Olbermann left MSNBC a year ago and was hired by Al Gore and ambulance-chasing lawyer Joel Hyatt in February at a rumored salary of $10 mil a year and a large footprint. Mission Impossible: to turn the obscure cable network into a liberal political instrument. His MSNBC Countdownretread debuted in June.
Stelter on Olbermann's latest weirdness after "technical difficulties" cut the lights in Olbermann's Current TV studio:"In early December, Mr. Olbermann suddenly started to broadcast from a
darkened studio, with nothing but a black backdrop behind him."
The issue was resolved but: "Mr. Olbermann apparently decided to stay in the dark for the remainder of the month."
CNN plucks an apt name for the new morning show debuting January 2: Starting Point. Soledad O'Brien is the recycled host. Huff PostTHR
Early Start is the name of the 5-7a show.
Starting Point is building a presence on Twitter. Wikipedia. Same with Early Start. Let's hope CNN's ratings-challenged a.m. presence is starting off on the right foot.
Unlike MSNBC, which made it perfectly clear which Dem presidential candidate they preferred -- Obama over Hillary -- the Wash Post's Paul Farhi finds "there’s not much evidence to suggest that Fox News has crowned any one candidate as the eventual nominee."
Politico's Playbook -- MSNBC's Morning Joe content provider and pimper of all things MSNBC -- buries the lede Friday, slipping in this little gem in the second to last paragraph.
Allen left out this part of Byers's story: We’ve reached out to MSNBC to ask why anchors only started disclosing
the connection now, but have yet to hear back. But the connection
certainly doesn't seem to be providing Romney with much favorable
coverage:
“Mitt Romney`s history at Bain Capital is not going to help his image
as a job creator,” Schultz said on last night’s show. “Now, we want to
disclose that NBC Universal and Bain Capital are each a part owner of
the Weather Channel. Bain Capital`s main business model is buying
companies like American Pad and Paper and restructuring them. In many
instances, Bain turned a profit by strip-mining these companies.
American -- AMPAD is what it`s known. The stock was driven down and the
company went bankrupt. They fired hundreds of workers along the way.”
Emmy award-winning CBS News 48 Hours ex-producer Joe Halderman, whose life as he knew it ceased to exist in 2009 when he was caught trying to extort $2 mil from David Lettterman after he found out the married Letterman was dicking around with Halderman's girlfriend, is off the beach with a full-time gig. Halderman is On The Case with Paula Zahn. Richard Huff NYDN
Convicted felon Halderman spent four months in the pen in 2010.
27. Anderson Cooper’s disappointing talk show. Sigh. He should have waited for Regis to retire. 35. The Murdoch phone-hacking scandal. Has there ever been a better example of schadenfreude? 41. Brian Williams: the next Walter Cronkite or the next Johnny Carson? 55. Andy Rooney signs off for the last time
Fox Newsprogramming geniusRoger Ailes channels Carnac the Magnificient:
Answer: "The Five."
Question: "Who replaces Glenn Beck?"
Andrea Tantaros, Bob Beckel, Eric Bolling, Dana Perino, Greg Gutfeld
NYT's Brian Stelter: So, about a week and a half before Mr. Beck signed off, Mr. Ailes wrote the words “The Five” on a piece of paper.
Stelter: "So far this month it had 1.6 million daily viewers, matching Mr. Beck’s final numbers for the first time. . . . And most important, the advertisers that had shunned Mr. Beck are coming back to the time slot."
Have the other "revolving hosts" touted in Fox's July press release been rotated out? Geraldo, Andrew Napolitano, Monica Crowley. Just asking . . . Press release via TV by the Numbers
PEJ:CNN also covered lifestyle, celebrity and sports more heavily
(comprising 4% together) than Fox (3%) or MSNBC (2%). And it covered
disasters more heavily (7%) than Fox (3%) or MSNBC (3%). The two channels whose evening programming is dominated by ideological
talk show hosts, Fox News and MSNBC, were actually more similar in their
news agendas generally.
So MSNBC blowhard Ed Schultz hammers Fox & Friends for "exploiting Christmas." Curvy couch Ghost of Christmas Future caveats from nattering nabobs of negativism scaring the bejeezus out of viewers. Huff Post
Michelle Obama took a handful of phone calls from kiddies wondering where Santa was on the Christmas Eve globe. NORAD's Santa tracker confirms St. Nick stopped in Hawaii before heading for the North Pole. Wash Post
After convincing a kid Santa was flying over Estonia, the First Lady was busted like the Wizard of Oz by the kid's father who asked her what she wanted for Christmas.
