Bill O’Reilly and Bernard Goldberg talked about how the media has been covering the Sandra Fluke story and, in their opinion, what’s not being covered, and why: “And because of what happened on this radio show, our attention is focused on that, understandably, and not on these other issues that are at least as important,” said Goldberg referring to Rush Limbaugh‘s characterization of Fluke as a “slut” and “prostitute.”

Earlier on his show, O’Reilly said he’d invited Fluke on his show on Friday, but that she, “has chosen friendly venues where she will not be challenged.”

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25-54 demographic (Live +SD)

• Total day: FNC: 272 | MSNBC: 164 | CNN: 138 | HLN: 83

• Primetime: FNC: 387 | MSNBC: 259 | CNN: 176 | HLN: 110

	5p:	6p:	7p:	8p:	9p:	10p:	11p:	12a:
FNC	TheFive:	Baier:	Shep:	O’Reilly:	Hannity:	Greta:	O’Reilly:	Hannity:
	313	266	262	515	335	310	357	290
MSNBC	Matthews:	Sharpton:	Matthews:	EdShow:	Maddow:	Lockup:	Lockup:	Lockup:
	164	227	231	263	307	206	259	231
CNN	Blitzer:	KingUSA:	Burnett:	Cooper:	Morgan:	Cooper:	Burnett:	Morgan:
	225	142	124	164	160	205	149	121
HLN	Special:	Prime:	VelezMitchell:	Grace:	DrDrew:	Grace:	Showbiz:	DrDrew:
	33	55	81	141	84	109	62	57

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On Friday we noted that Fox News “Happening Now” anchors Jon Scott and Jenna Lee teased a “surprise” for Monday. It looks like our guess was spot-on, as they unveiled a new set this morning. The set is also being used by the new morning show “Fox News First,” which debuted today as well.

Unfortunately, that means “Happening Now” had to leave the newsroom studio. Scott spoke to staffers in the basement for their reaction to the departure:

B&C’s Andrea Morabito previews “Super Tuesday,” speaking to CNN’s Sam Feist, NBC’s Chuck Todd and ABC’s Amy Walter (subscription required).

Todd notes that depending on what happens on Super Tuesday, there may be more GOP debates to come:

But those in TV news also are not willing to call it quits on the debates just yet. Just as in 2008, when more debates were added as the Democratic race for the nomination stretched late into the cycle, they are expecting that a split decision this Super Tuesday would mean more debates added to the calendar.

“We’re looking to put a debate together; too many states haven’t voted,” Todd said. “You could make an argument that there ought to be a debate a month between now and June.”

Melissa Harris-Perry was shortchanged by about five minutes on her MSNBC show Saturday. MSNBC tells TVNewser a graphics problem delayed the start of the broadcast until almost 10:05am. Viewers were treated to back-to-back-to-back MSNBC “Lean Forward” promos including Al Sharpton talking about eating blueberry pies and Rachel Maddow saying Social Security is not a ponzi scheme. This was the third weekend on the air for Harris-Perry.

ABC’s Pierre Thomas has been named NABJ journalist of the year.

“Pierre Thomas’ entire career has been a testament to his abilities as an incisive reporter whose storytelling is noteworthy,” said NABJ President Gregory Lee Jr. “We honor him now because during the past year his abilities have allowed him to be frontline, reporting on the stories that captivated us all.”

The NABJ singled out Thomas and his team for ABC’s coverage of the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and for being “the very first person in the news division” to tell his colleagues why Pres. Obama had hastily called a Sunday night national address last May: it was to announce the killing of Osama Bin Laden.

Thomas has been with ABC since 2000. Before that he was CNN’s Justice Department correspondent and held several reporting positions at The Washington Post.

Voters in 10 states head to the polls tomorrow to weigh in on the next GOP Presidential candidate. Here’s the plan for Super Tuesday coverage on the broadcast and cable news and business networks.

The broadcast networks:

• “Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams will helm a one-hour special on NBC News from 10-11pmET. Williams will also present live updates on the voting results between 7-10pmET as news dictates. “Nightly” will be updated for later feeds throughout the evening.
• Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulous will anchor special reports on ABC beginning at 7pmET. “World News” will also be updated for later feeds. At 11:35pmET, Terry Moran will anchor a special edition of “Nightline.”
• On CBS, Scott Pelley will provide live primetime updates throughout the night.
• Gwen Ifill and Judy Woodruff will anchor a live “PBS Newshour” at 11pmET.
• On FOX, Shepard Smith will anchor live updates from 8-11pmET.

The cable networks:

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After winning just about every hour on cable news, Roger Ailes had to go early — and replace one of “The O’Reilly Factor” re-airs — to win another. So this morning, “Fox & Friends First” with Ainsely Earhardt and Anna Koiman debuted in a brightly lit studio at the very dark hour of 5amET.

“Thank you so much for joining for the debut of ‘Fox & Friends First,’ said Earhardt. “We’re excited to be waking up with you every morning at this very time.”

As Willie Geist told us in 2009 when his 5:30am show hit the air on MSNBC, “Fox & Friends First” will find those watching may not be the traditional cable news viewer, especially on the West Coast as the show airs at 2am.

See the start of the show after the jump…

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The cable newsers are talking about tomorrow’s Super Tuesday.

>> MSNBC’s Ed Schultz talked with Boston.com about primary nights at MSNBC: “It’s basically a crap shoot. Normally, about an hour before we go on the air we get a briefing from polling experts, and we get a pretty good idea of the way things are going. Things unfold in front of us on the air that we have to put in perspective quickly. It’s pretty exciting to be a part of it.”

>> Fox News Channel’s Bret Baier talks with the Columbus Dispatch about the long primary season. Baier says if there was one thing he could change about the elections it’s that, “the process could be condensed. It would help not only engage voters but help us in the media cover these races more completely. Less horse race, more substance.”

On  CNN’s “Early Start” this morning, Ashleigh Banfield had some words for Rush Limbaugh: “Shut your cake hole!”

“You can agree or disagree on contraception. That’s not the issue. You cannot call women you disagree with sluts or prostitutes. I was called a slut by Michael Savage, a conservative radio talk show host,” said Banfield.

Banfield is referring to a 2003 incident when she was an MSNBC anchor and Savage hosted a short-lived MSNBC weekend show. On his radio show, Savage called Banfield, “The mind slut with a big pair of glasses that they sent to Afghanistan.”

“Michael Savage didn’t like giving the voice to some of the Arab instigators in the Middle East,” said Banfield this morning. “That made me a slut.”

Nine years later, Banfield asks, “What does it take? What year is this, Limbaugh? It ends now. Cut it out!”