MSNBC viewers were treated to Ron Reagan and Monica Crowley's first on-air rehearsal during the noon hour today. The 15-minute segment was a preview of the pair's upcoming 12 and 5pm talk shows. "They were introduced as having a new show sometime soon," a viewer says.

> Here's a short clip from today's segment (WMV)

The shows haven't been officially announced yet, but "it's expected to debut in February," an MSNBC executive told TVNewser this afternoon...

Anderson Cooper's first '60 Minutes Wednesday' report aired tonight. "A Prescription For Death?" examined the case of Dr. James Shortt. Here's the CBSNews.com summary. "It's hard to imagine that this is taking place just because CBS wanted to use someone different to do a report," an e-mailer says. "Keep an eye on what happens with Cooper and CNN." And CBS?

Ann Curry got confused about Bill Clinton's sexuality on 'Today' Tuesday morning: "The segment was about a new book claiming that Abraham Lincoln was gay," this blog says. "As Curry began the lead-in she mentioned a "controversial new book by a sex researcher claims that President Clinton was gay" and she only realized her mistake when Couric and the others began laughing." NJ's Last Call recalls that Curry said "I'm so sorry, Mr. Clinton" after she realized she misspoke...

Could MSNBC begin beating CNN in the primetime 25-54 demo? It seems possible, as Kaplan nips at Klein's heels. "MSNBC is clearly in CNN's rearview mirror on primetime demos," an insider says. At 8pm, Paula Zahn Now earned 241,000 viewers in the demo, while MSNBC's Countdown followed close behind with 215,000. (It was the other way around yesterday, with MSNBC's demo #s beating CNN at 8pm) Here are more numbers to digest:

25-54 demo:

> Total day: FNC: 394,000 / CNN: 130,000 / MSNBC: 82,000

> Primetime: FNC: 790,000 / CNN: 227,000 / MSNBC: 181,000

Total viewers:

> Total day: FNC: 1,102,000 / CNN: 456,000 / MSNBC: 221,000

> Primetime: FNC: 2,312,000 / CNN: 909,000 / MSNBC: 412,000

Individual show data, total viewers:

> FNC: Hume: 1,648,000 / Shep: 1,718,000 / O'Reilly: 2,794,000 / H&C: 2,342,000 / Greta: 1,799,000

> CNN: Cooper: 636,000/ Zahn: 620,000 / King: 1,269,000 / Brown: 672,000

> MSNBC: Matthews: 457,000 / Olbermann: 433,000 / Scarborough: 365,000

> Also: In the first ratings week of 2005, Fox News was the eighth-ranked cable network in primetime, and the ninth-ranked cable network in the total programming day, Nielsen numbers demonstrate. Despite the busy news week of tsunami coverage, CNN did not rank in the top 20.

TV Guide's Stephen Battaglio landed a revealing interview with CBS chief Les Moonves, and has posted the transcript here. He probes the Rather replacement question...A couple highlights from Moonves:

> "Everybody assumes on March 9 when Dan leaves the chair that a permanent replacement will be there. That may not be the case."

> "I think we're looking to do things differently and what that entails, we don't quite know yet. I think there was a lot of attention on what was going in the report. I think now we can concentrate on the future."

This morning I noted that ABC News 20/20 correspondent Martin Bashir has been subpoenaed to testify in the Michael Jackson trial. ABC News has announced plans to challenge the order. "ABC News and our correspondent Martin Bashir will fight the subpoena, which seeks to invade both the news-gathering and editorial process," Jeffrey Schneider, vice president of media relations at ABC News, said. "We feel strongly that the California shield law protects the rights of journalists who cannot be -- or be perceived to be -- arms of either the prosecution or defense as they pursue the news." More...

From today's NY Observer:

"You know, we killed our Amber Frey interview," said Mr. Klein. "We didn't pursue it. Everybody else did an Amber Frey interview this week, and they did decent numbers. But we didn't do it. You know, it's about living up to the brand promise."

Setting aside the untimely reference to killing (we'll leave that for Drudge): When Klein made these comments on Monday, he was right: CNN hadn't aired an interview with Amber. But on Tuesday, Soledad O'Brien interviewed Frey and her attorney on American Morning. Here's the transcript. So what does the CNN brand promise, after all?

> To CNN's credit, though, it did not widely promote the interview, while FNC and MSNBC did...

...That's the motto for the new 7pm entertainment show on Headline News. Premiering February 21, "Showbiz Tonight" will feature a "comprehensive mix of all of the latest entertainment stories, live reports, in-studio live interviews, debates on hot issues and provocative pundits on the latest news, trends and buzz," the network announced today. As TVNewser said yesterday, Karyn Bryant and A.J. Hammer will host (from NYC). "Most entertainment news shows are taped several hours before broadcast, but Showbiz Tonight will be live and so much more up-to-date," Ken Jautz said. Dave Levine, formerly MSNBC's senior daytime broadcast producer, is the EP...

Nancy Grace's new CNN Headline News talk show, called "Nancy Grace," will premiere at 8pm on February 21, the network announced today. "There is no one more knowledgeable and passionate about legal issues than Nancy," CNN exec Ken Jautz said. Whether you agree or disagree with her, you'll want to watch her." Grace will take viewer calls during the hour. Wendy Walker Whitworth, an executive vice president of CNN, will be the senior executive producer of the program...

