Hot Air.com has the details…

Tonight on FBN, Neil Cavuto read on-air a letter that convicted ex-Tyco Chief Dennis Kozlowski sent exclusively to FOX Business Network. In it, Kozlowski expresses his shock and devastation of losing his appeal. Kozlowski said, “I will continue to do all that is possible to continue to appeal within the New York State justice system. Beyond that, I would seek all legal remedies available to me.”

Last night during the 6pm ET hour, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke gave a major speech at the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce regarding the economy. FBN covered the speech live. CNBC, however, stuck to its regular schedule by airing Mad Money, which was taped. At 7pm when CNBC was back to live programming, it opted not to air the remainder of Bernanke’s speech.

Back in June during NBC’s upfront, buried in articles in Variety and TVWeek were comments from Jeff Zucker regarding the cost cutting initiative NBCU 2.0…and how a new round of cuts was coming, total savings pegged somewhere between 1 and 1.5 Billion. That bombshell didn’t generate a lot of press at the time and the subject quickly faded from view. But it appears now that those cuts may begin to manifest themselves.

First, some additional background. By all accounts, NBC Entertainment suffered a bad November sweeps, which caused some talk of advertiser “re-appreciation” of NBC because their up front promises weren’t matching expectations. From a John Consoli Mediaweek article on the subject.

“In the last upfront, we gave NBC the benefit of the doubt. But if things keep up like this, we may have to take a different approach in the next upfront,” said another agency exec, who declined to speak for attribution. “If these huge ratings declines continue, we will have to look at NBC with a more jaundiced eye.”

The Writers’ Strike certainly didn’t help any as it forced not just NBC but everyone else to make some tough choices with regards to programming in the near term (like ending Heroes for the “season” in November). In addition it put the longterm planning for the rest of the 2007-2008 season in serious doubt. This can only add to the possibility of revenue shortfall.

So, not only were more cuts already planned but there is now the danger of future revenue shortfall if NBC Entertainment continues to underperform and the strike’s effects ripple throughout the company. These things can get circular. Cuts can affect programming which in turn can affect revenue which in turn can cause another round of cuts. And, fairly or unfairly, when cuts come one of the first things that’s looked at is News.

The reason I’m giving you all this backround is it sets the stage for what I’m about to write next.
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Cable News Daily Live Ratings for November 29, 2007

P2+ Total Day
FNC – 954,000 viewers
CNN – 496,000 viewers
MSNBC – 300,000 viewers
CNBC – 278,000 viewers
HLN – 249,000 viewers

P2+ Prime Time
FNC – 1,771,000 viewers
CNN – 734,000 viewers
MSNBC- 499,000 viewers
CNBC –329,000 viewers
HLN – 454,000 viewers

25-54 Total Day
FNC – 257,000 viewers
CNN – 158,000 viewers
MSNBC – 120,000 viewers
CNBC – 80,000 viewers
HLN- 104,000 viewers

25-54 Prime Time
FNC – 400,000 viewers
CNN – 163,000 viewers
MSNBC – 151,000 viewers
CNBC – 103,000 viewers
HLN – 207,000 viewers

Morning programs P2+ (25-54)
FOX & Friends – 1,015,000 viewers (341,000)
American Morning- 471,000 viewers (177,000)
Morning Joe – 257,000 viewers (128,000)
Morning Express w/ Meade- 243,000 viewers (115,000)
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The cable nets have been zeroed in on the Clinton campaign HQ story since it broke. I don’t know who had it first but a tipster says that CNN was last to switch over to the hostage drama fulltime because they were still covering the Chicago train derailment story. FNC just happened to have Carl Cameron in the area with FNC’s new ElectionLink vehicle and he’s been reporting on the story live both on the way in to and from the scene.

MSNBC pulled Chris Jansing in early (smart move) and she’s been co-anchoring the story with Contessa Brewer, while Norah O’Donnell has been reporting from D.C. on Hillary’s whereabouts.

