TVNewser scoops with word that Kiran Chetry’s contract negotiations are going badly and she may be out the door at FNC.

Was there another party that FNC was in competition with? If you read this letter between the lines it says to me that either someone made an offer and FNC balked at matching it or Chetry’s agent sent out feelers to other networks. That scenario rang an old bell for me. I speculated that something similar happened when Rita Cosby jumped from FNC to MSNBC, though there was never any proof that that was the case.

Big number for O’Reilly last night with 2.8 million viewers.

Cable News Daily Ratings for February 14, 2007

P2+ Total Day
FNC – 1,017,000 viewers
CNN – 536,000 viewers
MSNBC – 354,000 viewers
CNBC – 238,000 viewers
HLN – 302,000 viewers

P2+ Prime Time
FNC – 2,103,000 viewers
CNN – 740,000 viewers
MSNBC – 550,000 viewers
CNBC – 138,000 viewers
HLN – 575,000 viewers

25-54 Total Day
FNC – 298,000 viewers
CNN –184,000 viewers
MSNBC – 144,000 viewers
CNBC – 87,000 viewers
HLN – 152,000 viewers

25-54 Prime Time
FNC – 534,000 viewers
CNN – 198,000 viewers
MSNBC – 203,000 viewers
CNBC – a scratch with 50,000 viewers
HLN – 264,000 viewers

Morning programs P2+ (25-54)
FOX & Friends – 718,000 viewers (257,000)
American Morning –344,000 viewers (148,000)
Imus in the Morning– 273,000 viewers (103,000)
Robin & Co. – 244,000 viewers (146,000)
(more…)

Johnny Dollar has the video of Geraldo Rivera’s first report from Iraq…

Variety’s Michael Learmonth writes up the announcement…

The left-leaning show is a political counterpoint to Fox News Channel’s highest-rated show “The O’Reilly Factor” at 8 p.m., which averaged nearly 2.5 million viewers in January, a 5% increase from the year before.

Asked if he thought that Olbermann’s reputation as a liberal firebrand would hurt “Nightly News,” Capus said, “I believe the viewers are sophisticated to know what messages are being offered to them.”

NBC News prexy Steve Capus said Olbermann’s contribution to “Nightly News” will be in the form of “produced essays” in the vein of what he did on the death of Pope John Paul, and during his coverage of the aftermath of Sept. 11, which won a Edward R. Murrow Award.

“He knows where to draw the line,” Capus said. “When he does commentaries on his own broadcast they are clearly labeled as such. This is a network that also employs (conservatives) Tucker Carlson and Joe Scarborough. It’s the full spectrum of views.”

The AP writes about Olbermann’s new contract but manages to get the Bill O’Reilly attack on NBC News in as well…

UPDATE: Corrected the bad link. However, the original AP story that was written has been replaced/updated and the following sections (plus another section, which I didn’t cite, where Joe Scarborough criticizes O’Reilly) have been removed from the story. Nothing I can do about that unfortunately.

“I think it’s really kind of sad and pathetic, some of the things that he’s been lobbing at us these days,” Capus told reporters Wednesday. “I don’t quite understand it. I assume it’s because Keith Olbermann has had such tremendous growth and there’s real momentum behind Keith’s broadcast.”

David Tabacoff, executive producer of Fox News’ “The O’Reilly Factor,” said Thursday in a statement, “It’s nice to see that Jeff Zucker let Steve off his leash for a few minutes, but what is it about being exposed as a liberal news organization that he finds sad and pathetic?”

FNC - Covering the President’s War on Terror address and waiting for the President to appear.
MSNBC - Covering the live court case involving releasing Anna Nicole Smith’s body.
CNN - Covering the POTUS at first but before he comes on dips in to the same Anna Nicole feed MSNBC is broadcasting.
HLN - Covering two stories; The Anna Nicole court case unfolding live and a plane in trouble over L.A.

10:20 UPDATE: CNN and FNC are covering the Bush speech. HLN is covering the Anna Nicole court case. MSNBC dropped out of the Anna Nicole court case to cover/update on the Bush Speech but dropped out of Bush and briefly covered the LA plane landing safely and then rejoined the Anna Nicole court case.

YouTube has the video of Rush Limbaugh as the President of the United States and Ann Coulter as the Vice President…

Will Walker in The Hook writes about Jim Cramer’s appearance at UVA’s Darden School of Business…

Tickets to the taping were in big demand among Darden students, some waiting an hour outside the Abbott Center for a coveted seat. Those citizens of “Cramerica” who were lucky enough to get in were decked out in Cavalier orange and blue, some waving Mad Money #1 foam fingers– making the atmosphere more akin to the John Paul Jones Arena than to a business school auditorium.

Cramer didn’t disappoint his fans, donning a bright orange UVA t-shirt over his trademark button-down with rolled up sleeves and peppering his speech with his trademark “booyah!” to the delight of every budding tycoon in the audience.

Rush and Molloy break news on the behind the scenes at Citigroup after Todd Thomsom was let go…

Maybe Citigroup chief Charles O. Prince should add spinmeister to his resume.

Sources tell us Prince got on the phone with key financial reporters after ousting heir apparent Todd Thomson last month, and during those conversations revealed CNBC star Maria Bartiromo (r.) had flown on the Citigroup private jet with Thomson more than once, including trips to China and California wine country.

Strange Rick Sanchez interview. Actually strange is putting it mildly…

Here’s MSNBC’s release on the Olbermann re-signing.

Olbermann Named Managing Editor of “Countdown” And Will Contribute To NBC Network News Programming

“Countdown” Up an Amazing 89% Over 2006

SECAUCUS, NJ – February 15, 2007 – MSNBC today announced that Keith Olbermann will be counting down the top stories of the day for four more years, continuing as host of his enormously popular nightly news program, “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” (8-9 p.m. ET). In addition, he will contribute to NBC Nightly News with occasional essays and will host two “Countdown” primetime specials each year on NBC. Since its launch in April, 2003, “Countdown” has grown its audience by 91%, making it one of the most watched programs on cable news.

“Keith Olbermann is a tremendous talent and a superb broadcaster,” said NBC News President Steve Capus. “He is an asset to NBC News and the timing of this announcement couldn’t be better given the momentum Keith’s program is enjoying right now.”
(more…)

TVNewser breaks the news that Keith Olbermann will re-up with MSNBC and an announcement is expected tomorrow…

MSNBC GM Dan Abrams returned to TV tonight. He was substituting for Joe Scarborough on Scarborough Country. Joe was stuck on a plane most of the day trying to fly back home.

TVWeek’s Michelle Greppi writes that FNC is promoting Bryan Boughton to Deputy Bureau Chief, Catherine Loper to Director of White House pool coverage, and Matthew Linder to “Fox News Sunday” Senior Producer…