Jon Klein's plans for "storytelling" on CNN seem to evoke the term "newsmagazine." But Klein told Joe Hagan that he doesn't like that term. Instead: "It's almost like what you'd see on the History Channel five years from now. We can do it today. We're living history." Other highlights from the must-read:

> Klein "has made a decision about how to beat Fox: broadcast news."

> Interesting: "Was it too much to suggest that CBS News and CNN just do what the market has been demanding for years and merge? Mr. Klein declined to address that on the record."

> Update: 4:39pm: An insider howls at the "living history" quote: "This is CNN's sixth executive in the shuffle to talk about 'storytelling' and 'reporting the news' -- If history is any example here, we can see where this production is headed."

That's the headline on this must-read piece by Newsweek's Howard Fineman: "A political party is dying before our eyes—and I don't mean the Democrats. I'm talking about the 'mainstream media,' which is being destroyed by the opposition (or worse, the casual disdain) of George Bush's Republican Party; by competition from other news outlets (led by the internet and Fox's canny Roger Ailes); and by its own fraying journalistic standards." One e-mailer calls it "one of the best things ever written about modern mainstream media. Ever." More...

Expect the following announcements to come at the CNN Headline News announcement at the TV Press Tour later today:

> Jan. 11: Karyn Bryant and A.J. Hammer will host an entertainment show called "Showbiz Tonight."

> Dec. 17: Court TV's Nancy Grace will host a legal show, possibly called .. drumroll please .. "Nancy Grace."

> Dec. 14: Mike Galanos and Erica Hill will anchor a 9 to 10pm news broadcast

> Dec. 14: The new Headline Prime consists of an entertainment show, legal show, and news hour, from 7 to 10pm. The legal and e-shows will reair from 10pm to midnight.

(The plans may have changed, though...We'll hear for sure soon.) There may be other announcements, as well: CNN's PR web site uploaded photos of Jim Walton, Jon Klein, and Ken Jautz yesterday, but they are dated today...

Is this the start of a trend?: On Monday, ABC's Good Morning America beat NBC's Today Show in total viewers, according to the fast national data. ABC averaged 6,010,000 viewers: 405,000 more than Today's 5,605,000 viewers. ABC had a 17 HH share, while NBC had 16. NBC had slightly more viewers in the demo though...

"These are extraordinary times at CBS," so "for the time being, at least, the network's 68-year-old stalwart, Bob Schieffer, may be its best hope" to replace Dan Rather, Jon Friedman says. "Schieffer could help CBS' beleaguered news department take the first, necessary step to regain a measure of its credibility."

> "I think Schieffer would be a great choice," Syracuse University j-prof Robert Thompson says. "It's very difficult to dislike his personality. And he has all of the gravitas that one associated with the old CBS News."

> TVNewser Tuesday: How about Schieffer in the interim?

"I have been here through good times and not so good times. I have seen us overcome adversity before. I am convinced we can do so again. That must be our focus and priority. And we can fulfill that objective by getting back to business and doing our jobs better than ever." Those were Dan Rather's words in a message to staff on Tuesday. Drudge has the rest.

> When Rather returned to the anchor chair on Tuesday, "he made no reference to the report or the Bush Guard story," CNN.com notes.

Howard Kurtz's WP second-day story about CBS/Rather/bias/critics highlights some of the network's internal e-mails as the September 8 segment become a scandal. "There was a rush because Mary felt it was a great story and she was going to get scooped on it by USA Today," Linda Mason says. "I think she would have done that with any story. I firmly believe if they found something about Kerry and his past, they'd be rushing to get that on the air, too." Critics disagree, of course...

USA Today's Peter Johnson asks Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer for reaction to the report. "Every news organization, if it's aggressive and doing what it ought to be doing, is going to get caught with a bad story from time to time." And: "You just can't promise 'We're never going to do it again,'" he continued. "You have to demonstrate you don't tolerate this sort of thing and put procedures into place that convince people you're really serious."

Bill O'Reilly has accepted George Clooney's invite to appear on the "Tsunami Aid: A Concert of Hope telethon," set to air Saturday on NBC and its cable networks, E! Online reports.

"NBC has faxed us over information that all of the money that you donate to the telethon on Saturday night is going to the American Red Cross--all of it," O'Reilly said. "I like that. So, I'm gonna go over and do it."

...That's what TV Week reports. The entertainment channel is partnering with British Sky Broadcasting to produce the half-hour daily courtroom re-enactments. "Viewers around the world are interested in this trial and with no cameras in the courtroom, this series will be an excellent way to keep up with the day's events and bring the trial to life," E! prez Ted Harbert says. The network aired similar re-enactments during the OJ trial...

> Also: ABC 20/20 correspondent Martin Bashir, "whose controversial 2003 Michael Jackson documentary helped trigger a criminal probe of the King of Pop, has been subpoenaed to testify as a prosecution witness at the entertainer's upcoming criminal trial," the Smoking Gun says.