TVNewser has the internal Bill Shine memo stating that FNC is moving away from the “wheel format” of Fox News Live to branded hour programming…

The next Conversations with Michael Eisner will be about the “Divas of dish”; Liz Smith, Dianne Von Furstenburg, and Meredith Vierra. YouTube has a clip of the Von Furstenburg interview…

Cable News Daily Ratings for February 9 2007

P2+ Total Day
FNC – 1,105,000 viewers
CNN – 710,000 viewers
MSNBC – 358,000 viewers
CNBC – 188,000 viewers
HLN – 335,000 viewers

P2+ Prime Time
FNC – 1,856,000 viewers
CNN – 1,156,000 viewers
MSNBC – 542,000 viewers
CNBC – 159,000 viewers
HLN – 529,000 viewers

25-54 Total Day
FNC – 369,000 viewers
CNN –290,000 viewers
MSNBC – 155,000 viewers
CNBC – 61,000 viewers
HLN – 160,000 viewers

25-54 Prime Time
FNC – 512,000 viewers
CNN – 442,000 viewers
MSNBC – 251,000 viewers
CNBC – 78,000 viewers
HLN – 203,000 viewers

Morning programs P2+ (25-54)
FOX & Friends – 923,000 viewers (375,000)
American Morning –410,000 viewers (165,000)
Imus in the Morning– 363,000 viewers (147,000)
Robin & Co. – 334,000 viewers (190,000)
(more…)

NBC put out a release this afternoon for a “major talent announcement”…

February 12, 2007 – NBC will hold a press conference at 30 Rockefeller Plaza Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. ET in Studio 3A to make a major talent announcement.

WHO: Jeff Zucker, President and CEO, NBC Universal;
Dick Ebersol, Chairman, NBC Universal Sports & Olympics;
Steve Capus, President, NBC News

WHERE: 30 Rockefeller Plaza, Studio 3A.
Please RSVP for the press conference to Lyndsay Iorio at 212/664-2160 or lyndsay.iorio@nbcuni.com; space is limited. Attendees should RSVP to expedite access to the building. Photo ID is required.

Um, they wouldn’t go through all this just to announce that Keith Olbermann re-signed with MSNBC would they?

UPDATE: Nope, It’s Tiki Barber…

CNN anchor Kyra Phillips have an exclusive interview Admiral William J. Fallon on Tuesday, Feb. 13 on CNN Newsroom. She will talk to him about Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and the safety of U.S. troops.

Janice Dean announced during Studio B today that she’s getting married…

Shepard Smith: Speaking of major events, regular viewers of this program will know that you have more then infrequently, have begged on this channel for some dude to give you a rock. I think it’s happened is that right?

Janice Dean: Yes, yesterday, Sean proposed.

Shepard Smith: One of New York’s bravest.

Janice Dean: Yes, he’s a New York City firefighter and he actually asked me if he should perhaps call you to ask for my hand in marriage.

Shepard Smith: Why’s that?

Janice Dean: Because I use your show as a venue to complain so…

Shepard Smith: See, and I bet they gave him all kinds of grief for that at the firehouse too.

Janice Dean: They’ve been calling all day long, so thank you Sean. I love you.

Shepard Smith: Well we’re happy for him.

FNC has announced the air date for the two episodes of that long speculated about comedy show Joel Surnow has been working on…

FOX News Channel (FNC) will present the first of two episodes of The ½ Hour News Hour on Sunday, February 18th from 10-10:30PM/ET with an encore presentation on Sunday, February 25th from 10-10:30PM/ET.

Developed by 24 Executive Producer Joel Surnow, the 30-minute show is a satirical reflection of news issues and current events. The scripted episodes feature segments with comedians Jenn Robertson & Kurt Long.

FNC ordered two episodes of the show in late 2006. The second episode will be presented on Sunday, March 4th from 10-10:30PM/ET.

CORRECTION: Replaced incorrect comedians’ names with correct comedians’ names.

CNN announced that CNN International today became the first network to broadcast live from a mobile phone from 3GSM…

CNN International made its first ever global television broadcast from a mobile phone live from 3GSM, the world’s top wireless trade show, in Barcelona today. As part of CNN’s coverage from the conference, CNN went live to millions worldwide via the 3G network shortly after 0600 ET.

The ‘live via phone’ piece was broadcast by CNN International correspondent Jim Boulden for the daily news show ‘Business International’. The broadcast lasted around ninety seconds and opened CNN’s coverage from 3GSM trade show. This is part of four days of reporting from the 3GSM conference, where CNN will be investigating how the mobile world is advancing, the increasing importance of media content on handheld devices and interviewing some of the industry’s key players.
(more…)

Don Lemon interviewed former NBA player John Amaechi about his book “Man in the Middle” which chronicles his life as a closeted gay player in the NBA. Transcript follows…

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: John Amaechi has a secret to tell, or at least he did. The former NBA center played five seasons for three different teams, and owns the distinction of scoring the first basket of the year 2000. Now here’s what Amaechi never told anyone, at least not in public– he’s gay.

