U.S. News & World Report’s Bonnie Erbe blogs about something Bill Kristol said on yesterday’s Fox News Sunday…

Magazine editor, TV commentator, and New York Times columnist William Kristol made one of the most nonsensical and uselessly offensive of them all over the weekend, however, on Fox News Sunday. Call it what you will: a brain cramp, a minor stroke, an unforgivably loose-tongued moment, an inept attempt at humor. Whatever it was, it was offensive:

Kristol: Look, the only people for Hillary Clinton are the Democratic establishment and white women. The Democratic establishment—it would be crazy for the Democratic Party to follow an establishment that’s led it to defeat year after year. White women are a problem, that’s, you know—we all live with that. [laughter]

Juan Williams (National Public Radio correspondent and Fox News contributor): Not me!

Brit Hume (moderator): Bill, for the record, I like white women.

Kristol: I know, I shouldn’t have said that.

No, Bill, you shouldn’t have. First of all, neocons’ stock is remarkably low in Washington circles these days, as they are being deservedly blamed for the failed invasion of Iraq. Why go turn off for no apparently good reason a sizable chunk of the American population?

Silicon Alley Insider’s Michael Learmonth writes about CNBC’s ratings…

But the numbers were a mixed picture. In total viewers, CNBC was up 28% in January (302,000) from a year ago (236,000). But CNBC’s advertisers only care about the 25-54 demographic, and in that demo CNBC was down double-digits across the board, which hits the network’s bottom line.

The theory that market turmoil brings viewers has a flipside: depressed investors turn off the coverage when things get bad. Another theory: Political coverage could be siphoning off CNBC’s adult viewers. We’ll look at FNC, CNN and MSNBC numbers for January to see if that could be the case.

Daily Live+SD Ratings for February 4, 2008

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Alan Colmes will interview former President Bill Clinton tonight on his radio program which airs at 10PM ET.

FNC’s Super Tuesday coverage plans…

FOX News Channel will provide 24 hours of live wall-to-wall coverage on Super Tuesday from 5:00AM ET on February 5th to 5:00AM ET on February 6th. All programming will emanate from the brand new election headquarters studio – the You Decide 2008 decision desk will also be stationed there.

FOX & Friends will begin at 5:00AM followed by Bill Hemmer, Megyn Kelly and Jon Scott from 9:00AM-Noon ET. Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes, along with Jane Skinner, will take over from Noon -2:00PM ET, and then On the Record’s Greta Van Susteren and Martha MacCallum will anchor from 2:00PM- 4:00PM ET. Following them, Shepard Smith takes the hosting duties from 4:00-6:00PM ET (while Neil Cavuto provides business insight regarding the economy, gas prices and jobs).
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Tomorrow during the 7:00am ET hour - Rudy Giuliani (in studio), Mitt Romney, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama will all appear on FOX & Friends to discuss the importance of Super Tuesday to each of their campaigns.

Rupert Murdoch will be appearing on Your World with Neil Cavuto today at 4pm ET to discuss News Corp. earnings.

Update: Higlights…

On talking about the company’s success:

“Yesterday, for instance, we’ve had the greatest day ever in the history of the network…we took in over 250 million dollars in revenue. And, it was a great game.”

On the reports of moving the WSJ to midtown:

“We would like to do that but we haven’t worked it out fully yet. I think when you take over a company and you want to make changes, it’s good to do everything you can to change the culture and a physical move is a big and useful thing to do.

It would be for everybody….that’s the hope…I think it would take a year.”

On FBN:

“We’re very, very confident and very, very proud of it.”

Update 2: News Corp. release on earnings. FNC section highlight…
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…goes to this one by Henry Blodget on Silicon Alley Insider…

NBC’s Zucker: Fox Business News Irrelevant. CNBC Ratings Rock

I saw that and thought…oh what did Zucker say now that will come back to hurt CNBC? FBN is still dining on that “not concerned” public stance from before it launched. But I’m sure it wouldn’t turn down another free lunch if it were presented one.

