NBC News President Steve Capus and his boss at the General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE)-owned network, Jeff Zucker, are thanking their lucky stars that Tom Brokaw will be the interim host of "Meet the Press" through the November election.

Brokaw, who was anchor of "NBC Nightly News" for more than two decades, agreed to take on more duties at the network after chatting over a beer with Capus aboard an Amtrak train traveling from Washington to New York following Tim Russert's memorial service, according to the Washington Post. The 68-year-old Brokaw later called Capus to volunteer to temporarily take over "Meet the Press," the paper said. It was a no-brainer for NBC to take Brokaw up on his offer.

"Meet the Press" is a cash-cow for NBC, attracting well-heeled viewers eager to learn about the doings in Washington. Advertisers likely pay premium rates for 30-second spots on the program because it is so prestigious. It needs a host to fill Russert's role who has both name recognition and a reputation as a non-partisan straight shooter. Brokaw fits the bill on both accounts.

In fact, the 68-year-old native of South Dakota is such a good fit for the program that the network probably wishes he would take the job permanently, even though Brokaw apparently would prefer to spend his Sundays clad in waders at his Montana ranch fishing for trout. Odds are fairly good that Brokaw's tenure will extend beyond the election because finding the right host is not going to be easy.

Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann of the MSNBC network are too partisan and grating to take over "Meet the Press." NBC's Andrea Mitchell and David Gregory are well-respected journalists but hardly household names. Look for them to try to land Katie Couric, whose future at the "CBS Evening News" is murky at best, or CNN's Wolf Blitzer or even Gwen Ifill of PBS.

General Electric's long-suffering shareholders are probably interested in the search as well. Any sale of NBC Universal would be easier knowing that one of its most visible shows is in good hands.

MSNBC reports on an earth-shattering scandal sure to make heads roll at Starbucks (NYSE: SBUX). Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen have been ordering Grande nonfat lattes from their favorite New York City West Village Starbucks. However, a barista there has reportedly been serving the lattes with whole milk.

According to a source quoted by MSNBC, "the barista thought the Olsens were too thin, so whenever they ordered their usual drink, he would replace the skim milk with full-fat." The Olsen's representative commented: "This is ridiculous." But a so-called close friend blamed the Olsens for for their ignorance, noting: "It's also my worst nightmare -- that and getting a huge diet fountain soda that is mistakenly regular Coke -- but I can def(initely) taste the difference, so it's their own fault if they fell victim."

Did Howard Schultz, recently re-appointed Starbucks CEO make this latte swap? The Wall Street Journal [subscription required] reported that Schultz has been aggressively micro-managing Starbucks since he took over. The Journal notes that before Starbucks launched its new Pike Place Roast in April, Schultz selected which redesigned version of the old logo to use. As the promotional campaign neared completion, he decided it needed more warmth and called for revisions. He rewrote the press-release headline.

Neither MSNBC nor The Journal fingered Schultz as the barista who put the whole milk in the Olsen's lattes. So we await the nameless barista's fate.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in Starbucks securities.

This post is part of our Battle of the Brands feature. Let us know which brand you prefer, and check out other Battle of the Brands posts.

The heads of CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC along with their corporate masters at Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX), News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) and General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) must be giggling with delight at the prospect of the Democratic presidential race continuing past the hotly contested race in Pennsylvania.

After all, controversy means more viewers, which of course means more advertising dollars. They probably wish that the Democrats would beat each other up in 30-second TV spots every year, but alas Americans elect a president every four years, which is probably a good thing for everybody. Still, the cable networks are going to ride this gravy train for as long as they can.

Like anything else in cable news, picking a winner in this battle of the brands depends on how you look at it. Fox, the home of Bill O'Reilly and Shepherd Smith, attracted 1.89 million viewers during Monday's prime time, the most of any network, according to Nielsen data cited by TVNewser. CNN attracted 1.03 million on its main network and 572,000 on its Headline News channel, while MSNBC was watched by 676,000.

Before conservatives start declaring Fox the top cable network yet again, remember that statistic does not represent the whole picture. Cable news advertisers are most interested in viewers aged 25 to 54 who are most likely to be interested in buying mutual funds and other products that they are shilling. That's where things get interesting.

My media world makes no sense anymore.

Fox News' Bill O'Reilly, the symbol to liberals of all that's evil, rushed to the defense of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton after Chris Matthews of MSNBC pointed out that she owed her political position to the fact that her husband "messed around.... That's how she got to be senator from New York. We keep forgetting it. She didn't win there on her merit."

