CNN announced this afternoon that Lola Ogunnaike will join American Morning…

Lola Ogunnaike, who served as a top culture reporter for The New York Times, will join CNN’s flagship morning news program, American Morning, beginning Tuesday, May 29. Based in New York, Ogunnaike will report on pop culture and entertainment news as part of American Morning’s daily news coverage.

“Lola is as smart and thoughtful as she is fun and engaging – a combination we’re sure will connect with our audience,” said Ed Litvak, executive producer of American Morning. “Her years of experience doing sharp, insightful entertainment coverage will make her a great addition to our team.”

Ogunnaike has been covering entertainment news since 1999. Prior to joining CNN, Ogunnaike spearheaded The New York Times’ entertainment coverage, including profiles of celebrities like Jennifer Lopez, Oprah Winfrey and Sting for the paper’s “Arts and Leisure” section. Before that, she was a features reporter at the New York Daily News, where she covered breaking news on celebrities and entertainment.
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Cable News Ratings for May 23, 2007

P2+ Total Day
FNC – 697,000 viewers
CNN – 400,000 viewers
MSNBC – 233,000 viewers
CNBC – 196,000 viewers
HLN – 172,000 viewers

P2+ Prime Time
FNC – 1,343,000 viewers
CNN – 648,000 viewers
MSNBC – 426,000 viewers
CNBC – 245,000 viewers
HLN – 222,000 viewers

25-54 Total Day
FNC – 197,000 viewers
CNN – 129,000 viewers
MSNBC – 88,000 viewers
CNBC – 65,000 viewers
HLN – 82,000 viewers

25-54 Prime Time
FNC – 259,000 viewers
CNN – 164,000 viewers
MSNBC – 121,000 viewers
CNBC – 94,000 viewers
HLN – 74,000 viewers

Morning programs P2+ (25-54)
FOX & Friends – 682,000 viewers (253,000)
American Morning – 386,000 viewers (133,000)
MSNBC Live (7-9 AM) – 166,000 viewers (83,000)
Robin & Co. – 145,000 viewers (75,000)
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Ozzy Ozbourne will be appearing on On The Record with Greta Van Susteren tonight. GretaWire blogs about it today…

Tonight, tune in for my interview with Ozzy Osbourne: Yes, the interview I know you have all been waiting for (don’t lie!) Ozzy is an extraordinary artist — he has managed to stay on top in the music industry for decades. Whether you like his music or not, you have to take notice of the fact that he has been enormously successful for decades.

CNN’s Larry King Live will be doing an American Idol show Friday night…

For the fifth year after the American Idol season finale, the winner Jordin Sparks and runner-up Blake Lewis will appear together on CNN’s Larry King Live on Friday, May 25, at 9 p.m. (ET) for an exclusive prime-time live interview. Sparks and Lewis were crowned the respective winner and runner-up on Wednesday, May 23.

Also appearing will be the top eight finalists of this sixth season: Melinda Doolittle, Gina Glocksen, LaKisha Jones, Sanjaya Malakar, Chris Richardson, Haley Scarnato, Chris Sligh and Phil Stacey. The American Idol contestants will take phone calls and e-mails during the hour.

CNN’s Larry King Live has featured the winner and runner-up of American Idol since 2003.

Reese blogs about the ratings…

It’s the third week of the May sweeps and a clean sweep for FoxNews. Fox has won in every category of the cable news audience.

Page Six writes about Bill Hemmer taking a minor share in a lounge

BILL Hemmer, night-life impresario? The dashing Fox News anchor is an investor in the new Sen Lounge in Sag Harbor, where he has a weekend retreat nearby. Hemmer had become a regular at the Sen sushi restaurant. “I got to know the owners, and they do an excellent job,” he told us. When they decided to open a 60-person capacity lounge adjacent to the restaurant, Hemmer agreed to invest. “My share is minor,” he said. While he won’t be retiring on the profits, “I think they’ll have a huge summer.”

Page Six stirs the pot and throws a few elbows regarding replacements for Paula Zahn and Campbell Brown…

IF and when Paula Zahn leaves CNN, the other TV news operations won’t be caught by surprise. Attractive anchor-babes are lined up like dominoes to fill the resulting vacancies. The leading candidate to take Zahn’s slot is Campbell Brown, the underutilized anchor for the weekend edition of NBC’s “Today.” She’s said to be frustrated, but NBC evidently doesn’t have any plum job to offer her at the moment. “She’s under contract until the end of June,” an NBC spokeswoman told The Post. “We hope she stays with us for a very long time.” TV insiders say if Brown doesn’t go to CNN, she might go to “CBS Morning News,” which is lagging way behind “Today” and “Good Morning America.” Already said to have the inside track to replace Brown is MSNBC’s Amy Robach, a former beauty queen who made a career stumble a few years ago when she wore an overly sexy dress to a party with network brass. “She’s an up-and-comer,” said one insider. “They want to train her for the next step up.”