So Nemo, is what we’re calling this? This storm will sound nothing like Ellen DeGeneres as a clownfish (oh wait, she was Dory). Anyway, maybe the Weather Channel can come up with more daunting names next year. Remember Snowpacalyse which hit three years this week? Also Snowmaggedon?

So, what are the networks planning? The Weather Channel had already blown out their reality shows in primetime last night with storm prep coverage. The news and business networks have reporters out in the field.

CNN is planning to be live overnight tonight and into Saturday covering the storm. Chad Myers and Jen Delgado will monitor the storm’s movement from the CNN Weather Center. Reporters and anchors including Jason Carroll, Susan Candiotti, Poppy Harlow, Ali Velshi, Ashleigh Banfield, Zain Asher, Alison Kosik, Mary Snow (appropriately), Gary Tuchman and Brian Todd will be out and about.

Brooke Baldwin anchors overnight coverage from balmy Atlanta. “This is when you know there’s a serious breaking news story,” said Baldwin during 2pmET coverage, “Look at all the pizza boxes at CNN.”

On Fox News, Anna Kooiman and Molly Lyon will report live. The storm has pushed the Saturday morning business block to the afternoon, from 2-4pmET. Kelly Wright and Jamie Colby will continue with live coverage from 10-Noon.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie — the real one, not a parody of him — was on SNL’s “Weekend Update” tonight. In a scripted bit with Seth Meyers he thanked many people, including his wife Mary Pat who’s been “putting up with a husband who has smelled like a wet fleece for the past three weeks.” And he also took time to not thank several others, including:

“I also do not want to thank the reporters that put themselves in danger by walking into the middle of a hurricane with their cameras. We don’t need you to tell us there’s a hurricane. We have windows!”

> More: Also on the show, fake Wolf Blitzer in the fake “Situation Room” on the David Petraeus affair. “Joining us from Tampa is our never-used Tampa correspondent Victor Randall.” Watch:

Watching a Ken Burns film is like watching the past come alive through the expert use of narration and still photographs. So how did he develop his signature style? The iconic filmmaker sits down with MediabistroTV in, “Ken Burns: My First Big Break.”

>UPDATE: Watch “Ken Burns: My First Big Break” in three weeks on MediabistroTV, Thursday, December 6.

And if superstorms on the East Coast and unseasonably warm weather on the West Coast wasn’t enough to satisfy your craving for major weather events, PBS presents an Extreme Weather Night of TV this Sunday (11/18), beginning at 7pm ET.

NOVA gets the party started with the premiere of “Inside the Megastorm” an original one-hour documentary taking viewers moment by moment through Hurricane Sandy. Then Ken Burns gives us reason to give thanks when he presents “The Dust Bowl.” Burns tells the story of the worst man-made environmental disaster in American history in a two-part, four hour documentary detailing how the convergence of a terrible drought and the scramble for the American Dream nearly changed the southern plains forever.

You can view our other MediabistroTV productions on our YouTube Channel.

The Weather Channel has gone ahead with its plan to name Winter storms. Alphabetically they’re already on “B:” Athena a Nor’easter that brought high wind and snow to the Northeast and Brutus, in the Northern Rockies which is expected to bring blizzard conditions to Montana today.

A quick search in TVEyes shows “Athena” was mentioned 56 times Wednesday on The Weather Channel. So far “Brutus” has been mentioned 17 times today.

The naming of the storms is not sitting well with the National Weather Service:

Weather Channel’s sister network NBC is getting in on the naming action, sort of. In his oh so glib way Wednesday on “Today”, Matt Lauer said, “This is, I guess, winter storm Athena, is what they call it right now.”

Your move Caesar, or Mother Nature, or whoever’s in charge.

ABC says it has raised $11.5 million so far for Superstorm Sandy relief efforts as the Disney-wide “Day of Giving” is about to enter primetime. “Good Morning America” co-anchor Robin Roberts delivered a special message during the show’s coverage this morning. Roberts watched from her Manhattan apartment as the storm blew through a week ago tonight. On doctors orders, she is not well enough to return to work. Roberts continues to recover from a bone marrow transplant after she was diagnosed with a form of leukemia last April.

