Bill O’Reilly fired a volley at the PS3 crowd and other tech geeks on the Radio Factor. Bloggers weigh in on both sides of the debate…

Kokatu.com thinks O’Reilly doesn’t get it…

Oh no! I’m a prisoner of my machine! I can’t possibly have healthy relationships, responsibility, maturity, and play video games. Who will free me from my PlayStation shackles?! Speaking of the PlayStation, Billy marveled—or pretended to be disgusted—that gamers lined up for “hours” (!) to buy a PS3. You know, digital opium.

But ZD.net’s Russel Shaw thinks O’Reilly hit the mark…

Listen, I am a gadget geek. You already know that. Fry’s is my church. But at least I have somewhat of an ability to walk through the reality carbon-based world without confusing it with the empowering but illusory silicon-based world. From the crowds paying scalper prices on eBay for PS3 to texting in the middle of the street, from the SecondLife obsessionists to the weirdos who play Dungeons and Dragons, I am not sure all of you are.

O’Reilly, you are right.

And don’t forget bloggers who spend hours writing up stuff for other people to read and are afraid to miss out on stories so they’re constantly checking the internet for the latest news and…

…um…

…yeah..ok.

Keith Olbermann’s Special Comment to air tonight:

It is a shame and it is embarrassing to us all when President Bush travels 8,000 miles only to wind up avoiding reality again.

And it is pathetic to listen to a man talk unrealistically about Vietnam, who permitted the “Swift-Boating” of not one but two American heroes of that war, in consecutive presidential campaigns.

But most importantly — important beyond measure — his avoidance of reality is going to wind up killing more Americans.

And that is indefensible and fatal.

Asked if there were lessons about Iraq to be found in our experience in Vietnam, Mr. Bush said that there were, and he immediately proved he had no clue what they were.
(more…)

During the 3pm hour this afternoon CNN’s Betty Ngyuen reported that FNC cancelled the OJ Special and that the special was not going to air on FNC. However earlier in the same segment Nguyen said that FNC was reporting the news… (highlighting is ICN’s)

NGUYEN: Yes, this story has caused a lot of controversy in fact. O.J. Simpson’s new book, “If I Did It.” Well, Fox was going to be airing a segment, in fact, I think it was a two-parter, interviewing him. Well it appears, this according to the Associated Press, Fox News is reporting that the publication of an O.J. Simpson book and a two-part TV special in which Simpson discusses the murder of his ex- wife Nicole and Ron Goldman have been canceled. There’ been a lot of talk that the Fox affiliates banning together and protesting and saying they will not air this on their air. We have learned now, according to the Associated Press that Fox News says it has decided to cancel it altogether. A lot of uproar about this. We’ve seen a lot of debate regarding the fact that he has written this book, that he would even do such a thing and then have a TV special after that. Now it appears that that won’t even see the light of day, at least not on television, not on Fox News, and that is the latest coming out of the Associated Press — Kyra.

The David Bauder AP story Nguyen refers to reported that FNC was reporting the story that News Corp. was killing the special on the Fox Broadcast network.

Yesterday on Fox and Friends Weekend, the discussion was the Tom Cruise wedding and Kelly Wright did his impression of Cruise on Oprah. YouTube has the video…

Following up on this prognostication Saturday, David Schuster eats his words…or rather his column…(via TVNewser)

Randy Falco’s farewell email to NBC Universal Employees…

From: NBC Universal Employee Communications (NBC Universal)
Subject: Note from Randy Falco
Sent: 11/20/2006 4:18 PM

Dear NBC Friends & Colleagues,

This is a very difficult note for me to write. As you all know by now, I will be moving on to a very exciting opportunity at AOL after 31 years at NBCU.

I have received several hundred notes from my friends at NBCU over the past few days and I am truly overwhelmed and appreciative of all your kind words.

The Peacock has been an important part of my life and also the life of my family. Friendships and memories gathered over many years will be with me forever — they are written in my soul. But the Peacock, as powerful as it is, is just a logo without the passion and dedication of its employees. Your passion and talent brings the Peacock to life, gives it meaning and purpose, drives and sustains it. It has always been such, it will always be.

