• The epic mess at NBC continues: The last-place network is now thinking above moving Jay Leno to a 11:35pm-12:05am time slot and then having Conan O'Brien follow him for a full hour. But no deal has been reached, and there's still a possibility that Conan will abandon ship. [NYT, LAT, BN, NYT]
• Rudy Giuliani is under fire for idiotic comments he made on Good Morning America today. George Stephanopoulos: He isn't looking so hot either. [NYT]
• Changes at the Times: Star reporter Sewell Chan is headed to the paper's D.C. bureau; and the NYT's City Room blog has a new editor. [Politico, NYT]
• If you love Jersey Shore, maybe you'll be interested in Jersey Couture? [THR]
• Bad news for tweens, pervs: Hannah Montana is coming to an end. [MTV]
• Ben Silverman's studio/glorified ad agency is teaming up with Yahoo! [NYT]
• President Obama's State of the Union address will not—repeat not—conflict with Lost's season opener on February 2. So you can relax now. [WSJ]
• Did Reuters kill a story so as to not offend billionaire Steve Cohen? [Gawker]
• If you work at Condé Nast and you go get a boob job, you probably shouldn't show your new assets to your colleagues when your return to the office. (Even if you're behind closed doors and you keep your sports bra on.) [NYP]

• Is NBC shutting down Jay Leno's 10pm show and moving him back to late night? Is Conan O'Brien out of a job? NBC isn't denying that a schedule change has been discussed, but it's not saying much more than that for now. [NYT]
• ABC News is reportedly in negotiations with Ted Koppel to bring him back to the network as the anchor of This Week on Sunday mornings. [Politico]
• CNN is handing over the 1-3pm slot to Ali Velshi starting on Jan. 18. [NYT]
• Forbes has sold off its landmark building on lower Fifth Ave. to NYU. [NYO]
• Despite the standoff between Cablevision and Scripps, ratings for the company's two cable outlets, HGTV and Food Network, are up. [AdAge]
• Tucker Carlson's new website, The Daily Caller, launches next week. [WI]
• Avatar's streak continues: It's now the No. 2 biggest movie ever. [THR]
• A Blockbuster video kiosk is coming to a Duane Reade near you. [NYCTB]
• Fox is delaying the start of its sketchy new reality show. [THR]
• Break out a tissue: The Hof is leaving America's Got Talent. [People]
• Lady Gaga was the special guest on Launch My Line last night. [Gawker]
• Did ABC News buy George Stephanopoulos a booster seat when he joined the Good Morning America team? That's the rumor, at least. [Popeater]

There was a major terrorism incident this week, which means ABC News' chronically wrong investigative reporter Brian Ross rushed in with a highly suspect blockbuster story about it. This time, he claimed former Gitmo inmates planned the Christmas bombing attempt.

• How did World News anchor Diane Sawyer do in her first week? Better than Katie Couric, but not as well as Brian Williams. (So-so, in other words.) [NYT]
• TV news: MSNBC is taking heat for not really covering the attempted terror attack on Christmas Day; NBC News has been scolded by a journalism ethics committee; CNN's ratings were down 30 percent in 2009, more than any other cable network; and ethics-free Fox News just recorded its best year ever.
• Comedy Central has canceled The Jeff Dunham Show, thankfully. [NYT]
• Know how TV networks give you the programming for free, but pay their bills by airing commercials? Yea, well, it isn't the best business model, FYI. [AP]
• How many product placements appear in Avatar? A bunch! [Brandchannel]
• Charlie Sheen's arrest hasn't hurt ratings of Two and a Half Men. Phew! [LAT]
• How did TMZ get duped by that JFK photo? Harvey Levin isn't saying. [NYT]
• Editor & Publisher's last issue has shipped and will close down on Thu. [E&P]
• Legendary caricaturist David Levine died today. He was 83. [NYT]

• Diane Sawyer's World News debut lifted the newscast's ratings a bit. [LAT]
• As for Sawyer's performance last night, some critics weigh in. [NYT, WP, BG]
• Chris Albrecht, who served as HBO's chief executive until he was fired for pulling a Chris Brown on his girlfriend, is now in charge of Starz. [DH, NYT]
• The second episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians has set a new ratings record for the series and E! Congrats, America. You must be very proud. [THR]
• In related news, Kim has replaced Paris in TV's dirtiest burger ad. [NYDN]
• In other random TV news, CNN has made a minor change to its lineup; and Joan Rivers, who ditched E! in 2005 after a dispute over money, is back.
• It may have been Google that decided not to buy Yelp, not vice versa. [Bits]
• Is TMZ planning to launch a sports-related site? It's looking like it. [PC]
• Hollywood grossed $10 billion at the box office in '09; it's a new record. [AP]
• Kim Peek, the savant who inspired Rain Man, has died at age 58. [NPR]

Katie Couric's ascension to the anchor chair was attended by a ceaseless and intrusive promotional blitz that ended up serving as a handy contrast to the epic editorial and commercial failure that her newscast became. Having learned that lesson well, ABC News has gone for a stealth transition, which makes sense inasmuch as nobody really cares who is reading from a teleprompter on TV while they're on the way home from work anyway. As the New York Times' Alessandra Stanley puts it, "Network anchors are a bit like European monarchs: they don't really matter much anymore, but people still perk up for a royal wedding or a changing of the stars."