Update: Anderson Cooper was reporting live from New Hampshire for CNN.

During the 6p hour of The Situation Room, once the hostage situation in NH had been contained by law enforcement, Wolf Blitzer advised viewers that early Friday afternoon, the CNN Washington bureau received a call from a woman inside Clinton campaign headquarters in Rochester, New Hampshire. The woman was very upset, and spoke with a CNN staffer, and then put the hostage taker, Leeland Eisenberg on the telephone.
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FishbowlDC has the letter from the group Citizens United to CNN asking for a retraction and changes made to last night’s “Campaign Killers” or it may sue the network…

CNN announced that it will air Christiane Amanpour’s “Czar Putin” CNN Investigates documentary on Friday, Nov 30th at 10pm ET…

With modern Russia flush with oil money wealth, President Vladimir Putin enjoys a 70 percent approval rating among the Russian people according to some polls. But Putin’s power and popularity may come at a price. Some observers say there is a dark side to Russia’s capitalistic miracle. Days ago, several political rivals of Putin were imprisoned, and many Russian journalists charge that the government intentionally intimidates the independent press.

As Russia’s parliamentary elections approach this weekend, chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour reports for CNN: Special Investigations Unit – Czar Putin, on Friday, Nov. 30, at 10 p.m., with replays on Saturday, Dec. 1, and Sunday, Dec. 2, at 1 a.m. and 10 p.m. All times Eastern.
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Variety’s John Dempsey writes about Jim Cramer’s new deal…

Cramer will not only continue to host the nightly hourlong “Mad Money w/Jim Cramer” at 6 EST but produce and host four primetime specials a year on the NBC broadcast network.

Sources say that Fox Business expressed strong strong interest in hijacking Cramer even though Fox News had fired him three years ago but that he wasn’t tempted to ankle CNBC, where he began the nightly “Mad Money” series in March 2005.

As part of his over-all deal, Cramer will write columns for CNBC.com and continue periodically to take the “Mad Money” series on the road to colleges across the U.S. He also appears on the “Stop Trading” segment of the afternoon “Street Signs” series and shows up occasionally as a guest analyst on the “Today” show.

An FBN executive with knowledge of the situation told ICN, “FBN never expressed any interest in Cramer and there were no discussions with his agent. We were approached by Jim about coming here and we turned him down given Mad Money lacks ratings and he was fired from FNC.”

The executive added, “Dempsey’s sloppy reporting has become industry fodder at this point – it’s clear he’s past his prime.”

CNBC put out a release noting its November ratings…

During November when the stock market has swung wildly, viewers tuned to CNBC, First in Business Worldwide, for fast, accurate, actionable and unbiased business news. In measured ratings, CNBC had its best November in total viewers since 2000 in Business Day and its best November in the key adults 25-54 year-old demographic since 2003. It was also CNBC’s best month in Business Day programming in total viewers since August 2002.

For November 2007, CNBC was up 42% in total viewers (286,000) in Business Day (5 AM-7 PM ET) compared with last November (201,000) and, again, the best month overall since August 2002.

CNBC was also up 22% compared with November 2006 for Business Day programming in the critical adults 25-54 demographic. It was CNBC’s best November in the adults 25-54 demo since November 2003.

During market hours (9:30 AM-4:00 PM) for November, CNBC was also up 22% versus last November in the key adults 25-54 demo with its best November since 2003.
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The Washington Post’s Howard Kurtz writes about the Kerr/YouTube controversy…

Moderator Anderson Cooper acknowledged the error involving Kerr after Bill Bennett, the conservative author and radio host who is a network contributor, raised it during a post-debate discussion. Bennett said yesterday that his radio producer e-mailed him information from a National Review blog.

“It shouldn’t have ever happened,” Bennett said. “You’ve got to vet that sort of thing.”

On CNN’s “American Morning,” Kerr said he has done nothing for the Clinton campaign and that the video was “a private initiative on my own.” He also said he has supported Republicans.

