Spongebob, SOTU On Fox, Spongebob...
FOX News had two programs land in the top 15 basic cable shows for the week of January 19 to 25. FOX's post-SOTU analysis at 10:05 came in fifth place, smack between two episodes of SpongeBob SquarePants. The actual speech ranked seventh, tieing with WWE Raw Zone on Spike. Read into that whatever you want... 10:46:38 PM

Quote of the day
The Christian Science Monitor writes on "Politics as punch line:" "If there's any doubt that comedy has entered the world of mainstream political commentary in a big way, consider that in just the past week or so, NBC anchor Tom Brokaw wrapped up his State of the Union address coverage by interviewing Jon Stewart." 10:43:16 PM

Roger Ailes on the Dean Scream: "It got overplayed a bit"
I may be late on picking this up, but this ABC story has quotes about the media's handling of the Dean scream from Princell Hair and Roger Ailes, among others. Hair: "We've all been wrestling with this. If we had it to do over again, we'd probably pull ourselves back." And Roger: "It got overplayed a bit, and the public clearly thought that, too, and kept him alive for another round." Overplayed a bit? 10:38:42 PM

The Kerry News Network?
Oh boy: "It is significant that former CNN correspondent Chris Black was hired to serve as a Heinz spokesperson, or “handler,” before the presidential campaign," AIM (Accuracy in Media) says today. "Over the course of his political career, according to the Center for Public Integrity, Kerry has received $140,710 in political contributions from CNN parent company Time Warner. Is the Clinton News Network becoming the Kerry News Network?" 10:32:37 PM

Demo. Debate: Will Re-air at Midnight; Live Hardball at 11pm
The debate will reair at midnight. Chris Matthews will host a live edition of Hardball at 11pm. His newsletter promises a "full on explosive, 'must watch,' post game slice and dice exegetical." Ron Reagan and Pat Buchanan will be among his guests... 9:23:22 PM

Demo. Debate: Spin, Spin, Spin
"I dont think anybody really cut into [Kerry's] momentum," Joe Klein said on CNN. "Howard Dean tonight was on the offense," Carl Cameron said on H&C.; "There was a big expectation that he would go for the new frontrunner, John Kerry, and he didn't let anyone down." But the rhetoric wasn't too heated -- "we're still living with the hangover of Iowa," where the nice guys didn't finish last, TNR editor Peter Beinart told Paula Zahn. Why is Susan Estrich getting so much airtime on FOX lately?... 9:12:15 PM

A Great 'Get' for Norville: "Emotional" Trippi Interview
Deborah Norville got Joe Trippi to "choke up" in an "emotional" "exclusive" interview on MSNBC. Here's the press release. Paula Zahn was resigned to interviewing a GQ magazine writer who talked to Trippi this morning. (It's a good magazine story, though.) 9:09:52 PM

Demo. Debate: Chris Matthews with Wrap-up
Chris Matthews did a debate wrap at 8:30pm. Dean joined Chris for the first segment. Al Sharpton was interviewed around 8:45pm -- several of the questions discussed the Florida debacle in 2000. Matthews asked who won: "I think Kerry won, because the others didn't lay a glove on him," Pat Buchanan said. 8:49:30 PM

Demo. Debate: Instant Reactions on Brokaw as Moderator
Some interesting comments from DU: "I think Tom's doing the best job of the bunch. At least he's touching on issues and not just attacking the guys with gotcha crap." Another poster disagreed, though: "He seems to feel his whole purpose in "moderating" the Democratic debate is to defend the Bush administration." But the best comment I noticed: "People -- come on...If he were moderating a Republican debate he would be playing devil's advocate with THEM. That's his job!" 8:12:04 PM

Demo. Debate: First Question Sparks Disagreement
The first question by Brokaw immediately provoked a response from Kerry. "How can you come South," Kerry was asked, "given what you said about the Democrats making a mistake in spending too much time worry about the South..." Kerry interjected -- "I never said that" -- and Brokaw finished: "expect to do well here." The WashPost web site has a running transcript... 8:01:29 PM

Demo Debate: MSNBC.com has Live Feed
Good move, MSNBC.com: the site is offering a live feed of the latest Democratic candidates' debate, airing now on MSNBC. 7:56:06 PM

FOXNews.com's Baghdad Cam
FOXNews.com has a curious online exclusive: "Baghdad Cam." It's a live picture of al-Firdos (Paradise) Square in the Iraqi capital, 24 hours a day. Not very useful, but... 3:53:37 PM

