Rev. Al Sharpton has been officially named the host of the 6 PM hour on MSNBC. The network announced Tuesday that Sharpton will host "PoliticsNation" on weeknights starting August 29.
Sharpton has been the de facto host of the hour for many weeks, but no official announcement had been made until Tuesday. He replaced Cenk Uygur as the all-but-official 6 PM host after Uygur's acrimonious exit from MSNBC in July.
The choice of Sharpton to host the hour has been marked by some controversy. MSNBC was criticized for not hiring a black journalist as a host, and there were charges that Sharpton's close ties to Comcast and the Obama White House helped him get the role. For his part, Sharpton dimissed these concerns, saying he was becoming the host because of his career in activism.
"I am very happy and honored to join the MSNBC team as we collectively try to get America to ’Lean Forward,’" Sharpton said in a statement. "It is a natural extension of my life work and growth. We all learn from our pain and stand up from our stumbling and one must either learn to lean forward or fall backwards. I'm glad they have given me the opportunity to continue my forward lean."
MSNBC's full statement:
Reverend Al Sharpton, the civil rights activist and minister, has been named host of “Politics Nation,” a nightly program airing weeknights live at 6 p.m. ET on MSNBC. The announcement was made by Phil Griffin, President of MSNBC. “PoliticsNation” will debut on August 29. In his new role, Sharpton will lead a lively and informed discussion of the top headlines, bringing viewers his take on events in his signature style.
“I’ve known Rev. Sharpton for over a decade and have tremendous respect for him. He has always been one of our most thoughtful and entertaining guests,” said Griffin. “I’m thrilled that he’s now reached a point in his career where he’s able to devote himself to hosting a nightly show. ‘PoliticsNation’ is going to be an incredibly strong kick-off to our evening schedule.”
In addition to being a frequent guest on MSNBC throughout the network’s history, Rev. Sharpton has also served as an occasional guest host on several programs, most recently on “MSNBC Live at 6PM” and “The Ed Show.” He joins the network at a time where MSNBC has experienced tremendous ratings growth, consistently topping CNN in primetime programming.
"I am very happy and honored to join the MSNBC team as we collectively try to get America to ’Lean Forward,’" Sharpton said. "It is a natural extension of my life work and growth. We all learn from our pain and stand up from our stumbling and one must either learn to lean forward or fall backwards. I'm glad they have given me the opportunity to continue my forward lean."
With over 40 years of experience as a community leader, politician, minister and advocate, the Rev. Al Sharpton is one of America’s most-renowned civil rights leaders. Sharpton’s highly visible career began at the tender age of four when he preached his first sermon. A successful civil rights career soon followed, helping Sharpton hold such notable positions as the Youth Director of New York’s Operation Breadbasket, Director of Ministers for National Rainbow Push coalition, and founder of his own broad-based progressive civil rights organization, the National Action Network (NAN), one of the leading civil rights organizations in the world.
Since its inception in 1991, NAN has expanded to encompass chapters throughout the United States and maintain important regional offices in Washington, D.C.; Atlanta, GA; Detroit, MI; Chicago, IL; Dallas, TX; Las Vegas, NV; and Los Angeles, CA. Sharpton was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President in 2004. Rev. Sharpton also hosts a nationally syndicated radio show that broadcasts in 40 markets, five days a week. He resides in New York and has two daughters, Dominique and Ashley.
“PoliticsNation” will air weeknights from 6:00-7:00PM ET on MSNBC. Matthew Saal is Executive Producer.
Gary Coleman's estranged parents learned of the former child star's death in the media and now they want answers on how he died.
"We're not pointing fingers at anyone, but we need to know exactly what happened," Sue Coleman, 67, told People magazine.
For a decade, she and her husband, Willie Coleman, 71, followed their 42-year-old son's life in the media: his marriage, his hospitalization and even his death on Friday.
"We're not angry," she said. "We're just concerned. Did our son fall down the stairs? Did he fall in the bathtub?"
Hospital spokeswoman Janet Frank said there was an "accident" in the actor's Utah home that caused an intracranial hemorrhage. She cited the wishes of Coleman's wife, Shannon Price, 24, and declined to give details.
There is still no official cause of death, but police said it wasn't suspicious.
Coleman, who had a stormy relationship with Price, pleaded guilty to domestic violence in February.