Bohrman said network staffers, struck by Kerr’s “very powerful” question, verified his military service and determined from federal records that he had made no campaign contributions. He said CNN never spoke to Kerr and had Google, which owns YouTube, bring the retired general and about a dozen other questioners to the debate because their videos were likely to be used, although no decision had been made.

Media Daily News’ Joe Mandese writes about a new online measurment service being worked on by Nielsen…

The new service, dubbed “Video Census,” not surprisingly initially focuses on video content being streamed and downloaded over online services, but if the marketplace embraces it, Manish Bhatia, president of global services and U.S. sales for Nielsen Online, said it ultimately would be rolled out to measure other forms of online content.

The system works by combining traditional panel based measurement to glean information that cannot be derived directly from the Internet, including profiles of individual users and data for publishers and video producers who do not actively “tag” their content.

“For sites that don’t tag, we will still attempt to report data, but we will get it from the panel,” Bhatia said, adding that if the system catches on he believes it would be in the best interest of content distributes to actively tag their programming to ensure it gets the best measurement.

“Our point of view is that both [panels and census] provide you with useful information and we came up with a solution that combines them,” he said, noting that the service is currently being tested by clients including Time Warner, MSNBC, Viacom, ESPN, CNET, Veoh and Heavy.com.

The Friends of Tucker are still going at it…

The Friends of Tucker website at SaveTucker.org has generated 1,000’s of emails to MSNBC Executives telling them to Save Tucker.

But it is not enough to save the best commentator on MSNBC today! Reportedly, Tucker’s ratings are on the rise, but we must urge our friends, family members, business associates and other like-minded viewers who enjoy Tucker Carlson and the perspective, wit and incisiveness that he brings to MSNBC.

Please act today to urge as many people as possible to go to www.SaveTucker.org and send MSNBC Executives a message by forwarding this information to those who agree with us.

According to this news wire Keith Olbermann will be writing about Intelligent Design in the Dec 21st issue of Sports Collectors Digest. That nearly threw me as well but upon closer examination it’s not that kind of Intelligent Design…

Ultimately, the noted baseball card collector and expert finds a significant and virtually indisputable link from the pioneering 19th century tobacco cards to the Depression-era bubble gum pasteboards in the 1930s, all the way to the modern, technological marvels of the $500-a-pack cards from the new millennium.

“Who better to confront a thorny issue like intelligent design than Olbermann?” said SCD editor T.S. O’Connell. “In his inimitable style, he provides an insider’s view of the many unique graphic elements that ultimately link the Old Judges of the 19th century to the jazzy post-2000 cardboard marvels.”

ICN hears that MSNBC has taped a new series of PSAs with some of its talent. No word on when the clips will start airing on the network…

The Politico’s Kenneth P. Vogel writes about the controversy swirling around last night’s CNN/YouTube debate…

CNN also aired questions from supporters of Democratic candidates John Edwards and Barack Obama.

And that’s fine by the network, which is standing by its question selection process and lashing out at critics who say the debate demonstrated CNN’s liberal bias.

“We’re focused on the questions, not the questioners,” said Sam Feist, CNN’s political director.

“There were 5,000 questions sent in and we wanted to have the best questions. I think we found them,” he said, pointing out that the estimated 4.9 million viewers made it the most-watched presidential primary debate in cable history.

Update: The Atlanta Journal Constitution’s Political Insider is also covering the story…
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MSNBC released a transcript of Mike Huckabee’s Hardball appearance tonight…

CHRIS MATTHEWS: Governor, I think you, like a lot of conservatives, believe in the original purpose of the Constitution as written. It’s our sort of secular bible. It says there should be no religious test ever required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States. Why are you Republican candidates submitting to religious vetting about your belief in the literal nature of the Bible? Why put up with those kind of questions?

