Inside Radio reports that The Radio Factor has been renewed for a year…

Insiders say O’Reilly has signed a one year contract extension that will keep him on radio – although there’s still no official confirmation from Westwood One. Chat room rumors of his exit were far-fetched, heading into the talk radio frenzy of election year and the recent pick-up of major market clearances in San Francisco, Denver and Washington, DC. O’Reilly’s current contract expires next month.

Following up on today’s Campbell Brown news, an insider tells ICN that former Paula Zahn Now staffers have been told to either look for work or they can re-apply to work on Brown’s show. Executive Producer Victor Neufeld is still at CNN but also on the way out. They still have not hired an EP yet for Brown’s program (it’s still early given the show won’t debut until February). Once CNN ends AC 360’s second hour, the slot will likely go to a repeat of Lou Dobbs Tonight.

What happened to TMZ’s Harvey Levin on MSNBC? He used to be a fixture on MSNBC Live during the Anna Nicole, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, and Britney Spears stories. But he hasn’t been seen on MSNBC Live in a while. Why has he apparently been dropped? Could it be because TMZ is coming out with a syndicated TV show and NBC was worried about promoting a program’s host who would be in direct competition with NBC’s own syndicated “Access Hollywood”? I don’t know the answer. But it’s an interesting point to ponder.

Earlier this week, FBN announced their anchor line-up and said Peter Barnes joined the network from his position as Washington bureau chief for Hearst-Argyle Television.…..an astute reader points out that Barnes served in that position up until 2004. In the interim, he has been the Executive Director of the Wheelchair Foundation…..nothing sinister going on here though….when I questioned FBN about it, I was told they were simply noting his last major position in television which is customary in network press releases like these.

Dan Rather appeared on “Your World with Neil Cavuto” this afternoon to discuss the latest developments in his lawsuit against CBS. Transcript highlights follow…

Cavuto: Dan, you and I work in a system where contracts can be torn up for a variety of reasons, right? Maybe you’re not getting ratings, or you’re at the whim of management. You were in the middle of something very controversial. End of story, right?

Rather: No, not end of story. It is true that big corporations such as Viacom and CBS can make their own decisions. But a written contract is a written contract. And this contract was written in such a way that if they remove me from the anchor chair, which they had the right to do, they were obligated by contract to make me a full-time regular correspondent– first a combination of 60 Minutes II and 60 Minutes, but any time 60 Minutes II was to be taken off the air, that I was to go immediately to 60 Minutes as a full-time correspondent.

Cavuto: How far along were you in your contract? How many years did you have to go?

Rather: When the Bush/Guard story started, that was 2004 in September. And the contract ran until the end of 2006. But fair dealing is part of this lawsuit.
(more…)

Broadcasting & Cable’s Marissa Guthrie scoops that Campbell Brown’s CNN show won’t debut until after her maternity leave and she’ll be doing a series of specials for the network until she goes on maternity leave…

Campbell Brown will make her debut on CNN not on her own primetime show, which is set to bow in February, but in a series of political specials to air in November.

When Brown left NBC News in July after 11 years with the network, one of the conditions of her exit was that she would not appear on CNN until November. But with Brown due to give birth to her first child in late December, the timing was less than convenient.

This was a wise move by CNN. Last month I noted the traction trouble CNN would face if it debuted Brown’s show only to have her leave for months due to her pregnancy. By keeping Sanchez’s “Out in the Open” going during her maternity leave, CNN has probably done all it can to mitigate the damage that could be done to that timeslot.