Coleman sued his parents in 1989 for allegedly stealing his fortune, a claim they refuted.
Meanwhile, celebrities continued to mourn the "Diff'rent Strokes" star.
Former rap star Vanilla Ice, whose real name is Robert Van Winkle, told TMZ.com he won't miss Coleman's memorial service because they bonded in 2004 while taping the reality show "The Surreal Life."
"He had such bad luck in life," he said. "I hope he's in a better place."
Other celebrities - John Stamos, Jamie Kennedy, Nick Cannon, Melissa Joan Hart and Paula Abdul - paid tribute to the fallen star via Twitter.
"Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be actors," wrote Stamos.
"I am so sorry to hear the sad news," wrote Abdul. "My heartfelt condolences go out to his entire family."
Ricky Schroeder, a child star of the 1980s sitcom "Silver Spoons," told UsMagazine.com he fondly remembers often crossing paths with Coleman in the old days.
"Gary can now have the peace he found so little of in life," Schroeder said.
Campbell Brown said Tuesday that she's quitting her prime-time show on CNN primarily for one reason: Not enough people are watching her.
CNN has struggled in the prime-time ratings as cable news viewers have increasingly sought edgier, more opinionated programming. Brown, a former NBC News reporter, advertised a "no bias, no bull" persona in a straight news and analysis program with a concentration on politics.
Brown said it was her decision to leave. She said she could say she was leaving to spend more time with her two young children or pursue new opportunities, and both would be partly true.
"But I have never had much tolerance for others' spin, so I can't imagine trying to stomach my own," she said. "The simple fact is that not enough people want to watch my program, and I owe it to myself and to CNN to get out of the way so that CNN can try something else."
(Msnbc.com is a joint venture between NBC and Microsoft.)
Nancy Grace on CNN's sister HLN network averages 745,000 viewers in the time slot, according to the Nielsen Co. Brown's show stands at 574,000.
CNN's prime-time problems with Brown, Larry King and Anderson Cooper have given rise to dozens of armchair program directors who have published advice this spring. Now CNN's executives will have their first shot at doing something new.
CNN/U.S. President Jon Klein said he respects Brown's decision and wishes her well. "We will announce our programming plans in the coming weeks," he said.
Brown's decision comes at a time when CNN has reportedly been talking with CBS News about ways to combine forces, although nothing has been publicly done.
CNN has tested its own ideas, and there's been talk of reviving some version of its old "Crossfire" political debate show, which was a template for opinionated talk on cable in the 1990s. CNN canceled the series soon after Comedy Central's Jon Stewart ridiculed it.
One segment that has appeared on Brown's show features Mary Matalin and Roland Martin in a political debate, an idea that could potentially be expanded.
Brown, who is leaving CNN entirely, noted in a statement her "indomitable" rivals on the other networks.
"Shedding my own journalistic skin to try to inhabit the kind of persona that might co-exist in that lineup is simply impossible for me," she said. "It is not who I am or who I want to be, nor is it who CNN asked me to be at any point. This is the right decision for me and I hope it will be a great opportunity for CNN."
As CNN moves to replace Campbell Brown in its struggling prime-time lineup, the most intriguing name on the channel’s list is Eliot Spitzer, the disgraced former governor of New York, The New York Times’s Brian Stelter writes.
Mr. Spitzer has held conversations — but so far only informal ones — about becoming a regular contributor to the cable news channel, The Times said, citing two people who were briefed on the matter. But the people said he was not being courted for an anchoring job, meaning he would not directly replace Ms. Brown in the channel’s 8 p.m. time slot.
That word sparked talk inside CNN this week, and even appeared in David Letterman’s monologue Tuesday night. His punch line: “That would be a switch — somebody paying him for an hour.”
Mr. Spitzer resigned the governorship in 2008 after it was revealed that he solicited prostitutes. As attorney general of New York, Mr. Spitzer earned the nickname the “Sheriff of Wall Street,” after he attacked what he considered to be rampant conflicts of interests at big Wall Street firms, winning settlements from many of the big banks.
Now, seemingly wrapping himself in the redemptive spirit of television, Mr. Spitzer is a budding pundit, and he has even tried his hand at anchoring on MSNBC, one of CNN’s competitors. His first two times as a substitute for the anchor Dylan Ratigan were well-received inside MSNBC last month, and he filled in again on Monday.
