Earlier today on CNN Newsroom, Kyra Phillips interviewed her mentor Art Buchwald. Partial transcript follows…

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome back.

BUCHWALD: Thank you. Are there any messages?

PHILLIPS (voice-over): He’s being hailed as the celebrity of death.

(on camera) So, Art, I’ve known you for 20 years. Where do we start?

BUCHWALD: Where do we start? Well, we start at a heck of a place. It’s a hospice.

PHILLIPS (voice-over): Are you laughing too? Well, that’s exactly what Art Buchwald wants.

BUCHWALD: I remember the first month, all my buddies showed up, all of them. It was like Radio City Music Hall. They used to say at the beginning, “Have you seen the Lincoln Memorial and Art Buchwald?”
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NBC is making MSNBC’s Tucker Carlson available to NBC affiliates on Monday according to an email sent out by Amanda Johnson of NBC News Partnerships…

ATTENTION MORNING PRODUCERS: On Monday, November 6th Tucker Carlson, host of “Tucker” on MSNBC and NBC News Political Analyst, is available for affiliate crosstalks from 10:00am ET — 11:00am ET. Tucker will be reporting live from Washington. We encourage you to take advantage of this crosstalk in your early evening newscasts. If you are interested in this crosstalk, please contact me immediately.

This crosstalk is available as a part of our Decision 2006: Battleground American midterm election coverage and is free to all NBC stations. We only ask that you tease ahead to NBC News election coverage after the crosstalk. You can find full-screen graphics at www.nbclogos.com, and broll material under the “Politics” folder on VOD.

O’Reilly was huge for FNC last night. Olbermann had 549,000 viewers and still wound up in last place at 8pm. CNBC came in 2nd at 11 pm again.

Cable News Ratings for November 2, 2006

P2+ Total Day
FNC – 941,000 viewers
CNN – 489,000 viewers
MSNBC – 296,000 viewers
CNBC – 199,000 viewers
HLN – 229,000 viewers

P2+ Prime Time
FNC – 1,876,000 viewers
CNN – 761,000 viewers
MSNBC – 450,000 viewers
CNBC – 278,000 viewers
HLN – 416,000 viewers

25-54 Total Day
FNC – 305,000 viewers
CNN – 180,000 viewers
MSNBC – 124,000 viewers
CNBC – 60,000 viewers
HLN – 100,000 viewers

25-54 Prime Time
FNC – 469,000 viewers
CNN – 253,000 viewers
MSNBC – 167,000 viewers
CNBC – 121,000 viewers
HLN – 146,000 viewers

Morning programs P2+ (25-54)
FOX & Friends – 765,000 viewers (346,000),
American Morning – 466,000 viewers (202,000)
Imus in the Morning – 378,000 viewers (207,000)
Robin & Co. – 166,000 viewers (71,000)
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CNN announced this afternoon that Zain Verjee has been promoted to State Department Correspondent. In related news Carol Costello will be joining The Situation Room as a contributor…

CNN’s Zain Verjee becomes the network’s new State Department correspondent effective immediately, it was announced today by CNN/U.S. President Jon Klein. Verjee, who covered Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s trip through Russia and Asia last month and secured an extensive sit-down interview with her, will provide regular updates on the State Department as well as broader reporting on global affairs that touch the United States.

Verjee, who was born and raised in Kenya and educated in Canada, has reported on international affairs for CNN/U.S., most recently as a contributor to The Situation Room and previously as co-anchor for CNN’s Your World Today, the networks international newscast simulcast globally at noon (ET).

Carol Costello, most recently a New York-based correspondent, will become a new contributor to The Situation Room, providing updates from CNN’s New York headquarters.