Cable News Daily Ratings for September 20, 2007

P2+ Total Day
FNC – 943,000 viewers
CNN – 625,000 viewers
MSNBC – 280,000 viewers
CNBC – 222,000 viewers
HLN – 278,000 viewers

P2+ Prime Time
FNC – 1,755,000 viewers
CNN – 1,322,000 viewers
MSNBC – 549,000 viewers
CNBC – 280,000 viewers
HLN – 509,000 viewers

25-54 Total Day
FNC – 267,000 viewers
CNN – 224,000 viewers
MSNBC – 96,000 viewers
CNBC – 76,000 viewers
HLN – 120,000 viewers

25-54 Prime Time
FNC – 414,000 viewers
CNN – 462,000 viewers
MSNBC – 191,000 viewers
CNBC – 136,000 viewers
HLN – 170,000 viewers

Morning programs P2+ (25-54)
FOX & Friends – 1,084,000 viewers (401,000)
American Morning- 412,000 viewers (133,000)
MSNBC Live (7-9am) – 174,000 viewers (50,000)
Robin & Co. – 236,000 viewers (126,000)
(more…)

Chris Wallace talks about this Sunday’s Hillary Clinton interview on Fox News Sunday…

Erik J. Kuhn blogs about his USC interview with CNBC’s Jim Cramer. The interview airs on Trojanvision.com at 8 and 11pm ET…

After several questions about the economy, my executive producer, Justin Mandel, wanted to see if Cramer could predict, instead of stocks, the success of the new upcoming television shows. I debated back and forth if we should do this. After all, Cramer knows daily stock prices by heart, so he probably does not have time to follow TV shows as well. But I decided to go with it, throwing a few show names at him. He knew all of them and gave smart-sounding predictions. This guy rocks!

Now, there was no going back to questions about sub-prime mortgages. I asked him about Paris Hilton, Lindsey Lohan, John Stewart, Stephen Colbert and other pop-culture icons. He was right there dishing about what he thought (something about Hilton’s eye). How many other 50+ year-olds even know the difference between Paris and Lindsey?

Finally, I had one more question: “What was the last song you downloaded onto your iPod?”

Answer: “Buy U a Drank.”

Huh? Is that a joke?

Johnny Dollar has the audio from today’s Brian and The Judge radio program where Greg Gutfeld gives out a few tidbits on Red Eye, including how his mother became a part of the show…

On Saturday, FNC’ will air “American Commander: General David Petraeus” hosted by Jon Scott at 9pm ET. The special will examine the early life of the General with interviews from childhood friends, West Point classmates and former co-workers.

Today’s conflicts require that a modern American General be a student of history. In this one hour FOX News special, join veteran correspondent and anchor Jon Scott as we take an in-depth look at the life and times of General David Petraeus from his childhood in Cornwall, New York to his historic mission in Iraq.

CNN’s release on Hillary Clinton appearing on this Sunday’s Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer…

Presidential candidate Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) will appear on the Sunday, September 23, edition of CNN’s Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer. In a wide-ranging interview, Sen. Clinton will discuss hot political topics including her recently unveiled health care plan, the war in Iraq and the status of her bid for the 2008 democratic presidential nomination. Plus, in a CNN exclusive, Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt will respond to Sen. Clinton’s plan for universal health care.

Wolf Blitzer also will interview Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE), who will discuss Iraq war strategy and party politics. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner will speak about two previous controversial statements he made regarding his suggestion that the world should prepare for a possible war with Iran and his call for Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki to be replaced.

TVbytheNumbers.com has started charting Bill O’Reilly vs. Keith Olbermann in the ratings using both Live and Live+SD numbers….

All of the cable networks led their morning shows with news of the Delaware State University campus shootings. The campus is on lockdown after a shooting involving two people there, and the search for the shooter continues.

FNC’s Caroline Shively and FOX affiliate WTXF reported for FOX News from the scene throughout the morning. A press conference from the University is expected some time today.

Dan Rather will be a appearing on Your World with Neil Cavuto today at 4pm ET, to discuss the lawsuit against CBS…

The new Fox Report debuts on Monday. TVNewser has an email regarding a series of satellite interviews Shepard Smith will do. Here are more details regarding the program…

- The set will feature a new high-tech environment, complete with multiple plasma screens, a single rear-screen projection wall, a double rear-projection wall and a large LED stealth wall, enabling Smith to provide viewers with even more video and valuable information in real-time.

- In addition to an advanced set, FOX Report will feature a regular segment utilizing new media and “U Report,” a viewer-generated content initiative. Tapping into the Internet community of blogs and citizen video, the program will select unique personalities who will present commentary from pop culture, to politics, to current events.

