can freeze the current program, walk the dog, and come back to where you left off.

It was only a matter of time before this would make it's way to our computers. The recent debut of Veoh TV has really put this technology and concept to a new level. Following in the footsteps of Joost, Veoh TV goes one step beyond Joost and allows users to watch TV on their computers and record the shows. A recent article in Business 2.0 magazine appropriately called this "...TiVo for the internet". I could not agree more. Plus, it's all FREE!

A user simply searches for shows on the website and downloads the shows to watch at a later date. The on-screen interface is similar to the TiVo interface. Users can also upload videos a la YouTube.

A quick scan of the site shows quite a few uploaded shows from users. A great deal of Japanese programs seem to common. You can also watch any show from the major networks. I searched for the NBC show "Medium" and was able to pull up several episodes. Several episodes of Star Trek were also available for viewing.

What does this all mean? Will we really need a TV in the future? Surely, this brings new meaning to video on demand.

Charlie's Angels

l to r. Paula Zahn, Campbell Brown, Amy Robach

The buzz on the TV newsfront is about to get a little interesting. As of Friday, rampant speculation that there was going to be a few face changes over at NBC and CNN, turned out to be very true. TV Newser reported that Campbell Brown was moving out of her NBC Weekend Today anchor slot and over to CNN. Meanwhile, over at CNN, it appears that Paula Zahn is being given the axe. So who is pointing at who? Does Paula Zahn know she won't have a job anymore at CNN? The New York Post wrote a blurb in Page Six about her possible departure.

Amazingly, as expected, news about this surfaced rapidly in every online news media outlet and blog over the weekend. Unfortunately, Zahn is left as the one being kicked out the door.

Truth be told, I am a fan of the Today Show. This weekend Amy Robach was co-anchoring with Lester Holt. Campbell Brown has been "off" for the past two weekends.

Amy Robach is being eyed as the replacement for Brown's Weekend Today anchor-spot. The NY Post reports that Robach "is a former beauty queen who made a career stumble a few years ago when she wore an overly sexy dress to a party with network brass". Nevertheless, I am sure in the beauty pageant she must have answered the "what do you want to be when you grow up question? Her answer was that she who wanted to become a typical blond former beauty queen turned journalist- blah blah blah. I wonder how many anchorwomen are former beauty queens?

Meanwhile, poor poor Zahn! BTW- according to the Zahn wiki, she was also a Miss Teenage American Pageant finalist in 1973. I remember Paul Zahn back in the day when she was the anchor for ABC World News. She was young and sexy back then- full of energy. She has become hard edged and cold on CNN. Not a friendly face- like most of the other anchors on the network.

Zahn has made the rounds at CBS, FOX, ABC and CNN. Where oh where will she go now? MTV? HGTV and anchor House Hunters? Maybe she will do a gig at Carnegie Hall. Little does everyone know, except die-hard fans, that Zahn is also a cellist!