Michelle: "Who, me?" Dad: "Yeah."
Michelle: "I have what I wanted for Christmas: the President is here with us, and
we're all together as a family. I think we were all praying and
praying, and asking Santa, and the Tooth Fairy, and every fairy that
they could think of -- that's what Malia and Sasha were doing -- that he
would be able to be with us on Christmas."
"Out with the old, in with the new. CNBC’s been saying goodbye to a lot of staff in the last few months. CNBC Europe chief Mike Buckley, who’s been on the job for the past eight years is exiting, as is London correspondent Guy Johnson, who’s joining Bloomberg TV.
Anchors Melissa Francis, Erin Burnett and Trish Regan all departed this year after running headlong into the glass ceiling known as Maria Bartiromo, the longtime anchorwoman."NYP
Michelle Obama's getting a lot of flack for telling Babs Walters that it is "practical" to put herself at the top of her "priority list" in an Exclusive! pimp interview that ran on ABC News 20/20 Friday night.
Watch the bite. Translation: The First Lady is an insufferable bitch if she doesn't get her way.
Must-watch video: Obama loses his peculiar hand jive bounding off Air Force One after AF1 hauled Obama's selectively lazy ass to "Ha-vy-ee" following his signing of that payroll tax thing Friday guaranteeing workers 40 bucks more in their paychecks. A buck less than what Obama forked over this week for two dog toys during a Christmas shopping trip with First Dog Bo.
Obama headed for his favorite sushi haunt where he hooked up with "practical" Michelle "for sushi at $5-$9 per piece. But not just any sushi. Less than half an hour after reaching his
vacation hideaway, the middle class warrior was out the door and making
his way to the fabulous Morimoto Waikiki, the restaurant of the famous
Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto." Keith Koffler White House Dossier
Koffler: "Perhaps the president whetted his appetite with one of the hot appetizer
selections, like the Oyster Foie Gras at $22 a pop – a whole week’s
worth of Social Security tax savings – or the Spicy Alaskan King Crab
for $26."
Related: I swear two-time teleprompter-stumbling Michelle Obama had a few belts (not boob) before shooting this heartfelt Christmas message:
"CNN too often seems to think loud noises and cute moments are a good fit
for the news. But cable news doesn't need another voice to yell over
everyone else, it needs someone who can ask questions and be frank about
the fact that the status quo is broken. Could Lemon be the guy to fix
it?" Wyatt Williams Creative Loafing Atlanta
Lemon on how CNN views him:"I think they want me to be the good-looking black guy. That's what I think. I don't know."
Lemon greets the reporter "in pin-striped pajamas and a loose white tee."
Lemon "has a full, masculine build and a commanding presence that puts one
in mind of a politician. In person, his smooth, cream-in-coffee
complexion looks as flawless at home as it does under layers of
television makeup. His smile is striking. It is not an overstatement to
say that his clear eyes literally glitter in the sunlight."
He "combs his hair with an Afro pick, the classic kind with the big, black fist for a handle."
"Sure, he's a bit vain and a little cocksure, but this guy wants the news
to be just as much of a star as himself. He doesn't want to be the
loudest voice in the room, he wants to ask questions. It seems so
simple, but it might be the best bet cable news has for a future."
MSNBC mad dog Ed Schultz's wag the dog prop turns on him when, during a segment blasting Fox News for criticizing Obama's orchestrated Christmas shopping trip with First Dog Bo, the blasphemous star of the Obamas' Christmas card, Rex spies Bo on MSNBC's studio monitor. NewsBusters vid.
WH going full-tilt boogie shaming House Repubs to pass the two-month payroll tax cut extension giving Americans 40 bucks more in their paychecks. Wash Post
To Obama, #40dollars means two dog toys. People mag
Bone appetit: $41 bucks for large bone and chew toy at PetSmart.
The WH staged the Everyman stunt at the same Alexandria, Virginia mall where Michelle Obama was photographed in an orchestrated Target shopping spree.
At Best Buy where he bought nearly $200 worth of stuff, Obama chews the fat with the cashier: "Let's see if my credit card still works. Ah, it'll be really embarrassing if it, uh, if it doesn't, uh, if it doesn't go through."
RE: chewing fat. Longtime Wisconsin Repub Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner got his ample ass chewed after someone overheard him on his cell phone in an airport club whining about Michelle Obama's "large posterior" and Reported It To The Media.ABC News reports Sensenbrenner is apologizing.