“He’s a smart guy, extremely smart, and he communicates well,” a cable news executive said of Mr. Spitzer. “The question about him is, how much stench is on him, and is he likable enough?”
MSNBC declined to comment on Mr. Spitzer’s status at the channel, The Times said. But two news executives said MSNBC was not in talks with him about a paid position at the channel. Like the people briefed on Mr. Spitzer’s conversations with CNN, the executives requested anonymity because they were not authorized by their employers to speak on the record.
“I am simply not saying anything about this issue,” Mr. Spitzer said in an e-mail message on Thursday.
As it contemplates what program to place in Ms. Brown’s time slot, CNN is considering a panel discussion program with various political voices. Mr. Spitzer could conceivably be a panelist.
A CNN spokeswoman said the channel would not comment on speculation.
Based on a scene from Tuesday night's episode of the Fox series "Glee," it's probably safe to assume one of the writers is a "Tar Heels" fan.
When Mike O'Malley's character Burt Hummel begins dating the mother of the school jock Finn, the boy flips out at the idea of someone trying to take the place of his deceased father. Burt eventually gets Finn to warm up to him, sitting down to watch a basketball game with him and punctuating the bonding experience with the line "I hate Duke like I hate the Nazis."
As ESPN college football analyst Lou Holtz can attest, it's seldom in good taste to compare something as trivial as sports to Hitler's regime. Still, the intent here was to amuse, not to offend, and surely the Duke-hating segment of our population got a pretty good chuckle out of that scene.
Reaction to the scene on the Web on Wednesday predictably has been split largely by school affiliation thus far.
An angry Duke fan commented on Fox's Web site that the Nazi reference was "not funny" and "over the line," adding that the writers could have made the same point while using a less offensive comparison.
Meanwhile, when a Maryland fan posted the quote on a message board, fellow Terps supporters took more offense that one of their peers was watching a TV musical comedy than they did the Nazi reference.
Sarah Palin appeared on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" Tuesday night, where she discussed her new career in media, her opinionated nature and the sitcom "Family Guy."
Sources: NBC, Jay Leno Show, Washington Post, The Insider
More than a week after scouring the city for missing American actor Andrew Koenig, friends who had organized their own search discovered the 41-year-old man's body in the vast urban park that he favored when he lived here more than 10 years ago.
Walter Koenig, also an actor known for his role as Chekov on the original Star Trek series, said his son's body was found Thursday by friends in Stanley Park.
"Our son took his own life," Koenig said, struggling to maintain his composure. "He was obviously in a lot of pain."
Koenig, flanked by his wife, Judith, said their son, known for his role as Richard "Boner" Stabone on the popular 1980s TV series Growing Pains, was in the midst of a life-long struggle with depression.
"If you learn anything from this," Koenig said, directing his comments to those who also suffer from depression, "there are people out there who care."
"In his pain," Judith Koenig said, "he didn't realize help was available to him."
Police Constable Jana McGuinness said the body was found in a densely wooded area just off one of the park's most popular trails for joggers and bicyclists.
McGuinness said investigators did not suspect foul play. She declined to identify the specific cause of death, but she said no weapons were involved.
In a briefing at the police department's horseback patrol precinct in the park, not far from where the body was found, McGuinness said police had searched the general area without success.
Koenig was last seen by friends Feb. 14. He was scheduled to return to the Los Angeles area Feb. 16. When he did not arrive, McGuinness said his parents became increasingly worried and then reported him missing Feb. 18.
From the start, police focused their search in the park after learning that the actor frequently took walks in the 1,000-acre sanctuary, not far from downtown, now teeming with visitors to the Winter Olympic Games.
Police have said Koenig had come here to visit friends, not to attend the Olympic games.
Discovery of Koenig's body came just a day after his parents arrived in the Olympic host city from California to appeal for assistance in locating their son.
McGuinness declined comment on whether a suicide note was found.
On his personal website, however, Walter Koenig earlier in the week acknowledged receiving a troubling letter from his son who had sounded a "despondent tone."
Judith Koenig also said the family had recently learned that their son was giving away some of his personal possessions.
"He was much loved," the mother said, "and he had lots to contribute to this world."
