CNN noted that Robin & Company marked a couple of special occasions today…

Headline News anchor Robin Meade greets a few of her fans this morning to celebrate “Robin & Company’s” product launch at the Turner Store at CNN in Atlanta. The event also marked the Robin & Company team’s first anniversary together on Headline News. Tomorrow morning, several of the soldiers who visited this morning’s event will be featured in the show’s daily military salute segment, which highlights the men and women who serve in the armed forces.

FNC continued its strong ratings performance yesterday nearly doubling the 2nd place network in every category. But there were some interesting side stories to watch. Amercian Morning, after suffering a dip in the ratings last week, seems to have steadied itself. Countdown had another big night, putting it in 2nd place for the hour…well behind The O’Reilly factor. CNBC’s Deal or no Deal repeats actually beat Coutndown’s Demo number and the 11 pm repeat beat CNN’s Broken Government, making it one of the few times CNBC came in second behind FNC in an hour.
Katie Couric gave Larry King a few hundred thousand extra viewers to play with. Lou Dobbs had a strong night for CNN. And, in an atypical development, the 11pm O’Reilly Factor repeat beat On The Record at 10 pm.

Cable News Ratings for November 1, 2006

P2+ Total Day
FNC – 994,000 viewers
CNN – 500,000 viewers
MSNBC – 311,000 viewers
CNBC – 222,000 viewers
HLN – 205,000 viewers

P2+ Prime Time
FNC – 1,855,000 viewers
CNN – 842,000 viewers
MSNBC – 531,000 viewers
CNBC – 422,000 viewers
HLN – 389,000 viewers

25-54 Total Day
FNC – 317,000 viewers
CNN – 189,000 viewers
MSNBC –136,000 viewers
CNBC –73,000 viewers
HLN – 87,000 viewers

25-54 Prime Time
FNC – 516,000 viewers
CNN – 238,000 viewers
MSNBC – 206,000 viewers
CNBC – 185,000 viewers
HLN – 173,000 viewers

Morning programs P2+ (25-54)
FOX & Friends – 955,000 viewers (473,000)
American Morning –426,000 viewers (176,000)
Imus in the Morning –373,000 viewers (159,000)
Robin & Co. – 160,000 viewers (77,000)
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CNN announced it’s 2006 midterm plans for Pipeline this afternoon…

Taking advantage of CNN’s extensive newsgathering resources and the expertise of the “Best Political Team on Television,” CNN Pipeline will offer the most extensive video coverage of Election Day for the online user. Coverage includes real-time results, analysis from top political experts, speeches from around the nation and commentary from top bloggers attending the “CNN E-lection Nite Blog Party.”

For Election Day, CNN Pipeline breaks from its 8 a.m to 8 p.m. schedule to offer wall-to-wall election coverage until the balance of power in the U.S. House and Senate is decided. Anchors Veronica De La Cruz, Nicole Lapin and Richard Lui will provide continuous updates through the day and live, real-time election results in the evening as polls close across the nation.

CNN correspondents and analysts of the “Best Political Team on Television” will provide commentary and live reactions throughout the day and into the night. Additionally, Glenn Beck, who hosts the program Glenn Beck on Headline News, will appear live on CNN Pipeline periodically throughout Election Night as he comments about the election from his radio studio.
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CNN announced today that it was incresing its funding for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder research…

CNN, the industry leader in journalism safety training and researchers of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), is again teaming up with Dr. Anthony Feinstein, the world’s foremost authority on PTSD in journalists, to initially fund a unique web-based clinic and research facility.

Available to all media organizations and journalists around the world, the new web site will provide a confidential and self-help resource for all journalists, even those who do not have access to a company-supported PTSD source. One of the innovative aspects to this service is that journalists will be able to use it while on assignment in zones of conflict.

The creation of the new site was announced by Dr. Feinstein and CNN at the annual NewsXchange conference, which takes place this year in Istanbul Turkey on November 2 and 3.
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Media Life Magazine’s Kevin Downey pens the latest apocalyptical piece on FNC’s ratings decline…(via TVNewser)

In third quarter, Fox News suffered a 38 percent decline in 25-54s, to 409,000. In second quarter, that audience was down 22 percent and in first quarter it slid 28 percent. It is still No. 1 by a long shot.

Fox attributes the 2006 declines to a soft news year compared to 2005, which saw audiences shoot up during events like Hurricane Katrina, the Asian tsunami and the death of Pope John Paul II.

Bill Shine, senior vice president of programming at Fox News, tells Media Life: “The numbers that everybody goes by are year-to-year numbers, and 2005 was an incredible year for news compared to 2006.”