Now Matthews, who now reportedly is upset that Keith Olbermann is the rising star at MSNBC, is being lambasted by media types over those remarks, that came after Clinton's surprising victory in the New Hampshire primary. Greg Sargent of Talking Points Memo accused the pundit of, "oversimplifying complex voter sentiment in the most crude and reductive fashion he can muster."

Yesterday afternoon, Hillary Clinton was on CNBC with Maria Bartiromo, discussing her plan for protecting some homeowners who are in danger of losing their houses due to resetting subprime mortgages. It was supposed to be an interview, but it was more of a spat, and showed the deep pro-Wall Street bias that is typical of much of the financial media.

Clinton claimed that Wall Street played a major role in creating the subprime mess and was looking for support from the Street for the plan to freeze mortgage rates for some borrowers. Bartiromo couldn't hide her strong disagreement with this argument. Her basic point was: What about personal responsibility? Why are people who entered into contracts being bailed out? And she all but shouted, You liberal! Violating the sanctity of contracts! Interfering with the blessed Free Market!

Wow, the Fox Business Network hasn't even been on the air for a month, and its critics are already writing its obituary because the channel has made some boneheaded moves.

First, as Fox-hater Keith Olbermann noted, the News Corp (NYSE: NWS) channel did some "creative" editing of negative newspaper reviews and turned them into positive ones? Yesterday, Olbermann, the host of MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann, "awarded" network honcho Roger Ailes the title of "Worst Person in the World" because presumably mortal enemy Bill O'Reilly's evilness just wasn't up to snuff. This bit is part of Olbermann's shtick on his program which regularly outrages conservatives.

Of course, Ailes is far from the worst person in the world. At best, he and his boss Rupert Murdoch are in the top 10% of evil-doers, well behind the likes of Osama bin Laden, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and people who dress up their pets in Halloween costumes. But unlike many arch-villains, Ailes is a very creative and resourceful guy.

For instance, he's lined up Minyanville.com characters "Hoofy the Bull" and "Boo the Bear" to host a segment on the network's critically derided Happy Hour program. Is this idea going to win a Peabody? Of course not, but it's not the end of the world, either. Still, this feature wasn't a smart PR move, because it plays into the hands of Fox's many critics, including Joe Nocera of The New York Times, who have blasted the network for being too upbeat.

BusinessWeek reports that a waitress -- for 20 years and a welder before that -- who has never owned a stock in her life is positioned to win CNBC's Million Dollar Contest. This is sort of like winning the lottery.

And luck -- combined with playing by the rules -- may help Mary Sue Williams of St. Clairsville, OH win that $1 million. According to the last official standings, posted on May 25, she was in sixth place, with a 29% return during the two-week final round. But since many top finishers are suspected of exploiting a loophole in CNBC's trading software to inflate their returns, CNBC may disqualify the five who are ahead of her, leaving Williams the most likely winner.

She followed her mother-in-law's advice, spending about an hour a day checking the financial web site Earnings.com for companies that were about to announce their quarterly results. She figured that companies reporting earnings were the most likely to see big moves. To pick specific stocks, she used the Warren Buffett approach: invest in what you know.

Her most memorable picks included the following:

• WD-40 Co. (NASDAQ: WDFC)
• Crocs Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX),
• CommVault Systems (NASDAQ: CVLT),
• Ctrip.com (NASDAQ: CTRP), and
• Focus Media Holding Ltd. (NASDAQ: FMCN).

If she wins, she plans to use the money for her daughter's education. Now that's a good investment!

Peter Cohan is president of Peter S. Cohan & Associates, a management consulting and venture capital firm. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has has no financial interest in the securities mentioned in this post.

BusinessWeek reports that Joe Dondero may win General Electric Co.'s (NYSE: GE) CNBC's Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge. That's interesting because this day trader has had complaint letters about his conduct with the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) and other contestants complained that he was trading small cap stocks in the contest -- which they suspect he was manipulating in his real trading.

The original scandal with the Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge was that some traders were using a flaw in the contest to do what mutual funds did a few years ago -- use their knowledge of what happened to stocks after the market closed to pack their portfolios with "winning" stocks. CNBC's Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge software enabled participants to engage in this late trading.

