Update: Fox is disputing the account, apparently Bill Shine–not Roger Ailes–called the control room and told them to end the segment, because it was getting too long and divisive. More information from Mediaite and below.

Original: An excerpt in the New York Times from a new book by Jonathan Alter on the 2012 Presidential election features quite the tale about Fox News, and CEO Roger Ailes.

The Center Holds: Obama and His Enemies, recalls one day last November when Geraldo Rivera was on “Fox & Friends” to talk about Benghazi. While the three hosts were very critical of the administration, Rivera defended it.

“After the argument continued for several minutes, Ailes called the control room and told the producers to cut Rivera’s mic,” Mr. Alter writes.

It is a bold statement, although Alter does not explain the source of the story. A video of the segment (h/t Johnny $) has been on the Fox News site since it happened, and does not appear to show a mic getting cut.

All in all, it was a seven minute segment, which in the world of cable news is an eternity. It is possible that a call was made, although it certainly did not appear to manifest itself onscreen. Update: the full video has a moment that sounds like Rivera’s mic may have been cut, though he insists that it was not. Judge for yourself.

Mediaite’s Andrew Kirell has more details on the incident, which seem to be more plausible than the one out forth by the book.

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At the end of a long week, TV critics weigh in on the coverage of the Boston bombings. In DailyDownload, media critic David Zurawik lists his highs and lows of Friday’s coverage: “The performance of ABC News ranged from solid to outstanding all day and night” …  ”my pick for the worst comes courtesy of Fox News, Bill O’Reilly and Geraldo Rivera.”

The DailyBeast’s David Freedlander singles out NBC’s “Today” for its early coverage “A large part of the strength of the early morning for the network Friday was Savannah Guthrie, who logged seven hours in the anchor’s chair while co-host Matt Lauer was in Texas reporting on the fertilizer explosion.”

Chicago Sun-Times‘ Lori Rackl writes: “No network made it to the finish line without tipping over at least a few hurdles. But CNN showed us it needs to get in shape, fast.”

In The New Yorker Andy Borowitz has his own unique take on the reporting — and misreporting — througought the week.

Talkers magazine, the magazine of the talk radio business, has released its annual “Heavy Hundred” list. As has become commonplace, the list is chock full of TV news personalities, particularly towards the top.

Rush Limbaugh may be number one, but Fox News’ Sean Hannity was number two, and former FNCer Glenn Beck was number four. MSNBC’s Ed Schultz came in at number six, while Current TV’s Stephanie Miller held the number 12 slot and Alan Colmes was at 16.

Other TV news personalities on the list include Andrea Tantaros (24), Don Imus (35), Mike Huckabee (46), Herman Cain (59), Geraldo Rivera (62), Tom Sullivan (65) and Al Sharpton (90).

• CNN has added Zain Asher to its ranks. Asher will be a business correspondent, appearing across all platforms of the company, she joins CNN from MONEY magazine.

• Geraldo Rivera may not be the only Fox News contributor eyeing a Senate run. Raw Story reports that Dr. Keith Ablow, FNC’s favorite psychiatrist, says that he would be glad to run for the vacant seat in Massachusetts if no other Republicans challenge him in a primary.

• Uproxx finds a classic video of CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite previewing the “home of the 21st century.” Wouldn’t you know it, he wasn’t that far off in his predictions! WATCH…

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Happy Monday After The Super Bowl Day! If Senator Geraldo Rivera in office, you wouldn’t be at work right now:

If elected I would propose a bill to makeSuper-Monday a national, no school, no work holiday/day of community service

— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) February 4, 2013

Yes, it is a bit hard to believe that the Fox News anchor is serious about running for U.S. Senate in New Jersey, but as the New York Times‘ Brian Stelter reports, FNC is taking his situation seriously:
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Fox News anchor Geraldo Rivera wants to run for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate seat in New Jersey, as we noted yesterday. While he was somewhat vague about it on his radio show, he went into more details this morning on “Fox & Friends.”

At times he sounded like a stump speech, as Steve Doocy noted.

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Fox News anchor Geraldo Rivera says that he is “truly contemplating” running for a U.S. Senate seat in his native New Jersey. The Hill caught the comments made by Rivera on his daily syndicated radio program.

“I mention this only briefly, fasten your seatbelt,” Rivera said. “I am and I’ve been in touch with some people in the Republican Party in New Jersey. I am truly contemplating running for Senate against Frank Lautenberg or Cory Booker in New Jersey.”

He did note that he has contractual obligations to FNC and his radio syndicator, but that a run was worth looking into:

“I’m not going to drill this out, because obviously I’ve got commitments to Fox and to here at the radio program and I’m really having a great time,” he said. “But I figure at my age, if I’m going to do it I’ve got to do it.

Rivera anchors a weekend program on Fox News, and is also a correspondent for the network. He joined the channel in 2001.

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25-54 demographic (Live +SD)

• Total day: FNC: 151 | MSNBC: 141 | CNN: 121 | HLN: 103

• Primetime: FNC: 119 | MSNBC: 159 | CNN: 127 | HLN: 99

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On “The O’Reilly Factor” last night, Geraldo Rivera spoke to Bill O’Reilly about the sale of Current TV to Al Jazeera, and shared a story about running into Al Gore.

The year was 2006, and Gore and comedian Al Franken (who is new Senator Franken) were in the lobby of the News Corp, building in New York. Rivera knew Gore, and had interviewed him in his prior jobs.

“I run into the vice president with Al Franken by his side, and he looks me up and down and said, ‘look where you ended up.’ As if to say to me, my goodness how could you possibly sell out to go work here for Fox News,” Rivera recalled. “And I said I am still the same guy, and the Vice President says to me in a very tsk tsk condescending way, ‘I guess you will never bite the hands that feeds you.’”

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25-54 demographic (Live +SD)

• Total day: FNC: 142 | MSNBC: 158 | CNN: 112 | HLN: 121

• Primetime: FNC: 147 | MSNBC: 188 | CNN: 93 | HLN: 99

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