GOV. MIKE HUCKABEE: Well, Chris, when guys like you quit asking it, we’ll quit answering it. But the fact is, we get asked these questions in the debates, and if we evade them, if we act like we’re not going to answer them, then we’re going to get hammered for being unwilling to address the questions that are put to us. So that’s why I keep answering them.
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Cable News Daily Live Ratings for November 28, 2007

P2+ Total Day
FNC – 889,000 viewers
CNN – 967,000 viewers
MSNBC – 272,000 viewers
CNBC – 235,000 viewers
HLN – 238,000 viewers

P2+ Prime Time
FNC – 1,662,000 viewers
CNN – 3,850,000 viewers
MSNBC- 424,000 viewers
CNBC –124,000 viewers
HLN – 400,000 viewers

25-54 Total Day
FNC – 246,000 viewers
CNN – 342,000 viewers
MSNBC – 111,000 viewers
CNBC – 67,000 viewers
HLN- 114,000 viewers

25-54 Prime Time
FNC – 394,000 viewers
CNN – 1,329,000 viewers
MSNBC – 154,000 viewers
CNBC – 56,000 viewers
HLN – 182,000 viewers

Morning programs P2+ (25-54)
FOX & Friends – 945,000 viewers (318,000)
American Morning- 394,000 viewers (128,000)
Morning Joe – 261,000 viewers (89,000)
Morning Express w/ Meade- 251,000 viewers (141,000)
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The St. Petersburg Times Eric Deggans blogs about last night’s CNN/YouTube debate…

I’m not sure who actually won tonight’s CNN/YouTube debate — distinguished mostly by the top candidates dancing around a series of surprisingly astute questions fielded from the public through the video sharing Web site.

But I know who lost: Host Anderson Cooper.

1440 Wall Street notes some confusing lower thirds involving a Charles Gasparino report on CNBC this morning.

But Charlie’s appearance was notable fot something else. CNBC ran a headline, Treasury Dept. Getting Frustrated With a Slow Pace of Superfund, a reference to the SIV Superfund that is apparently going to managed by BlackRock. But they ran another headline, Treasury Dept. Considering Similar Bailout to the 80’s and 90’s

An insider tells ICN that the issue was an incorrect “decko” got on the screen.

CNN is very pleased with the ratings results from last night’s Republican YouTube debate…

Last night’s CNN YOUTUBE Republican Primary Debate was yet another record-breaker with more than 4.4 Million viewers tuning into CNN. These deliveries exceed ALL other primary debates in Cable News History IN ALL DEMOS!

(8-10:11p)
P2+ - 4,486k
P18-34 - 516k
P18-49 - 1,300k
P25-54 - 1,540k
P55+ - 2,668k

Nearly 5 Million viewers tuned in on both CNN and Headline News (simulcast) for last night’s Republican Primary Debate (4,900k).

CNN’s Democratic Primary Debate at UNLV on November 15 is the second highest-rated debate in history with 4 Million total viewers.

Here is the primary debate ranker for this election season so far…
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Mike Huckabee will be appearing tonight on Hardball with Chris Matthews…

Tonight Republican presidential candidate Gov. Mike Huckabee plays “Hardball,” 5-6 p.m. ET on MSNBC. Huckabee will talk to host Chris Matthews about last night’s Republican presidential debate, considered by some to be contentious. Huckabee has recently been moving up in polls among Republican voters. A transcript will be available following tonight’s telecast.

Last night during his show’s Winners & Losers segment Dan Abrams exercised his acting muscles a bit over a segment involving Miss Puerto Rico. Video here…

The Baltimore Sun’s Mark Silva writes about Brigadier General Keith Kerr and the CNN debate…

” Following the debate, CNN learned that retired Brigadier Gen. Keith Kerr served on Clinton’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender steering committee,'’ the sponsors of the debate here said in a statement issued today. David Bohman, senior vice president and executive producer of the debate, added: “We regret this incident. CNN would not have used the general’s question had we known that he was connected to any presidential candidate.”