Dondero did not do this. But since he was the top finalist who refrained from such late trading, he is in line to win. That is unless CNBC decides to award the $1 million to the next best performing contestant with a clean record.

Let me first make my stance completely clear. As a member of the proud, yet possibly coarse foundation of American society I wish to make an open declaration based on my First Amendment right of free speech: Don Imus has made himself a broadcast journalistic wimp of the highest order.

I DO NOT condone the words that Imus chose to spew in regard to a specific class of athlete, but I do support his right to open his mouth and forcefully insert his own foot. But somewhere along the line Imus must have missed the memo which clearly explained that it's one thing to denigrate a class of athletes with whom you do not associate and who are in no position to immediately refute you and it's a completely different thing to tell someone like Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) CEO Rex Tillerson to sit down and shut up. (Umm, yeah I blogged that).

I could end this rant right here and consider myself fulfilled in chastising Mr. Imus but I really haven't brought this full circle yet. It's not enough that I simply rake him over the coals for his poor choice of wording. For me, there's yet a larger issue.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• The Wall Street Journal reported that the list of advertisers defecting from Don Imus's morning TV show on General Electric Company's (NYSE: GE) and Microsoft Corporation's (NASDAQ: MSFT) MSNBC is growing, resulting in NBC Universal pulling the show off the air immediately.

OTHER PAPERS:

• Sources involved with the process reported that Viacom Inc's (NYSE: VIA) music publishing catalog Famous Music is attracting a lot of interest from major music labels to former music executives backed by private-equity, reported the New York Post.
• France's Thales and American aerospace giant Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) are reportedly looking to make a joint bid for a new $31.7B contract to supply the British Army with 3,000 new medium-weight armored vehicles, reported The Business.
• The Independent reported that scientists have discovered a technique for "pain-free, highly effective chemotherapy," a huge breakthrough in cancer treatment.

WEBSITES:

• DigiTimes.com reported, citing industry sources, that Powerchip Semiconductor Corporation has lowered its DRAM spot prices almost 15% due to fierce price competition, but the sources noted that the low prices have not been able to stimulate demand in the DRAM market.

What should MSNBC do now that its dumped Don Imus?

According to the New York Times, Imus generated $50 million in revenue through his shows on CBS Corp.'s (NYSE: CBS) radio division and on the General Electric Co. (NYSE:GE) cable television network. Plus, Imus' program was dirt cheap for MSNBC to air. Imus probably won't lose his job in radio given the sad state of the medium.

MSNBC has got to come up with something. Morning television is a cash cow for both broadcast and cable networks. It can't just keep broadcasting a never-ending supply of prison documentaries. Seriously, MSNBC must have filmed every maximum security penitentiary in the country.

Let me offer a few suggestions for replacement for Imus.

1) Keith Olbermann -- He's smart, opinionated and under contract with the network. Moreover, he would regularly outrage Republicans which would make for entertaining viewing. I don't care that no one agreed with my suggestion that the network should promote him more prominently on its ratings-challenged "Nightly News with Brian Williams."

2) Craig Carton -- One of the "Jersey Guys," the top-rated afternoon talk show that manages to entertain, offend and educate residents of the Garden State. I'm sure Gov. Jon Corzine, a regular Carton target, would be happy to see him leave New Jersey. He got women to make plaster casts of their breasts that were later decorated and sold to raise money for breast cancer research. It was called "Cans for the Cure."

3) Greg Gutfeld -- I learned about this guy in a recent New York Times story that described him as a "compact but enormously animated man." He sounds awesome and I plan to DVR his show and write up a post on it.

4) Jeanne Moss -- This CNN reporter has cornered the market on off-the wall stories. Why not make her a star? Still, she's been at the Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX)-owned network for 20 years and probably has a sweet deal.

5) Gwen Ifill -- She deserves a bigger audience than PBS. She's a seasoned journalist who keeps those troublemakers on "Washington Week" from getting out of hand.

This list is far from comprehensive.

Who would you like to see on MSNBC? Send in your suggestions and I'll pass them along to the network and they will be promptly ignored.

Don Imus' boorish behavior would have gotten him fired long ago if he were in any other line of work.

After a firestorm of controversy, CBS Corp.(NYSE: CBS) and General Electric Co.'s (NYSE: GE) MSNBC yesterday decided to suspend the controversial radio host for two weeks for making racially insensitive comments about the Rutgers University women's basketball team.

