Playing to your base

My TV Boyfriend Anderson Cooper has had a week at his new two-hour timeslot now, and it's beginning to become clear what the plan is.

The first hour is all hard news with A-List interviewees (John McCain on prisoner torture, Queen Noor on terrorists in Jordan), and the second hour gets considerably 'softer', with more lifestyle features like 'having a baby at 56' and 'are Americans getting ruder?' (this latter featured elderly doyenne Letitia Baldridge chewing him out for making her wait until after eleven to be interviewed - "I know your mother!")

The intent is obviously to appeal to the Oprah viewers, which actually makes a lot of sense - white male Republicans are going to be watching Fox in any event, so you might as well go for any or every demographic BUT that one.

Tonight, however, I think Anderson's playing partly to his base - the core of AnderGroupies who followed him from ABC to The Mole to 360-at-7 to 360-at-10. Because tonight, one story will be "Should you spank your kids? Some revealing answers about how you should discipline and what really works."

I'm fairly sure that a certain percentage of dedicated Anderviewers are going to be watching to giggle every time Gorgeous Mr. Serious Journalist says 'spanking'.