It turns out however that the headline rather overstates things. Jeff Zucker was talking in very reserved fashion about any ratings impact to CNBC since FBN launched. He wasn’t antagonistic and didn’t even discuss the relevancy of CNBC’s competition. So I’m sort of at a loss to understand how Blodget gets from what Zucker actually said to “Fox Business News Irrelevent…”

Tonight at 10pm on Bloomberg TV’s “Night Talk,” Mike Schneider interviews Tom Ridge about the campaign, national security, waterboarding, and foreign policy challenges for next president. Ridge, a National Co-Chair for the McCain Campaign, was formerly Secretary of Homeland Security and Governor of Pennsylvania.

Also on “Night Talk,” John Engler, President and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers, talks about the economic stimulus package and reducing the corporate capital gains rate. Engler, former Governor of Michigan, delivered the eulogy for Mitt Romney’s father George Romney in 1995.

CNN announced that it will be doing a live event on Super Tuesday from the Time-Warner Center in New York at 12pm ET…

CNN and TIME magazine combine the expertise of their top political correspondents in front of a live studio audience for “CNN-TIME America Votes 2008” as Americans vote on Super Tuesday, the most important primary day of the 2008 election.

“CNN-TIME America Votes 2008,” airing on Feb. 5 at noon (ET) will feature CNN’s Emmy Award-winning political lineup as well as top members of TIME’s political team as they examine the presidential candidates and the issues facing 2008 voters as they head to the polls. The special will broadcast from the Time Warner Center in New York City as part of the “Time Warner Conversations on the Circle” series.
Anchored by Campbell Brown, the program will feature three panels:
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CNN announced its coverage plans for Super Tuesday…

Building upon growing viewership and unrivaled coverage to date, CNN’s Best Political Team on Television goes around the clock with 40 hours of non-stop political programming and employs the most innovative presentation of election results in history for its coverage of Super Tuesday.

Based at the CNN Election Center in New York and with top political correspondents and analysts positioned in key battleground states across the nation, lead political anchor Wolf Blitzer, joined by Lou Dobbs, Anderson Cooper, Soledad O’Brien and Campbell Brown, will guide the network’s special coverage, along with CNN’s team of political analysts and reporters. In addition, the CNN Election Center undergoes its biggest test of the election season to date as voters in 24 states head to the polls.
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FNC’s release on Karl Rove joining as a contributor…

Karl Rove, Senior Advisor and former Deputy Chief of Staff to President George W. Bush, has joined FOX News as a contributor. Rove will make his debut during Fox News Channel’s (FNC) live primetime coverage of Super Tuesday on February 5th.

At the White House, Rove oversaw the Office of Political Affairs, Office of Public Liaison, Office of Strategic Initiatives, and Intergovernmental Affairs Office. Prior to his tenure there, Rove was the chief strategist for the Bush-Cheney 2000 Presidential campaign and served as president of Karl Rove & Company, a public affairs firm based in Austin, Texas.
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Bloomberg TV’s Super Tuesday coverage plans…

Tomorrow Bloomberg News will deliver nonstop multimedia coverage of Super Tuesday late into night via BLOOMBERG TELEVISION®, BLOOMBERG RADIO® and BLOOMBERG.COM® and on the BLOOMBERG PROFESSIONAL® service. As voters cast their ballots in the Democratic and Republican primaries and caucuses, Bloomberg will provide comprehensive Super Tuesday coverage from New York, Washington and Bloomberg’s network of bureaus across the nation and around the world. Bloomberg viewers and listeners will be kept up to date on Wall Street’s reaction with reports and interviews.

BLOOMBERG TELEVISION – Business and the Ballot
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On the heels of CNN’s big broadband video initiative push for CNNMoney.com, January was a record setting traffic month for the site. Records were set in the following key metrics (based on Omniture data):

- Monthly Unique Vistors – 27.7 Million (up 15% versus the previous high)

- Monthly Page Views – 422 Million (again up 15% versus the previous high month)

- Video Streams – 8 Million (over 5x greater than the previous high)

(From today’s print edition of The New York Times, page C1)

Memo to the Times: Joe Klein was the author of Primary Colors. Jonathan Klein is the President of CNN. But at least the Times is being consistent. The web version has the same gaffe…

(video via Johnny Dollar)

The Washington Post’s Howard Kurtz writes about how the McCain/Clinton joint appearance came down on Fox News Sunday yesterday…

Advisers to Hillary Clinton and John McCain felt misled yesterday when “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace prodded the candidates into talking to each other after they had agreed to be interviewed separately.