The sponsors had verified Kerr’s military service and found that he had not contributed money to any of the presidential candidates. And Kerr, who said he has done no work for the Clinton campaign, said he is a member of the Log Cabin Republicans and was representing no one other than himself. Kerr said in an interview here this morning that he had allowed his name to be used on Clinton committees because she “is such a strong advocate'’ for gay rights.

Yet the old general’s question was germane to this presidential debate, and one of the candidates had some trouble with it.

CNN announced the Sara Sidner appointment today (see here) as part of a larger release on expanding its presence in India…

CNN today announced the opening of new editorial operations in Chennai, India, as well as the appointment of two new India-based correspondents. Sara Sidner, currently of KTVU-TV in San Francisco/Oakland, will be the network’s New Delhi-based international correspondent starting in January 2008 while Liz Neisloss, a former CNN senior producer, will be based in Chennai effective immediately.

“The rapid growth in India in terms of global business and regional political influence underlines how crucial these appointments are as part of CNN’s international expansion,” said Parisa Khosravi, senior vice president of CNN International newsgathering. “With Sara and Liz now confirmed, we can combine that with the strength of our sister network CNN-IBN and have a powerful editorial presence in India.”
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MSNBC’s release…

John Reiss has been named executive producer of “Hardball with Chris Matthews,” it was announced today by Phil Griffin, Senior Vice President, NBC News and Executive in Charge of MSNBC. Reiss will also play a critical role in MSNBC’s political coverage throughout the election year. The appointment is effective immediately.

“I’m tremendously excited to have John join ‘Hardball’ as the 2008 election season heats up,” said Griffin. “He’s a terrific producer who knows politics and knows how to find and tell the big stories. He’s the perfect person to have in place at this critical time.”

“Hardball is incredibly fortunate to have recruited someone of John Reiss’ professional caliber,” said Chris Matthews, anchor and managing editor of “Hardball.” “He has the expertise, the experience and the imagination to give Hardball what it needs.”
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From the consider the source file, FAT Bastard Wines announed its second annual list of the Top 10 Most Pretentious People Poll. The poll is of “100 lifestlyle editors from Newspapers coast to coast”. Bill O’Reilly was the only cable news personality to make the top 10, coming in at number 3. The only other possible cable news match would be MSNBC wannabe Rosie O’Donnell who came in 4th…

#3. - Bill O’Reilly: Another man who’s moving up in the world of pretension is America’s “most influential conservative,” who last year sat in spot number four. As the Fox News Channel’s resident bully, O’Reilly is known for his feisty attitude, extraordinarily slanted views and his ill-tempered tantrums whenever a liberal notion creeps into the conversation.

HotAir.com has the details…

Michelle Malkin has found what she considers to be two more plants from last night’s CNN/YouTube debate. The first one, David Cercone, was a declared Obama supporter so I can’t dispute that one. The second however is a little more of a stretch. LeeAnn Anderson may be an activist with a union organization that’s declared support for Edwards but Malkin of all people should know that the Unions don’t always speak for all their members (that’s always been a point of contention for Republicans in general and Conservatives in particular regarding Unions and political activism). So simply having her be part of the Union is not reason to automatically make her suspect in my book.

Update: After looking over Malkin’s writing a bit more, the ties to the Union are stronger than they first appeared to me so I would now consider Anderson to be another plant.

Update 2: Malkin shows a third person who had another YouTube video where she’s wearing a John Edwards shirt.

A minor kerfuffle erupted at the end of the CNN/YouTube debate. During the debate Brigadier General Keith Kerr asked a question about gays in the Military. Only it turns out that Kerr was on a steering committee for Senator Hillary Clinton. CNN was not aware of this. Anderson Cooper said this at the end of the broadcast…

This was something that was unknown to us. Had we known it would have been disclosed by us. It turns out we have just looked at it. Apparently there was a press release some six months ago - Hillary Clinton’s office saying he had been named to some steering committee. We don’t know if he’s still on it. We’re trying to find out that information. Certainly had we had that information, we would have acknowledged that in using his question, if we had used it at all.

