Morning shows promote parent corporations

A journalism think tank suggests that network morning shows are as efficient in promoting the products of their parent corporations as they are in providing news.

The Project for Excellence in Journalism, in a report studying the content of the ABC, CBS and NBC morning shows, said all of them had become, partly, "a kind of sophisticated infomercial."

Take away the local news inserts and commercials, and one-third of the content on morning shows is essentially selling something: a book, a compact disc, a movie or another television program, the group said.

But people who run the network shows said the think tank's study is simplistic and overlooks the advantages of corporate affiliations.

"They don't know the world of morning television," said Steve Friedman, executive producer of "The Early Show" on CBS. "This is not the evening news."

The corporations that benefit most from the promotion are the ones that own the shows, according to the study. Twenty-seven percent of the products promoted on "The Early Show" are owned by Viacom, the parent company of CBS, as well as MTV, Paramount Pictures and other media properties.