We don’t hear too much about GOP hopeful Fred Karger until he makes the news for not doing something — particularly for not having participated in the recent Iowa debates — and so he’s taking steps to ensure that won’t happen again.

Karger, you’ll recall, filed a complaint against Fox News earlier this month after he says the network altered its eligibility requirements in order to keep him out of the debate, adding that this “blatant affront by Fox News executives smacks of discrimination.” Karger is an openly gay Republican who has long been a very vocal advocate of gay rights.

This time around, Karger is taking precautions.

Just a few months ago, reports surfaced that Today Show host Matt Lauer had had enough early morning TV work, and would be departing the show when his current contract came to an end. While NBC denied the report, rumors have persisted that not only is Lauer serious about leaving, but that NBC executives are reasonably (and quite seriously) considering possible replacements. Mediaite has learned that the top choice of certain key Comcast and NBC execs is American Idol host Ryan Seacrest.

The hiring of Al Sharpton as host over at MSNBC has raised many an eyebrow given his past as businessman, activist, and host. But at Fox News, it appears to be inspiring nothing but ridicule. On today’s Fox News Watch, the panel discussed what could have possibly convinced MSNBC to hire him (the answers included “quid pro quo” and “ideology”), but ended on this anticlimactic note: “Why does anybody listen to Al Sharpton?”

Al Sharpton‘s surprise resurgence as a cable news host seems to have come a bit out of nowhere– certainly to his predecessor and to many viewers. Given his previous forays into television, the Daily Beast‘s Wayne Barrett has penned a doozy of an investigative piece that proposes talent alone couldn’t have gotten Sharpton the job: it was affirmative action and his support of the NBC/Comcast merger, Barrett concludes, that landed him the position.

The abrupt end of Dick Ebersol‘s decades-long career at NBC may have been a signal to NBCUniversal executives, suggests Joe Flint in the Los Angeles Times‘ Company Town blog: “get with the program, or hit the road.”

Few people in television today have the stature and living-legend-ness of Dick Ebersol, who’s run NBC Sports since 1989 and who has reportedly resigned today after failing to reach agreement on a new contract. The New York Times cites sources close to the negotiations who say Ebersol pushed hard for certain parts of a new contract, including salary requirements, but new majority owners Comcast resisted. The Times reports Ebersol’s decision came after a morning meeting with Comcast executives that led to a 10 a.m. meeting where the longtime NBC executive announced to staff he was leaving:

Mediaite’s own Rachel Sklar visited Joy Behar‘s HLN show to discuss, among other things, Keith Olbermann‘s move to Current TV.

The long anticipated–and hotly debated–deal that puts cable operator Comcast in control of NBC closes today. With the question of Keith Olbermann‘s future at MSNBC now settled, and NBC lifer Jeff Zucker gone, what moves to the front burner for Steve Burke, the new CEO of NBC Universal?

Comcast’s rise to power has caused concern among some die-hard MSNBC fans, who fear the new management may order a retreat from the network’s progressive political coverage. Susan Crawford, a professor at Yeshiva University’s Cardozo Law School is writing a book about Comcast’s acquisition of NBC Universal, and she tells USA Today folks on the left will be watching Burke’s moves closely. “

Ok, that headline’s a tad bit hyperbolic, but the peacock definitely got downgraded. The Los Angeles Times have a look at NBC Universal’s new corporate logo brought in by the new overlords at Comcast and the peacock is no where to be seen. He’ll still get be used to market the NBC, MSNBC, and CNBC, he just won’t be invited into any board rooms. Huh. I wonder if the bird will be creating a Twitter account.

Today on his radio show, Glenn Beck and his crew laughed at how Beck accurately predicted Keith Olbermann would eventually be fired from MSNBC if Comcast took over. They found it even funnier that reports were trying to suggest Comcast had nothing to do the decision, when instead Beck claimed since Olbermann is so impossible to work with, clearly Comcast wanted nothing to do with him.

The Federal Communications Commission has today announced that is has approved Comcast’s acquisition of NBC Universal, giving Comcast control over NBC Universal’s vast library of movies and television programs after the FCC determined that the joint venture would be “in the nation’s public interest.”

On the cusp of the largest corporate TV merger in American history, the FCC is beginning to express concerns that a monopoly on such an extensive library could hamper the free flow of information. The AP reports today that FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski is seeking new conditions from NBC and Comcast before allowing their merger that would specifically protect online content and mandate arbitration.

