FishbowlNY notes the “Ho-Pas?” faux-pas, chastizes MSNBC, and thinks this isn’t the first time Countdown has strayed into this territory…

Considering its “Nappy ‘Hos” history, MSNBC should’ve learned a lesson or two about off-handed, misogynistic remarks. Still, no one should be surprised — Olbermann and Countdown have done this kind of thing before. One example, as we reported way back in October, involved a pre-penitentiary Paris Hilton. At that time, it wasn’t the “A Slut and Battery” that drew our attention — it was what he said:

DealBreaker.com says Liz Claman has already signed with FBN. Can anyone confirm or deny?

UPDATE: A Fox Business Network spokesperson tells ICN “We do not have a deal with Liz Claman at this time”. Maybe the deal is not officially completed yet? Insiders believe that she is expected to sign.

Jet Blue is pulling its name off the Kos convention…(via Michelle Malkin)

In a letter to O’Reilly, JetBlue says it is “an airline” not “a political organzation.” Glad to hear it.

Robert Feder in the Chicago Sun Times writes about CNBC’s American Greed getting an additional six episodes ordered (via FTVLive). But what caught my attention was how the show was characterized.

Good news for Bill Kurtis: CNBC has ordered six additional episodes of “American Greed: Scams, Scoundrels and Scandals,” thanks to terrific ratings since its premiere June 21.

Here’s a chart of American Greed’s ranking since the series debut. American Greed comes in 46th in Total Viewers; ahead of most of CNBC’s primetime lineup but behind such venerable CNBC programs as Street Signs, Morning Call, Closing Bell, Kudlow and Company, Squawk on the Street (at 9:30 AM ET), Power Lunch, and The Age of Walmart documentary repeat.
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O’Reilly led the way in the Primetime Demo. Morning Joe, On The Money, Fast Money, and Business Nation all scratched in the Demo. When is MSNBC going to start that big “advertising push” for Morning Joe anways? They’re “pushing” Dan Abrams’ primetime show which replaced Scarborough Country. But they’re not “pushing” Morning Joe yet. Why?

Cable News Ratings for July 18, 2007

P2+ Total Day
FNC – 881,000 viewers
CNN – 495,000 viewers
MSNBC – 254,000 viewers
CNBC – 182,000 viewers
HLN – 227,000 viewers

P2+ Prime Time
FNC – 1,585,000 viewers
CNN – 782,000 viewers
MSNBC – 505,000 viewers
CNBC – 134,000 viewers
HLN – 450,000 viewers

25-54 Total Day
FNC – 259,000 viewers
CNN –135,000 viewers
MSNBC – 92,000 viewers
CNBC – 62,000 viewers
HLN – 98,000 viewers

25-54 Prime Time
FNC – 408,000 viewers
CNN – 219,000 viewers
MSNBC – 164,000 viewers
CNBC – 56,000 viewers
HLN – 167,000 viewers

Morning programs P2+ (25-54)
FOX & Friends – 825,000 viewers (304,000)
American Morning – 366,000 viewers (101,000)
MSNBC Live (7-9 AM) – 222,000 viewers (a scratch with 42,000)
Robin & Co. –152,000 viewers (88,000)
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FNC announced that Jeff Misenti has been named GM and VP of Fox News Digital and Refet Kaplan has been promoted to Managing Director at Foxnews.com…

Jeff Misenti has been named General Manager and Vice President for FOX News Digital and Refet Kaplan has been named Managing Director at Foxnews.com, it was jointly announced by Foxnews.com Vice President Ken LaCorte, and Senior Vice President Mark Kranz.

Misenti will oversee the strategic development and expansion of new web sites for Foxnews.com, including the new business and health sections. He will also coordinate cross-channel synergies of business relationships for FOX News internet operations, drawing on years of previous web site product development and integration experience.

Prior to joining FOX News, Misenti worked for Dow Jones, where he was the Senior Director of Product Development and Marketing. In this role, he helped to shape online news and financial content strategy for Dow Jones properties and led the development and integration of the MarketWatch “Live News” product for CNN Money. Before Dow Jones, Misenti held Senior Product Development positions at Reuters, and led the launch of SureTrade, a Fleet/Bank of America Company, one of the first online brokerages.

Current Northeast Bureau Chief and former Foxnews.com Executive Editor Refet Kaplan returns to the Internet division as Managing Director. His responsibilities will include the expanding recruitment for editorial operations as well as the creation and coordination of new and existing content for the site.
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CNBC announced its first original game show “Fast Money MBA Challenge” this afternoon.

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J., July 19, 2007 — Every MBA student thinks he or she knows how to make money. Now it’s time to prove it. On the line are school pride, personal glory and cold hard cash.

CNBC’s new game show series, “Fast Money MBA Challenge,” is the varsity sport of the financial mind. Hosted by CNBC’s Dylan Ratigan, anchor and co-creator of CNBC’s “Fast Money” (8PM-9PM ET) and co-anchor of “Closing Bell” (3PM-4PM ET), “Fast Money MBA Challenge” features 32 current MBA students from eight business schools seeded according to their positioning contained within the 2007 US News & World Report Top Business Schools ranking. The competition is played in a traditional bracket format.