Shocking: Conservatives Find Media Bias
Free Republic picks up on several Media Research Center alerts: Ron Reagan Jr. Bashing Bush on MSNBC, CNN and others tout Kerry's liberal record, and Keith Olbermann says that "no WMD does not mean no destruction." 12:38:41 PM

CNN Ratings Close to FOX on Primary Night
CNN came within 139,000 viewers of matching FOX News primary night ratings. FOX peaked at 1,923,000, versus CNN'S 1,784,000. Drudge points out that MTV's Real World scored more than twice as many viewers that night... 10:21:17 AM

A Kinder & Gentler Chris
"Mr. Matthews has made a concerted effort to tone down his brusque demeanor, actually permitting some of his guests — or at least the men — to finish their sentences," the WashTimes Inside the Beltway column writes today, so the Hardball host was "chagrined" when fellow restaurant patrons applauded an SNL skit lampooning him... 10:14:35 AM

Sick of Scott Peterson Yet?
YES! More coverage of the Scott Peterson trial! Just what I've been hoping for! "Network television satellite trucks will begin rolling into town Saturday as news operations converge on the city to cover the Scott Peterson double-murder trial, scheduled to begin with a hearing on Monday." More than 200 media types are expected to be credentialed, the San Mateo County Times says... 7:37:37 AM

Roger Ailes and Al Franken -- In the Same Room!
Check this out: "The lunch crowd at Michael's craned their necks yesterday as Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes bantered with Fox News nemesis Al Franken," the Daily News says. Lloyd Grove has a great scoop... 7:32:38 AM

Cabler Primary Coverage: "like watching a tennis match"
One last N.H.-media-excess story, that's it, I promise. It's the Arizona Republic: "Watching CNN, Fox News and MSNBC's coverage of the New Hampshire Democratic primary Tuesday night was like watching a tennis match, as pundits went back and forth on Dean's fortunes - often on the same show...All three cable-news networks called the primary for Kerry about 15 minutes after the polls closed, after anxious hours of sitting on exit-poll results like children trying to keep a secret. That left the rest of the night open for spin, of which there was so much that the coverage began to resemble a political spider web." 12:45:11 AM

Will These N.H.-Media-Excess Stories Ever End?
In the Hartford Courant (early) this morning, Liz Halloran says that N.H. media saturation "often bordered on the absurd: Reporters videotaped other reporters reporting. Web-loggers held camera phones and sent live pictures to their websites. Others thumbed their BlackBerrys, transmitting reports by wireless phone or e-mail. For many, being even a small part of the quadrennial international media scrum in New Hampshire is a rite of passage." 12:38:00 AM

The Media Primary: "Echo chamber is much bigger" now
Quoting Howie on page one of Thursday's WashPost: "When Ronald Reagan beat Jimmy Carter in 1980, there were two news cycles a day, morning papers and evening newscasts. CNN was five months old. There were no satellite phones, no USA Today, no Fox News Channel, no CNBC, no Comedy Central, no Weekly Standard, no Rush Limbaugh show, no Slate, no Salon, no Google, no Drudge Report. Now campaign stories change hour by hour. "The echo chamber is much bigger -- past the speed of sound and toward the speed of light," said Democratic consultant Jenny Backus..." (Update, 7:38AM: I had written "Friday's" Post. "You're watching sooo much cable news that you've forgotten what day it is," Dave Hughes wrote in...) 12:30:52 AM

Jeff Flock Exits: "Reasons are personal, not professional"
TVWeek advances the Jeff Flock exit story a bit, quoting more of the bureau chief's memo: "The reasons are personal, not professional. I just want everyone to know I couldn't have received better treatment from my bosses." Quoting the site: ""We're sorry to see him go and wish him the best of luck," said a spokesman for CNN, who said Mr. Flock's departure is expected in a few weeks." 12:28:33 AM

Framing David Kay's WMD Statements
Rantingprofs offers a superb look at how the Kay WMD story is being framed by various channels. Some interesting thoughts on how Aaron Brown interviewed James Woolsey tonight... 12:27:26 AM

The Digital Press Corps
Does the NYTimes "get it?" In a story titled "Making of the Digital Press Corps, 2004," the old gray lady seems to understand the power of technology on the campaign trail. "Campaign reporters, like war correspondents, are not necessarily gadget geeks. But the rapacious 24-hour news cycle has forced them onto the cutting edge to do their jobs better - or at least faster." 12:05:29 AM