And then there’s this ‘graph which seriously makes me question whether the author even watches FNC…
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The Arizona Republic has an interview with Hannity & Colmes about the 2006 midterm elections…

PLUGGED IN: The conventional wisdom out there is that the Democrats are shoo-ins to win either the House or the Senate. Do you agree with that assessment, or is that just wishful thinking on the part of the Democrats?

COLMES: “I think that’s conventional wisdom. I think it’s wishful thinking on the Republicans part that they are going to win the House because a lot of Republicans, including (President) Bush and Karl Rove and (Vice President Dick) Cheney, keep saying that we don’t see it the way everybody else sees it. But they’ve got to keep up a good face in light of disastrous poll numbers and very low approval ratings. I try to separate my emotions and my desire from what’s truly happening, and if you look at this objectively, you see that the American public is really tired of one-party rule. The Republicans got exactly what they wanted, which was the opportunity to run everything. And now the people have spoken – well, not exactly, but at least spoken through poll numbers – and they’re not particularly happy with what they see.”

HANNITY: “I don’t agree at all. I know that’s the mainstream media’s, or the old media’s, perception of it, but the people that I know and the people I’m hearing from seem pretty energized. It’s harder to get people out for midterm elections, but the way things are unfolding of late, people are getting pretty energized. The idea that (House Minority Leader) Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) could win (and become House speaker) has motivated or energized a pretty big part of the base. We’re going to see. It’s a tough year. I personally believe that most races are run on a local level.”

FNC will be airing “Obsession: The Threat of Radical Islam” Saturday November 4th at 8pm ET. Two preview clips can be viewed at the Foxnews.com website…

This weekend, join host E.D. Hill as FOX News examines, “Obsession: The Threat of Radical Islam.”

They are the most vital questions of our time: How deadly is the Islamic terror threat to the world and especially to the United States? Do terrorists really want to destroy our economy, our civilization, our way of life or is this just an exaggeration?

A frightening new documentary by filmmaker Wayne Kopping seeks to answer those questions. Kopping examined reels of Islamic news footage, interviewed former terrorists and obtained undercover footage from the lairs of the terrorists and jihadists.

What he found, is something FOX News believes every American should know.

The Las Vegas Sun’s John Katsilometes writes about Shepard Smith’s appearance in Vegas earlier in the week as part of FNC’s “Thank You America” tour…

On Monday during his quick trip to Las Vegas, Fox News Network anchor Shepard Smith said Vegas was an appropriate city for Fox. “A lot of our audience are people who come to Las Vegas. We’re not a New York, Boston, San Francisco kind of network. We have given small-town America a seat at the media table, the types of people you see all the time here.” Also during the visit, Fox’s Greta Van Susteren said the Fox crew has more fun than does her former network, CNN. “That comes across on the air, I think. It’s a really fun place to work.” As proof, as part of its 10-city U.S. tour celebrating its 10th anniversary, the fun bunch at Fox broadcast Smith’s “Studio B” from Centennial Plaza in Atlanta, across the street from CNN’s studios …

Yesterday on Imus in the Morning, Imus and crew commented (Quicktime may be required) on these charts ICN posted Tuesday…(thanks to Imus Blog for the clip and Johnny Dollar for the hosting assist)

Here are two charts showing that, year to year, the gap in Demo viewers between MSNBC and CNN in Total Day and Primetime is narrowing…
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The New York Post’s Michael Starr notes that Michael J. Fox will be appearing on Donny Deutsch’s Big Idea program tonight to discuss the Parkinson’s/Rush Limbaugh controversy…

Michael J. Fox, whose TV spot advocating stem-cell research raised Rush Limbaugh’s hackles, tells CNBC’s Donny Deutsch tonight that he thought Limbaugh’s attack on him was “kind of a thoughtless thing to do.” Fox, who suffers from Parkinson’s, says his uncontrollable shaking (questioned by Limbaugh) is a sad reality. “Except how it relates to other people, the whole idea that it could be an affectation is crazy,” Fox says. “You want to be able to speak.” The interview airs tonight at 10.

CNBC announced this morning that it will air “Warren Buffett: The Billionaire Next Door”, anchored by Liz Claman on Monday, November 20th, at 8pm ET…

CNBC’s Liz Claman had the incredibly rare opportunity to pull back the curtain and see how surprisingly simply the second richest man on the planet lives. Over the course of this very special CNBC prime time hour - The Billionaire Next Door, the audience will go along on a personal tour of Warren Buffett’s home town, Omaha, Nebraska. They talked about his gut instincts, his feelings about Wall Street, how he feels when he does a deal, his surprising view about his own tax rate, the music he listens to, the TV he watches. he also talked about his $31 billion pledge to the only person with more money, his good friend Bill Gates and what’s going to happen at Berkshire when he decides to step down.