• Charlie Gibson signed off as anchor of World News for the last time tonight. He's bidding goodbye to ABC News after a 34-year run. [ABC News, AP]
• More advertisers are fleeing from Tiger Woods; Tag Heuer is the latest. [NYP]
• The New York Times says its newsroom layoffs are done with. [Gawker, NYO]
• Twitter was hacked by last night; it's still unclear who was behind it. [LAT]
• Google is reportedly in talks to buy Yelp for as much as $500 million. [NYT]
• How much will Avatar rake in this weekend? That's the big question. [NYM]
• Time Warner Cable and Fox are embroiled in a big feud right now. [NYDN]
• Want to watch 3D movies in your living room? That's coming next. [WSJ]
• Is Dr. Drew Pinsky a real doctor, or does he just play one on TV? [TDB]

• Closures: Design magazine I.D. is shutting down. And while Editor & Publisher revealed last week it's folding, there's now a small chance it'll survive. [E&P]
• More bad news: The New Republic laid off some staff today. [Politico]
• Diane Sawyer's farewell to GMA last week and George Stephanopoulos's debut on Monday both did okay, but neither one topped Today. [NYO, NYT]
• More TV news: CNN's ratings continue to suck; Oprah's Obama special scored big ratings; and Oprah pal Nate Berkus is getting his own show, as rumored.
• Golf Digest says it has no regrets about its new Tiger Woods cover. Which is a tad convenient since it went to press before the scandal broke. [Us]
• Men's Health editor Dave Zinczenko got snubbed by his bosses today. [DF]
• Paramount plans to start selling movie clips on the Web next week. [NYT]
• As for plans to create the "Hulu of magazines," it isn't going to be easy. [PC]
• The guy who stalked ESPN's Erin Andrews pleaded guilty today. [AP]
• Advertisers are totally loving Lady Gaga right now. Her "Bad Romance" video managed to squeeze in ten product placements in under five minutes. [LAT]
• Golden Globe noms were announced today. Just in case you missed it. [NYM]

Today was George Stephanopoulos' first day as Good Morning America's new co-anchor. Let's take a look at Georgie's best moments replacing the slurring, World News Tonight-bound Diane Sawyer!

• Nielsen has concluded a deal to sell handful of trade titles like The Hollywood Reporter and Billboard to a consortium of investors that includes Jimmy Finkelstein and Guggenheim Partners. Rupert Murdoch's son Lachlan was once part of the investor group, but ended up dropping out. [AdWeek, NYP, LAT]
• Nielsen also said today that it's shuttering two titles: Editor & Publisher, which dates back to 1884, and book pub Kirkus Reviews. [E&P, NYT]
• AOL and Time Warner are officially separate companies now. [WSJ, AP]
• George Stephanopoulos starts his new job of GMA anchor on Monday. [LAT]
• The controversy over MTV's latest series, Jersey Shore, rages on. [THR]
• Hollywood PR powerhouse PMK/HBH has pretty much imploded. [Wrap]
• The 30 worst women's magazine covers of the aughts. [Buzzfeed]
• The city's laziest magazine editor: Dave Zinczenko of Men's Health. [Gawker]

As we first reported weeks ago, departing Good Morning America news anchor Chris Cuomo has been tapped to join 20/20 as the primetime program's co-anchor. [ABC News, previously]

• The list of New York Times staffers accepting buyouts from the paper to leave has grown. And it includes Jenny 8. Lee, surprisingly). [Gawker, NYO]
• Television news: The Early Show has a new boss as of today; profits are up at CNBC; and Joy Behar's new show on HLN is doing pretty well in the ratings.
• Will Vevo, the new Hulu of music videos, succeed? That's up in the air, but it did host a glam launch party last night and traffic's been strong. [AdAge, CNET]
• Tavi, the 13-year-old blogger who's transfixed the fashion world, is writing a column for Harper's Bazaar; a bit of controversy has followed. [WWD, NYM]
• Great news! R. Kelly has signed a deal to pen his memoirs. [Vulture]
• Even better news: ABC has a reality show debuting in January that combines dating and romance with a "moving conveyor belt." It's about time! [Wrap]

George Stephanopoulos is reinventing himself for the third time. He's been a smug political hack, a penitent political memoirist, an earnest political journalist, and now he's going to host ABC News' wacky morning show. Let's look at his past transformations.