While McCain was being interviewed in Washington, Clinton aides grew suspicious when producers asked her to remain in the interview chair in St. Louis for 15 minutes — ostensibly so she could hear his comments — and refused to turn off her mike so she could have a private conversation. That enabled Wallace to tell McCain that he was about to interview the former first lady and “well, actually, she’s right there right now. Senators, do you want to say anything to each other?”

No harm was done — both candidates said they looked forward to a “respectful debate” if they face off in November — but the McCain side was particularly unhappy.

CNBC announced it will air a live two hour Super Tuesday special tomorrow night from 7-9pm ET…

CNBC, First in Business Worldwide, will broadcast a two-hour, live Super Tuesday special, “Your Money, Your Vote,” on Tuesday, February 5th (7 PM-9 PM ET) when voters in 24 states go to the polls to vote in the 2008 Presidential primaries.

“Your Money, Your Vote,” anchored by CNBC’s Larry Kudlow, will provide expert analysis on the economic and political issues viewers need to know from Wall Street to Main Street to Washington, DC. The program will also include late-breaking exit polls and early returns from states where polls have closed as well as coverage from CNBC and NBC News correspondents across the country in key Super Tuesday states. CNBC’s Chief Washington Correspondent John Harwood will provide in-depth analysis of the issues that affect the economy, the markets and viewers’ pocketbooks.
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Page Six relishes speculating about a wardrobe change at CNBC…

THE suits at CNBC are said to be so worried about their blonde Fox Business Network competition that they’ve brought in a new wardrobe stylist to re-dress their anchorbabes, an inside source reports. Gone are the business suits that on-air cuties Becky Quick, Erin Burnett and Michelle Caruso-Cabrera used to wear. “All of a sudden, they wear nothing but form-fitting V-necks in bright colors and they’ve gotten all new clothes,” said our source. “Pants are no longer relevant.” A CNBC rep said, “Not true. No wardrobe change.”

The AP’s David Bauder writes about Super Tuesday…

The Super Tuesday presidential primaries this week top off an unexpectedly thrilling and profitable month for television news with a super mystery.

One day, primaries in nearly half of the states and two contested races - it has never happened before, certainly not on this scale. November election nights are massive undertakings, but networks generally know from experience what to plan for.

This time, not so much.

But there is one section Bauder pens which doesn’t make any sense…
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FOX News kicked off Super Tuesday coverage with Shepard Smith in Glendale Arizona and Megyn Kelly and Bill Hemmer from FNC’s election headquarters in New York. “FOX Super Sunday” kicked off at 9am ET with Chris Wallace interviewing both McCain and Clinton during FOX News Sunday. There was a little surprise as both the frontrunners were put on the screen together and shared a short exchange. The next two hours belonged to Shep as he interviewed Roger Goodell, NFL commissioner, and he wasn’t shy in asking him the tough questions about “spygate” the morning of the Super Bowl. He also interviewed a man he greatly admires, Archie Manning, the father of Eli, and got to roam around the field giving a behind the scenes tour where hours later the Super Bowl would begin. And, from New York, Bill Hemmer and Megyn Kelly debuted FNC’s new election studio….coverage of Super Tuesday will emanate from that location. Also featured in the hour was Major Garrett’s interview with Barack Obama. The special also showed the power and synergy of FOX by bringing in the upstart FOX Business Network. Shep talked to Alexis Glick live from Arizona about the business angles of the Super Bowl, such as the anticipated commercials…

Major Garrett interviewing Barack Obama.

“You know I think it’s not going to be as decisive as we thought it might be two months ago. Because we don’t have a winner-take-all and you know the polls have tightened. I think there’s no doubt Senator Clinton has an advantage. She remains better known nationally than I do. But you know we’ve been chipping away at her lead and I think we’re going to do well enough at coming out of Super Tuesday.”

“I think we’re going with chili tonight, man. I think we’re going with chili and beer.”
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