• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, July 24, 2017

I decided to pardon myself for any future TV Watch digressions -- or at least during summer TV programming efforts around ninjas, bachelorettes, bigger brothers and golf-playing presidents, who might fire even more people by Labor Day.  

Maybe I need a new communications director who speaks my language. Just like the President, who hired Anthony Scaramucci, described as a smooth-talking-New York City-type who speaks the President's language.

The political TV drama continues -- and it brings even more viewership and higher ad revenue for the big three cable news networks.

In the second three months of this year, cable news networks continued their increase in ad revenue take: Fox News Channel was up 11%; CNN grew 21%; and MSNBC jumped 40%, according to Standard Media Index. Even the big three broadcast networks' news programming climbed by 18%.

Now, six months into the new Trump Administration, we continue to find new story elements -- even in the midst of the somewhat typical summer reality-programming TV period.

In recent summers -- as well as this one -- NBC’s “American Ninja Warrior” and “America’s Got Talent,” as well as CBS’ “Big Brother” and ABC’s “NBA Finals,” have been big summer TV attractions.

Will any of the wildly entertaining political intrigue change this TV viewing dynamic? Something’s gotta give.

In addition, we got the season seven summer launch of HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” which in its premiere drew 16 million TV viewers from traditional, digital and VOD platforms.

Ask yourself about TV viewers' stickiness, given the soap opera around the President, his family and staff. Will it continue into the fall, when new TV shows are in high gear? Will TV advertisers continue their levels of ad spending on news content?

Recently, presidential historian Michael Beschloss on MSNBC referred to President Trump's legal team's queries about pardoning power for Trump and his family as "blood-chilling."

Sounds like something a long lost great family of Westeros might be going through.