TVNewser writes about comments Jeff Zucker made today regarding the distinct possibility of layoffs.

If anyone is shocked by this “news”, they shouldn’t be. I’ve been blogging about NBC’s budget shortfall and what could happen as a result for months. The only question in my mind now is how much damage will the anticipated layoffs impact MSNBC’s already fragile behind the scenes structure?

Via FTVLive, here is a rundown of who will be where as of right now…

Galveston

Shepard Smith
Alicia Acuna
Carol McKinley

Houston, TX

Martha MacCallum
Greta Van Susteren
David Lee Miller
Douglas Kennedy
Dr. Manny Alvarez
(more…)

About an hour ago MSNBC/NBC Weather Plus’s Bill Karins whipped out an “exclusive model” of Hurricane Rita that suggested a Louisiana landfall and not Texas. If the model holds up, an awful lot of CNN people are going to be sitting around Galveston while the brunt of the hurricane passes them by to their east…

CNN is deploying personel throughout Texas to cover hurricane Rita. Among them….

Galveston

Anderson Cooper
Miles O’Brien (en route)
Rob Marciano
John Zarrella
David Mattingly
Sean Callebs
Deborah Feyerick
(more…)

Now a witness comes forward in the Rivera/NY Times flap as Norm Clarke in the Las Vegas Review Journal writes….(via FTVLive)

“He looked over at his cameraman and he decided to participate in the last 15 or so feet,” Johnson said. When Rivera reached the wheelchair, “He didn’t move anybody out of the way, but he tapped a (Nellis airman) like he was saying, `I got this side.’

(more…)

NewsBlues notes that CNN will be the primary sponsor of the number 99 car driven by Carl Edwards this weekend at Dover…..

Phil Donahue and O’Reilly went toe to toe tonight. Johnny Dollar has the video of the highlights….

The Hollywood Reporter’s Paul J. Gough writes about the news networks plans to cover the approaching hurricane Rita…

On Wednesday, the East Coast-based news divisions of cable and broadcast networks assembled plans to cover Hurricane Rita, which is likely to hit Texas late Friday or early Saturday. Most of the networks aren’t moving people from around New Orleans, because of the magnitude of that story. Networks are sending correspondents and crews from such other domestic bureaus as Chicago, Denver, San Francisco and from as far away as London, executives said.

(more…)

TV Week’s Jay Sherman writes up Rupert Murdoch’s surprise disclosure today on News Corp.’s status re: Fox Business Channel…

News Corp. Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch said Wednesday that his company is negotiating with cable operators to launch a business-themed cable channel, though the arrival might come later than he has predicted previously.

Speaking at a Goldman Sachs investor conference in New York, Mr. Murdoch said the launch of the Fox Business Channel would likely not happen in the early months of 2006, as he has indicated in the past, “but certainly soon.”

Mr. Murdoch’s comments were the clearest sign yet that he remains committed to launching a rival to NBC Universal’s CNBC. There have been mixed signals about whether the company would press ahead with a plan to launch a business channel, in large part because Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes, who would oversee the project, reportedly has been unsure whether a business channel could replicate the out-of-the-box success of Fox News Channel, particularly given the challenges facing the business news space.