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With Tim Russert's Death, NBC News Must Replace a Man of Many Roles (NYT)
The sudden death of Tim Russert has left the management of NBC News, for the moment at least, at a loss to contemplate how to replace him. Russert was not only the moderator of Meet the Press, he was also the chief of NBC's Washington bureau and NBC's public face on politics, appearing regularly on the network's full range of programs, including the Today show, and NBC's Nightly News. LAT: Speculation on possible successors centers on three on-air personalities already under contract to NBC: David Gregory, the former White House correspondent recently given his own MSNBC show, Race for the White House; Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC's long-running Hardball; and Joe Scarborough, the former congressman and host of Morning Joe on MSNBC. Politico: On a memorial edition of NBC's Meet the Press, moderator Tim Russert was remembered in his studio as a friend of politicians who prepared rigorously for the powerful show and was "offended" when they didn't do the same. WSJ: Russert will be remembered for his remarkable career. But I'll remember him as the famous journalist who gave counsel to an intern, and who told me to "get out there and do it," writes Robert Costa. Time: It's a measure of his success as a journalist that few people remember Tim Russert was once the Democratic Lee Atwater — the smartest, toughest, most instinctive political aide around. FishbowlDC: Luke Russert, Tim Russert's only son, is a guest this morning on the Today show. NYT: Recalling Russert as a political operative in New York. WaPo: Tom Shales on "the smile that lit up journalism." New Yorker: Russert was defined as much by what he was not as by what he was. He was not lazy or lax, he was not an ideologue or a cynic. Beyond his family, Russert's passion was politics, and he cared enough about the game to try to keep it, and its players, honest, writes David Remnick. USAT: The show is expected to name an interim host sometime after Russert's funeral. Variety: Asked about the different names to surface, another NBC source said "no way" that a cable personality would be considered for the job because the broadcast news division wants to keep itself "pristine," meaning it wants to maintain a clear line between NBC News and what it sees as increasingly outspoken viewpoints that drive much of cable news, including MSNBC. Forbes: "For all of the things he did — and he was a prolific news analyst — what people will always most remember as his magnum opus is sitting around on election night, making his predictions and providing analysis," says Robert Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University. TVNewser: Complete Tim Russert coverage.

Is Keith Olbermann Changing TV News? (New Yorker)
Keith Olbermann's success, like Bill O'Reilly's, is evidence of viewer cocooning — the inclination to seek out programming that reinforces one's own firmly held political views. "People want to identify," Griffin says. "They want the shortcut. 'Wow, that guy's smart. I get him.' In this crazy world of so much information, you look for places where you identify, or you see where you fit into the spectrum."

FCC Staff Back XM-Sirius Merger (WSJ)
The staff of the Federal Communications Commission has proposed that the agency approve the merger of XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. and Sirius Satellite Radio Inc., setting the stage for a final vote on the multibillion-dollar deal in as little as three weeks if the companies meet several conditions.

AOL Sale Up Next for Time Warner (NYP)
Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes hopes to move swiftly to find a buyer for AOL's dial-up business after the company completes its separation from the Platform A advertising division in the next month. According to sources inside the company, Time Warner held talks with rival dial-up provider EarthLink as recently as March about a combination.

MySpace Might Have Friends, but It Wants Ad Money (NYT)
When the News Corporation added MySpace to its portfolio nearly three years ago, it expected that if its base of 16 million users kept growing, the advertising dollars would roll in. The social networking site has grown — to 118 million worldwide users. But the cash is not coming in as quickly as the company had hoped. TechCrunch: Facebook has officially caught up to MySpace in terms of unique monthly worldwide visitors, according to data released by Comscore.

Tribune Plans Safety Net for Stations (TV Week)
The Tribune Co., which owns 23 television stations, is beefing up its library of programming, providing the company flexibility either to launch a new national broadcast network or invigorate the slate of its rebranded WGN America channel. The contingency plans are being spurred in part by concern about the future of the company's 15 CW affiliates, multiple people at Tribune said.

Reality TV's 'Next Big Thing' Could Come From You (USAT)
It sounds as if it could be a reality series: Earn money by creating your own TV format. Producer John de Mol says it's the real thing. Deal or no deal? De Mol, co-founder of the international media giant Endemol, says anyone can have a great idea for a reality show, and he's starting a Web site to solicit concepts.

Where TV and the Web Converge, There Is Hulu (LAT)
Scott Collins: In a very short time, Hulu has rocketed from nothing to being one of the top video destinations on the Internet. We've all heard the years of trade-show claptrap about television-Web "convergence," but Hulu has come as close as possible to turning your computer into a TV without actually sending a tech to monkey around with the hardware and wiring.

The Upfront: Broadcast, Syndie Benefit From Buyers Bigger Budgets (Mediaweek)
While media buyers were dumbfounded by the strength of the broadcast network upfront marketplace the week prior, they were equally astonished last week with the syndication market. Many top-tier first-run and off-network shows were landing price hikes in the 8-9 percent range. AdAge: Tracking TV's biggest spenders.

Barack Obama Talks About His Media Agenda (B&C)
In emailed responses, Obama said he is committed to working toward a digital-TV transition that is without significant disruption (the switchover would come less than four weeks after his inauguration); said the Federal Communications Commission needs to take merger reviews more seriously; and gave his thoughts on whether cable content should be regulated or its channels unbundled.

Cable Networks Hoping to Generate Heat Again This Summer (Hollywood Reporter)
These days, no basic cabler worth its salt goes without a summer-scheduled scripted drama, including TNT (The Closer), Lifetime (Army Wives) and AMC's Golden Globe-winning Mad Men. Monday brings The Middleman on ABC Family, followed in July by The Cleaner with Benjamin Bratt, A&E's first scripted foray in six years.

As Obama Aide, Reporter Dons Flack Jacket (WaPo)
As Barack Obama started fielding questions at a hospital here last week, Linda Douglass stood off to the left, scribbling in a reporter's notebook, as she has in every presidential campaign since 1980. It wasn't until 20 minutes later, when she shouted, "Last question!" that her former colleagues were reminded of her new role as a traveling spokeswoman who will be the public face of the campaign.

Revolving Door Newsletter: Publisher Flees Chicago Trib, Zell (mediabistro.com)
Tribune's eventual implosion is running ahead of schedule, with Chicago Tribune publisher and consummate company man Scott Smith resigning after clashes with CEO Sam Zell. We're officially living in bizarro world when an old guard apparatchik like Smith would rather bow out than oversee the steep job cuts that are likely coming. It's now only a matter of time...

Is the Journal Getting... Better? (Slate)
Jack Shafer: Some time around the beginning of the month, my disposition changed, and the Journal moved to the head of my daily newspaper line — not because of its political and international coverage but because it was swinging hard again in its traditional wheelhouse to produce great enterprise journalism.

TBS Gives Interruption a Whole New Meaning (AdAge)
To tout the coming season premiere of TBS's The Bill Engvall Show, the network has been running a promo at the bottom of the screen during episodes of Family Guy that is impossible to miss. Mr. Engvall, with a remote control in hand, starts speaking over the dialogue being uttered by Stewie, Peter, Brian, and other members of the animated comedy's Griffin clan.