• Diane Sawyer has confirmed that she will end her decade-long run as co-anchor of Good Morning America this week. Friday's her last day. [LAT]
• Meanwhile, Chris Cuomo's role at ABC is up in the air. He's denied rumors he plans to jump to NBC, and may end up as co-anchor of 20/20. [NYDN, prev]
• Today was the deadline for New York Times staffers to take the buyout package that was offered to employees last fall. A list of people expected to exit the paper in the near future is now making the rounds. [Gawker]
• NBC might be ranked fourth in the ratings, but Comcast says it has no plans to sell NBC Universal's broadcast TV business when it takes over. [AP]
• MTV's Jersey Shore is one of two new reality shows stirring up criticism; now Domino's Pizza has decided to pull its advertising from the show. [NYT, TVG]
• Oxygen is developing a new reality show with Russell Simmons that will "focus on the women in his life." That should be interesting. [THR]
• Is Nancy Grace responsible for pushing a woman to commit suicide? [AP]
• John Stossel is happier at Fox than he was at ABC, unsurprisingly. [TDB]
• The Blind Side surpassed New Moon at the box office this weekend. [MTV]

• ABC has offered George Stephanopoulos the job of Good Morning America co-host and "intensive negotiations" are now reportedly underway. [WP]
• More on how the deal to hand over control of NBC to Comcast came together; and more on how the deal will be viewed by regulators in Washington.
• Oprah won't be hosting her own show when her cable network debuts in 2011, but she will have a "significant presence" on OWN, reportedly. [NYP]
• The magazine graveyard: National Geographic Adventure is no more. [NYT
• Cuts: Thomson Reuters is laying off 240; Daily Candy is shutting down seven of its 12 editions and laying off half a dozen; and ALM is shuttering four titles.
• Town & Country is planning to sex up the magazine, apparently. [WWD]
• An unnamed former Forbes staffer is writing a tell-all about the mag. [DF]
• Lou Dobbs is a nasty, evil man. But you probably knew that. [TDB]
• Someone is paying "at least $100 million" for Friendster? [Reuters]
• This year's Grammy nominations were announced this morning. [LAT]

ABC News' Brian Ross has a breathtaking record of recklessly inaccurate, overhyped stories that don't live up to the headline. His scoop yesterday about Nidal Malik Hasan's "attempt to reach out to al Qaeda" was one of them.

Good Morning America was for years produced by ABC's entertainment division, before people got all huffy about "journalism." Now, as ABC contemplates what to do after Diane Sawyer departs for World News Tonight, it may be headed back.

• The New York Times Co. reported a $35.6 million loss for the third quarter as ad revenue plunged 30 percent. But it was better than what Wall Street analysts were predicting, so the stock shot up 22 percent today. [NYT]
• New York magazine's chief says there are no plans to sell the magazine following last week's death of owner Bruce Wasserstein. [AdAge]
• Newsday plans to charge $5 a week to access to its website. [NYT, [E&P]
• Fortune is cutting back on the number of issues it publishes. And Time Inc., Fortune's publisher, is planning another round of job cuts. [WSJ]
• On the same day Sarah Palin's memoir is published, the Nation will release Going Rouge, an identical-looking book that mocks the ex-governor. [Politico]
• As if losing billions of family money wasn't enough of a punishment, France says it plans to put Warner Music chief Edgar Bronfman Jr. on trial for insider trading in connection with the 2000 merger of Vivendi and Seagram. [NYP]

ABC White House correspondent and alleged tool Jake Tapper is furious with the White House for saying Fox News is not a "legitimate news organization." He had an argument with Robert Gibbs about it!

• It's Tuesday, which means fresh job cuts at Condé Nast have been revealed. In addition to the dozen Glamour staffers laid off yesterday, Style.com will cut Candy Pratts Price. And 200+ more layoffs could be ahead. [WWD, NYP, FWD]
• Maybe Condé Nast's fancy iPhone application, which was announced today, will stem the red ink? Maybe not. But it certainly can't hurt either. [AdAge]
• BusinessWeek editor-in-chief Steve Adler says he will step down once the sale of the magazine to Bloomberg LP is completed in about a month. [BW]
• Sarah Palin will be Oprah's guest on November 16 as the former governor embarks on her book tour. Many of her fans aren't happy, unsurprisingly. [CT]
• The search for a Good Morning America co-host continues at ABC News. The front-runner at the moment seems to be George Stephanopoulos. [LAT]
• Malcolm Gladwell says journalists shouldn't go to journalism school. [Time]
• Harvey Weinstein's book publishing company is giving up its independence. It will be combined with Perseus Books starting December 1. [WSJ]