“Zain has always impressed everyone with whom she’s worked as a quick study and a natural at the art of getting to know the people at the heart of any assignment,” Klein said. “Assigning her this role reflects the continuing priority that CNN places upon ensuring that international affairs make sense to U.S. citizens, who since 9/11 and the Iraq War have had a deeper appreciation for the way events around the world impact us here at home.”
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CJR Daily’s Liz Cox Barrett rakes CNN over the coals for going hog wild over the John Kerry “bad joke” incident (though I would have liked to have seen comparison analysis of the other channels rather than just single CNN out)…

The sheer volume of coverage devoted this week to Sen. John Kerry’s “botched joke” has been stunning, even to our jaded eyes.

To maintain our sanity, we’ll break off a small chunk of the problem and focus our complaints for now on cable news — specifically, CNN (you know, the network whose mid-term election coverage has included exploring such critical questions as: “What Would Alex P. Keaton Do?”) and, specifically, on CNN’s “surround the story” coverage of BotchedJokeGate Wednesday afternoon and evening.

In sum, CNN couldn’t get enough of it. There were reports on Kerry’s original comments. Reports on assorted responses to Kerry’s comments. Reports on Kerry’s non-responses and responses to those responses. And reports on various responses to Kerry’s non-responses and responses.

MSNBC put out a release this afternoon noting its internet ratings win…

With 11.6 million unique visitors this week, NBC News continues to dominate the Nielsen//NetRatings weekly online rankings. During the week of October 23-29, MSNBC.com topped all other TV news sites including CBS News Digital Network, ABCNEWS Digital, CNN and Fox News Digital Network. MSNBC.com led CBS News Digital Network, ABCNEWS Digital and Fox News Digital Network by more than 8 million unique visitors each and CNN by nearly 1 million. Both of MSNBC.com’s broadcast competitors saw significant drops from the previous week. ABCNEWS Digital’s dropped 1.2 million unique visitors, a 28% decline and CBS News Digital Network dropped 261,000 unique visitors, an 8.6% decline.
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CNN announced what will be appearing on Pipeline the day the network opens it for free on November 6…

CNN.com will offer broadband Internet users worldwide free access to CNN Pipeline, its commercial-free on-demand video news service, on Monday, Nov. 6 in advance of Election Day. CNN Pipeline’s “Free Day” will begin at midnight and run until 11:59 p.m. (ET) as candidates across the United States wrap up their midterm election campaigning.

Throughout the day, Internet users will have the ability to view ongoing and breaking news events across the world through CNN Pipeline’s multiple live video streams, video archives and on-demand news clips from CNN’s unmatched global newsgathering operation.

For the preview, users can also view CNN Pipeline’s extensive election coverage, which includes live coverage of final campaigning across the country, samplings from congressional debates, a collection of the best and most-talked-about political ads, behind-the-scenes footage of CNN’s “America Votes 2006” coverage and numerous updates and live reports from the “Best Political Team on Television.”
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I’ve been watching some of the negative reaction to the announcement that Keith Olbermann would be a big part of MSNBC’s election night coverage. And the arguments against it seem to be the same thing…that FNC wouldn’t put O’Reilly on to anchor the results. Both Johnny Dollar and Extreme Mortman argued as much.

MSNBC is in something of a pickle. Olbermann is MSNBC’s ratings magnet…its biggest star. They would be stupid not to have him involved. But he’s crossed over from anchor/analyst into the role of activist/hack in recent months similar to the way Lou Dobbs has with his pet issues on CNN. Both bring un-needed baggage with them into their election night coverage. Both will be featured prominently on their respective networks but it isn’t clear exactly in what capacity. But if it’s in an anchoring role it will taint their networks’ coverage in some people’s eyes. But for others just their mere presence will be enough to taint the coverage. I think that’s a bit harsh. But there is something to be said about clearly defined roles of responsibility in covering news and it seems like those lines are getting more and more blurred, particularly on cable.

CNN announced CNN Student News’ role in the 2006 midterm story…

As the highly anticipated midterm election approaches, CNN Student News provides educators and students with several resources in addition to its daily broadcast to help them understand the election process and the U.S. political system.