I was very proud to be a part of the NBCU family and will continue to keep all of you in my thoughts and prayers.

Stay well and have fun at everything that you do.

Sincerely,

Randy Falco

Don Lemon interviewed Senator Barack Obama today during CNN Newsroom. Transcript follows…

LEMON: Senator Barack Obama joining us today, giving a speech today on foreign policy. Senator, some people — thanks for joining us, by the way.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), ILLINOIS: Thank you.

LEMON: Some folks say, this is your way of sort of bolstering your resume on foreign policy and trying to seem strong. How do you respond to that?

OBAMA: Well, first of all, I gave a similar speech last year in the exact same venue. And I’ve been giving speeches on foreign policy since I was on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. So, I think the timing has more to do with the fact that it’s been almost precisely a year since I last called for us to change direction in Iraq. After the election I think it’s clear that the American people believe that we need to change course in a significant way.
(more…)

Cable News Ratings for November 17, 2006

P2+ Total Day
FNC – 774,000 viewers
CNN – 494,000 viewers
MSNBC – 305,000 viewers
CNBC – 155,000 viewers
HLN – 209,000 viewers

P2+ Prime Time
FNC – 1,498,000 viewers
CNN – 853,000 viewers
MSNBC – 447,000 viewers
CNBC – a scratch with 99,000 viewers
HLN – 342,000 viewers

25-54 Total Day
FNC – 254,000 viewers
CNN – 165,000 viewers
MSNBC –120,000 viewers
CNBC – 62,000 viewers
HLN – 87,000 viewers

25-54 Prime Time
FNC – 409,000 viewers
CNN – 226,000 viewers
MSNBC – 178,000 viewers
CNBC – a scratch with 30,000 viewers
HLN – 122,000 viewers

Morning programs P2+ (25-54)
FOX & Friends – 641,000 viewers (265,000)
American Morning – 400,000 viewers (162,000)
Imus in the Morning – 392,000 viewers (158,000)
Robin & Co. – 157,000 viewers (72,000)
(more…)

Fox Broadcasting announced that it was cancelling the OJ interview special and the book…

News Corporation Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch today announced that the publication of the book If I Did It as well as the corresponding FOX broadcast network special has been canceled.

Mr. Murdoch said: “I and senior management agree with the American public that this was an ill-considered project. We are sorry for any pain this has caused the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown-Simpson.”

Keith Olbermann will be doing another one of his “Special Comments” tonight. MSNBC has been advertising it most of the weekend.

Laura Ingraham will guest host The O’Reilly Factor tonight…

CNN anchor Don Lemon won three Emmys Sunday, Nov. 19, from the Chicago/Midwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for the following reports as an anchor at WMAQ:

- Outstanding Achievement within a Regularly Scheduled News Program: Journey to Africa

- Outstanding Achievement within a Regularly Scheduled News Program-Specialty Report: Business/Consumer: Life on Craigs List

- Outstanding Achievement for Alternate Media/New Media Interactivity: Journey to Africa

The U.S. News and World Report’s Paul Bedard looks at the (in my opinion incorrect) CW running around right now that says that Democrats controlling Congress will be a boon to CNN and MSNBC. (via TVNewser)

There’s lots of buzz in the cable TV world that having Democrats running Congress will hurt Fox and help MSNBC and CNN. It certainly looked like that election night when CNN won the key viewership demographic of 25-to-54-year-olds. “We’re clearly the place to go for information,” CNN boss Jon Klein tells us. “Maybe the trick is that you have to actually cover politics. The public seems to be in the mood for facts and information– not cheerleading.” MSNBC, No. 3 but surging, also crowed: “MSNBC is the place for politics.” So what about Fox? It simply turned to the numbers. And they show that Fox is still No. 1, with its audience growing. “We’ll let the two cable news alsorans battle for second place, and we wish Jon and [MSNBC] well on their quest for relevancy,” says an amused Foxie.

I don’t buy it. If CNN or MSNBC do go up and FNC goes down it will be because they put on compelling TV that more viewers wanted to see and FNC did not, not because of pure political ideological reasons.

