GE's Universal NBC and Murdoch's FOX in merger talks?

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"Some people say" that this is true.

Watch the good cop / bad cop routines on both networks.

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MSNBC protecting Rupert Murdoch?

Scarborough: Publisher's suit against News Corp. bogus
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Scarborough_defends_News_Corp._Giuliani_support_1114.html
David Edwards and Jason Rhyne Published: Wednesday November 14, 2007

An allegation that the media giant News Corp. directed a former New York publisher to lie in order to protect Rudy Giuliani just doesn't hold water, according to MSNBC host Joe Scarborough.

Judith Regan, who was fired by a News Corp. publishing house last year after reportedly making anti-semitic remarks, filed a defamation lawsuit Tuesday alleging that a top executive with the company had encouraged her to deny a romantic affair with embattled New York City police commissioner Bernard Kerik. Regan says she was asked to lie to help preserve the reputation of Giuliani, who had originally appointed Kerik and later recommended him to head the US Department of Homeland Security.

But Scarborough said Regan's "defaming" was her own doing -- a result of her involvement in promoting OJ Simpson's "hypothetical" account of the double murder for which he was famously acquitted.

"I would say Judith Regan defamed her character by herself when she pushed this OJ Simpson If I Did It book," said Scarborough. "For people that followed this story in the media, it was fairly obvious why they shoved her overboard. It didn't seem to have a lot to do with Rudy Giuliani or Bernie Kerick. It had to do with the fact that she tried to publish...one of the sleaziest books in modern American publishing history."

The host said he couldn't conceive of an orchestrated plan within News Corp. to help boost Giuliani's presidential chances.

"Is there a possibility that somebody in News Corp. who knew Rudy Giuliani because New York is a very small town in certain circles? Yeah. Maybe somebody said 'Hey, you know what, let's lay off of it, don't talk about that,'" conceded Scarborough. "But I doubt that anybody was ever going to put a gun to her head and say,'You can't talk badly about Rudy Giuliani or Bernie Kerik.'"

According to the New York Times, Regan's civil complaint states that News Corp. "has long sought to promote Mr. Giuliani’s ambitions. But the lawsuit does not elaborate on that charge, identify the executive who she says pressured her to mislead investigators, or offer details to support her claim."

Notably, the New York Post, which is owned by News Corp., did not feature Kerik's recent 16-count corruption indictment on its cover, as did other New York City newspapers. But the Post did break a story in October about Marc Mukasey, the son of Attorney General Michael Mukasey, who reportedly worked to help distance Giuliani from Kerik's criminal probe. That story, critical of the former mayor, would seem to partially undercut Regan's charges of favoritism.

Asked by MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski if Kerik's indictment would hurt Giuliani politically, Scarborough said he didn't foresee it happening.

"It's not hurting him at all and I tell you what: Bernie Kerik, people aren't really following a lot of this because Bernie Kerik is a second-tier player," said Scarborough. "They care about Rudy Giuliani...I just don't think in the long run it will have much of an impact."

Prosecutors contend that Kerik accepted $255,000 in apartment renovations from a company seeking New York business opportunities. He then allegedly concealed that income from the IRS. Also included in the indictment are charges that Kerik made false statements to the White House.

The following video is from MSNBC's News Live, broadcast on November 14, 2007.


http://www.rawprint.com/media/2007/0711/msnbc_scarborough_defends_fox_giuliani_071114a.flv

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Flashback...

Notes From News Corp./NBC Universal Media Call
http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/03/22/notes-from-news-corpnbc-universal-media-call/
Michael Arrington

I’ve just joined the “NewTube” media call with NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker and News Corp. COO Peter Chernin. Notes to follow.

Chernin is kicking things off. It took him about 2 minutes to say “Web 2.0″ for the first time. Saying this will be the largest premium video network on the web. Extending offer to other distribution partners, wants to work with everyone.

Zucker is now on. Talking about importance of “significant IP protection” as a primary goal. Second - this provides an excellent opportunity for advertisers, who want to be associated with premium video. Five charter advertisers already yesterday (Cadbury Schweppes, Cisco, Esurance, Intel and General Motors). Two more today (Royal Carribean is one).

Revenue will be split between News Corp and NBC, with a portion going to distribution partner.

Going immediately to questions.

well, I just got cut off from the call.

Back on, but I missed about 5 minutes.

Washington Post: Are you talking to YouTube to partner? Is this a YouTube Killer?
- Chernin: This is obviously not a YouTube Killer. There’s no stand alone site. Seriously IP protection
- Zucker: we want ubiquitous distribution. saying this is the right product for this stage of the development of the internet
- Chernin: this will be the largest advertising platform on earth.

AP: Will there be a delay between TV broadcast and online? Also asking about economics of partnership.
- Chernin: delay window will be several hours after shows air in Hawaii.
- Zucker: “we’re obviously not going to talk about economics”

Will this be the exclusive online channel for content?
- Zucker: says yes, this is the only place they’ll put their content online, and says this isn’t exclusive since they will partner with anyone.

Financial Times: Any plans to focus outside of U.S.? Do you think that this will hurt broadcast revenue?
- U.S. is focus for now. They believe this will not cannibalize broadcast revenues.

MSNBC: Says “Hi Boss” to Zucker. Asking about legal stance towards YouTube.
- Saying they continue to talk with YouTube to remove pirated content. They say this new company gives people an alternative to watching pirated content.

: asking about the history of the partnership
- we’ve been in discussions for a long time, there have been ups and downs throughout, but News Corp and NBC remain committed throughout the process. This came together in the last week when distribution partners jumped on board.
- this is a very complex deal. There has been “unwaivering commitment” by NBC and News Corp.

WSJ: will other networks be able to come in as equity partners? mobile strategy?
- “we haven’t given it a lot of though. we are comfortable with the current arrangement but would consider other things.
- saying this is a web distribution venture, not mobile. (??)
Is American Idol going to be included?
- Chernin: no plans to include it right now.

TV Guide: Asking about pay per view movies. What will be for sale v. free?
- most movies will be available for sale. Some deep content will be free.
- Some TV content will not be free either. If on iTunes for pay, will also be for sale there. Pricing will be like MovieLink, iTunes, etc.
What will be free then?
- “most will be for free”. They were really hazy on answers here.

Marketwatch: will it take user generated content?
- yes.

[note: there are some serious red flags popping up around this service]

InternetNews: what kinds of advertising?
- “we will try to maximize the effectiveness of our ads”
- we will experiment. want to maximize our monetization. want to provide users with a great experience.
- Zucker: we are shocked at the willingness of the consumer to sit through the whole show with ads on NBC.com”