Only on TVNewser: Radio talk show host Monica Crowley is coming to MSNBC to host the noon and 5pm hours. The programs will likely debut shortly after the New Year, according to an industry insider. Ron Reagan Jr. will co-host the noon show.

Sources apparently exaggerated when they said a "big name" was leaving FNC. Crowley has served as a Fox News contributor since 1996. "Monica Crowley is no longer employed at Fox News -- we wish her well," an FNC spokesperson said.

Update: 6:20pm: ...Earlier today I wondered about rumors that an on-air personality was leaving Fox News. "This person isn't the biggest name, but is about to become a bigger name," one tipster said. Despite speculation, we know now it wasn't one of the "major leaguers"...See above.

Quoting today's press release: "Contessa Brewer has been named anchor of NBC News' 'Early Today,' effective immediately. In addition to anchoring 'Early Today,' Brewer will continue to contribute to MSNBC."

What's it like to wake up one day and notice a quote attached to your name that you never said? MSNBC host Joe Scarborough says he found out this morning.

In an e-mail to TVNewser, Joe responds to this morning's Washington Post story: "While I have been on strong pain medication for the past few weeks, I would not tell a reporter that 'Sean Hannity has been reading off of RNC talking points for the past four years' even if I were on heroin."

Joe continues: "I did discuss the challenges conservative hosts face over the next four years, and said I had caught grief from some conservative talk show hosts for being critical of the President's first debate performance. But I did not attack Sean Hannity or anyone else."

He plans to write a letter to the editor of the Post specifying the inaccuracies...

> This morning: "Scarborough Takes Aim At Sean Hannity"

> Update: 4:08pm: The lead was updated to note that the allegations are in dispute.

Rupert Murdoch "told reporters Tuesday that he hoped to launch a business news cable channel by the summer," the AP says. "I think CNBC is a pretty disappointing channel at the moment," Murdoch said.
"Asked what type of programming would show up on the new business channel, Murdoch said it would be 'more positive programming,'" Multichannel News reports. And according to Newsday. Murdoch said the market for biz news is "wide open for competition."

With all the GOP gains lately, "what's a right-wing diss jockey supposed to rant about now?," Paul Farhi asks in the Wash Post on Wed. Joe Scarborough says the challenge for hosts is to prove "that we're more than just the Pravda of the right," and targets Sean Hannity: "I think that's going to be difficult for some people. I honestly don't know what Sean Hannity is going to be able to talk about. If you've been reading off the Republican National Committee's talking points like he has for the past four years, it's going to be hard to be critical of the status quo."