CNN is getting political day during a two-day special report on firearms background checks. “Guns Under Fire: A CNN Special Report on Background Checks” will kick-off this evening on “AC360″ as Dana Bash interviews former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords. Piers Morgan and Wolf Blitzer will also discuss the issue on their respective shows.

Wednesday, the channel will present a number of special reports on background checks, including interviews and analysis on the issue (see all the reports after the jump). The reasoning behind the special report? “According to the latest polls, 9 out of 10 Americans support tougher background checks, so how is it that Congress can do nothing?” the channel says in a release.
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With the Louisville Cardinals’ dramatic 82-76 win over the Michigan Wolverines, March Madness has come to an end. It also means that we need to declare a winner in the TVNewser March Madness Bracket Challenge.

Your 2013 TVNewser March Madness Bracket Challenge winner is…

CBS News VP of programming and “CBS This Morning” executive producer Chris Licht!

“This win takes a bit of the sting out of my beloved Orange going down to defeat,” Licht says. “That said, I didn’t pick them to win, so I guess everything worked out in the end.”

It was incredibly close this year, with CNN’s Tom Foreman only three points behind. his colleagues Janelle Rodriguez and Randi Kaye were also close. It was fitting that the winner represented CBS News this year, as the game was broadcast on The Eye network. Early numbers indicate huge ratings, up nearly +20% from 2012′s game. Licht also showed why he was boss by besting the anchors of his program, Charlie Rose, Gayle King and Norah O’Donnell.

As for your TVNewser editor’s experiment to let a computer pick the winners? It didn’t work out.

A big thank you to everyone who participated this year. The final standings are after the jump.
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This is it. Only two teams remain in the 2013 NCAA March Madness men’s basketball tourney, Louisville and Michigan. Amazingly, the TVNewser bracket challenge is too close to call.

“CBS This Morning” EP Chris Licht still has the lead, with 100 points. But CNN’s Tom Foreman is right behind him with 97 points. Fellow CNNers Janelle Rodriguez, Eric Sherling and Randi Kaye round out the top five.

FNC’s Anna Kooiman, CNN’s Lisa Sylvester and the computer-generated picks of TVNewser’s Alex Weprin are at the bottom of the pack.

We will know who the champ is after the big game tonight. The full standings are after the jump.
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“First Thursday,” the big kick-off for March Madness, is over, and with it the 2013 TVNewser March Madness bracket challenge really gets started.

This early in the game everyone is really close, but a few people have separated themselves from the pack.

CNBC’s Brian Schactman leads the way, with his colleague Joe Kernen and CNN’s Brooke Baldwin right behind him. Right now Lisa Sylvester, Wolf Blitzer, Gayle King and Norah O’Donnell are at the bottom of the pack, but there is plenty of time for a comeback.

Take a look at the full standings, after the jump.
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Spring is here (even though it may not feel like it where you are) and with it comes the sweet sound of sneakers on hardwood: the NCAA March Madness college basketball tournament.

Every year we have some of the best and brightest from the world of TV news come together in one competition to see who is tops at picking winners and losers.

Ultimately there can be only one winner, and they get the chance to brag about their picking prowess for all to see. 2012′s winner was Fox Business Network stocks editor Liz MacDonald. Liz wont be participating this year, but 2011′s winner Dominic Chu is back to try and reclaim the title.

Here is your 2013 TVNewser March Madness lineup:

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CNN is treating tomorrow’s “State of the Union” coverage like an election night, loading up on political anchors and analysts. Coverage will be led by Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, Chris Cuomo, Jake Tapper, Kate Bolduan and Erin Burnett, who will be overseeing a focus group reacting to the speech. Dana Bash will be in the House Chamber while Jessica Yellin reports from the White House. John King will be on “Magic Wall” duty, with John Berman and Tom Foreman in the “virtual studio” to offer “reality checks” of the President’s remarks, and the Republican response.

On the analysis side, former Fox News contributor Newt Gingrich and former Current TV anchor Jennifer Granholm will provide insider analysis, with Gloria Borger, David Gergen, Cornell Belcher, Donna Brazile, Alex Castellanos, Margaret Hoover, Van Jones and Ana Navarro also weighing in throughout the night.

