• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, July 1, 2010

Like TV shows, struggling TV cable news networks are on a constant hunt for the next big marketing tools -- Twitter, Facebook, iPad or iPhone apps -- in the search for new and hopefully even younger viewers.

Much has been written about the sorry state of CNN and its tumbling ratings, as well as the related news of Larry King's departure. Now it's time for executives to seriously consider their next level of marketing and promotion.

Using a network's air-time for promotion can only do so much, especially when there is limited on-air time and modest offline media budgets. Cable news networks can buy promo time on other networks -- but not on direct competitors. They can also buy local cable spot commercial time.

Hiring loud and controversial TV commentators is always a two-edged sword. You get entertainment value and sometimes even news and analytical value. Maybe those truly entertaining commentators should make their way to Comic-Con -- not only to cover the event, but to grab some of that buzz themselves.

Larry King broke new ground as a prime-time talk show host by getting the big celebrity or breaking news figure for CNN, the dominant cable news network when he started out two and a half decades ago. His formula: a simple set with two people, one asking pressing questions, every night. Big-name subjects provided enough marketing value to pull in high ratings.

But there are plenty of news subjects that compete for prime-time news attention these days -- all with digital platforms to push their agenda. That has watered down a lot of the single-big-interview buzz.

More importantly, big news commentators are now their own marketing stars. They don't need the big "get" interviews anymore.

The problem, of course, is where journalism and commence meet -- always a tough intersection. Journalists will work hard to keep their credibility, but sponsors are necessary to keep the lights on. Hello, ratings!

As Fox News has demonstrated, strong commentary can heighten emotions and viewer engagement. But will this be enough in future years?