• It looks as though FNC’s “Fox & Friends” will be joining the “Today” show in getting a shiny new set next month. NewscastStudio has more on what is happening in Studio E. The last major set upgrade (including the debut of the “curvy couch”) was back in 2007.

• MSNBC host Alex Wagner has been secretly dating White House chef and food policy adviser Sam Kass, The Washington Post reports. “The two were spotted together at the White House Correspondents’ parties, but no red carpets or public PDAs, so they blended into the crowds.”

• In the world of documentary programming: Discovery Channel’s “Shark Week” delivered the best ratings in the programming stunt’s 26-year history. It was also Discovery’s best week ever in the key adults 18-49 demo.

25-54 demographic (Live +SD)

• Total day: FNC: 238 | MSNBC: 99 | CNN: 143 | HLN: 91

• Primetime: FNC: 386 | MSNBC: 163 | CNN: 197 | HLN: 142

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Al Jazeera America launches one week from today, and the organization is continuing to roll out products. Today, AJAM launched an official website at america.aljazeera.com with breaking news, analysis and video, a far cry from the previous placeholder, which was just a collection of press releases and information on what carriers were carrying the channel.

The site features top stories and the latest news at the top, with features and trending topics down the pager. It looks like video will be prominently featured, but with a channel that hasn’t launched, the video selection is somewhat limited. There is also a TV schedule, and a box to put in your ZIP and see which MSOs are carrying AJAM in your area.

The schedule also had an important absence: there is no 8 PM program as of yet. What will fill that timeslot come August 20? We will have to wait and see.

A larger screengrab of the site is below. (h/t Dena Takruri)
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25-54 demographic (Live +SD)

• Total day: FNC: 140 | MSNBC: 137 | CNN: 153 | HLN: 135

• Primetime: FNC: 152 | MSNBC: 235 | CNN: 301 | HLN: 153

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25-54 demographic (Live +SD)

• Total day: FNC: 171 | MSNBC: 156 | CNN: 117 | HLN: 120

• Primetime: FNC: 135 | MSNBC: 244 | CNN: 115 | HLN: 146

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Dr. Sanjay Gupta‘s documentary on marijuana, “Weed,” delivered some of CNN’s best (non news-driven) Sunday night ratings in a long time.

“Weed” attracted 1.21 million total viewers and 477,000 adults 25-54 at 8 PM. The numbers are comparable to what Fox News regularly draws during weekend primetime in total viewers, and the demo numbers are significantly higher than what any of the channels typically draw.

It was clear that viewers were tuning in specifically for Gupta’s special. The 7 PM hour on CNN averaged 431,000 total and 139,000 demo viewers, while at 9 PM “Crimes of the Century” fell to 585,000 total and 198,000 demo viewers. In other words, “Weed” tripled its lead-in and lost more than 50% of its viewers after it ended.

The subject matter also probably had something to do with it. Back in 2009 CNBC saw record-breaking ratings with a pot documentary of its own. Clearly weed fans are a loyal bunch.

First, there was “Tebowing,” and correspondents did it in the middle of covering hurricanes. Then there was “Kaepernicking,” and everyone was like “Ok, that’s probably enough,” until the First Lady did it.

Now, we have “Dufnering,” inspired by PGA champ Jason Dufner, who was spotted sitting slack against a wall, staring blankly into the ether. It became a meme, and now everyone is doing it. Even “CBS This Morning” co-anchors Charlie Rose and Norah O’Donnell, who did it with the man himself after he was interviewed on the program.

“NBC Nightly News” remained the top network evening newscast for the week of August 5 in both total viewers and the adults 25-54 demo, though “ABC World News” remains close in the demo. Two weeks ago ABC was able to top NBC in the demo.

Compared to the same week last year, NBC is down sigificantly in both total and demo viewers, though that week saw NBC’s 2012 Olympics coverage, which inflated the ratings. ABC and CBS were up in total viewers, but down somewhat in the demo.

Compared to last week, NBC is up in both categories, while ABC and CBS are down in both categories. Brian Williams remains out of commission as he recovers from knee surgery.

Numbers for the week of August 5, 2013:

• Al Jazeera America has hired Michael Okwu and Sarah Hoye as correspondents for “America Tonight.” You can read more about both after the jump.

• Variety‘s Brian Lowry reviews “The Politics of Power,” an MSNBC documentary hosted by Chris Hayes about the politics of climate change. He appreciates its message, but finds the lack of dissenting voices disappointing.

• Helen Swenson, senior VP of live programming for The Weather Channel, is leaving the company to take a job in local TV. Swenson joined Weather as VP of live programming in May, 2009.

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Way back in June, we noticed that ABC News was testing out a new look for ABCNews.com. Well, now we know a whole lot more about the design “refresh,” as the network is calling it.

The current ABCNews.com is a bit dated, with CNN, NBC News and CBS News all having updated their sites since the last refresh. The new design (see the screengrab to the left, and more photos below), places a heavy emphasis on video content, and brings social interaction to the forefront.

“As a user, sometimes you don’t want to wait for what is on television,” ABC News senior VP of digital Joe Ruffolo tells TVNewser. “This gives you an experience where you can choose what story is important to you and how you want to absorb that.

“Some people want to watch the trial, some people don’t, some people want to watch the live originals we are doing on the site,” Ruffolo added. “We just want users to have that choice, and that ability to get the news they want and when they want it.”

To that end, a flow of headlines (reminiscent of a Twitter feed) will now be displayed in a narrow column on the left-hand side of the page, underneath a box that can be used to display live video, archived video, live blogs or any number of other pieces of content.

“When we have breaking news or even developing stories, you will see that left column go down a little,” Ruffolo says.

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