Important investigative journalist Bill O'Reilly is on to these so-called "protesters" of economic inequality. "This Occupy Wall Street movement is now very coordinated and they are terrorists. They are trying to create trouble. That's what terrorists do," O'Reilly told human paper bag of vomit Laura Ingram last night. But does he have proof? Of course: a random guy accosted him outside a Broadway theater on Friday night after he and three kids saw Jesus Christ Superstar. Strangers + Tim Rice = TERRORISM. more ›

The TV upfronts—when networks present their new fall lineups, in hopes that advertisers will love it and spend millions—have started, and if it's not a monkey on the shoulder of a former Hell's Kitchen rocker-turned-"Uncle Andy" (go to the 50-second mark) and seeing Britney Spears as a X-Factor judge (3-minute mark), then it's all about the lavish parties and the food the networks will provide to make sure advertisers are happy and full enough to let their guards down and open their media spending wallets. more ›

Thursday's blatant character assassination of Greg Kelly's rape accuser masquerading as a newspaper cover can either be explained by the New York Post's profound commitment to misogyny, the NYPD, News Corp, or all of the above. But the paper's response to criticisms of their coverage reflects a piercing hatred for basic literacy and is a new low, even for the Limbo of tabloids. more ›

Oh, Fox Business News, never change. In one of those 'if it weren't real we would think it were an Onion story' moments, Fox Business show Follow The Money recently had a segment in which they warn that the new Muppets movie is going to "brainwash" our children into socialist plushies. "The Muppets are back and being terrorized by an evil oil executive in their new movie," host Eric Bolling severely intones. "Liberal Hollywood depicting a successful businessman as 'evil,' that’s not new." more ›

The unpossible money dispute between The Simpsons voice actors and Rupert Murdoch's Fox Television is going to get uglier before it gets better. 20th Century Fox Television execs have been trying to force the show's six principal voice actors to dramatically reduce their reported $8 million salaries and even then won't promise the long-running show has more than this season to live. And what makes this wildly wealthy actors versus the man story even sadder is that at least one of them says they are fine taking a pay cut—if they can just get a tiny bit of loving from the show's still highly profitable back end. Today Harry Shearer, the voice of Mr. Burns and Ned Flanders (among many), came out to explain his (and not necessarily the rest of the cast's) position. more ›

What good is money if it can’t inspire terror in your fellow man? It seems that a cast money dispute might halt production of new episodes of the The Simpsons, the longest-running primetime TV series, after the current 23rd season wraps up next spring. And you'll either think this is a merciful development, or the suckiest bunch of sucks that ever sucked. more ›

Other than a few laughs about chicken dances past, we didn't expect much to come from tonight's reunion of the cast of Arrested Development. Turns out we were dumber than a Blue Man Group alternate understudy: the New Yorker has tweeted that, "Arrested Development coming back for one more TV season before movie." Why would Eustace Tilly lie? more ›

Les Hinton, the chairman of Dow Jones and one of Rupert Murdoch's most trusted confidants, stepped down today amid the burgeoning hacking scandal at News Corp that has extinguished the British tabloid News of The World, forced News Corp's British subsidiary president (and Murdoch favorite) Rebekah Brooks out of office, and spurred an FBI investigation of the company. As the Guardian reports, Brooks's resignation "removed a human shield" from Hinton, as he held her former position at the time when some of the more appalling activity occurred. The Dow Jones publishes The Wall Street Journal, and the paper has walked a fine line in covering the scandal, with the Times's Bill Keller telling the Daily Beast, "I think the Journal has played it pretty much down the middle." more ›

Glenn Beck along with his wife and one of his daughters showed up in Bryant Park last night to catch the Hitchcock movie 39 Steps. "All I wanted to do is go out on a blanket with my family and have dinner in the afternoon sun and sit around." While in theory this is a completely reasonable request, it seems a tad disconnected from reality, which shouldn't surprise anyone. Beck said on his morning radio show that from the moment he arrived, the vibe was "hostile," and that someone apparently kicked a glass of wine (which they shouldn't have had!) over on his wife's back. When she got up to use the restroom, someone pointed at her and supposedly shouted, "We hate conservatives here!" more ›

Could Fox Television lose control of channel 9 (WWOR)? While highly unlikely, it is a distinct possibility now that the FCC has announced [PDF] that it is investigating allegations that Fox lied or willfully misled the Commission in filings. At stake are the company's license to air on both stations it currently owns. more ›

