“Piers Morgan Tonight” EP Jonathan Wald snapped this picture showing a damaged crane atop the 90-story, One 57 apartment building going up at 57th St and 7th Ave. CNN, with New York headquarters just a few blocks from the site, is also covering the story of the dangling crane. CBS News is four blocks to the west, Bloomberg (which has a livestream of the dangling crane) four blocks to the east while NBC News/MSNBC and Fox News are about 7 blocks to the south. One 57, when completed, will be New York’s tallest apartment building and already boasts its most expensive apartment.

The city ordered an evacuation to all buildings on 57th St. between 6th and 7th Avenue. That includes the Carnegie Hall Tower which is home to several companies including If Management, which represents many TV news and sports talent. “The FDNY has also ordered Carnegie Hall Tower to be closed and to remain closed until city officials deem the area to be safe,” reads a note to tenants.

“ABC World News,” “CBS Evening News” and “NBC Nightly News” will expand to one hour tonight covering, for the most part, Hurricane Sandy. But it’s likely the broadcasts won’t be seen in some of the nation’s largest TV markets which are in Hurricane Sandy’s cross-hairs. The local stations may continue with their own coverage or power may be out, which is already the case for hundreds of thousands of homeowners.

ABC’s “Nightline” is also expanding to one hour. “Jimmy Kimmel Live” was supposed to originate in Brooklyn tonight, beginning a week of shows in the city. Tonight’s show has been canceled.

As of the 2pmET Hurricane Center advisory, Sandy is packing 90 mph winds and is moving more quickly, at 28 mph, which means landfall could come as early as 6pm along the Jersey Shore. “This is a real live hurricane,” said veteran meteorologist Bryan Norcross on The Weather Channel.

CNN anchor Anderson Cooper‘s daytime talk show “Anderson Live” will not be returning for a third season next year. Time Warner’s syndication production studio TelePictures released statements to the New York Times about the decision, citing the difficult syndication marketplace.

“We are extremely proud of Anderson and the show that he and the entire production team have produced. While we made significant changes to the format, set and produced it live in its second season, the series will not be coming back for a third season in a marketplace that has become increasingly difficult to break through. We will continue to deliver top-quality shows throughout next summer.”

Mr. Cooper released his own statement:

“I am very proud of the work that our terrific staff has put into launching and sustaining our show for two seasons, I am grateful to Telepictures for giving me the opportunity, and I am indebted to the audience, who have responded so positively. I look forward to doing more great shows this season, and I’m sorry we won’t be continuing, but I have truly enjoyed it.”

Read more

The three business networks have turned their focus to severe weather coverage today as Hurricane Sandy forced the close of the stock markets. Bloomberg TV, Fox Business and CNBC have all set special coverage plans for today that focus on the economic impact of the storm, expected to make landfall later today.

Bloomberg TV will shift into special Hurricane Sandy coverage at 1pmET, which is when the storm’s intensity is supposed to increase on the East Coast. Stephanie Ruhle and Erik Schatzker anchor the 1pmET hour, Betty Liu anchors the 2pmET hour and Trish Regan and Adam Johnson anchor from 3-6pmET. Meteorologist Bonnie Schneider is handling weather forecasts.

Fox Business broadcast a special report in place of “Imus in the Morning” this morning, anchored by Dagen McDowell and Connell McShane. FBN’s Robert Gray is in Battery Park and Sandra Smith is at the CME throughout the day. Neil Cavuto will host primetime coverage of the storm tonight beginning at 7pmET.

CNBC will have regular programming until 7pmET. The network is replacing “The Kudlow Report” with a live two-hour special report anchored by Bill Griffeth and Michelle Caruso-Cabrera.

MSNBC will stick with its normal primetime lineup of “The Ed Show,” Rachel Maddow and “The Last Word” tonight, and will add live overnight coverage from 11 PM to 5 AM, primarily anchored by Chris Jansing. MSNBC will be taking advantage of its network news and Weather Channel siblings to provide coverage. “Way Too Early” will pick up coverage at 5:30 AM.

“We’ll be using the extraordinary resources of the NBC News Group including our friends with NBC News and the Weather Channel to help with our coverage,” said a network statement.

O’Donnell quipped about his hurricane coverage on Twitter earlier:

I will be doing dramatic live weather updates for @alexwagner at 12 noon. Trouble is I can’t find even slightly inclement weather in midtown

— Lawrence O’Donnell (@Lawrence) October 29, 2012

CNN will be keeping its usual primetime lineup on tonight to cover Sandy, and will be live until the worst of the storm passes, whenever that may be. Anchors Anderson Cooper and Erin Burnett will be reporting in the field tonight across primetime. CNN International will be simulcasting CNN/U.S. from 11AM-2PM and again starting at 4 PM.

The list of correspondents in the field for CNN is after the jump.

Update: HLN is blowing up its primetime lineup to provide hurricane coverage. Those details are also after the jump.
Read more

Fox News Channel is blowing up its primetime programming to provide coverage of Hurricane Sandy’s landfall. “Hannity” will air as normal at 9 PM, but every other program is affected by the changes. There will be live coverage going through tomorrow morning, where “Fox & Friends” will pick things up.

Tonight’s lineup:

“Fox Report” 7-9pm
“Hannity” 9pm
“On the Record” 10-midnight
“America’s News Headquarters special coverage of Monster Storm,” co-anchored by Gregg Jarrett and Heather Childers midnight to 4am
“Fox and Friends First” will begin again at 4am tomorrow
“Fox and Friends” 6-9am

After the jump, an update on where some of FNC’s correspondents are.

Read more

MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” had arguably its biggest “get” ever this morning, as the program aired an interview with President Obama taped in Florida over the weekend. With Hurricane Sandy bearing down on the eastern seaboard however, the interview is likely to generate far less attention then it would have were this a normal Monday.

“Morning Joe” went through its usual gameplan of sticking to political coverage this morning, providing occasional updates on Sandy from Weather Channel staffers.

Network stations and affiliates in four of the top 8 largest markets in the U.S.: New York, Philadelphia Washington, DC and Boston have either partially or entirely pre-empted the network morning shows as Hurricane Sandy makes its way north. Many local stations began continuous coverage Sunday morning, breaking for primetime network programming before returning to the weather with extended late newscasts. Here’s a look at some of the coverage from “Today,” “GMA” and “CBS This Morning.”

Read more