Here’s a set of breakdowns for the cable networks for Friday night/early Saturday morning for the execution of Saddam Hussein…
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Cable News Ratings for December 29, 2006

P2+ Total Day
FNC – 1,170,000 viewers
CNN – 939,000 viewers
MSNBC – 412,000 viewers
CNBC – 172,000 viewers
HLN – 235,000 viewers

P2+ Prime Time
FNC – 2,887,000 viewers
CNN – 2,083,000 viewers
MSNBC – 560,000 viewers
CNBC – 121,000 viewers
HLN – 355,000 viewers

25-54 Total Day
FNC – 393,000 viewers
CNN – 396,000 viewers
MSNBC –179,000 viewers
CNBC – 58,000 viewers
HLN – 105,000 viewers

25-54 Prime Time
FNC – 850,000 viewers
CNN – 825,000 viewers
MSNBC – 251,000 viewers
CNBC – 59,000 viewers
HLN –135,000 viewers

Morning programs P2+ (25-54)
FOX & Friends – 765,000 viewers (291,000)
American Morning – 302,000 viewers (109,000)
Imus in The Morning- 336,000 viewers (154,000)
Robin & Co. – 203,000 viewers (100,000)
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The AP’s David Bauder wraps up coverage for the service for President Gerald Ford…

Former NBC News anchorman Tom Brokaw, who also delivered a eulogy, noted that Ford realized, upon leaving office, that he wasn’t perfect.

“But what president ever was?” he said. The camera cut to a picture of President Bush.

Reality wasn’t far away. Fox News Channel noted that many politicians, as they exited the church, were checking their Blackberrys. CNN switched to other news more quickly than its cable news rivals; Fox trained a respectful camera on an unmoving plane with Ford’s body until it took off for Michigan.

Then Brit Hume uttered his version of the day’s most frequently repeated line, also used by Gibson and Couric.

As Couric said it, Ford “was about to leave the nation’s capital for the very last time.”

Newsbusters’ Rich Noyes notes that Chris Matthews on his syndicated show nominated Bill O’Reilly for “Worst Despot”…

During the year-end awards edition of his weekly syndicated chat show, Chris Matthews asked his panel to vote on the “Dangerous Despot” of 2006, and then listed the nominees: North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il, Venezuelan boss Hugo Chavez, Iran’s nuclear-seeking threat Mahmoud Ahmedinejad — and Fox News Channel host Bill O’Reilly!

“How in the hell did this guy get in there?” Matthews asked in mock surprise as O’Reilly’s face popped up next to America’s worst enemies. “How did he get in there?”

TV Week’s Jon Lafayette writes about Time Warner reaching agreement with FNC on a new carriage deal that includes a Fox Business channel if/when it launches. Note the role for Alexis Glick in the new business channel…

The long-term deal gives Time Warner Cable retransmission consent to carry all of the Fox-owned TV stations in Time Warner markets and extends its carriage agreement for Fox News Channel, a Time Warner Cable spokesperson confirmed Tuesday.

Time Warner Cable has also agreed to roll out the Fox Reality Channel.

“It’s a big deal with a major content provider,” the Time Warner Cable spokesman said.

Time Warner Cable is the second-largest cable operator, with 23 million subscribers. The deal would put News Corp. close to the 30-million-subscriber level it has said it would need in order to launch the channel.

The channel would operate under Roger Ailes, chairman of Fox News, with Neil Cavuto, managing editor of business news, and former CNBC reporter Alexis Glick in charge of day-to-day operations.

UPDATE: The Financial Times’ Joshua Chaffin has more…(sub req.)
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Following up on last Saturday’s item, here is MSNBC’s release on Thursday’s all day special coverage…

A new era begins in Congress this January as Democrats take control of both the House and the Senate for the first time during the Bush Administration. To follow history as it happens, and in a follow up to the successful all politics days leading up to the elections, MSNBC will report live from Capitol Hill on Thursday, January 4th. The network will introduce the audience to the new leaders who will be shaping Congress’ efforts to address the Iraq War, the economy, immigration, Social Security, and more.