And Just recently out of the closet, he’s the first player from the NBA, either current or former, to acknowledge his homosexuality.

John Amaechi joins us live now from New York. His book is titled “Man in the Middle.” The big question everyone wants to know, why did you come out? What’s the reason?
(more…)

Greg Gutfeld Jim Treacher blogs about his show’s Ombudsman…

As our dedicated Red Eye fan(s) can tell you, the Daily Gut’s own Andrew Levy is the show’s ombudsman and futures editor. He serves as the only check and/or balance on the resident pundits’ rampant egos (well, if you don’t count the Nielsen ratings system). Go down to the orange part of the post for some of Levy’s more notable bon mots from the past week!

UPDATE: Actually it’s Jim Treacher not Gutfeld who wrote that entry. Apologies to Treacher.

Newsday’s Verne Gay reviews FNC’s Red Eye…

There were jokes about global warming (termed “global boring”) and polar bears (deemed inedible, so who’s gonna miss them when they’re gone?). There’s even an ombudsman who appeared in the second half-hour to correct errors that aired in the first half.

(”Red Eye” also has regular contributors - political columnist Rachel Marsden and FNC contributor Bill Schulz.)

Meanwhile, Gutfeld wants your help. He recently posted this on the Gut: “Hey everyone! It’s me Greg - I thought I would list the topics we’re going to cover for tonight for you to comment, make suggestions, dismiss outright….” The first topic: “The pyscho astronaut, otherwise known as ‘Amy Fisher in Space’ . . .”

Ah, now that should keep me awake.

Bill O’Reilly goes off on Neal Gabler over his comments about the Arkin incident last weekend on Fox News Watch. Johnny Dollar has the audio from this morning’s Radio Factor…

CNN announced today that formwer CBS correspondent Jim Acosta had joined the netwok as a General Assignment Correspondent…

Jim Acosta, who has covered nearly every major news story over the last five years for CBS News, will join CNN as a general assignment correspondent beginning in March, it was announced today by Jon Klein, president of CNN/U.S. Acosta will be based in the network’s New York bureau, contributing to CNN’s weekday and weekend programming.

“Jim’s experience in covering major national and world events and his irrepressible drive to excel make him an outstanding addition to CNN,” Klein said.
(more…)

CNN announced the “Uncovering America” initiative this afternoon…

CNN kicks off a provocative series of reports on people and issues often ignored by mainstream media, when it launches its “Uncovering America” project later this month. The yearlong effort – encompassing newscasts, prime-time programs and documentaries on CNN/U.S. and Headline News, as well as extensive features on CNN.com – will offer gripping in-depth reports on conflicts and controversies affecting minority groups including African-Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian-Americans and gays.

“Uncovering America” launches on Saturday, Feb. 17, with “MLK: Words That Changed a Nation,” a CNN: Special Investigations Unit hour in which Soledad O’Brien is granted rare access to the collection of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s personal journals, speeches and other private writings – which shed new light on the people and the passions behind the Civil Rights movement. A special screening of the documentary on Tuesday, Feb. 13, at Morehouse College in Atlanta will include Kyra Phillips moderating a panel discussion about the civil rights movement.

The effort unfolds during the ensuing week with:
(more…)

TV Week’s Michelle Greppi writes about carriers trying to prevent a repeat of what happened with CNBC, with all its infomercials, from happening on the new Fox Business Channel (via TVNewser)…

Burned by the number of infomercial hours programmed by CNBC, the companies that have agreed to carry the Fox Business Channel starting in fourth quarter of this year have imposed limits on the number of non-business-news hours on the network, Mr. Ailes told TelevisionWeek in an interview.
“We’re not allowed to do what CNBC does. They go 24/7 on weekends with infomercials. They can go all overnight on infomercials,” Mr. Ailes said. “[The cable operators] figured out they had given away the store with CNBC and they limited us more.

“We can have X number of hours, six or eight or something, for a couple of years. So we clearly are going to have to come up with a schedule that allows us not to live on the addiction to infomercials and nose tweezers and `Body by Jake,’ or Cheese Whiz slicers and that s–,” Mr. Ailes said last week. “We’re going to have to invent something.”

In the beginning, he said, he expects to do a 12-hour live day, then probably taped programming in the evening and more taped programming on the weekends.

The Washington Post’s Howard Kurtz writes about the William Arkin saga and scoops with some very belated on the record comments from both The Post and NBC…

Arkin, who apologized on the blog for his “blasphemy,” says in an interview: ” ‘Mercenary’ is a very strong term. If all this has been precipitated by one word, there’s not a question in my mind I could have avoided this by not using that word.” He says he was trying to be “sarcastic” and “iconoclastic” and to make the point that a professional fighting force cannot dismiss public sentiment on how wars should be fought.

