Larry King, in New York this week to accept a Lifetime Achievement Emmy, stopped by CNN yesterday where he appeared on Joy Behar‘s HLN program.

After the show, with Emmy in hand, he bumped into Piers Morgan — who now occupies King’s 9pm CNN timeslot — and wife Shawn Southwick. The two exchanged pleasantries, we hear. Morgan also sent King a congratulatory bottle of Champagne Monday night during an after-Emmy dinner at the newly-opened Crown restaurant on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

Don’t miss your chance to connect with today’s most influential social media leaders at Socialize: Monetizing Social Media – West, October 20-21, 2011 in San Francisco. Hear from over 80 speakers including Geno Church, Vivian Rosenthal, and Megan Berry. Early bird rates end today. Register now and save!

25-54 demographic (Live +SD)

• Total day: FNC: 302 | MSNBC: 138 | CNN: 138 | HLN: 97

• Primetime: FNC: 547 | MSNBC: 205 | CNN: 209 | HLN: 96

	5p:	6p:	7p:	8p:	9p:	10p:	11p:	12a:
FNC	Five:	Baier:	Shep:	O’Reilly:	Hannity:	Greta:	O’Reilly:	Hannity:
	327	361	415	567	605	468	365	201
MSNBC	Matthews:	Sharpton:	Matthews:	O’Donnell:	Maddow:	EdShow:	O’Donnell:	Maddow:
	154	145	230	198	222	196	142	147
CNN	Blitzer:	Blitzer:	KingUSA:	Cooper:	Morgan:	Cooper:	KingUSA:	Morgan:
	137	115	118	175	233	219	172	165
HLN	Special:	Prime:	Issues:	Grace:	DrDrew:	Behar:	Showbiz:	DrDrew:
	115	114	126	111	73	109	84	85

Read more

Last night CNN feted its newest anchor, Erin Burnett, at Robert restaurant at The Museum of Arts and Design in Columbus Circle, just a few hundred feet from CNN’s NYC headquarters. Overlooking Columbus Circle and the southwest corner of Central Park, guests watched the city fade into night, while clips of Burnett preparing for her show played on a loop on TV sets spread throughout the space.

Just after 7:30 PM, CNN/U.S. executive VP Ken Jautz and CNN managing editor Mark Whitaker made some brief remarks. Jautz commented that Burnett is extremely passionate about news, and that anyone expecting a curt reply when asking her what she is working on is in for a long conversation.

Burnett then addressed the crowd and thanked them for their support. Her manager John Ferriter was in attendance, as was her fiancee David Rubulotta. Jautz and Whitaker got shout-outs, as did CNN Worldwide president Jim Walton and CNN ad sales chief Greg D’alba, both of whom were working the room.

The party also drew a packed room of boldface names:

Read more

Reuters reports that a number of cable operators are seriously considering implementing some sort of  “a la carte” option for customers. It is way too soon to say whether they will actually move forward with the plan, or whether it would let users choose individual channels or some sort of customized bundle. Nonetheless, the news is startling in that MSOs and networks have long argued that bundling is the best model for buying TV.

But executives now say the change is a necessary response to shifting dynamics such as higher carriage costs and using the Web to watch programs, as well as a weak economic recovery that has forced many consumers to cancel cable television subscriptions.

Networks like ESPN, which charges upwards of $4 per subscriber per month, are cited as driving up the cost of the basic cable package.

Read more

In the wee hours of the morning, MSNBC political analyst Mark Halperin made TV news history. Appearing on “Way Too Early” with Willie Geist, Halperin Skyped into the program… from an airplane lavatory.

Yes, Halperin was aboard a red eye Delta flight during Geist’s show, and popped into the bathroom for a quick appearance. After a comprehensive Google search, TVNewser was unable to find any other cable news guests who appeared live from an airplane restroom.

Watch:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Could NBC’s upcoming newsmagaine “Rock Center” be hitting the airwaves sooner rather than later? The Willston Herald in Willston, North Dakota spoke to correspondent Harry Smith, who was in town shooting a piece for the program last week.

Plans call for this to be a new prime time magazine show on NBC, expected to air sometime in early October.

“It will be hosted by Brian Williams and will be kind of a cross between Nightline and Sixty Minutes. It’s really exciting,” said Smith.

Considering that October starts on Saturday, we should find out soon whether an early October launch is in the works. An increasingly likely timeslot is Monday nights at 10 PM, currently home to “The Playboy Club.”

Read more

We told you yesterday about Nancy Grace‘s wardrobe malfunction during her jiggly quick step Monday night on “Dancing with the Stars.” But the lawyer-turned-TV host is adamant: if the nip does not slip, you must acquit.

Grace tells TMZ: “When I got dressed, I was wearing Petals (nipple covers) and an industrial strength bra … my dancing dress also had a bra sewn into it,” adding, “I have been judged guilty without a trial … I will go to my grave denying the nip slip.”

By the way, Grace survived last night’s elimination and, between coverage of the Conrad Murray trial on HLN, will be practicing for Monday night’s dance-fest.

After the jump, Jon Stewart’s take on “Areola 51″

Read more

Shepard Smith anchored his shows from Las Vegas yesterday as the network continues to celebrate its 15th anniversary. After the jump, Smith looks back on the news of the last 15 years…

Read more

After NBC’s Brian Williams wrapped an interview with former President Bill Clinton closing out the network’s second Education Nation Tuesday, the “Nightly News” anchor had one last task — to introduce his boss, NBC News President Steve Capus. Williams — who described the ambitious 3-day event by saying, “I don’t think I’ve ever been prouder of anything we’ve done” — recounted an early meeting with Capus on NBC’s commitment to education. “He said, ‘It’s okay for a news division to stand for something — in this case, let’s stand for education and improving it in this country.” TVNewser caught up with Capus, who took the stage to a standing ovation, after his closing remarks:

TVNewser: What’s the motivation to get NBC involved in education? Why this issue?

Steve Capus: First off, it just seemed to me like it was wide open territory, that nobody else was really focusing on it as a priority. And the issue just generates such passionate debate. Just think about what’s at stake: our kids’ future, the direction of our communities, of our country, global competitiveness. Go to any school board meeting on any night of the week in any community, and you’re going to see real, passionate debate about fundamental issues. And my feeling is, let’s do kind of a national school board meeting. It’s the same subject matter. What we can do as a news Read more

Former ESPN “Around the Horn” regular and AOL columnist Jay Mariotti has been largely absent from the public eye since being arrested and pleading no contest to a pair of domestic violence charges in the last year, with the most recent court date happening earlier his month. Now, Mariotti has written a book about his experiences, The System.

Mediabistro.com’s Marcus Vanderberg spoke to Mariotti about the domestic violence incidents, his career, and where he goes from here.

From our “So What Do You Do?” column:

Have you resumed talks with FoxSports.com once again about a possible job?

Read more