USA Today’s Peter Johnson writes about the proliferation of documentaries on broadcast and cable TV. Johnson interviews CNBC’s Josh Howard; Vice President, Specials and Long Form Programming for the story…

Documentaries on cable get a fraction of the audience that broadcast networks draw. But Howard says that by rerunning documentaries dozens of times on CNBC, millions of viewers eventually tune in: an estimated 10 million for the American Airlines documentary, for example. Tonight at 8 ET/5PT, CNBC airs its fourth documentary in a month, on billionaire Warren Buffett.

The documentary shift to cable surprised Howard, who spent 24 years at CBS before he was bumped in the wake of the “Memogate” scandal. “I thought it was the end of my career,” says Howard, who has two CNBC newsmagazines planned. With cable “picking up the slack” from broadcast, “there are a lot of very talented people” now producing documentaries on cable, he says.

Broadcast networks “still do a lot of very good journalism, but they have limited places to put it,” says NBC investigative correspondent Lisa Myers, who’ll contribute to the new CNBC newsmagazines.

MarketWatch’s Jon Friedman has a profile of NBC/MSNBC reporter Tom Costello…

In October 2003, he was working for CNBC, a division of NBC News and the General Electric parent company. One day, his boss asked him to attend a charity dinner in Manhattan. Confronted with an opportunity to honor people who had suffered spinal cord injuries, Costello readily agreed to support a worthwhile cause.

That’s when he crossed paths with Brian Williams, now the anchor of NBC’s “Nightly News” broadcast and in those days the network’s rising star.

When Costello arrived at his assigned table, he noticed that the name tag of Williams had been placed a few seats away from his. With the slickness of James Bond, Costello quickly switched the cards so that Williams would be seated next to him.

As he and Williams chatted, Costello made a pitch to an anchor he greatly admired. Hoping to join NBC News, he asked Williams, “What does it take to get on your radar screen?”

And then to Costello’s delight, Williams retorted: “You just made it.”

Ann Curry will be interviewed by Eric Kuhn tomorrow, Monday, at 12pm ET. The interview will be streamed live from www.whcl.org and then heard later on his site www.erickuhn.com (all interviews are put up late Friday Night).

The Washington Post’s Howard Kurtz writes about MSNBC’s continued emphasis on politics post Decision 2006…

The perennial third-place cable news channel enjoyed a nice bump in the ratings during the midterm campaign, in part because the likes of Brian Williams, Tim Russert, David Gregory and Campbell Brown broke away from their NBC duties to help out.

“We’ve found a voice as of late, and a large part of that voice is politics,” says MSNBC General Manager Dan Abrams. And although he doesn’t plan to put on “all politics all the time until 2008,” Abrams says he wants to continue “branding” MSNBC as a haven for political junkies.

Of course, MSNBC has done well in other campaigns, only to have the gains vanish after Election Day. All of cable news tends to get big spikes during major stories — war, scandal, missing white women — that fade when the news cycle moves on.

“The chronic problem — and it will likely happen again in the days ahead — is a big drop-off back to unpleasant, distant-third reality,” says Erik Sorenson, a former MSNBC president.

World Net Daily’s Aaron Klein responds to the leaked Roger Ailes FNC memo…

Prior to the release of the article, I asked Fox News repeatedly over the course of two weeks for comment. The network was told exactly what would be in my report. But Fox’s public-relations department refused to issue a statement. Off the record, Fox News sources admitted it was possible the terror gangs were paid off by an entity involved in the negotiations and that the news channel did not know about it.

Unfortunately, many used my article to claim Fox News paid the ransom – a contention I never made or implied. As the researcher of this piece, I can state categorically I don’t believe Fox News paid any money or knew any money was paid. As outlined in my article, the indications are the exchange was brokered by a government or political party since certain quid pro quos were reportedly made, such as assurances against further kidnappings of Americans.

I am horrified people have falsified and misrepresented my article to attack Fox News.

Meanwhile, since my article was released, several more sources have confirmed money was paid to secure the freedom of Centanni and Wiig. Also, a reporter here who works for a major Israeli newspaper with excellent Palestinian sources says he has verified the information in my article and may soon release his own report.