Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Money Morning

Disney Objecting Loudly at AOL-AT&T Deal

Aired September 11, 2001 - 06:17   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: David Haffenreffer's looking at the papers at the -- I love that guy -- CAC Quarante.

DAVID HAFFENREFFER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He doesn't live in a house.

CAFFERTY: No. Somebody's messing with his Lipton's in the morning, I think,...

HAFFENREFFER: I think so.

CAFFERTY: ... you know like a little --

HAFFENREFFER: Like his cell phone, though, it's pretty nice.

CAFFERTY: Yes, that's great, isn't it?

HAFFENREFFER: You remember one of the loudest critics when AOL and Time Warner announced that they were going to get together?

CAFFERTY: Yes, guess who, the mouse house, right?

HAFFENREFFER: Well of course.

CAFFERTY: And they're back whining again.

HAFFENREFFER: Back whining again.

CAFFERTY: They should go make the sequel to "Pearl Harbor" and leave us the hell alone.

HAFFENREFFER: They'll do a few different versions.

Yes, Disney is now objecting quite loudly about this -- just the speculation that AOL is in talks to perhaps pick up this AT&T cable operation. They simply say, this is according to "The Wall Street Journal" in the paper today, that Preston Padden, who is Disney's chief lobbyist in Washington, is simply saying that he would want AOL to unload the content holdings ranging from the Warner Brothers movie studio to the cable channels such as CNN, that would be this network, and TBS. And one of those criticisms is that it would put too much control about what people see into the hands of just one company. That he was suggesting that the company simply get rid of the content generators within the company. So that's one of the big stories out there in all the papers today.

Also in the news, the growth of the morning viewership in morning television. This is why we all get up so early in the morning. You see, you know big name, big wage earners like, you know, the Diane Sawyer's and the Katie Curic's and the...

CAFFERTY: Sure.

HAFFENREFFER: ... Jack Cafferty's.

CAFFERTY: Yes, right.

HAFFENREFFER: Actually they're citing in the paper today the recent raid of Fox News of Paula Zahn reportedly...

CAFFERTY: Yes, there's a catch.

HAFFENREFFER: ... tripling her salary in the process...

CAFFERTY: I know.

HAFFENREFFER: ... and is -- and she is apparently, according to the "New York Times" the -- by far the most well-paid, most expensive anchor CNN's ever hired. And -- but even out...

CAFFERTY: Well, is that -- no, that's -- is that true?

HAFFENREFFER: Yes.

CAFFERTY: It is?

HAFFENREFFER: According to the paper.

CAFFERTY: She's making more money than like Larry King and those people?

HAFFENREFFER: Well, one of the great things about the morning is that it's a young viewership, men and women alike.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

HAFFENREFFER: This is a great target for advertisers to get in on and so it's seen as a real growth area for viewership as well.

CAFFERTY: I guess they don't talk about us in that article, do they?

HAFFENREFFER: No, no one.

CAFFERTY: OK. They probably won't like it either.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com