Over 400 members of New York media and bloggerati packed Kiss & Fly in the Meatpacking District Thursday to watch the premiere episode of VH1′s Love & Hip-Hop 3, which airs Monday January 7. For those not in the know, that’s the show that goes inside the lives (more personal than professional, really) of hip-hop stars.

While the show’s first outing focused mainly on rapper Jim Jones and his family and friends, this season has a lot of upstarts whose affiliations with the music world are flimsy at best. I’m still trying to figure out what it means for Rashidah Ali to be a “shoe consultant” to the stars, but, hey, whatever works for you.

Here are more photos from the event, courtesy of photographer Stephen Knight: Read more

The London Olympics proved to the most watched television event in history. So, of course, WNBC reaped golden results from the Games.

The Nielsen weekly ratings, once again, were ”top-heavy” with Olympics prime time action. It was the Closing Ceremony, however, that took the gold, as the top program of the week. An estimated 2.3 million Channel 4 viewers watched Sunday night  with an 11.8 rating.

The 90-minute lead-in to NBC’s Closing Ceremony had a sixth-place finish (1.4 million/7.5).

Coverage from the U.K. capital averaged 1.7 million viewers and a nearly a 9.0 rating.

Venerable 60 Minutes still squeezed its way into the Top 10. In going against the Olympics’ final night, the CBS mainstay had 484,000 viewers and a 2.5 ratings.

More from the Top 10 after the jump

Read more

The London Olympics easily won the week for WNBC, despite the flood of complaints the network received about its handling of the prime time, tape-delayed coverage.

The seven days included in the weekly survey by Nielsen, earned the Top 7 spots, blowing away the competition in the process.

Proving the popularity of women’s gymnastics, the number one Olympics installment was last Thursday night. American Gabby Douglas became the first African-American gold medalist in the All-Around, and an estimated 2.5 million WNBC viewers watched with an impressive 12.9 rating.

Hardly a drop-off on the other nights, as Tuesday, July 31 yielded 2.4 million viewers and a 12.5 rating.

In the remaining positions, prime time coverage hosted by Bob Costas, averaged more than 1.9 million viewers and a 9.9 rating.

More from the Top 10 after the jump

Read more

On VH1′s Styled By June, premiering March 19, celebrity stylist June Ambrose shows how she and her team at Mode Squad, Inc. take stars like Jaleel White, Mischa Barton and Aubrey O’Day from ho-hum to haute. But considering Ambrose has been working her magic for over 20 years, what took her so long to jump into TV?

“It was about finding the right voice,” Ambrose explained in our Media Beat interview. “It is a formatted show, and I think that’s what’s going to surprise everyone. It’s not just this random reality of my life. You’re in my ‘Juniverse,’ yes, but in that ‘Juniverse,’ I take you through the process. I have this very strategic process that I take with each client every week. I break it down into three steps, and in that three steps you’re going to get to see the beginning, a middle and the end of emancipating, or redefining, them through a new look.”

We also got the fashionista to dish about her new eyewear line with Selima Optique and what fans can expect from her upcoming women’s collection.

Part 1:June Ambrose on Styling Diddy, Jay-Z and Hip-Hop’s Most Iconic Videos
Part 3: June Ambrose on How to Become a Fashion Stylist
Bonus! June Ambrose on Her Trademark Turban

Subscribe to mediabistroTV on YouTube

MTV’s Jersey Shore continues its dominance with another week atop the prime time ratings. An estimated 881,000 viewers watched the August 18th episode from Italy with a 4.4 rating, according to the Nielsen Company.

The New York Jets preseason game on WCBS/Channel 2 finished second for the week (744,000/3.7).

America’s Got Talent held down the third slot on WNBC (563,000/2.8). It tied with True Blood on HBO (558,000/2.8) and an August 18th New York Yankees game on WWOR/Channel 9 (557,000/2.8).

Talent also had a tenth-place finish for the week (484,000/2.4). 

The Yankees grabbed sixth and seventh place (tie) for games on WWOR and the YES Network, averaging 518,000 viewers and a 2.6 rating.

More from the Top 10 after the jump

Read more

TVNewser: Time magazine’s Person of the Year will be unveiled Wednesday on the “Today” show.

WebNewser: Who said print is dying? Web-only alternative newspaper Jersey City Independent has purchased lifestyle print magazine NEW.

minOnline: Time.com and CNNMoney.com have cleaned up their article pages to look cleaner and less cluttered.

Deadline Hollywood: Nikki Finke reports that NBC Universal‘s Lauren Zalaznick is in talks to become president of entertainment for MTV and VH1.

There was lots of mourning on the mediabistro.com Morning Media Menu podcast today.

Hosts Jason Boog of GalleyCat and AgencySpy‘s Matt Van Hoven remembered the life and work of Vanity Fair special correspondent and author Dominick Dunne, who died yesterday. Jason was proud to report that Dunne had completed his final novel, “Too Much Money,” before his death, and it will be published later this year.

The hosts also talked about VH1 reality shows and Ryan Jenkins, the reality show contestant and murder suspect who committed suicide after being sought by authorities for the murder of his wife. Jason reported the news that VH1 is now planning to revamp its programming to move away from the sort of reality dating shows that Jenkins appeared in. Can the shows that Jenkins was featured in or VH1 be blamed for this tragedy?

“VH1 used to have so much really great content,” Matt remembered. “Whether it was ‘Pop-Up Video’ or just their penchant for just replaying great videos…It was always about great music and always about that one thing.”

Jason was also very excited to announce that the 1989 film Heathers might be remade into a television show. “I loved [Heathers] and we quoted it all the time in high school,” he said. “Maybe that dates me a little.”

Matt was less enthusiastic about this possibility. “I was five when the movie came out,” Matt admitted.

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

• Air America Sold: And Al Franken‘s leaving. [AP | ETP]
• Judith Miller: First up to testify at Scooter Libby CIA leak trial. [E&P]
• Top Chef Winner: Spoiled again before show airs. [Eater]
• Martha: Lures Culture & Travel editor Michael Boodro away from Louise T. MacBain. [NYP]
• Nickelodeon: Launches “Second Life for ‘tweens.’” [Mediaweek]
• Times Soccer Story: Leads to Hollywood fight over movie rights. [WSJ]
• VH1: Developing show about bloggers. [Jossip]
• Time Inc.: Mulling health portal. [BusinessWeek]
• NYTimes.com, NYPost.com: Web traffic climbing fast. [HuffPo]
• Demetri Martin: Popular on the Internet, shills without shilling. [NYT]