FNC’s Carl Cameron had an exclusive interview today with potential presidential candidate former Senator Fred Thompson. In the interview, Thompson remarked on whether he is an outsider in the presidential campaign…

I don’t use that term. I don’t know what it means really. You don’t have to be from Alaska or Hawaii to see what it is wrong with the way your government is operating. And I have been critical when I was outside and I have been critical when I was inside. And now I’m critical again.

The Detroit News’ Mekeisha Madden Toby writes about all the dodging and weaving by Hilton in the interview and the question(s) Larry King didn’t ask…

When King inquired why she’d decided to do the interview, her first televised talk out of the pokey, Hilton said she wanted to share her experience and correct some misinformation. One such rumor is that she lost a lot of weight but Hilton said she only “lost like 2 pounds.”

“I just want people to know what I went through,” Hilton said. “God makes everything happen for a reason.”

For all the questions that King skipped, the biggest disappointment was that he didn’t ask Hilton about her controversial use of the “N” word exposed in a YouTube video.

Mulitchannel News’ Steve Donohue pans the interview…
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The story last night was all about Paris Hilton. Some will say that 3 million viewers isn’t a lot considering how much hype this interview got in advance. And it’s true that there was no pre-interview bump for Paula Zahn Now and AC 360 lost nearly half of the Larry King Live audience. And it wasn’t enough for CNN to beat FNC in Total Viewers for the night. But to me 3 million is nothing to sneeze at. It’s more than CNN got for its Republican and Democratic Presidential debates. Which is a sad commentary on the state of mind of the viewing public if you ask me.

(ratings are Live)

Cable News Ratings for June 27, 2007

P2+ Total Day
FNC – 960,000 viewers
CNN – 701,000 viewers
MSNBC – 279,000 viewers
CNBC – 199,000 viewers
HLN – 350,000 viewers

P2+ Prime Time
FNC – 1,858,000 viewers
CNN – 1,851,000 viewers
MSNBC – 539,000 viewers
CNBC –287,000 viewers
HLN – 798,000 viewers

25-54 Total Day
FNC – 296,000 viewers
CNN – 254,000 viewers
MSNBC – 112,000 viewers
CNBC – 60,000 viewers
HLN – 164,000 viewers

25-54 Prime Time
FNC – 442,000 viewers
CNN – 812,000 viewers
MSNBC – 219,000 viewers
CNBC –78,000 viewers
HLN – 358,000 viewers

Morning programs P2+ (25-54)
FOX & Friends – 878,000 viewers (362,000)
American Morning – 429,000 viewers (129,000)
MSNBC Live (7-9 AM) – 270,000 viewers (107,000)
Robin & Co. –263,000 viewers (138,000)
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CNN is noting its ratings bonanza for the Larry King Live Paris Hilton interview last night… (note: numbers are Live+SD)

On Wednesday, June 27th, 3.203 million total viewers and 1.418 million P25-54 demo viewers tuned in to CNN’s Larry King for Paris Hilton’s first TV interview since her release from jail. This is the show’s highest total viewer and demo delivery for a regularly scheduled telecast of Larry King Live so far this year.

Continuing a week of record-setting interviews, on Friday, June 29, CNN will air three hours of Larry King interviews from this week including:

7pm (ET) – Larry King Live interview with The Beatles

8pm (ET) – Larry King Live interview with Paris Hilton

9pm (ET) Larry King Live interview with filmmaker Michael Moore LIVE

ICN received email from alert Anderson Cooper 360 viewers inquiring about AC 360 cutting back on its live coverage to just the first hour. I looked into it and here’s the story:

AC 360 will be live from 10 pm ET to the top of the 11 pm hour. The rest of the 11 pm hour will be tape. However, if there’s breaking news occurring the program will continue live as warranted. This format will remain in place for the rest of the summer.

Johnny Dollar has video of Fox and Friends Steve Doocy and Alisyn Camerota re-enacting the Paris Hilton interview on CNN last night. He’s also got video of Janice Dean showing off honeymoon photos…

The Orlando Sentinel’s Jerry Greene interviews Fox and Friends’ Brian Kilmeade in conjunction with his new book “It’s How You Play the Game: The Powerful Sports Moments that Taught Lasting Values to America’s Finest”…

This book “belongs” to Gen. George S. Patton. In researching Patton, Kilmeade spoke to his grandson and read letters between Patton and his father about the value of competition. When Patton failed miserably in a track event at West Point, his father wrote:

“It is a good thing to be ambitious and to strive mightily to win in every contest in which you engage; but you must school yourself to meet defeat and failure without bitterness and to take your comfort in having striven worthily and done your best.”

Kilmeade said Tuesday while visiting Orlando with his family: “Patton and those letters inspired me to do this book. One of the many lessons in the book is that a kind parent does not mean a weak child.”

News. Corp./NBC Universal’s release on Jason Kilar’s hiring as CEO of the companies’ joint online video company.

