A Perfect Cabler Story: Barbie and Ken Split!
The news nets loved the Barbie breakup story today. On CNN, Segment 7 tonight was also devoted to it: "Hey, Valentine's Day is coming up so we thought we would show you the softer side of NewsNight." And Olbermann had fun with it: "After four decades together, Barbie and Ken call it quits. Keith reflects on the couples' happier times, and tells you the real reason they landed in Splitsville." CNN.com's front-page story is clever: "Just like J.Lo and Ben, the romance is over for Barbie and Ken"... 11:43:27 PM

Matthews: "You could have sex tonight and the baby would be born before" the election
The Hardball Briefing today had a great quote from Chris's Tuesday primary coverage: "And you could have sex tonight and the baby would be born before this presidential election. That`s how far off it is, guys. Do you imagine that?...So the conception of John Kerry has occurred; the birth is nine months from now. I mean, I don`t want to play this too long, but that's a long time. Anybody`s ever waited for a baby to be born. It`s a long time between now and September." 11:40:21 PM

Quote of the day
Rantingprofs: "Both MSNBC and NBC this morning are giving more time to pieces about yesterday's hearings on whether the Superbowl halftime show was indecent than to coverage of more soldiers dying in Iraq. Today's question: how many more days than can they stretch the boob story, and is it getting more air time than the deaths of the soldiers every network claims to honor?" 5:58:09 PM

Last Week's News Viewer Index
Missed this yesterday. For the record, the news viewer index for Feb 2 to 8: In total day, "Fox News had 47% of the viewing, CNN 28%, MSNBC 14%; and Headline News 12%." In primetime, "Fox News had 47%, CNN 31%, MSNBC 14% and Headline News 8%." Thanks to Cynopsis... 5:57:56 PM

Will Dennis Miller and Deborah Norville Still Be On Air in a Year?
Some interesting comments about 9pm programming on TVSpy: "If he survives a year I will be surprised. There is nothing there. Although I like the monkey. I give him points for that."..."He's pulling in better ratings every night than that tabloid Norville show on MSNBC"..."Comparing Miller's new show to Norville's is like comparing the Titanic to the Lusitania. They're different but sooner than later, they're both going to sink." 5:22:24 PM

NJ Car Chase on FOX
New Jersey car chase live on FOX at 5:00pm...nice narration from Jane Skinner and John Gibson. (Update: John Gibson said there was a "great deal of drama and danger;" it concluded at 5:05pm. They had to pull the lower third off a few times...) 5:02:30 PM

Behind the MSNBC.com Redesign
An interesting story at Online Journalism Review explains why MSNBC.com enjoyed a makeover recently. I'm not sure it was quite that great, though... 2:52:06 PM

Recapping the Pundit's Performance Tuesday
The Denver Post says that "most political pundits are preaching to choir, not delivering facts," in a Joanne Ostrow column this morning. Quote: "Bearing in mind the margin of error for America's political pundits is plus or minus 5 percentage points and 10 eye rolls, TV's political prognosticators improved their record this week...TV's political wiseguys (they are almost all guys, and all white) needed Tuesday's fulfilled prophecy to restore their credibility." She examines punditry styles, and considers how much power they really have. Interesting story... 8:02:58 AM

"The press has a victim. They want a villain now"
O'Reilly played a clip from "Perfect Husband: The Laci Peterson Story," premiering Friday on USA. It's a notable line from Dean Cain, who plays Scott: "The press has a victim. They want a villain now." The movie "goes so far as to criticize the media's haste to convict defendants before they've been tried," an NYT critic writes in Thursday editions. ("Now they're making movies without endings!," O'Reilly guest Linda Stasi wrote in the NYPost last month...) 12:04:17 AM

O'Reilly Apology Reactions: Rude, Rough, Respectful
Some interesting comments at MediaLine about the Bill O'Reilly apology: "Bill O'Reilly is a hypocrite who tailors his personality to what is popular to his viewers," one person says. Disagreement: "He is publicly admitting he was wrong. I respect him for that." Another: "I've also noticed FNC has become more liberal too...I'm wondering whether Fox will stick to their guns or move away from their far-right viewpoint in order to maintain ratings and [viewership]." The poster, a Sinclair employee, notes that NewsCentral seems to be leaning more centrist lately. (Any media critics sense a story there?) 12:02:59 AM

"Manhattan courtrooms can be exciting places these days"
Martha Martha Martha: "At least the media sideshow remains a source of entertainment for journalists and gallery-goers," Business Week writes. "Five journalism students from New York University even made it into the courtroom on this slow day, having already trolled the trials of former Tyco head Dennis Kozlowski and former CSFB analyst Frank Quattrone. Manhattan courtrooms can be exciting places these days. Meanwhile, one CNN reporter was apparently pulled off the trial to cover Comcast's $66 billion bid for Disney, announced earlier in the day..." 12:01:05 AM