Any commercial with Betty White and Abe Vigoda is a winner in our book no matter what it’s about. In this case, the spunky Golden Girl is playing pickup football with the guys, though she’s struggling. “Man, you’ve been riding me all day,” she says before eating a Snickers bar that not only transforms her into a regular guy but also raises Vigoda from the dead. What, “Fish” is still alive? Twenty-eight years after People Magazine erroneously reported his demise, the answer is yes!
Late night fans got the surprise of a lifetime during the second quarter of the Super Bowl tonight when they saw Jay Leno sitting side-by-side with David Letterman in a promo for CBS’ Late Show. Appearing with Oprah Winfrey, Letterman laments about how bad the party is, and Leno retorts “he’s just saying that because I’m here.” Minutes after the spot, CBS sent out word that the two late night stars taped the spot last Tuesday at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City. The spot was a revisit, of sorts, to a 2007 Super Bowl spot that featured Letterman and Winfrey. A Late Show spokesman said the spot was Letterman’s idea, and Leno and Winfrey were willing participants.
The Simpson and Coke. Perfect together. Who wouldn’t like to see Monty Burns lose all his money? But the goodness of Coke makes for feel-good ending for all. Big props for a Spider-pig cameo on the swings.
OK, Hyundai’s commercials are getting better (with as many as they’re running, the odds are at least ONE had to be good). As much as we’re all getting sick of Brett Favre’s indecision every year, obviously he has a sense of humor about. I thought it was funny when he was saying most of the fans are younger than him, and that was before I noticed it was the 2020 MVP award he was winning. I thought he was talking about the current season. Because he’s already old.
Punxsutawney Polamalu. Awesome. So much better than a commercial about his hair. Let’s see PETA complain about THIS one. Unfortunately, there won’t really be six more weeks of football.
We all know this spineless male. Some of us know him all too well. Yeah, watching TV on a little screen can save some male dignity. But good luck getting your girlfriend to allow that.
Passengers from an airplane crash are moping around on a desert island until the beverage cart full of Bud Lights washes up on shore. That’s when the party begins! Maybe the pilot had a few too many before he crashed the plane -- who knows? But the commercial proves that Homer Simpson was right: Beer truly is the cause of -- and solution to -- all of life’s problems.
A life-sized sock monkey, a robot and a red monster you’ll recognize if you have kids all experience a wild weekend in a Hyundai. Not sure why this was funny, but it was.
Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo reprise their roles as quirky parents from the classic “Vacation” movies, except this time they’re exasperated travelers getting screwed by extra hotel charges. The solution, says the ad, is to rent a house. It’s a pretty good spot, but we were hoping Christie Brinkley would make an appearance at the hotel pool. This is crazy, this is crazy, this is crazy!
Really clever commercial showing only the Google searches of a traveler in Paris as he tries to find the Louvre, then a cafe, then woos a French woman, then finds a job in France, then gets instructions on how to assemble a crib for their child. It shows how Google can help create a happy life instead of being used just for finding naked pictures of celebrities.
Funny. Sure, we all need to be more environmentally conscious. But it’s always funny when stuff like that is taken to the extreme. If a car could allow you to go around real police checkpoints like the one in the commercial, it’d be well worth it. Until that day, I’ll try to avoid a ticket for recycling.
Sources: Fox Sports, MSNBC, CBS, Entertainment Weekly, Youtube
Keith Olbermann defended his show Thursday against reports that it is in danger of being canceled over declining ratings.
Several recent reports, from outlets including Daily Finance, the Los Angeles Times, and the New York Post's Page Six have focused on Olbermann's January demo rating, which dropped 44% from January 2009 (the month of Barack Obama's inauguration).
Ratings for Olbermann's Countdown have been soft recently, and the 8 p.m. shows on CNN and HLN have narrowed the gap. In the important demographic of adults 25 to 54 -- the group advertisers are looking to reach -- Countdown was down 44% year-over-year in January. It averaged 268,000 viewers in that demo, only 3,000 more than Nancy Grace's show on HLN, and 12,000 more than CNN's Campbell Brown. Fox News's O'Reilly Factor dominated the hour with 964,000 viewers age 25 to 54, and was the only cable news show in the time period to increase its audience, by 55%.
Olbermann branded Daily Finance a "right-wing site" after that report — an allegation that was batted down by the writer, Jeff Bercovici — but it was used as the basis for the LAT commentary "Countdown begins for end of Keith Olbermann's 'Countdown'?" and the Page Six item, "Olbermann's sinking ship." Both of those items hinted strongly that Olbermann's run as MSNBC's leading man in primetime may soon come to an end, even though MSNBC president Phil Griffin said in the original ratings post that he is "pleased with where we are" at 8PM.
