Bagels With Billary -- Sell CBS To Time Warner - TheCharlieWarnerReport

Silicon Valley Insider wrote on Tuesday, June 3:

Now that Time Warner (TWX) CEO Jeff Bewkes is accumulating a vast pile of cash from the spin-off of Time Warner Cable and the possible sale of AOL, what will he do with it? Speculation within the media industry is that he might buy CBS.

The Insider suggested that the merger made sense, mostly because Time Warner had a pile of cash and that, regardless of what Bewkes thinks about synergy, there were obvious synergies involved. I think there are synergies too, but perhaps not so obvious.

First, if Time Warner bought CBS, it could immediately move some of the excellent CBS correspondents over to CNN, then shut down the rest of the news division, and replace the "Evening News" with the CNN "Situation Room." CBS and CNN have negotiated several times about combining news operations, so this would not be a surprise to either news operation. Katie Couric would be given a great excuse to exit the failing "Evening News" to be replaced by the popular Anderson Cooper, with Wolf Blitzer standing in the background to give briefings and updates. The "Situation Room" would be simulcast on CBS and CNN (both on cable, on the Web, and on CBS Radio stations), providing an attractive road block to advertisers.

Also, a combined CBS and CNN could give Katie Couric another $5 a year to get up early and move to a simulcast morning news show that would pull CBS's current morning show up out of the basement – call it "CNN Today" or something. Furthermore, with all the money Time Warner would save by combining CBS News with CNN News, it could afford to pay some really big stars to do talk shows.

Now ask yourself, what do politicians and TV personalities (including news and talk show personalities) have in common? A narcissistic need to be loved, admired, and be on mike in front of a huge audience. Some politicians, such as Jerry Springer, have made the transition. Why not Billary? They are narcissistic, adore attention almost as much as they adore money, and are currently looking for a meaningful gig that would keep them in the spotlight.

Think of it, "Bagels With Billary," a morning show simulcast with Katie Couric as hostess and either Bill or Hillary or both talking with each other or to other celebrities. Who wouldn't go on their show?

If Howard Stern is worth $50 million a year to appear on Sirius Satellite Radio how much would Bill and Hillary be worth to appear on a morning show the would be simulcast on radio, TV, and cable? And what a show it would be! To kick it off, their first guest, next January, would be President Barack Obama.