The Rules of Morning TV

From a New Yorker article by Ken Auletta. Ken was asked what the “rules” of morning news shows like TODAY are:

The rules are unwritten, but the first is: Remember that the audience is almost seventy per cent women. The second is: Remember that the audience is almost seventy per cent women. There are lots of other strictures—don’t flirt, don’t do too much sports, don’t be long-winded, remember that the audience in the first half hour is in a rush for information but that by eight it has changed to an audience that seeks company—but most rules flow from rule No. 1.