Thursday night, Olbermann responded to the rumor that his show is in jeopardy on both his show and on Daily Kos.
"The show isn't about to be cancelled," he wrote. "It isn't slumping. MSNBC isn't worried about it. NBC isn't worried about it. It is making them a ---damned fortune, in fact (and they'd owe me a ---damned fortune if they did cancel it, which they aren't going to)."
Olbermann blamed the storyline on a right-wing smear campaign, noting that the New York Post is "Rupert Murdoch's vanity newspaper" and that the Los Angeles Times writer, Andrew Malcolm, was once Laura Bush's press secretary:
It's the route by which the thing got seized by the sleaze blogs like Breitbart and NewsCorp and the like that so beautifully, almost diagrammatically, illustrates how Conservatives come to believe the crazy, nonsensical, totally fact-free things they believe, how they transform discernible, provable lies, into their wishful-thinking version of the truth.
Olbermann also accused Bercovici of cherry-picking his data and described the longtime media writer as "Daily Finance's extremely thin-skinned media writer, always hostile, and snickered at behind his back by his rivals."
Olbermann claimed his ratings actually grew in January, citing month-to-month figures showing that "Countdown" grew 5% over December 2009 (though year-over-year numbers are much more standard than month-to-month).
"And yet the right wing believes that Countdown is about to be cancelled, because it so desperately wants it to be cancelled, that the facts, and the ratings, and the profits, become irrelevant," he wrote. "And it is better for them to pretend they are getting their way, than to acknowledge that they are not."
Keith Olbermann was already a renowned sportscaster when he rose to prominence as a political commentator. This was during the Bush Administration, when the left was badly in need of a forceful voice to rally around. Such was his popularity that MSNBC reoriented its entire primetime lineup around it.
But now the Democrats control Congress and the White House, and there are creeping indications that the world may not have quite as much need of -- or patience for -- Olbermann and his shtick as it once did.
Ratings for Olbermann's Countdown have been soft recently, and the 8 p.m. shows on CNN and HLN have narrowed the gap. In the important demographic of adults 25 to 54 -- the group advertisers are looking to reach -- Countdown was down 44% year-over-year in January. It averaged 268,000 viewers in that demo, only 3,000 more than Nancy Grace's show on HLN, and 12,000 more than CNN's Campbell Brown. Fox News's O'Reilly Factor dominated the hour with 964,000 viewers age 25 to 54, and was the only cable news show in the time period to increase its audience, by 55%.
But there are also more subjective signs that Olbermann's stridency and lack of proportion are alienating some of his natural allies. Quite a few eyebrows elevated last week when Jon Stewart, in a parody of one of Olbermann's "Special Comment" segments, called out the newsman for going way over the top in his denunciations of Republican Senator-elect Scott Brown of Massachusetts. The criticism was all the more remarkable, given that Stewart and Olbermann usually take the same side on most issues, especially when it comes to Fox News and the Republicans.
Olbermann's overheated rhetoric also drew a sharp response from Joe Scarborough, MSNBC's house conservative, who called his fellow host's attack on Brown "reckless" and "sad." The exchange (and a few earlier, similar incidents) inspired network president Phil Griffin to issue a stern memo admonishing his charges: "We do not publicly criticize our colleagues. This kind of behavior is unprofessional and will not be tolerated."
Griffin, not surprisingly, says he doesn't believe Olbermann's recent hiccups are part of any larger trend. "Keith has been our tentpole," he says. "I watch the show every night. It's a great show. It's as smart and clever and fun as any out there, and I'm pleased with where we are."
He attributes Olbermann's January ratings slip to a news cycle in which international news, rather than domestic politics, was the No. 1 story. "On big, breaking international news, CNN tends to do better than us. They did a great job in Haiti, and I tip my hat to them," he says. "We're the place for politics, and there are times when politics does great, and there are times when it doesn't." With primaries in the midterm elections already looming, he says, "I think we'll get our momentum back."
As for the flank attack by Stewart, Griffin points out that Olbermann took the comedian's criticism to heart and acknowledged that he had gone overboard in demonizing Brown. "I thought Keith handled that very well," he says. "That's something to be commended, not just piled on."