One person who apparently will not be appearing on CNN’s SOTU coverage is the anchor of CNN’s “State of the Union,” Candy Crowley. Crowley hosted her weekend program from DC yesterday, and previewed the SOTU on “CNN Newsroom” yesterday afternoon.

Update: CNN says that Crowley is out of town, caring for her mother. Hence, she won’t be able to participate in the coverage.

More info, below.
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New Year’s Eve 2011

New Year’s Eve 2010

New Year’s Eve 2008

Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin are back for their sixth time co-hosting CNN’s New Year’s Eve coverage from Times Square.

“As always, I await New Year’s Eve with Kathy Griffin with grave reservations and tremendous fear, and I want to apologize in advance to anyone she may offend/assault/attempt to kiss,” said Cooper.

The last two years — NYE 2011 (although Griffin did take off her top at one point) and NYE 2010 — were relatively tame compared with some of the headline-making stunts of the previous years; like when Griffin dropped the “F” bomb on New Year’s Eve 2009 and the year before when she called out an onlooker who had been heckling her.

CNN’s live coverage begins at 10pmET from Times Square. Cooper and Griffin will be joined by correspondent Isha Sesay in Times Square, John Zarrella in Key West and Gary Tuchman in Eastport, Maine.

At 12:30amET CNN’s Brooke Baldwin at Jackson Square in New Orleans and HLN’s Susan Hendricks at the Hard Rock Cafe in Nashville will count down to midnight, Central time.

And once again, Tom Foreman will host a year-end special “All the Best, All the Worst 2012,” at 8pmET.

(Photos: Chris Ariens)

The graphics are being tweaked, vote totals and exit polls are being tested, steadi-cams are on the move, anchors are rehearsing, directors are calling shots, decision desks are pouring through scenarios, producers, technicians, make-up artists and dozens of other tvnewsers are putting the finishing touches on a weekend of rehearsals preparing for Tuesday’s election night coverage. Below, election night co-anchor Megyn Kelly and the crew at Fox News and after the jump, CNN’s Tom Foreman shows off the network’s Virtual Senate. Foreman is among the many cable news network anchors, reporters and analysts taking part in expanded Sunday night coverage.

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Tonight is the third and final Presidential debate of this election cycle. CBS’ Bob Schieffer moderates at Lynn University in Boca Raton. Here’s a round up of what the cable and broadcast networks have planned…

Scott Pelley anchors on CBS from 9-11pmET. With Schieffer moderating, certain CBS programs — including yesterday’s “Face the Nation” and today’s “CBS This Morning” — originate from Florida. Pelley will be joined by Major Garrett of National Journal and Julianna Goldman of Bloomberg, among others.

ABC’s coverage kicks off at 9pmET with Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos anchoring. They will be joined during the two-hour broadcast by VP debate moderator Martha Raddatz, Christiane Amanpour, Jake Tapper, David Muir and Jonathan Karl.

Brian Williams anchors on NBC from 9pm-11pmET. Williams will be joined by David Gregory, Savannah Guthrie, Tom Brokaw, Chuck Todd, Andrea Mitchell and Richard Haass.

PBS’ coverage runs from 9-11pmET, with Gwen Ifill and Judy Woodruff anchoring and political editor Christina Bellantoni contributing.

Plans for the cable networks after after the jump. Read more

Covering the Presidential debates is tough for the cable news channels. Unlike on an election night, every channel is showing the same thing. The only real differences are in the content that goes into the pre and post-debate programming.

CNN is planning to differentiate its programming by making fact-checking a big part of its debate coverage. John Berman and Tom Foreman will comprise the “reality check” team, and will be looking to call out President Obama and Mitt Romney for the inevitable stretches of truth that will occur.

The pre-debate and post-debate programming will be anchored by Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, John King, Erin Burnett and Candy Crowley. For the first debate next week in Denver, Crowley and Burnett will be in the Mile High City. Jessica Yellin and Jim Acosta will be reporting from the debate floor, and from the “spin room” afterwards.

More information, after the jump.
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