What would happen to someone at your office who like Imus used the phrase "nappy-headed ho's?" Would people complain? Would the boss talk to them? Would they have a chat with human resources? If they continually showed that type of attitude, would they be fired?

Imus is lucky that he works in the media.

He tried to mend fences by apologizing at an almost Bill Clinton-like rate. He's apologized to the team, apologized to the Rev. Al Sharpton and would probably apologize to any African-American he meets on the street.

This is a pretty big deal.

Media and political bigshots are regular guests on "Imus in the Morning." Publishers send their top authors there to flog their books. It's kind of amusing that these people love Imus and hate his rival Howard Stern when the only difference between them is that Stern actually is witty.

Along with Stern, Imus has inspired a generation of shock jocks and talk show hosts who think that they can say whatever they want, whenever they want on the air. But instead of being provocative, most of them just sound boorish.

Imus is vowing to change the "tenor" of the show. I guess he deserves another chance, or is it the fifth one? I'm not sure.

If General Electric Co. (NYSE:GE) really wants to boost the faltering ratings at NBC's "Nightly News with Brian Williams," it should bring in Keith Olbermann.

The host of MSNBC's popular "Countdown" show is far from traditional anchor material. He's loud, occasionally obnoxious and extremely In other words, he's interesting and people will watch him even if they don't agree with his political views.

Brian Williams doesn't have to be replaced; Olbermann would serve as a good counter-point to the affable anchor who was anointed by Tom Brokow as his successor. Maybe Olbermann can have a Lou Dobbs commentator role on the show. Something has to be done.

The worst kept secret in TV news is that NBC News plans to fire John Reiss as executive producer of the "NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams" because of declining ratings. That's not surprising. NBC needs to think outside the box -- the TV box that is -- to make the show more relevant. I know that's easier said than done but too much money is at stake for NBC not to take a chance.

NBC, Walt Disney Co. (NYSE:DIS) and CBS Corp. (NYSE:CBS) all count on the news shows to boost their bottom lines. The audience, though old and declining, is too big for advertisers to ignore at least for now.

Morning programs are a much bigger cash cow. That's why ABC was reluctant to send the popular Charles Gibson away from "Good Morning America." The network had little choice but to turn to the 63-year-old Gibson after "World News Tonight" anchor Bob Woodruff got seriously hurt in Iraq and Elizabeth Vargas got pregnant and decided to go on leave. Gibson turned out to be the right move because the program's ratings are surging.

Katie Couric was brought in with great fanfare by CBS and hasn't done much to boost the program's popularity. People seemed to like Bob Schieffer better. CBS brass says they are sticking by Couric, but I question how long that will go on. No one likes to be third in a three-way contest.

comScore Media Metrix recently released its September analysis of U.S. consumer activity at top online properties and categories. What sites do American consumers like? Not surprisingly, Americans like television, sports, and news Web sites.

Actually, Americans like first and foremost gambling. Online Gambling was the top gaining category in September, with a 17% gain vs. August. However, since that will change in October as the Congress legislation outlawing online gambling comes into effect -- alas, the house doesn't always win -- let's focus on the other categories and pay special attention to the very exciting company of late... Yahoo!

As I mentioned above, Americans like sports and while the category itself grew 7% over August, Yahoo! Sports posted a significant 27% growth, catching up to number 1 site, ESPN, quickly. Fox Sports on MSN also grew impressively by 25%, going from 4th place in August to 3rd place in September. What's really interesting, is that MLB.com lost market share in September, a decline of 16%, despite playoff season approaching.

Richard Siklos in this week's Sunday New York Times evaluates the new abilities of old media companies in rapid-fire succession. News Corp: props for their speedy purchase of MySpace. Walt Disney: so smart to be first mover in putting ABC TV on iTunes. Time Warner: a "paradox" with AOL, big property, big challenges. Viacom: good track record, cute little acquisitions like Neopets and iFilm. CNN, MSNBC have done well turning TV into online media.

However. His theory is that online hype is inversely proportional to "near-term revenue" from Internet sources. He points out that the Internet operations aren't listed separately on the income statement at most of the companies he follows. At News Corp, he says, "the Internet was a rounding error" with $1 billion of the $18.5 billion in revenue and a $68 million loss on operating income of $2.85 billion.

His point: a lot more money is made (and spent) offline than online. A LOT more money. And that's certainly worth evaluating when we look at the amounts currently being invested in online media.