TVNewser editor Merrill Knox is at the Women in the World conference at Lincoln Center New York today where the likes of CBS’s Lesley Stahl and Norah O’Donnell, ABC’s Cynthia McFadden, and Campbell Brown are all taking part in moderating sessions on global women’s issues. Speakers include Hillary Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, Meryl Streep and Angelina Jolie.

Last night, mediabistro was at the opening session where ABC’s Barbara Walters, CNN/ABC’s Christiane Amanpour and CBS’s Charlie Rose took part. FishbowlNY has the details. And look for Merrill’s stories this afternoon.

To say it’s been a rough year for the “Today” show, would be an understatement.

The once-dominant morning program is settling in to second place, as new top producers, on-air talent and show segments meld in the hopes of catching on with viewers and regaining the top spot. Meanwhile, star anchor Matt Lauer continues to find himself in the unenviable position of taking the licks — and the responsibility — for the show’s woes.

But last night, Lauer didn’t want to dwell on the downside. Instead it was a night to celebrate with his co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, and hundreds of other media luminaries, at the 18th annual National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association Headlines and Headliners benefit. “Today” national correspondent and news anchor Natlie Morales was the host for the evening which raised more than $75,000 for scholarships and program activities.

Morales delivered a few zingers during her speech, including giving a new name to HLN — “the hysterical ladies network.”

HLN anchor Jane Velez-Mitchell, who hosted this event last year, missed the joke as she was still taping her show. But she took it in stride when we told it to her later. They may be hysterical, but HLN ratings of late, thanks to coverage of the Jodi Arias trial, are nothing to laugh at.

We chatted with ABC’s Amy Robach, whose star has risen at “Good Morning America” since leaving NBC News last year. Robach and husband Andrew Shue are leaving today for a Caribbean vacation. Gayle King represented for “CBS This Morning,” while CNN’s Christine Romans, John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin chatted with guests. We caught up with MSNBC’s Alex Witt, FNC’s Rick Reichmuth and CNBC’s Mandy Drury, who’s heading home to Australia next week to catch up with family. On the local news scene, WABC’s Lori Stokes and WNBC’s Contessa Brewer worked the room. And we couldn’t pass up the chance to talk with The Weather Channel’s Bryan Norcross, the father of the named Winter storms. “Everything needs a hashtag now,” says the longtime meteorologist. “What better way than to name the storms?” Of course, an unending Winter helps. Did you hear Winter Storm Virgil is on the way this weekend?

(l-r) “Today” show publicist Megan Kopf Stackhouse, Andrew Shue, CNN’s Javier Morgado, NBC’s Natalie Morales, ABC’s Amy Robach

More photos after the jump…

Read more

The tables were turned on Brian Williams at the 92nd Street Y last night as the NBC “Nightly News” anchor was interviewed by Jonathan Tisch, the chairman of Loews Hotels.

Williams reflected on the trajectory of his career and some of the major stories he’s covered recently, including the school shooting in Newtown last year. Tisch asked Williams if there are ever times during his newscasts when “the words just don’t come.”

“Showing up in that town, it was the saddest place on earth,” Williams said. “I sat in a car for awhile and I looked at people walking by. I was ashamed at some of my fellow media people who came out of their lives in New York, sometimes not thinking, ‘we’re laughing to each other.’ Camera people, print journalists, television journalists, people I knew, people I didn’t know. It just was such a crushing weight of sadness.”

Williams, who said having the responsibility of delivering tragic news is “not a cherished role for an Irish Catholic kid who grew up wanting to please everybody,” also reflected on some of the other devastation he has seen in pursuit of a story, like in Banda Aceh after the Indonesian tsunami and New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

Traveling to where the news is important to Williams, who said he has never once been denied the financial resources to properly cover a story, even during tough economic times.

“Things like transportation, things like airlift capability, moving people, equipment, me going to a story, it has never been raised. I have never been in a meeting in my 20 years at NBC where someone has said, ‘whoa,’” Williams said.

Williams described Comcast, which recently acquired GE’s 49% stake of NBC for full control of the company, as “terrific employers, very good stewards,” but joked that he will “miss the employee discount in locomotives.”

Williams also discussed how he got his start in television, a story he recounted last year for MediabistroTV’s “My First Big Break.”  Watch it after the jump. Read more

All hail Team Coco!

Late night talker Conan O’Brien will be the entertainer at this year’s White House Correspondents Association dinner, to be held April 27 in Washington.

“Conan is one of television’s most innovative and influential talents and I am absolutely thrilled that he has agreed to be this year’s featured act,” said WHCA President Ed Henry in a statement.

“As social media has changed all aspects of the media business, Conan has embraced this shifting landscape to become a creative force both online as well as in the traditional television model. We are grateful that Conan also will be using that creativity to bring more attention to the WHCA’s commitment to helping needy journalism students.”