This looks bad for CNN, and will be played up big time by some.

Update: It’s all over Drudge.Video..

AdWeek’s Mike Shields writes about the ramifications and benefits/pitfalls of making the Wall Street Journal website free…

Many predict Murdoch also has plans for Dow Jones’ MarketWatch. Kramer believes it’s the perfect property to kick start FoxBusiness.com, which has surprised many rivals by exceeding 2.1 million unique users in its first month (versus the 821,000 uniques at CNBC.com, relaunched a year ago). Expectations were low for the site due to Fox News’ lackluster foray into the Web. Observers have also slammed its design. But the site’s managing editor, Ray Hennessey, said FoxBusiness.com has an advantage FoxNews.com did not: It was built in conjunction with the channel. “Where things have gone wrong is there is an absolute disconnect between Web and TV presence,” he said. “We did it [right]. We’re not an afterthought.”

Post your reactions to the CNN/YouTube debate here…

ICN has learned that tonight at a Jim Cramer book party it was announced that Cramer has signed a new multi-year deal with CNBC. Expect a release soon…

Update: The release…

CNBC, First in Business Worldwide, today announced that Jim Cramer, host of “Mad Money w/Jim Cramer” (6PM & 11PM ET), has signed a multi-year deal to remain with the network.

“Jim has played an integral part in CNBC’s rebirth. He is not only one of the most respected and successful Wall Street minds but also happens to be a great entertainer,” said Mark Hoffman, CNBC President. “I’m thrilled Jim will remain part of the CNBC family. When Jim Cramer speaks, people listen, and so does the market.”

In addition to hosting “Mad Money,” Cramer will continue his “Stop Trading” segment with CNBC’s Erin Burnett during “Street Signs” (2PM-3PM ET). Cramer will also begin contributing original content to the “Mad Money” homepage (madmoney.cnbc.com) on CNBC.com, the network’s official website.

“With my program, CNBC has given me the opportunity to break down the traditionally complicated stock market to engage and educate the next generation of Wall Street investors,” says Jim Cramer. “Doing ‘Mad Money’ everyday is my passion and I’m excited to be a part of this incredible network. This is the only team I want to play for.”
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Multichannel News’ Steve Donohue writes about the November numbers…

Fox News Channel dominated the all-news network ratings battle in November, while rival CNN saw the biggest ratings decrease in the all-news category.

FNC averaged a 0.7 total-day rating in November, according to Nielsen Media Research numbers, flat with the same period in 2006. CNN averaged a 0.4 rating, down 20%.

Update: The Hollywood Reporter’s Paul J. Gough…

MSNBC was the only network to show increases in primetime among adults 25-54, up 7%, while both CNN and Fox were down 15%.

Update 2: Broadcasting & Cable’s Marisa Guthrie…
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Cable News Daily Live Ratings for November 27, 2007

P2+ Total Day
FNC – 908,000 viewers
CNN – 511,000 viewers
MSNBC – 252,000 viewers
CNBC – 270,000 viewers
HLN – 273,000 viewers

P2+ Prime Time
FNC – 1,848,000 viewers
CNN – 873,000 viewers
MSNBC- 561,000 viewers
CNBC –274,000 viewers
HLN – 490,000 viewers

25-54 Total Day
FNC – 263,000 viewers
CNN – 175,000 viewers
MSNBC – 99,000 viewers
CNBC – 75,000 viewers
HLN- 126,000 viewers

25-54 Prime Time
FNC – 456,000 viewers
CNN – 220,000 viewers
MSNBC – 231,000 viewers
CNBC – 82,000 viewers
HLN – 173,000 viewers

Morning programs P2+ (25-54)
FOX & Friends – 798,000 viewers (285,000)
American Morning- 382,000 viewers (141,000)
Morning Joe – 235,000 viewers (68,000)
Morning Express w/ Meade- 259,000 viewers (142,000)
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