The cover of today’s New York Post is why we can’t ever quit the paper. Anthony Weiner’s comeback is getting the rigid attention it deserves.

It was SRO at Michael’s today. The dining room was a tasty mix of media mavens with a heaping helping of politicos and a dash of flash with a very tall L.A. Laker. (We don’t follow basketball, but several guys in the room made sure we knew it was Matt Barnes who made heads turn.)

I was joined by Andrew Amill, VP of media sales at Weight Watchers, who, unlike many of his colleagues in publishing is seeing some extraordinary numbers these days. “This is a record year in the history of the brand driven by The Points Plus system and [spokesperson] Jennifer Hudson,” Andy tells me. The numbers speak for themselves: Newsstand sales are up 10 percent;  print ad revenue is up eight percent. Online, the business is exploding with an impressive 25 percent jump in ad revenue.

As a lifetime members of Weight Watchers, I told Andy I’d been a longtime fan of the brand but was really impressed by their canny selection of Hudson as a spokesperson. “She has a lot of credibility with members and readers,” says Andy, and that’s translated into plenty of new members who have joined because of the amazing results the Oscar winner got from the program. In fact, the cover of this month’s issue features an attractive array of men and women, ‘real life success stories’ that attest to the program’s sweeping success. This is definitely not your mother’s Weight Watchers.

Here’s the rundown on today’s crowd:

1.  Atttorney Rob Barnett, presiding over a table of business types

2.  Wayne Kabak and Lauren Green

3. Oxygen Media founder Geraldine Laybourne

4. Producer Francine LeFrak and some colorfully dressed social swells

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• PRNewser: Rebecca Black’s Friday is back up on YouTube, for those of you who still haven’t figured out the whole “days of the week” thing.
• TVNewser: Bill O’Reilly is going to interview the rapper Lupe Fiasco. If there’s a freestyle battle we’re not sure who would win.
• FishbowlDC: Bloomberg News’ Executive Editor in DC, Al Hunt, has joined Twitter. One piece of advice: Don’t ask Anthony Weiner how to send a DM.

This is the cover of today’s New York Observer. Elizabeth Spiers posted it on her Tumblr earlier today. If that’s not a classic, we don’t know what is. Also, recognize that pose?

According to the Pew Project for Excellence in Journalism, the Anthony Weiner case accounted for 17 percent of all news coverage last week. The Congressman’s uh, situation, easily beat out the second and third most-reported stories, the economy and Middle East unrest, respectively.

Despite the extended reports and Weiner acting as stupid as possible, his case failed to become the most covered political scandal since 2007:

The biggest political scandal of the last four and a half years was former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich’s corruption case (28%)—also known as “Blago-gate”—in which he allegedly tried to sell President Barack Obama’s former senate seat. No 2 was former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer’s admission that he used prostitutes (23%), followed quickly by his resignation from that office.  News of former Idaho Senator Larry Craig’s arrest for lewd behavior in an airport was the No. 3 scandal, at 18%. Craig ultimately pled guilty to lesser charges.

It’s not over yet, though. With the Congressman going to rehab and still refusing to resign, there’s the chance that he could become the most covered scandal. FishbowlNY has faith that Weiner will rise to the occasion.

Whether or not he will resign, or be forced out for lack of ethical behavior, or lose his wife, Anthony Weiner is the major loser of the last couple of weeks. But at FishbowlNY, we’re as interested in the coverage of the story as we are in the story itself. Who is getting the scoops (and there seems to be many)? Who is falling behind? We’ve put together a list. Like the scandal itself, this list is a work in progress. We will update as things turn around.

WINNERS:

Andrew Breitbart and BigGovernment: Where do we begin? Breitbart broke the story of Weiner sending pictures to girl #1, Gennette Cordova, stood by it despite being accused of hacking himself, took over Weiner’s press-conference, received a public apology from Weiner, and got girl #2, Meagan Broussard, to share her story with him exclusively, as well as several pictures — including the infamous topless Weiner. This is Breitbart’s day in the sun. Not generally known for being a reliable source, this whole media circus has been Breitbart’s vindication, almost a game-changer. From his website:

BigGovernment.com publisher Andrew Breitbart was in New York for previously scheduled meetings and went to the presser as an observer… The press then asked Andrew to go to the podium to take some questions. It was surreal and awesome. According to FoxNews, a Weiner staff ran through the hotel halls screaming, “Breitbart’s here. Breitbart’s here.”

That pretty much sums it up.

RadarOnline.com: Seems to have full access to woman #3, Lisa Weiss, who made the sex scandal that much more salacious. RadarOnline is currently printing the entire transcript of her nine month long chat relationship with Weiner, for those who can’t get enough sordid details. We don’t recommend you read it, however, like we did. It made us unspeakably depressed.

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