Broadcasting & Cable’s John Eggerton writes about Lou Dobbs having a cancer removed from his face.

The results are in and it turns out Dobbs had a basal cell carcinoma removed, according to a CNN source.

That is distinguished from the far more serious melanoma. Basal cell is the fairly common kind that often comes from exposure to the sun. Word is Dobbs will be fine.

I was hoping this wasn’t going to get a lot of play when I got tipped off to it yesterday but the lefty blogs are running with it. The story, as Media Matters chronicles, describes the event is basically that Someone called O’Reilly’s radio program and mentioned Keith Olbermann’s name and was then cut off and O’Reilly then rebukes the cut off caller and says that they’ve got his phone number and will send it to FOX Radio’s security to further action.

I’ve heard the clip and that is what happens. However, there’s something else about that call which isn’t mentioned in a lot of the characterization of this story; that O’Reilly referred to something untoward or obscene the caller did. You have to figure that they had seven second delay on. Most radio call in programs have a delay running to catch obscenities before they get out. It’s standard procedure. So whatever the caller said that triggered his booting most likely occurred after he was cut off because of the delay. I seriously doubt it was the mere mention of Olbermann’s name that got the caller booted, though that certainly sounds like what it was that got him booted. If it was Olbermann’s name the delay would have had time to cut the caller off before Olbermann’s name got out on the air.

UPDATE: Apparently this incident made Countdown tonight according the MSN MSNBC Group…

UPDATE2: Crooks and Liars has the video of Countdown’s O’Reilly segment…

The Cable Game says it’s hearing that O’Reilly will be appearing on My Network TV.

TCG hears that Fox News Channel will share “Factor” host Bill O’Reilly on the newly formed My Network TV.

You’d think if that was the case News Corp would have announced it at the press conference to boost My Network TV’s profile. Keeping it hush hush seems counterproductive to me. O’Reilly is the most recognizeable face on FNC and its biggest star. It would be like ABC starting a new network and not telling reporters at the announcement that Dianne Sawyer or Barbara Walters would have a role in the network. Makes no sense to me to keep it quiet unless they had to ammend O’Reilly’s contract and they were still haggling over something or another and couldn’t make the announcement.

UPDATE: Apparently The Cable Game has been had by a prankster who outted himself in the comments. Figures it was bogus. It didn’t seem legit to me.

Lloyd Grove picks up on the “discredited” TMZ report yesterday and tosses in Hardball replacing The Situation while Tucker Carlson is on vacation to try and revive the “MSNBC in trouble” rumors…

Carlson told me his fans needn’t worry. “I will be back with my show on March 13, when I return from vacation.” And an MSNBC spokesman called the tmz.com report “ridiculous” and “wrong on every level.”