I know many who read this will fall into two neat rows: A) Why, dumb-dumb, do you even pay attention to this?; and B) We don't care, stop whining, go take a nothing day and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile.
But nearly 30 years ago I began to have the singular experience of being written about and found it instantly valuable for any journalist or writer, because you get to watch in real-time as other journalists and writers make mistakes, flub facts, mishear quotes, or, often, deliberately lie, leave out inconvenient facts, or throw the ones they do use completely out of proportion. Only you know the literal truth (if you're lucky), and thus only you can fully measure how goldarned wrong the other guy is. It would make me shudder to think that I might be trampling over as many sweet tulips of accuracy in my own work.
Today, of course, there is the added dimension of political character assassination, which turns the game of mistakes and/or misdirections into three-dimensional Star Trek chess. And this is one of those stories.
Forgive me for using a script from tonight's show as a base from which to expand my point. But over the last few days I have watched as a pretty shoddily researched "purpose pitch" of a web piece on my show's ratings has been converted by the rampant right wing bias of the media into actual published reports that the program is facing imminent cancellation.
Let me cut to the chase (since this is besides the point, except insomuch as it contradicts the meme): the show isn't about to be cancelled. It isn't slumping. MSNBC isn't worried about it. NBC isn't worried about it. It is making them a ---damned fortune, in fact (and they'd owe me a ---damned fortune if they did cancel it, which they aren't going to).
It's the route by which the thing got seized by the sleaze blogs like Breitbart and NewsCorp and the like that so beautifully, almost diagrammatically, illustrates how Conservatives come to believe the crazy, nonsensical, totally fact-free things they believe, how they transform discernible, provable lies, into their wishful-thinking version of the truth.
Rupert Murdoch's vanity newspaper, the New York Post, put out one of its typical pieces of crap in its gossip section. I always thought there was a Freudian clue in the fact that "Page Six" is almost never actually printed on the literal page six. But I digress: "Has the countdown begun for the end of 'Countdown'?" Murdoch's minion continued: "even Olbermann's former supporters on the left are tuning out." The Post got this, it writes, from blogs at National Public Radio and the Los Angeles Times, and, quite knee-jerkily, it assumes the reader will be convinced that 100 percent of the content therein is southpaw stuff straight from The Kremlin. It is thus using those organizations as if they are evidence of the supposed 'tune out on the left.'
The NPR blog, it turns out, cites as a source the L.A. Times blog, which it authenticates with the seemingly decisive description "hardly a partisan forum." Except the L.A. Times blog post was written by Andrew Malcolm, a former Press Secretary to Laura Bush, a washed-up political operative, and absolutely the last person on the continent to earn the praise "hardly a partisan." I once had the audacity to call out Mr. Malcolm on one of his most egregious lies, and he has since missed no opportunity to report the slightest glimmer of information that might both cast me in a poor light and not get him or the paper sued. The Times, even in its flush days before the Tribune and the implosion of newspapers set in, was edited with remarkable casualness, and as it manages to snooze away a monopoly in the second largest market in the country, it still is.
Anyway, Mr. Malcolm managed to write a column titled "Countdown begins for the end of Keith Olbermann's Countdown?" which he predicated on the relative ratings last month of my program to CNN, as had been reported in yet another blog from a site called Daily Finance. Daily Finance's extremely thin-skinned media writer, always hostile, and snickered at behind his back by his rivals, had himself cherry-picked the January ratings to report that "the 8 p.m. shows on CNN and HLN have narrowed the gap."
So the New York Post lifted from an NPR blog which lifted from Laura Bush's Ex-Press Secretary's Blog which lifted from Daily-Finance's Blog which left out details that makes the whole meme nonsensical.
Namely: my show's ratings actually grew from December to last month, by five percent at 8 O'Clock and six percent at 10. Grew in a month in which CNN did exceptional, almost continuous coverage from Haiti. Grew to 27 percent ahead of CNN and 24 percent ahead of Headline News. Grew from the end of a year in which MSNBC replaced CNN as the number two rated news network among younger viewers in prime-time. Grew in the past week, too, even as the blog TV Newser reported CNN had dropped in that same demographic to fifth place behind Fox, us, Headline News, and CNBC. One night they were behind The Weather Channel.