Jim Brady, executive editor of washingtonpost.com, says the use of the word “mercenary” “was a mistake. It made it through the editing process, which is unfortunate. We certainly apologize for using it on the site. . . . I know it offended a lot of people, but I don’t think it’s something he should be fired for.”

NBC does “not condone” Arkin’s online comments and welcomes his apology, network spokeswoman Allison Gollust says. NBC’s parent company, General Electric, says it “strongly condemns” the Arkin remarks as “grossly unfair.”

This is an entirely self-inflicted wound. The word “mercenary” is clearly insulting to the young men and women who risk their lives in war zones. Whatever larger point Arkin was trying to make was obliterated by his own rhetorical ammunition.

The Citigroup scandal may have petered out but that hasn’t stopped the media from putting Maria Bartiromo under a microscrope. The New York Times’ Landon Thomas Jr. writes about some of Bartiromo’s other activities and includes some must read coverage of the Citigroup scandal before it broke…

Subsequently, according to people with an understanding of how the story unfolded, Mr. Gasparino learned that, in fact, Mr. Thomson’s job was in jeopardy.

He explained this to Jonathan Wald, head of news programming, that he had been told by people within Citigroup that top management had examined Mr. Thomson’s conduct, specifically the occasions that Ms. Bartiromo joined him on the company jet. Mr. Wald told Mr. Gasparino to pursue the story, these people say.

When Ms. Bartiromo got wind of Mr. Gasparino’s reporting, she told Mr. Wald, complaining that her name was being dragged into the matter, these people say. Mr. Wald said that reporting the story was Mr. Gasparino’s job.

Nevertheless, Mr. Gasparino never reported on Mr. Thomson’s threatened job status. He was urged to proceed cautiously with the story, but some within the network say Ms. Bartiromo’s role in the story prevented it from being fully reported.

Mr. Wald adamantly disagrees with that interpretation. “We were clear from the beginning about reporting the story to the fullest. We did not air it because it was not adequately sourced. It didn’t meet our criteria from a journalist’s standpoint, and it clearly wouldn’t have met our lawyers’ criteria.”

The Brown Daily Herald’s Taylor Barnes has an interview with The Most’s Alison Stewart…

What are the specific challenges of being a woman in your career field?

Finding mentorship, because none of the major news networks have a female president. None of the cable companies have a female president. Where I work there is a female vice president, which is pretty amazing, and she’s only 42. So finding people who are higher up who you can talk to about issues of being a woman without feeling like you’re crying about it or whining about it. … I think that’s a challenge, trying to figure out what you can say to a female candidly.

I was up for a couple of morning show jobs, and I didn’t have a child. And one of them - it wasn’t a news job - was open about it, like “We’re looking for a mom.” And the other was a news show, and I said, “I spent all this time going around the world - and I don’t have a kid? Is that going to keep me from having this?” And I was like, “That is the craziest thing,” but that’s what they wanted. You can get into a cocoon like Brown, but there are still certain stereotypes about nuclear families.

Andy Borowitz in the Columbus Dispatch lampoons CNN about weather during the sweeps…

At a CNN news briefing at the company’s headquarters in Atlanta, network spokesman Tracy Klujian said that severe-weather alerts during this sweeps period were up 9,000 percent from normal, nonsweeps months, adding that the alerts could interrupt CNN programming “at any time, without warning,” until February sweeps ends.

“We owe it to our viewers to warn them that as bad as the severeweather alerts have been so far this February, even more disruptive alerts are on their way,” Klujian said.

The Brown Daily Herald’s Taylor Barnes writes about Alison Stewart delivering a keynote address at Brown University’s “Career Week”…

Stewart cautioned students that they might be dissatisfied with their first jobs.

“At some point, around day eight, you’re going to feel that this is beneath you,” she said. She had a simple response to that sense of frustration: “Tough.”

Stewart also said women face challenges in any career field. She said women must “be really good” at what they do to be competitive employees and that they also must resist shyness. “If you want a job, make sure somebody notices it,” she said.

Stewart admitted that she had been a workaholic for about a decade. “I missed birthdays. I missed friends’ kids being born,” she said.

TVWeek’s Michelle Greppi has a Q&A with Jeff Zucker…

TVWeek: How about MSNBC? It’s headed for what’s described as a phenomenally profitable this year now that NBC Universal is the sole owner.
Mr. Zucker: Consolidating our ownership in it last year and then having this growth on top of that has come at a very nice time. It’s really making nice progress.

TVWeek: How much is Keith Olbermann, the MSNBC “Countdown” host who has been negotiating a new contract, worth?
Mr. Zucker: Keith Olbermann is an incredibly important part of MSNBC and I expect he’ll be part of our future for a long time.

TVWeek: That would be the longest he’s ever stayed in one place professionally, wouldn’t it?
Mr. Zucker: Well, look, I think when you’re happy and you’re doing a great job, it makes complete sense to stay where you are.