Last night, over three million Cablevision customers were able to watch Fox programming once again—right before Game 3 of the World Series—after Cablevision ended its dispute with News Corp. over transmission fees. According to Cablevision, it conceded because News Corp. is really mean and greedy and the FCC didn't do anything! Well, at least folks will be able to see today's Jets-Packers games on WNYW Fox 5, right? more ›

Perhaps, in order to keep baseball-loving customers appeased, Cablevision has issued this statement regarding its transmission fee talks with News Corp.: “In the interest of Cablevision’s 3 million households and our mutual viewers, today we have made a new offer to News Corp. Simply put: we agree to pay the rate Fox charges Time Warner Cable for carriage of WNYW-Fox 5 New York and WTXF-Fox 29 Philadelphia for a period of one year. This is higher than the rate we pay any other New York broadcast station. This solution is in the best interest of not only baseball fans but of all Cablevision customers and Fox viewers. We look forward to a positive response.” more ›

As Cablevision customers contemplate what bars to head to or which antenna to buy to watch the World Series tonight, Cablevision president and CEO (and Knicks owner) James Dolan sent a letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski yesterday, saying that he could be in D.C. this morning for an FCC-run meeting with News Corp., because only with the FCC's involvement could good faith talks occur. However, News Corp., which served Cablevision a cease & desist letter (because the cable company's reps were allegedly telling customers how to illegally access Fox programming online) said that Dolan's letter was a "stunt." more ›

Cablevision and News Corp. are still feuding over transmission fees, a situation that has left millions of Cablevision customers in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania without Fox programming, like, oh, football games, the ALDS baseball games, Glee, House, The O'Reilly Factor and Good Day, New York since October 16. And given the current tenor of "negotiations," it seems that these lowly customers may miss the World Series. Well, unless they decide to (illegally) watch Fox programs online—the media company claims that when a Fox employee with Cablevision service called Cablevision, the Cablevision rep told them which websites streamed Fox shows! more ›

Cablevision customers who have been trying to see News Corp.-owned channels like WNYW 5 and WWOR 9 since last Saturday have instead been able to see Cablevision's "News Corp.'s transmission fees are too damn high" message (video). Cablevision claims that News Corp. is asking for too much money ($150 million, an increase from previous fees of $70 million) while News Corp. says Cablevision isn't even trying to negotiate! Well, Danny Spiegel & Guy Patton have a video up at UCB Comedy that examines the subtext of Cablevision's message: more ›

Glee was a repeat last night, but next week's episode is the Rocky Horror Show tribute—and at this rate, it seems doubtful that Gleeks with Cablevision will be able to see it, since the cable company and Fox parent company News Corp. are still at odds over transmission fees. News Corp. removed its channels, including WNYW 5 and WWOR 9, from Cablevision early Saturday morning; Cablevision claims that News Corp. is demanding more than double its previous fees while News Corp. says that the fees are fair and Cablevision hasn't been attempting to negotiate. more ›

The fight over transmission fees between News Corp. and Cablevision has entered day three, with News Corp. continuing the blackout of its channels, including WNYW 5 and WWOR 9. Which meant Cablevision customers were out of luck when trying to watch yesterday's (football) Giants' win or (baseball) Giants' loss. The two sides are supposed to resume talks today, but in a late afternoon statement, Cablevision's executive vice president of communications Charles Schueler said, "The longer this shameful News Corp. blackout of the NFL and Major League Baseball continues, the more obvious it becomes to everyone, including political leaders of both parties, that binding arbitration is the fastest and fairest way to return Fox programming to Cablevision customers." more ›

Because no one can get enough of controversy, even manufactured controversy, over a commercial featuring a plus-size model in a bra and underwear, here's more about the Lane Bryant lingerie ad kerfuffle: Model Ashley Graham, who is size 16 and 38D, spoke to WPIX about how ABC and Fox declined to air the ad, "The Victoria's Secret girls can flaunt around their panties all day long. But when there's a bigger woman with a little bit extra, they snipped it out immediately." more ›

[UPDATE BELOW] Fox News' "Real American Stories," hosted by hockey mom Sarah Palin, will be airing tomorrow night with interviews with Toby Keith, Jack Welch and LL Cool J. But the rapper wants to set the record straight, because he didn't actually sit down with Palin for an interview. He wrote on Twitter last night, "Fox lifted an old interview I gave in 2008 to someone else & are misrepresenting to the public in order to promote Sarah Palins Show. WOW." Watch what you say, Cool James; you might getcherself yer very own Palin target on your back! more ›