And yet the right wing believes that Countdown is about to be cancelled, because it so desperately wants it to be cancelled, that the facts, and the ratings, and the profits, become irrelevant. And it is better for them to pretend they are getting their way, than to acknowledge that they are not.
Sources: MSNBC, Countdown, Huffington Post, Daily Finance, Daily Kos
For all the hype, "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart's Wednesday night foray into enemy territory to spar with Bill O'Reilly on the conservative pundit's ow show, "The O'Reilly Factor," didn't turn into the heavyweight brawl many were expecting.
In the first of first of a two-part interview, O'Reilly charged that Stewart wasn't exactly a fan of President Obama, something the Comedy Central funnyman denied.
"I'm torn," he said. "For me I can't tell if he's a Jedi Master, playing chess on a three-leveled board way ahead of us, or this is kicking his ass."
Stewart said he believed the President has managed to achieve certain goals, such as with regulatory matters, but has failed to push his agendas effectively.
"He has decided that Congress is an equal branch of government," the 47-year-old comedian said. "Huge mistake."
O'Reilly, 50, suggested Stewart risks alienating his audience by criticizing the Obama administration.
"Are you cognizant of the fact that the majority of your fans are stoned slackers who love Obama?" the Fox News host asked.
"We don't think about who is receiving [the jokes]," Stewart said. "We think about how it feels for us... Whatever you say, somebody's not going to like it."
O'Reilly offered some tough words for the GOP.
"What about these evil Republicans blocking everything he does?" he said. "Those Republicans, they don't want anything, they want nothing, why do we put up with these people?"
The "Factor" host suggested the party was more concerned about embarrassing Obama than actually passing legislation.
"I don't know what their motivation is," Stewart said. "But it seems pretty clear that they would prefer not to do anything unless it's the thing they want to do."
O'Reilly also jumped on Stewart for famously lampooning Fox News.
"Are you shocked that a Democratic poll operation shows that Fox News is the most trusted news operation in the country," O'Reilly asked.
"Are you shocked that an Internet poll suggested I was the most trusted news caster?" Stewart replied, then turned serious to suggest that Fox News is mostly opinion and not really news.
"[Fox News has] taken reasonable concern about this president... and turned it into a full-fledged panic attack," he said.
O'Reilly was quick to defend his show, and network, calling their hard news department fair and balanced and its opinion shows clearly labeled as such.
"Do you think people don't know that the 'O'Reilly Factor' is an opinion show?" O'Reilly said. "That's like saying people who watch your show don't know it's a comedy show."
The Comedy Central star did offer some kind words for the Fox host.
"You have become the most reasonable voice of Fox," Stewart said, adding: "Which is like being the thinnest kid at fat camp."
This isn't the first time the pair have sat across from one another. O'Reilly visited "The Daily Show" back in November to promote his book, "A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity." Stewart last visited the "Factor" in 2004.
The second round of the O'Reilly/Stewart bout airs Thursday at 8 p.m
On his final "Tonight" show, Conan O'Brien said walking away instead of accepting a demotion is the hardest thing he's ever had to do.
Despite the rancor that led to his $45 million buyout, the red-haired comic urged fans not to be cynical and said their support made a sad situation "joyous and inspirational." He thanked his viewers and even thanked NBC for more than 20 years of employment but not before getting in a few final jabs during an earlier monologue.
O'Brien will be replaced March 1 by the man he took over for seven months ago — Jay Leno. In the interim, reruns will fill the slot, followed by Winter Olympics programming next month.
Faced with the flop of its prime-time Leno experiment, NBC sought to move him back to 11:35 p.m. and asked O'Brien to move "Tonight" a half-hour later, past midnight. O'Brien refused, opening buyout negotiations that ended early Thursday, and triggering a remarkable period of late-night comics taking brutal shots at NBC and at each other.
Despite his sense of loss, O'Brien told fans Friday that "I really feel this should be a happy moment.
"Every comedian dreams of hosting the `Tonight' show and, for seven months, I got to," he said. "I did it my way, with people I love, and I do not regret a second. I've had more good fortune than anyone I know, and if our next gig is doing a show in a 7-Eleven parking lot, we'll find a way to make it fun."
Tom Hanks, Will Ferrell and Neil Young joined O'Brien for his final show.
