What made news instead? Led by Istanbul-based correspondent Holly Williams, CBS turned to the crises in Syria and Iraq (401 min vs NBC 252, ABC 167) and to Ukraine. CBS had its busiest year of International coverage since 1990. Ebola in west Africa should have been an international story too -- but only 9% had a foreign dateline, so it became a domestic scare instead.

Transportation had its heaviest year on record, as star-crossed Malaysian Airlines lost jetliners over the Indian Ocean and in Ukraine. NBC's Tom Costello and ABC's David Kerley led coverage. Safety woes at General Motors were CBS' specialty.

ABC, under new anchor David Muir, continued to downplay the year's top stories -- not only international and political news, but also protests against police use of deadly force and the young refugees seeking asylum at the Mexican border. Instead, ABC set new records on Sports and Shobiz. Led by Ginger Zee, ABC had its second-busiest Weather year (it was a cold winter), even though no major disaster occurred. At NBC, as it always does, News shilled for Sports, over-hyping the Olympics in Sochi.

The Most Newsworthy Man of the Year was Vladimir Putin, in the Top Ten twice, as star of Sochi and scourge of Crimea. The Woman was Mary Barra, the CEO in the eye of the GM storm.