Twitter activity is suggesting a wide-range outing of Internet access in Illinois, Minnesota, Indiana & Michigan. This is Comcast’s second major DNS outage. The last outage occurred on November 28th and impacted the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, from DC to New Hampshire. Fortunately, Mediaite has advice for out of pocket Comcast users (who, hopefully, are accessing this site via smart phone)

BreakingNews is reporting that a flurry of Twitter activity is suggesting a wide-range outing of Internet access throughout the Northeast corridor of the United States, simultaneously ruining the evenings of Sarah Palin obsessed bloggers and Fantasy Football participants. Fortunately, Mediaite has advice for out of pocket Comcast users (who, hopefully, are accessing this site via smart phone.)

Glenn Beck has been promoting a brand-new theory on the future of MSNBC: it is “marked for death” and “liberals will throw MSNBC under the bus… hard.” Either that, he argued on his radio show today, or Comcast, it’s new owners, will turn it into a “good liberal station… that gets ratings.” Surprisingly, this didn’t sit too well at the network’s biggest ratings stalwart, Countdown, where Beck won himself yet another “Worst Persons” trophy for his musings.

Senator Jay Rockefeller confessed recently that he’d prefer a world without Fox News or MSNBC. Naturally, it didn’t take Glenn Beck too long to find an insidious left-wing scheme boiling beneath the surface: the left, Beck told Bill O’Reilly in a special Thanksgiving visit to the Factor, is planning on “sacrificing” MSNBC in a quid-pro-quo negotiation to eliminate Fox News.

Earlier today Comcast released a memo that officially announced the senior management team for the company after it completes its acquisition of NBC Universal. The management of the NBC News division remains largely unchanged, with both NBC News and CNBC presidents, Steve Capus and Mark Hoffman respectively, staying in place and reporting to the new CEO Steve Burke. But eyebrows are certain to be raised over the omission of current MSNBC president Phil Griffin from the memo, as well as the line “Steve Capus will continue to serve as President of NBC News/MSNBC.” Update: Comcast clarifies.

Un-suspended MSNBC host Keith Olbermann, fresh off his headline-sparking sendoff over campaign contributions (perhaps you heard something about it?) and back at work bringing about the “death of real news” will soon have new bosses. MarketWatch commentator Jon Friedman wonders whether the cable honchos at Comcast will try to “rein in” MSNBC’s “brazen” star

Since Keith Olbermann‘s suspension Friday, his supporters have taken to defending the MSNBC host using the contributions of others as a comparison: from News Corp. and Fox News to Joe Scarborough and Larry Kudlow.

Here are some more donations that tangentially relate to Olbermann – like GE overlap.

News Corp’s recent donation to the Republican Governors Association given editorial positions at, in particular, Fox News certainly turned heads among Democrats and gave President Obama even more fodder to challenge the company. Yet in light of all the criticism, it seems that the only thing they’re surprised about at Fox News is that the president cares about them at all.

Although Jeff Zucker had many successes during his long tenure time at NBC, in the wake of his dismissal by the soon-to-be bosses from Comcast, most people are focussing on his many, many failures. That’s just what the folks at Jimmy Kimmel Live did last night, and they did it through song! Using Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” the go-to tune for any musical parody involving listing, the bit features a Zucker lookalike gleefully singing the names of some of the worst NBC disasters of the Zucker era.

Bill Carter at the NY Times is reporting that Jeff Zucker is leaving NBC Universal, where he has been serving as Chief Executive for the better part of the last decade.

As the times keep a-changing, so must the technology of yesterday fall by the wayside. Cell phones have made landlines irrelevant. Twitter has replaced personal blogs that consist of more than two sentences. And the iPad has completely revolutionized the way we do…whatever it is the iPad does. Now though, the New York Post is reporting that the next big relic to fall is the very act of paying for TV.

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts was a guest on Fox News’ 4pmET show Your World. Of course, Comcast is the company in the process of acquiring NBCU – so, the potential head of MSNBC in the near future.

Host Neil Cavuto didn’t hold back in asking about the competing cable network.

Yesterday we reported that a new, conservative-friendly media outlet called RightNetwork was soon to launch, announcing cable giant Comcast as a partner. Shortly thereafter, Comcast released a statement claiming no such partnership, making RightNetworks out to be either premature (or even duplicitous) in announcing said partnership, and givingKeith Olbermann a chance to both rail on some conservatives AND impress his potential new bosses by naming RightNetworks Worst Person!