The Daily Beast’s Daniel Gross writes about the finances of TV news, and notes that despite the onslaught of negative publicity in recent months, both CNN and NBC’s “Today” remain cash cows for their respective companies.

Only in the media business can two enterprises that, combined, funnel somewhere near $1 billion in profits to their corporate parents, be regarded as sinking ships, failures, and debacles.

Elsewhere, the always acerbic Michael Wolff writes about CNN for The Guardian:
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Roger Ailes and James Murdoch, along with Fox News contributor Charles Krauthammer (March 2010).

In the January issue of British GQ, Michael Wolff has a 2,300-word missive titled “Why I Love Fox News.” Don’t judge this story by its title, because it’s hard to glean what it is Wolff loves about Fox News.

The on-again, off-again editor and biographer of Rupert Murdoch, Wolff goes into detail about his on-again, off-again relationship with Fox News founder and CEO Roger Ailes.

Once, he offered to hire me as a Fox business-news commentator, if that’s what I wanted, but counselled that, if I worked for Fox News, I was never likely to be hired by the liberal outlets to which I was more naturally suited. And then we fell out. Or, in a sense, suddenly engaged in News Corp politics, I sold him out.

Wolff goes on to write about how his Murdoch biography, “The Man Who Owns The News,” was a turning point.

One of the reasons I was invited in 2007 – shortly after Murdoch’s takeover of the Wall Street Journal (an enterprise supported by the profits of Fox News) – to write a biography of the mogul with his full co-operation, was, in part, I came to understand, because I was a useful weapon in the increasing war against Ailes.

Wolff then admits he made what he calls “a devil’s bargain” not to talk to Ailes for the Murdoch book. That’s about the most revealing piece of new information. So, what’s Wolff’s motivation for this piece? A where-are-we-know update? An olive branch to Ailes? It’s hard to tell. But there are thoughts inside 1211 Avenue of the Americas that it has fingerprints of Matthew Freud, Murdoch’s son-in-law, who in early 2010, told the New York Times he was “ashamed and sickened” by Ailes’ “sustained disregard” of the journalistic standards of News Corp.

A News Corp. executive tells TVNewser, “Freud’s attacks on the Murdoch family appear to continue. His divisive actions speak for themselves.”

Fox News Channel’s 15th birthday celebration continues this week with live specials across America  — Neil Cavuto will host his show from Chicago today and Sean Hannity will be in Atlanta Thursday — and a fresh round of press for FNC president Roger Ailes.

The New York Daily News talked with Ailes about the challenge of holding the top-rated cable news slot:

“The toughest part of my job,” he says, “is not only maintaining the intensity but maintaining everybody’s intensity.”

To succeed in journalism, he says, you have to be curious, love the news and have an internal drive to be great. “You have to love to win and hate to lose,” he says.

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You may have seen this making the rounds late this week. Rupert Murdoch biographer and AdWeek editor Michael Wolff has a lot to say about News Corp., but he knows nothing about baseball.

Wolff was in a New York studio last week for a BBC interview on the News Corp. matter, but was introduced as Ben Walker, baseball editor for the Associated Press. After being intro’d, there was a pause before Wolff deadpanned, “You know what? It’s even a worse situation than that, because I am not Ben Walker and I know nothing about baseball.”

Wolff will be on CNN’s “Reliable Sources” … for real … tomorrow morning talking about News Corp.

And a bit of advice to all you analysts/guests/talking heads: should this happen to you, don’t say anything when you’re mis-introduced. There’s a much greater chance it won’t go viral. Unless, of course, your goal is that it does.

Video after the jump…

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Nebraska football head coach Bo Pelini‘s temper has landed him a spot in the Urban Dictionary.

According to the website, Pelini means the following:

“A violent rage that cannot be controlled, often expressed in Tourette’s-like cursing accompanied with demonic facial contortions. An angry sense of entitlement that will cause you to treat anyone around you with contempt and physical brutality, including game officials, innocent cameramen or possibly your own team.”

I feel sorry for the Nebraska player that brings this up to Pelini during practice.

WebNewser is covering the We Media conference in Miami where author and media critic Michael Wolff took part in a Q&A on the current state and future of media, including the role of cable news.

“No one has ever successfully been able to compete with FOX,” said Wolff. “CNN just lied down and said ‘They’re bad people, we’re good people.’ That’s a bad way to build an audience.”

• WebNewser has more on Wolff’s colorful comments, including his tear into the family that owns The New York Times calling them, “The stupidest people who have ever walked the Earth’

As a part of the Intelligence Squared US debate series, BloombergTV will be broadcasting a special debate titled “Good Riddance to the Mainstream Media” this evening, tomorrow, and Wednesday at 9pmET.

The debate centered on “the viability of the mainstream media,” and the debaters included Vanity Fair/Newser.com’s Michael Wolff, Politico co-founder Jim Vandehei, and Phil Bronstein, editor-at-large of the San Francisco Chronicle.

NYTimes’ David Carr countered arguments that the major media organizations won’t survive and argued a point that some in the TV news biz have also argued: “…The New York Times has a news budget of two hundred and twenty million dollars, dozens of bureaus all over the world, many other news organizations have the same footprint. And we’re going to toss that out — which is the proposition — toss that out and kick back and see what Facebook turns up. I don’t think so.”

> Dr. Mehmet Oz was surprised this morning on Good Morning America by a man he helped after a traffic crash in Virginia Beach last week. “I just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart,” said Stanley Tatum to Oz by phone. “You don’t just talk the talk, but you walk the walk.”

> As he mentioned on today’s Media Menu, FishbowlDC’s Patrick Gavin reports on “what some TV types are talking about today“: Gwen Ifill‘s rare appearance on ABC’s This Week yesterday. The regular Meet the Press guest had expressed interest, and was reported to be considered, for the moderator job.

> At the end of today’s Rush & Molloy-refereed brawl between Judith Regan and Michael Wolff, FNC CEO Roger Ailes makes a guest appearance. Wolff says Ailes called “a date” with Regan “the scariest three hours of my life,” Regan responds by saying “we went out to dinner to talk business,” and Ailes concurs: “Judith’s version is correct. It was a business dinner.”

mediabistro.com has launched a new audio podcast based around the mediabistro.com Morning Newsfeed and mediabistro.com blog network, including TVNewser. You can listen live every morning at 9amET on BlogTalkRadio.com/mediabistro and call in at 646-929-0321.

Today on the podcast: David Gregory Meets the Press, Politico meets Reuters and Judith Regan promises to meet Michael Wolff…in court.

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> FishbowlDC’s Patrick Gavin reveals that during the five news conferences held by Pres.-elect Obama since his election, Fox News has not been called on at any of them. See who was.

> The NYTimes Book Review calls Michael Wolff‘s new tome on News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch a “supercilious yet star-struck portrait.” The Man Who Owns the News is released tomorrow.

> Just a few weeks from his Fox News departure, Brit Hume speaks with the Pittsburgh Post-GazetteL: “I’m a reporter first and a conservative second. And the reason why that’s notable — that I’m a conservative — is that there are so few of us.” And how will Fox fare in an Obama administration? “A lot depends on which Obama we get.”