Currently, CNN Student News features two online learning tools, the Election Quiz and Election Q&A, at CNN.com’s Education section located at www.CNN.com/Education. The Election Quiz is designed to test students’ civics knowledge, including what role the Constitution plays in midterm elections. The quiz is available as an online slide show or as a downloadable and printable document. The Election Q&A guides students through the midterm election process and explains what is at stake on Election Day, Nov. 7. These tools are a great resource for teachers, homeschool families and parents who want to discuss the election with their students and children.
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TVNewser has the memo from MSMBC Primetime Vice President Bill Wolff to MSNBC’s staff announcing the promotion of Chris Licht to Executive Producer of Scarborough Country…

FNC’s Patti Ann Browne has signed a multi-year deal to remain with FNC…

TV Guide’s Stephen Battaglio interviews Brian Williams and the subject of MSNBC comes up…

TVGuide.com: The continuous Decision 2006 coverage that’s been on MSNBC in recent days has put the familiar faces of NBC News on screen more. Is this a way to rebrand the news channel?

Williams: I don’t know if it sticks beyond election time. It’s proven very popular on the staff. Campbell Brown was excited for her hour Wednesday, and I was on Monday. It’s a lot of fun. They hand you the keys to the car and ask you what guests would you like to have on. I said I’d like to debrief [political analyst] Charlie Cook at the top of the hour and they said, “You’ve got it.” It’s great. We get to throw all the superfluous subject matter out of the room. If you’re into politics, this is the locker room.

TVGuide.com: Why haven’t they gone to you guys more often to work on MSNBC?

Williams: I could argue that they are now. I think their stated goal is to see us a lot more often.

Marketwatch’s Jon Friedman has an interview with Andy Serwer

Recognizing the new pressures on him, I greeted Serwer Thursday morning in his 15th-floor office by saying, “Congratulations - I think!” He laughed and replied evenly, “You can’t be too daunted by this sort of thing. This is one of the greatest jobs in journalism, if not the best. We’re going to have fun.”

Serwer, who had been a mainstay at CNN, told me: “I’m not going to be the business anchor of ‘American Morning’ anymore. I have to be doing this job for 18 hours a day.”

As a matter of fact, Serwer is a new breed of managing editor (the highest editorial designation at a Time Inc. magazine). He is the rarest of modern journalists — a triple threat who can excel as an Internet and magazine writer as well as a television analyst.

Serwer has strengthened CNN’s morning programs by adding perspective to business and finance headlines. He is adept at translating the arcane world of business-speak for ordinary viewers.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Tim Cuprisin says that Keith Olbermann is following the path to ratings success…a trail that was blazed by FNC…

In a strange way, MSNBC’s increasingly angry Keith Olbermann can thank Fox News Channel for his soapbox.

It’s the personality-driven Fox that made it acceptable for prime-time hosts on all-news channels to spout personal views. That’s something that, with rare exceptions, the anchors of traditional TV newscasts never could.

Bill O’Reilly is the model, wrasslin’ with guests and regularly naming the good guys and the bad guys in his world at 7 on weeknights to an audience of about 2 million viewers.

In recent months, Olbermann - whose “Countdown” on weeknights at 7 is a look at top news stories through the host’s eyes - has grown more pointed in his criticism of President Bush, in irregular segments labeled “special comment.”

Variety’s Michael Learmonth writes about Jeff Immelt’s visit to CNBC HQ today…

The upside for CNBC is that its cuts appear to be primarily limited to consolidation of bureaus with NBC stations. The net is keeping its modern facility in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and doesn’t have much high-priced on-air talent short of Maria Bartiromo.

With ratings on the upswing, Immelt said he feels the network is better positioned to take on Roger Ailes’ planned entry into business news, Fox Business Channel, than it was last year.

“I think we’re ready for Fox if they decide to come,” he said. “And if it happens, you have to have the attitude of ‘bring it on.’ ”

The net is investing heavily in the new CNBC.com, which is being re-launched in December as a competitor to CBS’ MarketWatch and other financial news sites.