Democrats will have a majority — and subpoena power — for the first time in 12 years. What will they do with that power? How will they confront President Bush on Iraq, taxes, the environment, and other major issues? MSNBC also will feature expert analysis from the journalists covering Congress, the strategists advising them, and the lobbyists pressuring them.

“NBC Nightly News” Anchor Brian Williams, “Today” Anchor Matt Lauer, Chief White House Correspondent David Gregory and Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell and NBC News Correspondent Chip Reid will anchor throughout the day, along with MSNBC “Hardball” Host Chris Matthews, “Countdown” Host Keith Olbermann, “Scarborough Country” Host Joe Scarborough, “Tucker” Host Tucker Carlson, and Chief Washington Correspondent Norah O’Donnell.
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The AP has the story of CNN apologizing for confusing Obama with Osama.

The blunder came Monday evening on Wolf Blitzer’s news show “The Situation Room.” Both Soledad O’Brien and Blitzer offered separate apologies during CNN’s morning show Tuesday.

CNN called it a “bad typographical error” by its graphics department.

“We want to apologize for that bad typo,” Blitzer said. “We also want to apologize personally to Sen. Barack Obama. I’m going to be making a call to him later this morning to offer my personal apology.”

I suppose this wouldn’t be quite as big a deal if CNN’s Jeff Greenfield hadn’t first stubbed his toe with a poor attempt at humor. Now people will be saying that CNN has it in for Obama. They’ll be wrong of course. It was just a typo. Typos happen. Just ask MSNBC and Niger Innes..

CNN’s American Morning will be doing a five part series on Martin Luther King’s papers. This had been advertised last week but the network put a release out today…

Nearly 40 years after his voice was stilled by an assassin’s bullet, the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. continue to inspire a nation. CNN’s American Morning anchor Soledad O’Brien had an exclusive look at the “King Papers” – a never-before view of King’s private writings, notes and teachings – that launched his transformation from a preacher in Montgomery, Ala., to an international civil and human rights icon.

This priceless archive will be featured in an exclusive, five-part series “Words That Changed a Nation” during CNN’s American Morning from Monday, Jan. 8, to Friday, Jan. 12.

The King family granted CNN exclusive access to rare documents, books, notes, sermons and other writings that represent the foundation of King’s life’s work as a preacher and human rights activist. From King’s private library, CNN reveals his personal philosophy and theology – and his doubts and fears – as he and those around him created a peaceful revolution that forever altered a nation.
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Obviously I can’t blog about the Ford service going on now since I’m at work. So feel free to add your comments about what you like/don’t like about today’s coverage…

This story just doesn’t want to die, though its subject has been dead for over two days now. The Hollywood Reporter’s Paul J. Gough writes about the latest wrinkles in the coverage of the death of Saddam Hussein and the emergence of the cell phone video…

“The real journalistic value of the footage, if it is authentic, is that it gives you much more of the context surrounding his execution,” said CNN president Jon Klein. “You learn so much more about what really was said, and how fraught with sectarian fervor the whole issue was. That could not be conveyed better than listening to the sound of the moment, even more so than the video.”

“It was a different angle of what we had already seen,” said David Rhodes, vp news at Fox News Channel. “It was useful because there’s some audio on it that you didn’t necessarily hear in the previous version, and it’s a fuller picture as to what was happening. You can hear all the principals speaking.”

Fox News Channel wasn’t willing to carry anything further than where it had stopped with the government-provided videotape, when the noose was being fitted around Saddam’s neck. The cell phone video continues with Saddam’s body falling through the trap door but no U.S. network ran that portion on the air. CNN too showed the video up to the noose, not necessarily because of any camera angle but, like others, because of the audio.

BCBeat’s Anne Becker contrasts Current TV year end special to CNN’s iReports special…

Granted, CNN is using iReport submissions - lots of breaking news shot on cellphones - as a supplement to its own content, and not its entire body of programming like Current, and, granted, their target audience is significantly older than Current’s. So I’ll give them a little leeway in not being hip to how to present the stuff.

But even if I’m being forgiving, I still have to say their anchors - T.J. Holmes and Betty Nguyen - were completely cheesy - all made up and exchanging these fake laughs and knowing little looks like all those cheery a capella groups I so couldn’t stand in college. They did less showing what people had shot and more talking to each other about what iReport is.