Fox News Channel

After a year of explosive audience growth, the cable news channels head into 2009 buoyed by record ratings, a rare bright spot in what has otherwise been a gloomy media season. Thanks largely to avid interest in the historic presidential campaign, all of the networks scored their largest prime-time viewership in history this year -- though they suffered a steep drop in viewers after the election.

In a move that could rekindle a heated political debate, Fox News said Thursday that it planned to broadcast footage from ABC's controversial miniseries "The Path to 9/11" that was edited out of the docudrama amid criticism that it inaccurately portrayed the Clinton administration's response to the terrorism threat. The outtakes, scheduled to air Sunday, depict then-national security advisor Samuel R.

It has been two long weeks since Stephen Colbert made off with the microwave from Fox News' green room, pilfered during the faux cable pundit's appearance on "The O'Reilly Factor." Colbert, who proudly displayed his trophy on the set of his Comedy Central show, promised he'd send over a replacement, but days passed without its arrival. "I think some guests wanted their Hot Pockets warmed up and couldn't," said Amy Sohnen, executive producer of "The O'Reilly Factor."

To many blue state-types, the Fox News Channel is already funny. But this weekend the media outlet famous for its patriotic fervor and red state champion Bill O'Reilly will try to be intentionally so. Intended by its conservative creators as a counterbalance to "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" on Comedy Central, "The 1/2 -Hour News Hour" premieres Sunday at 7 p.m. and will satirize current events and pop culture from a distinctly right of center viewpoint.

The Nevada Democratic Party on Friday canceled an August presidential debate in Reno that was to be co-hosted by Fox News, citing comments Thursday by the network's chairman. Liberal activists and bloggers had been protesting the debate plans, calling the channel biased. Roger Ailes, Fox News' chief executive, was at a broadcasters' event to receive a 1st Amendment award when he joked in a speech, according to a Fox transcript: "It is true that Barack Obama is on the move.

Prince Frederic von Anhalt sued the Fox Network and Bill O'Reilly after the popular talk show host called Von Anhalt a "fraud" for saying he could be the father of Anna Nicole Smith's baby. Von Anhalt, the husband of actress Zsa Zsa Gabor and one of three men to file a paternity claim for Smith's 6-month-old daughter, filed the defamation lawsuit against Fox and O'Reilly on Wednesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court. He is seeking $10 million in damages.

Bill O'Reilly and Geraldo Rivera said Friday that there were no hard feelings after they engaged in a shouting match unusual even for a cable opinion program. No chairs flew and no noses were broken, but the finger-pointing verbal duel over illegal immigration on Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor" on Thursday night became a water-cooler topic the next day.

The debate among Republican presidential candidates on Fox News Channel this week drew about 38% more viewers than the first one that was carried on MSNBC May 3. Tuesday night's 90-minute telecast with the GOP contenders at the University of South Carolina averaged 2.4 million viewers on Fox, while the earlier one at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley attracted 1.76 million on MSNBC. An April 26 debate among Democratic presidential hopefuls on MSNBC averaged 2.

THIS is what happens when your news network gets overly politicized. First, leading presidential candidates say you're a propaganda tool for the other side and decide they don't want to play in your sandbox. The next thing you know, Angelina Jolie -- "the best woman in the world," according to Esquire magazine,- is allegedly dis-inviting you from her movie premiere.