Is Fox still courting Conan or does the network have the host nearly locked down for a future late night program? According to reports, he's been presented with the outline of a deal for a show on Fox, but no official offer has been made. This is according to the Hollywood Reporter, who note the talks aren't exclusive, and allegedly "O'Brien has been pitched about two dozen ideas for his next TV gig, including five or six legitimate enough for consideration." Meanwhile, TMZ reports that Fox execs have been in touch with several affiliates, "applying pressure" to put Conan on the air during the 11 o'clock hour. more ›

Did you see Conan's "Free Bird" farewell on Friday night? He's now off the air until at least September 1st, with the NY Post further igniting rumors that his next move may be to Fox. They report that more talks will likely be starting this week between two parties, and Fox has looked at clearing their 11 p.m. time slot. Currently the network doesn't have a late night lineup—their last attempt was with Chevy Chase in 1993, whose show was canceled after four weeks; prior to that Joan Rivers lasted less than a year. Their entertainment president says, "He's one of the few guys on the planet who has demonstrated he can do one of these shows every night." They'd reportedly like to close a deal with the host quickly—and one Conan source says he'd want a big budget, and "won't do anything that is not a high-quality show." more ›

So much news in the Conan O'Brienosphere today. First off, TMZ reports that while the late night talk show host may not get to keep Triumph & Co. he is getting a $32.5 million payout upon leaving NBC and his Tonight Show hosting desk. He is free to move on to another network, but not until September. And since Conan loves his cast and crew, who have been with him since Day 1, you know he looked out for them during negotiations. Rumor has it they are all getting paid severance by the network, grand totaling their payout at around $40 million. more ›

A day after news broke that third-place Miss Alaska contestant and Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin had signed a multi-year contract to provide political commentary on Fox News, the wolf hunter from Wasilla received a warm welcome from loofah-lover Bill O'Reilly. As a Democratic Party spokesperson quipped, "Not since Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag has there been a couple so well suited for each other." Burn (provided you know who those two are). Of course, Palin was ready to hit back hard at those "pinhead" critics, as O'Reilly calls them: more ›

When we asked last week if Conan O'Brien should stick around NBC after they gave Jay Leno his old time slot back — leaving Conan to decide whether he wanted to stay and air later, or leave — you said he should LEAVE! Well, yesterday we heard of rumors he may be moving to Fox... and now the Wall Street Journal has printed that rumor, too, saying the talk show host has already met with the rival network. more ›

After threatening to pull its stations—and programs like the Sugar Bowl and American Idol— from Time Warner cable systems at the stroke of New Year's and then remaining on air while it extended talks, News Corp. has come to an agreement with Time Warner Cable over subscriber fees. However, neither side would disclose the terms of the agreement. more ›

It's a New Year's miracle: While News Corp. threatened to pull its stations from Time Warner Cable systems during subscriber fee negotiations at midnight, Fox remained on air. It turned out that two media behemoths agreed to extend talks. The Wall Street Journal reports they have "avert[ed] any programming disruptions for cable subscribers for the time being." more ›

Fox says it's ready to pull its stations from Time Warner Cable lineups at midnight in its dispute with the cable operator over subscriber fees. News Corp president and COO Chase Carey wrote in a memo to staffers, "it looks like we will not reach an agreement and our channels may very well go off the air in Time Warner Cable systems at midnight [Dec. 31]," putting the 2010 fate of shows like American Idol, House and 24, not to mention sports programming like the Sugar Bowl, in jeopardy. more ›

This Chinatown surveillance video depicts a heated altercation between an NYPD traffic agent and a car owner on Lafayette Street around 3:15 p.m. on October 8th. The video appears to show irate traffic agent Twana Chapman striking driver Qiang Nian Zhu after he tried to cover his registration sticker, so Chapman could not scan it. A crowd gathers, and Chapman is seen getting in one bystander's face, as another traffic agent pulls her away. But because there is no audio, it's not possible to verify an allegation that Chapman also made racist remarks. more ›

Everybody in New York knows that Thanksgiving is about one thing and one thing only: self-promotion. So it is with honor for our melting-pot of a country that NBC has reportedly banned the cast of 'Glee' from performing at the Thanksgiving Day Parade. The cast of the hit Fox show was set to sing their hit cover of "Don't Stop Believin'" for the 83rd Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, but apparently NBC didn't want to showcase their rivals' hit show. But wait, now who will provide the traditional Journey sing-along our forefathers fought for? more ›

TBS proved a point Saturday, there is something worse than having to listen to Chip Carey cover the playoffs and that is not being able to listen to him at all. Thanks to a “router failure” TBS was unable to put Game 6 of the ALCS on the air until the middle of the first inning, seven batters into the game, Saturday night. The technical glitch just highlights a dismal postseason effort by baseball and its TV partners. more ›