The AP’s David Bauder writes up today’s FNC news with some fresh Neil Cavuto quotes…

Glick will help direct the network’s business coverage and appear on-air if Fox owner News Corp. decides to start the business channel. That new channel has been talked about for years, but Fox chief Roger Ailes has said he won’t pull the trigger unless he gets enough distribution on cable and satellite systems.

“We’re not quite at that stage when we can do that, but we’re close to it,”Cavuto said.”I’d be foolish, as the guy who does business news, not to prepare ourselves for the possibility.”

Cavuto said he admired Glick because”she not only talks the talk, she has walked the walk.”

MSNBC is going to quietly bury the two Ethical Edge episodes that were taped back in June, a week after Dan Abrams assumed the GM position at the network. The two shows will air back to back early Sunday morning September 24th from 5-7 am. This probably marks the end of the series. Else, why put these two shows on back to back at that hour where nobody will find them?

I’ll miss the show. It was different. It was well done. The topics were sometimes hit and miss but it was a concerted attempt to inform the viewer about subjects that frequently are glossed over. It wasn’t glamorous television but then it wasn’t supposed to be. ICN interviewed host Chris Jansing about the series last year.

But the show’s longform in depth format on non breaking news subjects - the lone exception being the Hurricane Katrina episode - would appear to fly in the face of Dan Abrams’ vision for the network. And, though I was a fan of the show, the ratings would show that I was in the minority. The last episode didn’t even crack 100,000 viewers when sandwiched in between higher performing canned MSNBC programs. So while I bemoan the idea that The Ethical Edge; MSNBC’s one show that was a positive, thought provoking attempt to inform the viewer in a manner devoid of political ideology or tabloid subject matter, is probably cancelled, I can’t bemoan cancelling a series that couldn’t hold an audience. Though the show was haphazardly advertised; sometimes with nothing but same day TV advertising, other times by sending out promo tapes to TV Critics (why didn’t they continue that? It was a very smart move).

FNC 9:00P-9:15P 2,584,000
CNN 9:00P-9:15P 968,000
MSNBC 8:45P-9:00P 532,000

UPDATE: Yes, I know MSNBC’s time period doesn’t match FNC’s and CNN’s. What I’ve been told is that’s the way Nielsen put it out.

UPDATE 2: These were the peak times according to TVNewser. I just don’t get it. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen MSNBC peak before a live event, which makes no sense because when the event would happen there would be zero difference between the channels.

Here are the channel rankings for last week…

Allessandra Stanley in the New York Times writes about yesterday’s coverage of 9/11. Three guesses as to which cable news channel is conspicuously absent from Stanley’s piece…(via TVNewser)

CNN provided the morning’s most ambitious fifth anniversary special by weaving together a time line of pivotal moments on Sept 11, 2001. Besides covering the president and Laura Bush as they paid their respects in New York, in Pennsylvania and at the Pentagon, CNN brought out witnesses in those places who recounted their memories.

A CNN reporter, Jonathan Freed, was at the Norad command center in Colorado to review what took place there five years ago. From there, he was the first to report that United Flight 351 was being rerouted for fear of a terrorist bomb — a precaution that fortunately proved unnecessary. Mr. Freed’s live bulletins may have needlessly alarmed viewers, but they did evoke the pinpricks of tension that are a legacy of Sept. 11.
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FNC announced the tour cities and shows for its 10th Anniversary “Thank You America” tour which begins next week…

FOX News Channel (FNC) will launch a 10-city tour entitled, “Thank You America,” commemorating the network’s 10th anniversary. The tour kicks off on Tuesday, September 19th with FOX & Friends and The O’Reilly Factor in Boston. The anniversary tour will span over two months with the network presenting key shows at landmark venues in selected markets. Most programs will feature a live studio audience and tickets will be available on the website: www.foxnews.com.

Cities/Dates for the Anniversary Tour:
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Dennis Miller’s first appearance on Hannity & Colmes will be Thursday Sept. 21…

FNC announced this morning that Alexis Glick has joined the network as a Director of Business News…

Alexis Glick has joined FOX News Channel (FNC) as a Director of Business News, announced Neil Cavuto, Vice President and Managing Editor of Business News, to whom she will report.

In making the announcement, Cavuto said, “Alexis has the rare combination of Wall Street credibility and television expertise. She’s an excellent addition to a business team that’s already second to none.”

Glick said, “I’m thrilled to return to my management roots, especially in an extraordinary operation like FOX News where Neil and his team have effectively defined a remarkable new era for business news.”

FOX News Chairman and CEO Roger Ailes, added, “Neil made a great decision in tapping Alexis for this role. After creating the top five business programs in cable news, I expect he and Alexis will work together to create an even stronger business unit and prepare for the launch of a possible business channel. While we are not announcing the launch of such a channel, hiring Alexis enables us to be prepared if plans move forward.”
(more…)

September 9

P2+ Total Day
FNC - 646,000 viewers
CNN - 475,000 viewers
MSNBC - 300,000 viewers
CNBC - a scratch with 109,000 viewers
HLN - 228,000 viewers

P2+ Prime Time
FNC - 692,000 viewers
CNN - 499,000 viewers
MSNBC - 424,000 viewers
CNBC - 141,000 viewers
HLN - 234,000 viewers

25 - 54 Total Day
FNC - 221,000 viewers
CNN - 182,000 viewers
MSNBC - 146,000 viewers
CNBC - 56,000 viewers
HLN - 96,000 viewers

25 - 54 Prime Time
FNC - 173,000 viewers
CNN - 180,000 viewers
MSNBC - 203,000 viewers
CNBC - 77,000 viewers
HLN - 96,000 viewers
(more…)

The Hollywood Reporter’s Paul J. Gough and Mimi Turner write about the dangers oversease correspondents face. Notice which network is not mentioned even though it was front and center in the most recent correspondent kidnapping…

NBC News correspondent Richard Engel, who has reported extensively in Iraq and the Middle East, said that in the recent conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, where journalists went out of their way to be identified, putting network logos and “TV” on their cars and letting everyone know when and where they’d be going. You’d never do that in Iraq, he said.

Engel, who said when he’s in Iraq he tries to go out every day, also does what he can to minimize the risk.

“You feel like you are hunted down, and you are hunted, so you take a low profile. You don’t tell anyone where you’re going, and you don’t mark your vehicles in any way,” Engel said recently from Beirut. “You try and blend in to the local population as much as possible, get in, do what you need to do and retreat back to relative safety as quickly as possible.”

The Atlanta Journal Constitution writes about yesterday’s HLN news…

Rolando Santos is leaving his post as executive vice president and general manager of Headline News, a job he has held since 2002, to become senior vice president of international relations with CNN International.

He will start his new duties this month. CNN spokeswoman Janine Iamunno said Santos’ duties will be absorbed by Ken Jautz, who oversees Headline News, and another network executive, Bill Galvin. In addition, Headline News is changing its 4-6 p.m. news programming, which had been anchored by Kathleen Kennedy and Thomas Roberts.

Iammuno said Kennedy and Roberts will remain with Headline News but in other roles. Their two-hour slot will be filled by expanding earlier blocks of programming from three hours each to four hours.

Variety’s Jill Goldsmith writes about Time Warner’s stock price being somewhat stuck in place. Most of the article focuses on Time Warner’s subsidiaries and CNN gets mentioned…

Slower advertising is putting the squeeze on Time Warner’s cable nets. CNN’s still challenged.