Video after the jump…

Read more

ABC has added up the pledges for “Good Morning America’s” part in the Disney-wide “Day of Giving.” As of 11:30am it stands at $8.34 million, which includes a $3M match from Samsung. That also includes a pledge from Barbara Walters for $250,000. In announcing Walters’ gift, George Stephanopoulos then pledged $50,000 of his own hard-earned dollars. Walters, right, with WABC anchor Bill Ritter and GMA Weekend anchor Bianna Golodryga, was among those taking phone pledges this morning.

The Weather Channel is airing a one-hour special about Hurricane (and later Superstorm) Sandy tonight at 8PM and 9PM. “Sandy: The Anatomy of a Superstorm,” is being produced by NBC’s Peacock Productions, and will feature Jim Cantore, Stephanie Abrams, Bryan Norcross, Stu Ostro and Bill Nye (The Science Guy) talking about the storm.

From the logline:

This one-hour special reveals the science of how this hurricane began in the Caribbean and developed into a devastating super storm, slamming the eastern United States as a combination hurricane/nor’easter/winter storm. The program spotlights historical records broken by the storm and explores the possibility of more super storms in our future.

CNBC’s election night will have a heavy focus on what’s become the number one issue of the election: the economy. CNBC’s coverage begins with a two-hour special edition of “Squawk Box” at 5pmET with Joe Kernen, Becky Quick and Andrew Ross Sorkin. Then at 7pmET, Maria Bartiromo and Carl Quintanilla anchor the network’s primetime special “Your Money, Your Vote,” with Chief Washington Correspondent John Harwood reporting live from the virtual electoral map room at CNBC Global Headquarters. The primetime special will include real-time results and instant analysis from Washington to Wall Street to the vital battle ground states

More after the jump…

Read more

ABC and NBC aired dueling Superstorm Sandy specials last night. “20/20″ branded theirs “Heroes Among Us” while Dateline’s was “Sandy: Rescue and Recovery”

TVbytheNumbers has the overnight ratings which show “20/20″ drew 5.42 million viewers (1.5 rating in 18-49) while “Dateline” drew 3.83 million (1.1 rating in 18-49). “20/20″ won the hour among the younger demo. But both shows were beaten by CBS’s “Blue Bloods” which pulled in 11 million viewers. ABC and NBC both lost viewers from the 9pm lead-in: “Shark Tank” on ABC and “Grimm” on NBC.

As it turns out, last night’s “Dateline” almost didn’t air. As of Friday morning “Revolution” was in the Friday 10pm timeslot. That decision, replacing the news show with an entertainment show, didn’t sit well with NBC News staffers who had been working on Hurricane Sandy aftermath stories for several days. Lester Holt reported in depth from Breezy Point, Dennis Murphy from the Jersey Shore and Jeff Rossen reported on a crackdown on unlicensed contractors. At some point, NBC executives put “Dateline” back on at 10pm (my cable guide still had “Revolution” on at 10).

Earlier in the night, NBC’s “Come Together” telethon aiding Sandy survivors tied for second in 18-49 viewers with a 1.5 rating, and third in total viewers drawing 6.26 million.

On the heels of announcing a $2 million donation for Hurricane Sandy relief, Disney is designating Monday as a “Day of Giving” across ABC network and syndicated programming.

“Good Morning America” will start the “Day of Giving” by dedicating the entire 8am hour to raising money for relief efforts. ABC News anchors, reporters and employees will band together to encourage people to donate to the American Red Cross. The giving continues on “LIVE with Kelly and Michael,” and on “The View” as the ladies encourage their audience to donate to the American Red Cross relief efforts. “The Chew” will do the same as will “Katie.”

“The effects of Hurricane Sandy have impacted millions of people across the entire North East, including many of our co-workers, friends and families,” said Anne Sweeney, co-chair of Disney Media Networks and president, Disney-ABC Television Group, said.