NBC put out a release this morning announcing MSNBC.com’s election night plans…

On Election Day, MSNBC.com will have unmatched comprehensive coverage, including live streaming video, real-time results, live blogging, maps and a special look at post-Katrina elections in the Gulf Coast. In the first major election since Hurricane Katrina, MSNBC.com extends its award-winning Rising From Ruin series (www.risingfromruin.msnbc.com) and examines the election process in an area where many residents have yet to return and traditional polling places no longer exist. An interview with popular Bay St. Louis, Miss. Democratic Congressman Gene Taylor, follows him on the campaign trail and discusses issues facing the citizens in his community, including the struggle of rebuilding after the storm. In addition, the coverage examines what issues really are important to Gulf Coast residents and profiles Waveland, Miss., where real changes are possible as the mayor and all five city council members are up for reelection.

“Our election coverage reflects the nature and scope of this incredible national story. This is a story that is being played out on the Web in ways it never has before, and we’ve created a place for that community,” said Jennifer Sizemore, editor in chief of MSNBC.com. “From real-time local results to analysis of the national trends, we’ll be delivering the whole story in live video streams, stories, discussion boards, polls, maps, and special live coverage from the Mississippi towns where we’ve spent the past year chronicling the recovery from Katrina.”
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Variety’s Michael Learmonth writes about CNN’s American Morning business correspondent Andy Serwer joining Fortune Magazine as Managing Editor…

“Being editor of Fortune is a full-time job,” he said. “I’m thrilled about it, but giving that program up is really painful.”

Serwer said he and CNN U.S. prexy Jonathan Klein are discussing other roles, perhaps special business-themed segments once or twice a week.

As for the magazine, Serwer said he wants to push the brand further on the Web, TV and mobile devices. “This is going to be critical going forward,” he said.

The Commerical Appeal’s Clay Baily writes about FNC’s Shepard Smith coming to Germantown on Friday…

Germantown officials had fielded inquiries from the network late last week about the broadcast, and a Fox field producer scouted possible outdoor sites over the weekend.

But it wasn’t until Wednesday’s broadcast of “Studio B with Shepard Smith” that Germantown learned the network was coming Friday.

Smith’s show from 2 to 3 p.m. will deal with the race, in addition to another broadcast hosted by Smith 6-7 p.m.

The Washington Post’s Howard Kurtz writes about how the networks say they will be cautious as the results from the 2006 Midterms come in…

Much of the action will be on cable news. The broadcast networks are limiting themselves to hour-long specials at 10 p.m. (plus ABC’s “Nightline” at 11:30 p.m.), along with news cut-ins and updated specials (mainly for West Coast audiences) at 1 a.m. “It’s going to be a long night,” says Marty Ryan, executive producer at Fox News, which is doing some exit polling to supplement the network pool surveys. “House races are notoriously difficult to call. How do you call 50 House races? The fact of the matter is, you don’t. You have to wait until a lot of returns are in.”

Frankly,” says Sam Feist, CNN’s political director, “we’re not in any rush to call individual House races. Our mantra is simple: It’s better to be right than to be first. We’re going to be extremely cautious.”

Tuesday, the St. Peterberg Times editorialized against Chris Matthews’ moderation of Monday’s Florida Gubernatorial debate. Today John Sowinski in the Orlando Sentinel follows in the footsteps of the Times’ editorial board…

It is clear that Matthews just wasn’t the right person for the job. We don’t need a cable celebrity to debate with our candidates. We need our candidates to have the opportunity to debate each other on relevant issues. Those of us in Florida need a good strong dose of self-esteem — and so do the news organizations that plan these debates. When candidates seek the highest post in Florida government, who better to pose questions to them than Florida-based journalists who know and cover these issues and these candidates 365 days a year?

I have known and dealt with journalists throughout Florida for nearly 20 years. I don’t always agree with them, but the vast majority of them deserve a lot of respect for the job they do. They care about Florida; they take their jobs seriously; and they understand the issues that our next governor will have to tackle. None of these things can be said about Matthews’ performance.

Networks should air debates for their true purpose, which is to be a service to the public.

Katie Couric appeared on Larry King Live tonight. Highlights follow…

On the CBS Evening News current third place status and the idea of a cable channel…

KING: You had extraordinary ratings at the shot, 13.6 million I think opening night (INAUDIBLE) they’ve had.

COURIC: Yes.

KING: And now you kind of leveled off and are running about third where they always run. Is this a time phase thing?

COURIC: Time phase?

KING: Meaning is it going to take some time? Is this a phase-in process?

COURIC: Yes. Well, obviously I think it does take some time. Viewing habits are hard to change and I think, you know, the bottom line is, Larry, I didn’t take this job for ratings. I took this job for the challenge and for the ability to really work on editorial content, to do serious news stories, the opportunity to work on “60 Minutes,” which I think is the only true journalistically superior magazine show on television. I’ve always dreamed of working on that show.
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