His future is uncertain. Fox has expressed interest in having him do a late-night show, but the network is checking with its affiliates to see if they would support it. Under his exit deal, O'Brien is free to start another show after Sept. 1. He's not allowed to give interviews or make other television appearances for three months.
During his monologue, O'Brien tossed around a few ideas about what NBC might do with the studio it constructed for him when he moved to California from New York in the middle of last year.
One suggestion: "Leave the studio cold and empty and rename it `the world's largest metaphor for NBC programming.'"
O'Brien told the audience that "we have exactly one hour to steal every single item in this studio."
As soon as fans had been let in the studio, workers walked around to unscrew and remove signs posted all over that said "Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien: Audience."
Although NBC had sought to keep O'Brien, who hosted the 12:35 a.m., New York-based "Late Night" for 15 years while waiting for his shot at "Tonight," executives said the network was losing money with his show. O'Brien had lost half the audience that Leno had drawn in the time slot, slipping behind CBS' David Letterman in the ratings. O'Brien's managers said he needed more time and blamed some of the ratings troubles on the sinking fortunes of Leno and the local news programs that preceded "Tonight."
Also: Where will Conan O'Brien go?
Fans waiting to see the final show expressed their support. Three fans from San Diego put up a tent and camped overnight in the rain to get in.
"He's just generally a likeable guy," said Lesley Vamous, a fan from Australia. "I think that's why I like him and I watch him. He seems like an approachable guy, and most of the things he does are kind of funny."
Juliet DiFranco of West Toluca Lake, Calif., said she couldn't watch Leno like she did before. "He just seems like such a jerk for not retiring," DiFranco said.
O'Brien didn't mention Leno in his closing statement, according to a transcript.
He asked his viewers not to be cynical.
"I hate cynicism," he said. "It's my least favorite quality and it doesn't lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen."
Conan O'Brien is getting a $45 million package to walk away from NBC's "Tonight Show."
O'Brien's seven-month run as host of the venerable franchise will end Friday, and comes after more than a week of intense negotiations between his camp and NBC.
"NBC confirms a deal is signed and an official announcement will be made this morning," said a network source.
NBC's "Today" first reported the deal, which is believed to include a payout of upwards of $33 million for O'Brien and the remainder going to pay severance to his staff, most of whom moved to California from New York, when he took the job.
The deal sets up Jay Leno to return as host of "Tonight" — a show he was on for 17 years until last May — to return on March 1.
For more than a week, O'Brien and NBC officials have been at loggerheads over his future.
It started when NBC officials decided to end Leno's struggling prime-time show and move him to 11:35 p.m., thus pushing "Tonight" to 12:05 a.m. followed by "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon."
O'Brien refused to move, kicking off a fight over how much money he should get to leave, and when he'd be able to work elsewhere.
Moreover, NBC will retain the "intellectual property" rights to some of the material he created during his run at the network, including the Masturbating Bear.
O'Brien joined the network nearly 17 years ago as the host of "Late Night with Conan O'Brien."
Leno left the show last May, ending a five-year plan to have O'Brien take over.
However his prime-time show struggled, which, combined with O'Brien's struggles on "Tonight," forced NBC's hand.
O'Brien took some parting shots in his monologue on Wednesday night's show.
"Over the past week, ratings for the 'Tonight Show,' are up by 50%," he said. "When NBC executives heard this they told me, 'See, you really don't fit in around here.'
"This whole experience has been so surreal. I never thought I'd be jealous of the long, illustrious run that NBC gave 'Joey.'"
The dispute brought a heap of scorn on NBC and boss Jeff Zucker, who told Charlie Rose earlier this week he'd gotten death threats over what he called a business decision to move the shows.
Even CBS' David Letterman has gotten in the routine of slamming NBC over the mess.
"Let me ask you this: in contractual negotiations, are you fascinated by legal detail?" Letterman joked Wednesday night. "Listen to this: Conan O'Brien, he had 'The Tonight Show' and now he's leaving, and NBC is negotiating with him and it's that intellectual property – he can't take his signature comedy bits with him. But that's okay, Jay will take them."
O'Brien's last show will be Friday, with Tom Hanks and Will Ferrell the scheduled guests and Neil Young the musical guest. Where O'Brien goes next is the big question.
Fox officials have said they're interested in talking to him about a show, although there are numerous hurdles to get that off the ground. Sister cable network FX is also interested.
ABC officials have said they're not in the running.
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