“Fast Money MBA Challenge” champions will receive $200,000, awarded by TD Ameritrade, to be split among all team members. The prize money must be used for tuition, repayment of school loans, books, room and board or other school related expenses.
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Jossip spoils the unmasking and outs the new TVNewser…

Great. Just great. Now 80% of my commenters who hated TVNewser because they thought he was on MSNBC’s payroll will have to contend with TVNewser being run by a guy who was on MSNBC’s payroll. I’m never going to hear the end of it. Thanks Laurel… (/sarcasm)

TVNewser scoops that Liz Claman has left CNBC. I thought CNBC had all their talent locked up “for years”? Guess not. Anyone want to start a pool on how long before FBN calls her agent?

CNN announced its coverage plans for the YouTube Debate on Monday…

CNN, YouTube and South Carolina Democratic Party on Monday, July 23, will offer the first of two unprecedented presidential debates that will feature the candidates responding to video questions submitted directly by the American public. Anderson Cooper will moderate the two-hour Democratic forum with questions submitted through YouTube and then answered by the candidates live on CNN.

The Democratic debate, the first presidential forum of the 2008 election cycle to be sanctioned by the Democratic National Committee, will be held at The Citadel in Charleston, S.C., on Monday, July 23, from 7 to 9 p.m. (ET) and will air live on CNN. The Republican presidential forum hosted by CNN and YouTube will take place on Monday, Sept 17, from 7 to 9 p.m. (ET) in Florida.
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Richard “Bo” Dietl has signed on with FNC as a contributor. He will analyze crime stories exclusively for the network.

UPDATE: Johnny Dollar emails in that Dick Morris must be thrilled…

CNN’s release on Kate Bolduan joining CNN Newsource…

Kate Bolduan is joining CNN Newsource’s Washington, D.C., bureau, it was announced today by Paul Crum, executive director of news operations, administration and affiliate services for CNN/U.S.

Bolduan will serve as a national correspondent and will report live from the scene of breaking news events and from the nation’s capital, providing live reports for more than 800 CNN Newsource partner stations.

“The addition of Kate helps us to continue to grow a well-rounded team of journalists from our D.C. ranks,” Crum said. “This lets us continue to provide the extensive reports and stories that are important to our Newsource affiliates.”
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GretaWire blogs about answering viewers questions…by video.

OK, now that you have sat back and read about my efforts to shoot video and post the video on gretawire.com, it is your turn to get to work. Yes, your turn to send me video which I may play on our show (if it is clean and relevant. OK, maybe it does not have to be relevant — but clean, yes.) Here is the plan: Send me a 30 seconds or less question you want to pose to our legal panel. E-mail it to: ontherecord@ureport.foxnews.com. And don’t tell me you don’t have time to do this — it is less than 30 seconds! Do it today since I want to do this tonight on the show (assuming I can talk my senior producer into it. I think I can — she acts tough but she is a pushover.)

The Washington Post’s Jose Antonio Vargas writes about the upcoming CNN/YouTube debate and talks with CNN’s David Bohrman…

“As much as I wish we could use the voting method of YouTube, I just don’t think it’s realistic,” Bohrman said. If the number of views determined the videos asked at the debate, then candidates could study the most-viewed videos and game the system, Bohrman explained. Furthermore, the most-viewed video as of Monday afternoon, he pointed out, asks if Arnold Schwarzenegger is a cyborg.

“This is the first time that online video gets a seat on the table to help elect a president,” Bohrman said, “and we don’t want to let it fall on its face.”

Christina Brown has started anchoring on MSNBC and NBC this week. According to the recently posted bio, she is now the Early Today/First Look anchor. The obvious question is what has become of Milissa Rehberger; the person who had been anchoring those programs four out of five days of the week? Is she still with the network? (image via TVheads)

In related news, there are rumors circulating of an overhaul to the MSNBC anchor pages/bios in the works. This may be related to the fact that MSNBC’s news anchors have shot another set of video promos. Similar in style to the set that launched on the air back in January, this batch is targeted at online distribution. The subject this time is rumored to be “Guilty Pleasures”…

The Washington Examiner’s Yeas & Nays blogs that FNC’s White House correspondent Brett Baier has a new baby boy…

Congratulations to FOX News Chief White House Correspondent Bret Baier and his wife, Amy, who recently welcomed a new baby into their lives. Paul Francis Baier was born at 12:34 p.m. June 29 at 6 pounds, 12 ounces.

Paul underwent extensive heart surgery last week at Children’s National Medical Center, but due to Dr. Richard Jonas and the care Paul received at Children’s, he is on the road to recovery, and the Baier family said they are excited to bring him home on Friday.

The St. Petersberg Times’ Aaron Sharockman writes about the location of the September 17th Republican Presidential debate on CNN…

“It’s going to be excellent,” said Tony DiMatteo, chairman of the Pinellas GOP. “We knew it was going on, but we were told keep our mouths shut.”

As part of an arrangement with the video-sharing Web site YouTube, questions for the debate will come from members of the online video community. This video format for the St. Petersburg debate will mirror a Democratic debate in South Carolina scheduled for Monday.

CNN’s Cooper will present participants with 30-second video clips featuring questions filmed and uploaded to YouTube by users from across the country.