Proceeds from the evening – dubbed the “Nerd Prom” – will help fund more than $100,000 in WHCA scholarships.

As is tradition, the President and First Lady once again will be in attendance, with President Obama set to deliver his own set of jokes.

This also marks a return performance for O’Brien, who headlined the 1995 WCHA dinner.

,TVNewser was in Boston this weekend as several TV news anchors and contributors took a trip down memory lane.

They gathered at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library for a panel discussion on the life of Tip O’Neill, the legendary former Speaker of the House who passed away in 1994. Sunday marked 100 years since O’Neill’s birth.

Charlie Gibson – who covered O’Neill in the eighties for ABC News – moderated the forum, which featured reminiscing and story-telling among those who also shared the Tip beat back in the day: Bloomberg’s Al Hunt, ABC’s Cokie Roberts and her husband, writer-broadcaster Steve Roberts, and columnist turned “Morning Joe” contributor Mike Barnicle.

MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, once a top aide to O’Neill, told the audience he was “overwhelmed to have the chance” to be on the Speaker’s staff.

Gibson called O’Neill “an American original” and the “most fascinating” person he ever covered.

The panel discussion was recorded for broadcast January 1 on C-SPAN3.

Obama campaign senior adviser David Axelrod spent his final night with his mustache at New York’s Four Seasons Restaurant raising awareness — and money — for epilepsy research. Axelrod and his wife Susan hosted many Manhattan luminaries at the CURE New York reception at which Mayor Mike Bloomberg was presented an award for his support. In his brief remarks, Bloomberg caught sight of NBC’s Tom Brokaw in the crowd: “There’s Tom Brokaw. He’s my neighbor …. and my golf partner. Maybe he’ll even give me a few strokes next round.”

TVNewser spotted Fox News chairman Roger Ailes giving a warm hello to Susan Axelrod and Arianna Huffington as David Axelrod gave his remarks. The Axelrods established CURE: Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy as the family struggled to come to terms with their daughter Lauren’s epilepsy. Now 31, Lauren experienced her first seizure at seven months old.

We chatted with “CBS This Morning” anchor Charlie Rose, who, with his co-hosts Gayle King and Norah O’Donnell, is treating the “This Morning” staff to a holiday party next week. “It takes two jobs to be able to do it, but we’ll do it,” joked Rose, who also hosts “Charlie Rose” on PBS and Bloomberg TV.

Also at the event, organized for the most part by Tammy Haddad: “Good Morning America” and “This Week” anchor George Stephanopoulos and his wife Ali Wentworth, ABC political analyst

Read more

Join us for our first conference, Lost Remote — The NYC Show, on April 24 to explore how social media and the ensuing explosion of apps have reinvented the way brands, networks, and agencies are connecting with their audiences. You’ll get $300 off onsite prices when you register before Friday, December 7.

Unlike other conferences that focus on a single aspect of the social TV puzzle, our full-day event is explicitly designed to address the array of challenges and changes facing the broadcast and cable networks space. You’ll discover emerging opportunities and solutions that will foster consumer interaction and drive viewership.

If you’re interested in monetizing your “second screen audience” and uncovering the latest social TV solutions, Lost Remote- The NYC Show is the one event you can’t afford to miss! Our speakers will cut through the hype and show you how to navigate the next generation of TV with limited resources.

TVNewser and TVSpy kicked off Thanksgiving week with a party at sideBar in New York City on Monday night.  If you attended, thanks for coming out and having a drink with us, and if you missed it, we hope to see you next time.

Read more

Our October party plans were cancelled by Hurricane Sandy, but we’re trying this again: come have a drink with the TVNewser and TVSpy editors, and your colleagues across the industry, at sideBar in New York City on Monday.

TVNewser & TVSpy Party

Monday, November 19

sideBar

118 E 15th St (on Irving Place, a block from Union Square)

6:30 – 8:30 p.m.

If you’ve attended our parties before, you know that sharing a few drinks with us is a great way to connect with other TV news professionals. So RSVP here and we’ll see you next week.

News executives and anchors from rival networks will come together Wednesday night at New York’s Gotham Hall for the 10th annual Joan’s Legacy gala, which honors former “NBC Nightly News” writer Joan Scarangello who lost her battle with lung cancer 11 years ago. Scarangello, a never-smoker, died in 2001 at age 47.

NBC’s Brian Williams (right, at the 2011 event) will host the event. ABC News president Ben Sherwood and CNN executive Jonathan Wald, who both worked with Scarangello at “Nightly News,” will be among the attendees. WABC anchor Bill Ritter, who lost his mother to lung cancer, will emcee.

Joan’s Legacy, now going by the name, Uniting Against Lung Cancer has raised $10 million for lung cancer research since inception which has resulted in more than $45 million in follow-on funding, scientific discovery and new treatments in clinical trials and career development of many leading lung cancer experts.