Maria Bartiromo’s 15 Year NYSE Anniversary…

Page Six reports that Maria Bartiromo will ring the NYSE bell this morning as part of her 15 year anniversary of reporting from the floor of the NYSE…

Maria Bartiromo will ring today’s opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange to mark 15 years to the day she became the first person to broadcast live from the trading floor. The CNBC anchor — whose new book, “The Weekend That Changed Wall Street,” goes on sale next month — will then head back to the studio for her “Closing Bell” show. An insider noted, “Today the NYSE is swarming with reporters, but 15 years ago it was just a Money Honey named Maria.”

Beck Controversy Over “Death Camps” Commentary…

The Upshot’s Michael Calderone writes about the latest Glenn Beck commentary and how FNC executives got sucked into it…

Greer said that while he doesn’t share the “same worldview with Glenn Beck and Fox News,” he was impressed with the executives’ response. He said that Ailes and Cheatwood agreed “that the use did cross a line.”

“They took things very seriously, and I have a lot of respect for that,” Greer said.

Greer received the letter from Beck last Wednesday. Although Greer said he wouldn’t categorize the letter as an apology, he said that Beck explained he’d been informed of the organization’s concerns and took them very seriously.

“It was a very quick response and felt like a peace offering,” he said.

A Fox News spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Update: TVNewser’s Kevin Allocca has pushback from FNC’s Joel Cheatwood…

Cheatwood said he felt it was an “honest, open, dignified meeting,” and that Greer’s account as it appeared in the Yahoo! article “didn’t bear any resemblance to the truth.” “The story basically — as I read it — indicated that Roger Ailes and myself had agreed with Greer,” he told us.

“We absolutely stood behind Glenn Beck 1000%,” he said.

O’Reilly in the White House Briefing Room? Not so fast…

Politico’s Patrick Gavin pours cold water all over Bill O’Reilly’s boast that he’ll make an appearance in the White House Briefing Room…

But that’s not as likely as O’Reilly might hope. A White House Correspondents’ Association board member, speaking on condition of anonymity, tells POLITICO that “FOX officials made explicit promises that the seat would be used by their news reporters, not their commentators, and the board expects them to keep their word.”

O’Reilly must not have gotten the FNC memo…if there was an FNC memo. I can’t believe FNC would let O’Reilly take to the air and make a boast that it knew wasn’t accurate…

Update: Ok so O’Reilly was joking when he said it. I still think it was a dumb thing for him to say given all the flak the network gets for “real” issues.

More to the point is this: The notion that FNC had to swear up and down that its opinion people wouldn’t be there speaks volumes about the perception problem that network has to battle. You’d never see any of the other networks, even NBC (if it weren’t in the front row), have to make those kinds of promises. The story that FNC did suggests that the network is cognizant of just how polarizing it is.

For all the talk of fair and balanced and old media and new media and FNC charting its own direction, at the end of the day this is a network that still seeks symbols of mainstream acceptance and legitimacy and that front row of the White House briefing room is a big one. It’ll never get there with its opinion people. It can only get there through its news people. But it’s the opinion people that have driven that network to the heights it has achieved. It is the opinion people that the network hangs its hat on and depends on more for its success. But according to this story the news side of FNC had to essentially disavow the opinion side of FNC in order to help secure that seat.

On the other hand, this story also suggests the WHCA board was more than a little paranoid; that it needed that reassurance. But, why? Even if O’Reilly or Beck got through, O’Reilly or Beck couldn’t possibly be any worse for the White House or the WHCA board than a Les Kinsolving or Helen Thomas. If the WHCA board and White House could stomach them then there’s really no need for such reassurances from FNC.

Related: Yeas & Nays Nikki Schwab has Factor EP Amy Sohnen commenting on O’Reilly’s “boast”…

“Bill’s comments were obviously made in jest,” Amy Sohnen, executive producer of “The O’Reilly Factor” told Yeas & Nays.

Press Releases: 08/03/10

CNBC (1)

CNBC’S “AMERICAN GREED: MADOFF BEHIND BARS” WILL PREMIERE ON AUGUST 25TH

“American Greed: Madoff Behind Bars” will premiere on Wednesday, August 25th at 9pm. The show repeats that evening at 10pm, 12am and 1am.