Everyone has been talking, either in support or in opposition to, that MoveOn.org ad regarding General Petraeus being called General Betray Us. But MoveOn weren’t the first to use this term…

August 16, 2007 Thursday

SHOW: COUNTDOWN 8:00 PM EST

COUNTDOWN for August 16, 2007

BYLINE: Keith Olbermann

GUESTS: Jonathan Alter, Brandon Friedman, Arianna Huffington, Kevin Poulsen, Uri Geller

LENGTH: 7161 words

HIGHLIGHT: Which of these stories will you be talking about tomorrow?

KEITH OLBERMANN, MSNBC HOST: Which of these stories will you be talking about tomorrow? The Petraeus report, less Petraeus, more betrayaeus (ph). The definitive assessment of the surge will not only not be written by General Petraeus, it will not be presented by General Petraeus. Secretaries Gates and Rice will be the messengers. The White House insists General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker will be there to testify.

Update: Olbermann Watch noted this a week ago…

Update 2: This KOS link provides more backstory to the origins of this nickname…

Keith Olbermann tagged Bill O’Reilly Worst Person in the World for his DVR ratings request to radio listeners last week.

That Olbermann was going to give O’Reilly the business for this was a given. But what interested me was this whole “Nielsen was furious” statement Olbermann made. The obvious question is how does Olbermann know Nielsen was furious? Presumably, if Nielsen indeed was furious it would voice that privately with FNC. So how would Olbermann know? Did Countdown/MSNBC really bug Nielsen for some sort of response? I suppose that’s possible. It wouldn’t be the first time Nielsen had to step in to referee something between two cable news channels…

Question: If it’s a no-no to talk about numbers why is Olbermann doing it then? If it’s bad for O’Reilly to do it, isn’t it bad for Olbermann as well?

Update: An industry veteran not associated with cable news emailed in that you can talk about beating someone in the ratings but you can’t solicit ratings.

Update 2: From another emailer - Nielsen has to approve all ratings ads – they don’t approve what’s said on the air.

Update 3: An insider tells ICN that FNC has not received any calls from Nielsen Media Research.

CNBC has successfully moved its Master Control out of the MSNBC building in Secaucus to the CNBC facility at Englewood Cliffs. Up next, moving MSNBC’s Master Control…

Unless this news broke while I was away at the end of August, The New York Post’s Michael Starr scoops that CNBC is giving Barbara Corcoran a show…

Barbara Corcoran’s fall CNBC show should have some added oomph - pro ducer Susan Krakower also created Jim “Mad Money” Cramer’s CNBC sweat-fest.

Variety’s Michael Learmonth writes about Dave Ramsey’s hiring by FBN…

Fox host Neil Cavuto summarized Ramsey’s philosophy during an interview on “Your World With Neil Cavuto.” “Watch your debt, watch your spending — you are going to make a nation of TV viewers get extremely cheap,” he said.

Hiring of Ramsey reflects the sharply different approach FBN is taking from that of CNBC, whose current offerings such as “Mad Money” or “Fast Money” are geared not toward solving personal financial problems but providing an aspirational entree to Wall Street.

Ramsey’s three-hour radio show originates in Nashville, and that’s where he’s staying. Ramsey has a rudimentary TV studio there, and a spokesman said FBN will build out a more elaborate set for the new show.

In The Washington Post…

I apologize to MSNBC talk-show host Joe Scarborough and to The Post for the cutting description of Mr. Scarborough in a Sept. 7 op-ed, “Guilty in the Duke Case,” by me and KC Johnson about the Duke lacrosse case. I wrote that description on the basis of transcripts of “Scarborough Country” programs early in the Duke case. My attention has since been drawn to transcripts of several subsequent programs, and I realize that Mr. Scarborough was one of the handful of journalists who deserve credit for calling attention early in the case to the emerging evidence of innocence.

I am very sorry that because of insufficient research, the op-ed suggested otherwise.