News Corporation and NBC Universal have appointed Jason Kilar, a key executive at Amazon.com for nearly a decade, to Chief Executive Officer of the online video joint venture the companies formed in March, 2007, it was announced today by Peter Chernin, President and Chief Operating Officer of News Corporation and Jeff Zucker, President and Chief Executive Officer of NBC Universal. Mr. Kilar will join the new company on July 9 and will report to its Board of Directors, which include Mr. Chernin and Mr. Zucker.

The company’s video-rich site will debut later this year with thousands of hours of full-length programming, movies and clips from myriad networks and two major film studios and with an unparalleled reach. With distribution partners AOL, CNET, Comcast, MSN, MySpace, and Yahoo!, the new venture will have access to 98 percent of the monthly U.S. unique users on the Internet.
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Bill O’Reilly announced on his Radio Factor program that Michael Moore had backed out of an appearance on his FNC O’Reilly Factor program. (via Johnny Dollar)

UPDATE: But Moore apparently has time to be interviewed by Maria Bartiromo today on Closing Bell…

In an interview with CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo, Michael Moore discusses his new documentary film SiCKO scheduled for release tomorrow, Friday, June 29th, among other topics. The interview comes prior to Moore joining the nurses at the Wall Street Conference today at Federal Hall to call for widespread divestment from health insurance companies.

Johnny Dollar has the audio from the Brian and the Judge radio show where Brit Hume talks about being under surveillance by the CIA…

In a must read, Time Magazine’s Eric Pooley has an Filed under: Cable News, FOX News Channel, FOX Business Network - Spud Comments (4)

Avid is our friend…

p.s. If I get any emails or comments from literalists out there saying they don’t use Avid or Avid wouldn’t work, with all due respect…you’re just not getting it…

FishbowlDC fact checks Chris Matthews during his Ann Coulter interview…

On yesterday’s edition of Hardball, Chris Matthews made the claim that Ann Coulter was the first person to mention the names Anna Nicole Smith and Paris Hilton on his show:

_________

A cursory search of recent Hardball transcripts, however, shows a different picture.

Fishbowl has a point, particularly about Hilton which Matthews himself covered as a story, but if we want to go by the literal interpretation of Matthews’ remarks, wouldn’t both names have to be used by someone on the show to qualify?

TVGuide’s Stephen Battaglio writes about TV viewers’ ages in an article I would have ignored if not for this…

So where is the youngest audience in prime time? Up the cable dial at Nicktoons and Toon Disney, which both have a median age of 10, followed by the Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon, with 11. And the oldest folks? They’re at the Fox News Channel, with a median age of 65-plus.

UPDATE: USA Today’s Gary Levin offfers a clearer picture of the cable news age landscape…

Cable networks Fox News, Hallmark, CNN and GSN had the oldest viewership, each with a median age of more than 60 in prime time.

Every once in a while you read an article and the way it’s written - how it’s structured and they way every little negative detail is brought out - right down to the selection of derogatory adjectives - makes you sit back and think “hit piece”. The New York Post’s Peter Lauria rains on NBC News and its 2nd in command Mark Whitaker…

A little over a month into his job as second-in-command at NBC News, Mark Whitaker is already ruffling feathers.

Known in the print world for his impeccable journalistic credentials and deep Rolodex, the former Newsweek editor has sparked tension almost from the beginning for both his editorial calls and resistance to getting involved in recruitment efforts, according to a half-dozen sources inside the news division or close to it.

CNBC is airing Squawk on the Street for two hours today and tomorrow. The release doesn’t say why. Have they mentioned this on the air today? Can anyone fill me in?

BigHead D.C. writes about Tucker Carlson losing his 4pm show and why that may be a good thing…

Some MSNBC top brass are convinced that the 4 p.m. show hurt ratings for the 6 p.m. hour and would rather air more breaking news segments in the afternoon. Six o’clock, too, is far more important to advertisers.

There are also rumors from CNN that Lou Dobbs’ program will move from its current spot at 6 p.m. to fill departing anchor Paula Zahn’s current 8 p.m. slot. This move, MSNBCers believe, will ultimately give “Tucker” a great shot at winning the lucrative cable news 6 p.m. crown.

I think FNC might have something to say about that. If Dobbs can’t flat out beat Special Report (though the show has gotten more competitive with the FNC program) and Tucker can’t beat Dobbs, how can they expect Tucker to beat Special Report?

The Orlando Sentinel’s Hal Boedeker pans the interview…

The interview plays far better in sound bites, as Anderson Cooper proved immediately after the King show ended. But then Cooper lavished another hour analyzing the chat and Hilton’s comments. Oh, brother. What a waste.

King’s competition Wednesday night was more riveting. On Fox News Channel, Sean Hannity was busy grilling Tavis Smiley. On MSNBC, Dan Abrams led a heated discussion about the Elizabeth Edwards-Ann Coulter showdown.

The Washington Post’s Tom Shales…
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