TVNewser: Dan Rather‘s appeal of a New York court’s decision to throw out his suit against his former employer, CBS, has been denied, effectively ending his legal action against the network.

MediaPost: Arbitron’s CEO Michael Skarzynski has resigned from his post over Congressional testimony from last year. He will be replaced by Meredith Corp.‘s chairman William Kerr.

AdAge: An exit interview with Fairchild’s Richard Beckman.

paidContent: Charles Pelton, who helped conceive the failed “salon dinners” for The Washington Post discussed how to make reporters into profit centers.

Politics Daily: Does The National Enquirer deserve a Pulitzer Prize for its work on the John Edwards scandal? Why not give TMZ one for its investigative work on the Tiger Woods debacle?

A profile of Roger Ailes in The New York Times yesterday highlighted the tension between the Fox News chief and his boss, Rupert Murdoch.

The profile includes a quote from inside the Murdoch family that speaks harshly about Ailes and his work at Fox News. Says Matthew Freud, great-grandson of Sigmund who is married to Murdoch’s daughter Elisabeth:

“I am by no means alone within the family or the company in being ashamed and sickened by Roger Ailes’s horrendous and sustained disregard of the journalistic standards that News Corporation, its founder and every other global media business aspires to.”

Of course, this is not how Murdoch officially feels about his company’s Fox News division. He told the Times, “I’m proud of Fox News and what it is accomplishing, and I am grateful to Roger and his team for creating such a great asset for News Corporation.”

He also offered Ailes a contract that earned him $23 million, plus bonuses and additional income, more than Murdoch made himself last year, the Times reported. If Fox News really is as successful as the profile claims — said the article: “Fox News is believed to make more money than CNN, MSNBC and the evening newscasts of NBC, ABC and CBS combined” — then Ailes earned it. And that’s something he can take to the bank, no matter how Murdoch and his family really feel about him.

Read More: A Fox Chief at the Pinnacle of Media and Politics –New York Times

Previously: Ailes and Obama Called Truce?

Looks like the fact checkers at The New York Post may have taken off early for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Today’s paper features a headline about former “American Idol” contestant Adam Lambert and his scandalous “Good Morning America” concert cancellation and shift to CBS but, as our sister blog TVNewser points out, the Post has confused what network “Good Morning America” is on.

That would be ABC, not NBC, Post headline writers.

Previously: Good Morning America Cancels Adam Lambert Concert

Yesterday, it became clear that the rumors were true: Oprah Winfrey will be leaving her network TV show in 2011.

Tim Bennett, CEO of Winfrey’s production company Harpo, sent a letter to the local television stations that broadcast her show yesterday, letting them know that “The Oprah Winfrey Show” would be coming to an end in September 2011. After, Winfrey will appear on her cable channel, OWN.

Winfrey will inform her audience of her decision on her show today. The announcement was taped live at 10 a.m. and has already aired on some stations. (The New York Times‘ media blog has a full description of the announcement.)

Read more

TVNewser: Nominees for the Business and Financial Reporting Emmy Awards we announced today. CBS gathered the most nods with 15 while PBS garnered four and CNBC and BBC America each received three.

FishbowlLA: 60 to 70 protesters gathered outside CNN‘s Los Angeles office today, protesting biased reporting by the news network of the debate over a public health insurance option.

BayNewser: A sneak peek at McSweeney’s upcoming broadsheet project.

Editor & Publisher: State Island Advance is looking for 40 staffers to take buyouts in order to avoid layoffs. The buyout offers include two weeks’ pay for every year of service up to six months of salary, along with medical coverage.

Nieman Journalism Lab: Google’s Eric Schmidt answered questions about how and why Google now distinguishes between news organizations and blogs in its search. “My guess is…it has a lot to do with the infrastructure around the writer. So a blog that’s associated with a major, legitimate organization…would be, I think, treated differently than an individual blogger who’s using his or her right of free expression to say whatever he thinks. So the presence of an editor, as an example. You know, an editor that’s not your mom.”

TVNewser: The saga of a six-year-old boy in a hot air balloon (or not) captivated the network news channels this afternoon.

Editor & Publisher: The Huffington Post has surpassed WashingtonPost.com in terms of unique visitors for last month, according to numbers tracked by Nielsen Online.

New York Times: Sumner Redstone will sell nearly $1 billion in Viacom and CBS shares in order to pay down debt.

The Wrap: Some choice soundbites from the Magazine Publishers of America‘s Magazine Innovation Summit this week. Our favorite came from Condé Nast group president David Carey: “We could sell the movie rights to the McKinsey study.”

Financial Times: A profile of The Daily Beast and founder Tina Brown, one year after its launch. “The Daily Beast was, from the start, in part an experiment to find a better class of online advertising in a market where infinite supply has dragged down rates. In an effort to charge premium prices, the site has targeted upmarket brands with the promise of customised packages that could reach a sought-after audience of affluent, educated and engaged readers.”

