Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

Alan Colmes' Goodbye | As if spending the last eight years as Sean Hannity's punching bag on Fox News wasn't humiliating enough, watch the crew of Hannity & Colmes break into laughs as Alan Colmes announces his plan to leave the program at the end of the year. Your colleagues will miss you dearly, Alan.

♦  Graydon Carter says Vanity Fair plans to go ahead with its annual Oscar party, but "the party will be a much more intimate affair than in years past; we're going to scale back the guest list considerably." [DH]
♦  No replacement is planned for Alan Colmes: Fox News plans to have Sean Hannity serve as solo host of the nightly show. [NYT]
♦  Ted Koppel is parting ways with the Discovery Channel. [NYT]
♦  Looks like OK! has been cutting back on copy editors. The cover of the new issue misspells Ashlee Simpson's name. [HuffPo]More

♦  Alan Colmes, the "liberal" who supposedly serves as co-host of Hannity & Colmes with Sean Hannity, is leaving the Fox News program at the end of the year. [HuffPo]
♦  A daily news program hosted by Christiane Amanpour is in the works at CNN. [NYT]
♦  Despite screwing up nearly everything he touches, NBC golden boy Ben Silverman may see his contract renewed in the next few weeks. [NYM]
♦  USA Today has announced plans to cut staff. [E&P]
♦  Twilight was No. 1 at the box office this weekend, raking in $70.5 mil. [LAT]
♦  Forbes is not being sold to a shady Russian billionaire. [SAI]More

♦  Roger Ailes (left) has renewed his contract with News Corp., which will keep him by Rupert Murdoch's side for at least five more years (and keep him running the show at Fox News for at least one more presidential election). [NYT]
♦  New York has fired longtime restaurant critic Gael Greene. [Feedbag]
♦  The Runway battle continues: Lifetime has sued NBC over claims it is blocking the cable channel from airing future episodes of the reality TV show. [NYP]
More

♦  NBC chief Jeff Zucker is tightening making another round of cuts. This time it's CNBC, which will see its budget slashed by 10 percent. [NYO]
♦  A group of liberal activists printed up fake copies of the New York Times today to hand out to passerby in Midtown. [NYT]
♦  Gerard Baker has been named deputy editor-in-chief of The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones. [Romenesko]
♦  Katie Couric's advice for Sarah Palin: "I think she should keep her head down, work really hard and learn about governing." [Page Six]
♦  John McCain's first TV appearance since he lost the election translated into big ratings for Jay Leno's Tonight Show. [THR]
♦  Monday's interview with Sarah Palin was also a winner with Greta Van Susteren's On The Record earning its best ratings of the year. [B&C]

♦  More pain at 4 Times Square: Condé Nast is shuttering Elegant Bride. [Jossip]
♦  Despite the fact Portfolio fired 32 staffers last week, a spokesperson confirms the mag is going ahead with a soirée at the 21 Club later this month. [Page Six]
♦  Not surprisingly, Fox News has landed the first post-election interview with Sarah Palin. Greta van Susteren will sit down with her in Alaska over the weekend; the interview will be broadcast on Monday. [THR] More

The list of election '08 losers is a long one: There's John McCain, of course, who will die angry and bitter, notwithstanding his rather gracious concession speech last night. Steve Schmidt, McCain's chief strategist, will probably have trouble finding a Little League team to advise, unless he manages to redeem himself somehow. From Republicans on the Hill to GOP strategists to snowmobile and hunting enthusiasts, plenty of people will feel the cold wind of electoral defeat for a long time to come. After the jump, a roundup of New York City's nine biggest losers. More

♦  Election returns may set TV viewing records tonight, assuming there's some "suspense." [AP]
♦  What's been on cable news channels all day? Mindless talk and speculation, for the most part. [TV Decoder]
♦  It's possible the networks will call the election before the polls close. [THR]
♦  Some of the high-tech wizardry in store tonight: CNN plans to feature 3D "holographic images" of the network's remote correspondents in its New York studio. [WSJ]
♦  More trouble for tabloid kingpin David Pecker: John Miller, AMI's chief operating officer, has resigned. [NYP]More

In Stressful Times, Americans Cling to Guns | The most important election in a generation is just four days away. Every day brings fresh news about the crumbling American economy. So how are good 'ol Americans coping with these turbulent times? They're buying guns in record numbers, of course! That's what Fox News is reporting, at least, which says FBI background checks are up nine percent from last year. And just in case you weren't aware of it, this increase is all Barack Obama's fault. Decent Americans are just buying up lots of guns now so they have them in case Obama wins the election and he changes gun control laws, in which case you'll have to pry their semi-automatics from their cold, dead hands.

Nine days ago, Bill O'Reilly landed himself a big raise when he signed a new four-year contract with Fox News worth an estimated $10-12 million a year. So how did he repay this act of generosity on Fox News' part? He devoted a segment of his show to saluting his boss, Fox News chief Roger Ailes, for his charity work. Last night, the "Patriot" part of O'Reilly's "Pinheads & Patriots" segment plugged Ailes' work supporting wounded Navy SEALS. "He's been a quiet, longtime supporter of this very fine charity," O'Reilly says. "And for that he is a patriot." Such a kiss-ass, no? But we're guessing this is what you have to do to when you're making all that money and your ratings are on the decline.

♦  Details on the layoffs and management changes at Time Inc. [NYP]
♦  More on the demise of Maer Roshan's Radar and its God-awful TMZ-like reincarnation. [NYO, HuffPo]
♦  Fox News has apologized for putting a racist and anti-Semite on the air. [MM]
♦  Noted media expert (and former basketball player) Charles Barkley thinks Fox News is "corrupt." [B&C]
♦  Barack Obama's 30-minute infomercial airs tonight. [AdAge, Politico]
More

See also: The Worst Fact-Checking Team In Newspapers [Gawker]

♦  The New York Times has endorsed Barack Obama, not surprisingly. [NYT]
♦  If Bravo loses Project Runway, there's always the copycat show Fashion House to fill the void. [NYP]
♦  Maer Roshan's Radar magazine has folded. [Gawker]
♦  OK! has a brand new editor, publisher and executive creative director. [NYP]More

♦  Bill O'Reilly has signed a new four-year contract with Fox News worth $10-12 million a year. There is good news, though: His radio show may be coming to an end. [NYDN]
♦  More bad news for Harvey Weinstein: A handful of senior execs at The Weinstein Co. have announced their departures. [THR]
♦  How are monthly business magazines keeping up with the financial crisis? They're not, really. [NYO]
♦  The offices of the New York Times received an envelope this morning containing a "white granular substance." [Radar] More

♦  The Rachel Maddow publicity machine rolls on (not that we mind, of course): According to today's Times, she's a "fresh face," MSNBC execs adore her, and her show's ratings have defied all expectations. [NYT]
♦  For reasons we will never understand, Fox & Friends is now more popular than CNN's American Morning and MSNBC's Morning Joe combined. [LAT]
♦  Sarah Palin will sit down with Brian Williams tomorrow. [TVNewser]
More