Here’s something you don’t see every day: last night the top two cable news channels in the adults 25-54 demo in primetime were CNBC (683K) and HLN (397K). Fox News was third (382K), MSNBC fourth (195K) and CNN fifth (167K). What the heck was going on?

The answer: hockey and Jodi Arias.

CNBC had an NHL Stanley Cup playoff game between the Boston Bruins and the New York Rangers, which peaked with over 2 million viewers at 9 PM, and over 1 million adults 25-54. HLN had more on the Jodi Arias trial, with the jury unable to come to a decision on her sentencing. HLN peaked before prime at 7 PM with Jane Velez-Mitchell, who drew over 2 million viewers, but still averaged more than a million viewers during the 8 and 9 PM hours. It was reaonably strong all day in the demo.

In total viewers Fox News still placed first in primetime, followed by CNBC, HLN, MSNBC and CNN. The full scoreboard, which does not include CNBC, can be viewed here.

25-54 demographic (Live +SD)

• Total day: FNC: 284 | MSNBC: 117 | CNN: 145 | HLN: 307

• Primetime: FNC: 382 | MSNBC: 195 | CNN: 167 | HLN: 397

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“Good Morning America” co-anchor Lara Spencer called it a “TV moment,” and indeed Mariah Carey‘s appearance on “GMA” this morning would certainly seem to qualify.

The singer–there to launch “GMA’”s Summer concert series–said “oh shit” on-air (she later suggested that she actually said “shoot”), and the back of her dress popped open, though thankfully we were spared any sort of Janet Jackson ”wardrobe malfunction.”

ABC News, to its credit, posted the video in full on Goodmorningamerica.com.

WATCH:

The board of News Corp. has formally approved the motion to split the company in two. News Corp.’s newspaper and publishing businesses, along with its Australian businesses, will become the new News Corp., while the company’s TV, film and studio businesses (including Fox News Channel) will now be part of 21st Century Fox.

“Today’s announcement is a significant step in creating two independent companies with the world’s leading portfolios of publishing and media and entertainment assets,” said Rupert Murdoch, who will serve as Chairman and CEO of the proposed 21st Century Fox, and Executive Chairman of the new News Corporation. “We continue to believe that the separation will unlock the true value of both companies and their distinct assets, enabling investors to benefit from the separate strategic opportunities resulting from more focused management of each division.”

The company also announced the board members for the new companies. More information here.

The BBC, ITV News and The Sun all aired the video footage of the alleged killer of a British soldier in London, his hands bloodied, still holding a meat cleaver.

The broadcasters are said to have received hundreds of complaints from viewers after showing the video. The Press Gazette caught up with spokespeople for the networks, who defended the decision to air it. They also spoke to a rep from Sky News, which opted not to air the video.

A spokesperson for ITV News said: “We carefully considered showing this footage ahead of broadcast and made the decision to do so on a public interest basis as the material is integral to understanding the horrific incident that took place yesterday…

John McAndrew, executive editor at Sky News, said: “We assessed the video at a senior editorial level – several times. Given the detail we had already learned about the attack, we took the decision not to run the video as we believed it would have been unnecessarily distressing.”

As it happens, ITV’s decision also drew criticism, as The Guardian revealed that it cut out the suspect saying “The only reason we have killed this man today is because Muslims are dying daily by British soldiers.”

(h/t HuffPost Media)

When Comcast acquired all of NBCUniversal from General Electric in February, it also acquired the naming rights to 30 Rockefeller Plaza, currently known as the GE Building.

So far, Comcast and NBC have been mum about a new name, and the GE logo still adorns the side of the tower.

A trailer for a new show, however, suggests that an NBC Peacock may be coming soon to the top of “30 Rock.” The peacock is now also on Comcast’s corporate logo.

The show is the “Million Second Quiz,” a competition show that will air live from New York City for 12 consecutive days later this Fall. The trailer shows a helicopter flying over the top of a building that looks somewhat like 30 Rock, with an NBC peacock prominently placed, and no GE logo to be seen. It is computer generated, but still certainly has an air of legitimacy to it.

Update: It is not computer generated, but rather a shot of the NBC tower in Chicago, which does have the peacock on it, cleverly cut into shots of New York City. Still, would make some sense wouldn’t it?

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Attorney General Eric Holder personally gave the OK for the Department of Justice to search Fox News correspondent James Rosen‘s emails and phone records, NBC News reports. The FBI pursued Rosen’s information as though he were a “co-conspirator” in the leak investigation.

The law enforcement official said Holder’s approval of the Rosen search, in the spring of 2010, came after senior Justice officials concluded there was “probable cause” that Rosen’s communications with his source, identified as intelligence analyst Stephen Kim, met the legal burden for such searches. “It was approved at the highest levels– and I mean the highest,” said the law enforcement official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. He said that explicitly included Holder.

Holder had recused himself in the AP leak investigation because he was interviewed as part of the process. The news comes as Fox News CEO Roger Ailes sent a memo to staff accusing the administration of trying to “intimidate” Fox News.

During President Obama’s speech to the National Defense University, he was interrupted a handful of times by a protester who called for him to shut down the prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (video after the jump).

As so often happens when there is a heckler, news coverage of the speech spent some time talking about the heckler rather than the meat of the speech itself. No cable news channel dwelled on the protester, but both CNN and MSNBC spent time talking about her right after it concluded that would otherwise have been spent talking about what the President actually said. Fox News didn’t mention the protester at all right after the speech, even during a segment about the President’s comments on Guantanamo.

Here’s what was said on cable news right after the speech concluded:
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President Obama spoke this afternoon at the National Defense University. The bulk of the speech was focused on national security, but for a few minutes, the President weighed in on the investigations the Justice Department has conducted involving journalists, including Fox News correspondent James Rosen and the Associated Press.

Obama says that Attorney General Holder has agreed to review the guidelines and talk to media outlets, and will report back to the President in July.

“I am troubled by the possibility that leak investigations may chill the investigative journalism that holds government accountable,” Obama said, adding that “Journalists should not be at legal risk for doing their jobs.”

The full text of his comments on the press are after the jump.
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Following the devastating tornado in Oklahoma this week, Fox News put one of its new assets to work: a “quick response” vehicle designed specifically to cover the aftermath of disasters, where cell service is often spotty or nonexistent. While every news organization has some sort of vehicle-based mobile transmission system, the technology that distinguishes FNC’s truck from its competition is its Raysat Satellite Antenna.

Backpack-based systems like LiveU are tremendously useful, but in places like Moore, OK where there is limited or no cell service, they become much more challenging to use. BGAN satellite antennas have become the standard for these sorts of vehicles, though FNC and RaySat say their antenna can carry 10 times the bandwidth of a BGAN, resulting in substantially higher picture quality (see video shot from the vehicle, after the jump).
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