“AMERICAN GREED: MADOFF BEHIND BARS”

One year after Bernard Madoff began his 150 year prison sentence, viewers learn what prison life is really like for the perpetrator of the biggest financial scam in US history. “American Greed” interviews current and former inmates who served time with Madoff at the federal prison in Butner, North Carolina. The inmates say Madoff is adapting surprisingly well to life in prison, where he sleeps in an unlocked room, is served “heart healthy” meals, and is treated as a celebrity by the other inmates. Amazingly, he even gives some inmates financial advice. The inmates who talk to “American Greed” also say Madoff, at times, seems unrepentant. When an inmate pesters Madoff about the billions he stole from his victims, the inmate reports that Madoff said, “[Expletive] my victims. I carried them for 20 years and now I’m doing 150 years.” “American Greed” interviews several victims of Madoff, who express outrage that he appears to be living better in prison than some of the people he defrauded.

Free for All: 08/03/10

What’s on your mind?

Wolf Blitzer Interview…

The Hill’s Jordy Yager interviews CNN’s Wolf Blitzer…

How many hours do you work each week?
It takes a long time to get the show ready. Two hours on television just doesn’t automatically happen. I’m up early, I’m reading newspapers online, talking to my staff, coming up with ideas. I’m on the go from early in the morning until 7 p.m., and when that show’s over then I can start to relax and go home or out to dinner.

What do you like to do when you’re not working?
I work out every morning, because if I don’t have a good hour of exercise, I don’t have the energy by 5 p.m. that you really need to get on the air. I’m a season ticket holder to the Washington Wizards and I love going to Washington Nationals and Redskins games. Unfortunately, my teams aren’t doing too great right now, but I’m an optimist and we’re coming back.

Do you ever get nervous before an interview or a segment?
The only time I get nervous is when I feel I’m not as up to speed on the subject as I should be. If I really know the subject and I’ve done my homework, then I’m not nervous. If I go into a new area, I get a little nervous about that.

Richard Lui Joins MSNBC…

TVNewser reports that Richard Lui is joining MSNBC and will start Aug 30th…

Update: The Release…

RICHARD LUI NAMED MSNBC ANCHOR

NEW YORK – August 2, 2010 – Richard Lui has been named MSNBC anchor, based in New York City. Lui will anchor MSNBC dayside and starts with the network on August 30. The announcement was made today by MSNBC President Phil Griffin.

“I’ve been watching Richard for years and he’s a strong reporter and a passionate storyteller,” said Griffin. “He’ll be a great addition to our talented team.”

Free for All: 08/02/10

What’s on your mind?

What’s Hot/What’s Not: 08/01/10

What’s Hot:

July Numbers – The July numbers came out and it was bad news for CNN, bad news for CNBC, good news for Robin Meade who continued her 15 month domination of Morning Joe in the Demo, good or bad news for MSNBC depending on what part of the day you examined; mornings which saw Morning Joe win over American Morning in Total Viewers but lose to Meade in the Demo, dayside which continues to struggle in 4th place, early evenings and primtime where MSNBC made its strongest appearance over CNN, and good and bad news for FNC which continues to ride high above everyone else albeit not as high as it used to.

Liz MacDonald vs. Adam Shaprio – Reminded me a bit of Steve Liesman butting heads with Rick Santelli.

Liza McGuirk – McGuirk was tapped to helm CNN’s Spitzer/Parker show…

Chuck Roberts Departs HLN – Another solid anchor bites the dust…

FNC Moves Up – To the front row at the White House briefing room…

What’s Not:

Cut! Do it Again! – Hardball re-shot a segment for 8pm because Chris Matthews repeatedly had his facts wrong during the 5pm live broadcast.

Brrrrrr! – My first Monterey cold water dive in 16 months was something of a Charlie Foxtrot. Sea sickness, aborted the 2nd dive, too many people in the zodiac…makes me yearn for tropical diving again…

How Piers Morgan and Katie Couric’s CNN Paths Differed..

In a must read, The New York Times’ Brian Stelter writes about how CNN started looking at Piers Morgan and not Katie Couric…

Couric was the other possible solution, according to executives and associates who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Succeeding King once seemed a perfect exit strategy for Couric, as their contracts were up a month apart, in May 2011 for King and June 2011 for Couric.

But the timetable for a change was suddenly compressed, and it was apparent that unwinding Couric from her CBS deal this year would be severely complicated. In June a person close to Couric said there was “virtually no scenario” that could put her on CNN before 2011.

Morgan and his agent, John Ferriter, who formerly represented King, first met with CNN officials in late April, nine weeks before King said he had decided on his own to end “Larry King Live” this fall. By then, the CNN officials had already viewed some episodes of Morgan’s ITV show, “Life Stories,” and their interest was piqued.

But they could not formally negotiate because at the time Morgan was bound to NBC and “America’s Got Talent.” So Morgan set out to renegotiate with NBC and obtain permission to work for both NBC and CNN, a process that was completed last week.