Today was a very special media- bistro.com Morning Media Menu podcast, featuring guest host Kevin Allocca, the editor of TVNewser, and CBS‘s “Early Show” weather anchor David Price.

Price spoke to Kevin and Menu host Jason Boog of GalleyCat from Omaha, Neb. about the “No Way Home” challenge he’s embarked on, traveling from California to New York in a week using only $50. It’s a journey that has taken him on various modes of transportation including a single engine place, which flew him from Orange County in California to Las Vegas.

Using Twitter and email, Price has not had to pay for a hotel yet, he’s earned money, negotiated for meals and he’s made his way half way across the country. He’s also managed to maintain a sense of humor about his situation despite his lack of food and sleep. “You can’t help me with money right now, but I would advise you or anyone listening that it is perfectly fine to send me cash when I get home,” Price joked good-naturedly. “Cash, bonds, deeds to a home, a lead on a second job.”

Follow Price on the “Early Show” Web site and on Twitter. “If you have a shower, please reach out to me,” Price begged.

You can listen to all the past podcasts at BlogTalkRadio.com/mediabistro and call in at 646-929-0321.

After revealing an extortion plot and affairs with staffers on his show Thursday night, David Letterman took a moment on last night’s show to apologize to his wife and his staff.

The video of the apology — which is currently on the “Late Show” site — is above. But CBS has been removing videos of Thursday’s revelation, so who knows how long the clip above will be available. In fact, the clip from Thursday that we posted last week has been swapped for a CBS video blog entry featuring Katie Couric.

In related news, The New York Times reports today that alleged extortionist Robert Halderman‘s attorney claims he has evidence that Letterman sexually harassed his staffers.

Earlier: CBS Tries To Remove Unauthorized Videos Of Letterman’s Extortion Explanation

The New York Times reported last night that CBS had worked over the weekend to scrub the Internet of any unauthorized videos of David Letterman‘s revelation of extortion on his show Thursday:

“Copies of the segment were uploaded almost immediately to YouTube by users, but many of them were flagged by CBS for removal, citing copyright claims. The network did not provide an official copy.”

That’s funny, because a clip of the segment that we included in our post on Friday seems pretty official looking, and it’s still watchable — even though its only three minutes or so of the entire 10 minute segment. Will CBS officials pull access to this clip, too? Either way, it’s clear that it’s still pretty easy to find clips on YouTube.

The Times also said that CBS is being “more lenient” with YouTube clips of Letterman’s show that feature the host’s former assistant Stephanie Birkitt, who is said to be among the staffers Letterman had sex with and who also had a relationship with the man who tried to extort him, “48 Hours” producer Robert Halderman.

This latest move by CBS is most likely just part of the first wave of stories to come out of this bizarre case as it unfolds. Letterman revealed Halderman’s extortion plot on his show Thursday, in a confession that alternatively drew laughter, cheers and silence from his audience. In our post on Friday, we applauded Letterman for his candidness but said we thought he could have chosen a different venue in which to reveal the scandal. However, after talking to others within the industry and reading reviews and comments about the incident across the Internet, we agree with one commenter on our last post that it was “Classy, forthcoming and honest. Well-handled.”

Letterman is known to mix uncomfortable honesty with his own brand of self-deprecating humor, and he has collected a devoted audience that tunes in every night to hear the host’s thoughts on current events and pop culture, with some of Letterman’s own life filtered in. Turns out, this was actually the ideal platform for him to talk about such a heavy topic. But as more revelations come to light, we’ll doubt he’ll mention it again, choosing instead to go on with the show as usual.

Update: Our colleagues at WebNewser take a look at some of the David Letterman clips that are still available on the Internet.

CBS Removes David Letterman’s Mea Culpa From YouTube –New York Times

Earlier: Letterman Reveals Extortion Plot, Reveals Sexual Relationships With Staffers

Watch CBS News Videos Online

There were some awkward moments on the “Late Show” last night as host David Letterman revealed that he had testified before a grand jury about an alleged $2 million extortion attempt.

The audience laughed as he revealed the extortionist — later revealed by TMZ to be “48 Hours” producer Robert Halderman, who has since been suspended by CBS — has tried to reveal “creepy things” about Letterman, including the fact that he had sex with staffers on his show.

“The creepy stuff was that I have had sex with women who work for me on this show,” Letterman said. “Would it be embarrassing if it were made public? Perhaps it would. Especially for the women.”

Why did Letterman’s audience find these revelations so funny? Perhaps it was because the late night host decided to talk about serious stuff during a segment that’s usually filled with a Top 10 list. Although we’re happy that Letterman could ‘fess up, we think he could have picked a more appropriate — and serious — venue. Watch the video above and let us know what you think.

Our sister blog TVNewser has more information on the extortion story. The latest revelation from TMZ names one of the women who was involved with Letterman, his former assistant Stephanie Birkitt, who was reportedly Halderman’s live-in girlfriend.

Earlier: David Letterman Marries Longtime Girlfriend