Even with new editor Chris Ariens, TVNewser is still carrying the reputation of "NBC lapdog," at least to the Keith Olbermann pundits who put Claymates to shame in their enthusiasm. [Olbermann Watch]

"Please join me at Michael's Restaurant on Wednesday, July 25, in raising a toast to TVNewser's Brian Stelter, as he sets out to leave the confines of the blogosphere for the print world," writes Mediabistro.com founder Laurel Touby, who's not exactly having a bad week herself.

"But," Laurel continues, "every ending is a new beginning, and I've got some very exciting news to share. I'll be unveiling the next TVNewser - who will be taking the blog in new and exciting directions. Stay tuned — you'll have to be at the party to find out who it is (I'm inviting only 100 people, so you'll be among the first)!'

All of which would ordinarily be pretty damn exciting except for one small thing: we already know who the next TVNewser is.

CONTINUED »

• Again, the BBC is really, really sorry for making the Queen look like a royal bag.

• But not sorry enough to quit, apparently!

• Former television columnist Gail Shister demoted reassigned to the metro desk. Next in store for Gail: The local traffic beat.

• HBO execs in total denial over those giant piles of hate-mail from people still livid over the Sopranos finale.

• Meanwhile, HBO starting to face the reality that, without Chris "Bruiser" Albrecht at the helm, they've got zero new hit shows.

• Magazine ad sales come in "flat" by dropping 0.5% since 2006. "But if flat is the new up," writes AdAge, "a decline smaller than 1% can certainly be called the new flat." Or, in other words, no news is good news.

More interesting than Gail Shister's report about 10 and 11 o'clock local newscasts – nationwide, they're down, but Nielsen's reporting techniques might be to blame – is the fact that her report ran at all. Shister, the six-figure salaried byline for the Philadelphia Inquirer, supposedly lost her insider TV industry column because it was too narrow. She's even said to have applied for the TVNewser gig to get back to her industry niche.

But here she is today, chronicling viewership stats in Philly and elsewhere.

Her most recent columns have featured the culturally broad strokes that she was supposedly relegated to in April: thought pieces on The Closer, The View, Rescue Me, and The Sopranos. But there have been exceptions, like her report on The CW's troubles, The Daily Show's youth audience, and a profile on NBC News' Steve Capus, all of which followed April's notorious Katie Couric "hatchet job."

Asks one television industry vet: "What happened to Gail being a benchwarmer for generic TV reporting?" What happened, indeed.

That Katie Couric's troubles have erupted yet again over the past two weeks is no surprise to television news insiders.

First there was Gail Shister's bomb in the Philadelphia Inquirier, where Katie's future at the helm of the CBS Evening News was vehemently questioned — and undermined by anonymous CBS insiders. Then Roger Friedman went and fingered Bob Scheiffer and Leslie Stahl as the sources behind Gail's item, citing their disdain for the anchor.

So why is the insider hatchet job going down yet again?

Because that Katie Couric's Notebook flap wasn't a big enough scandal for those leading the pack.

CONTINUED »

In her final daily column at the Philadelphia Inquirer, veteran tv writer Gail Shister signs off in typical Shister fashion, promising that "[her] show isn't being cancelled. It's moving to a new timeslot."**

And in her last entry, Gail reminds us how different things were when she initially took the reins back in 1982. Back before Vanna White's first eyelift, when Tom Brokaw was just another backup anchor and "Bette Davis Eyes" (i.e. as opposed to "Bootylicious") was considered a chart-topper.

We'll miss Gail Shister's daily primetime musings, her plucky penchant for cable broadcasting programs, and her encyclopedic knowledge of shows like "Gunsmoke," that ran well before we were even born. Congratulations on a job well done, Gail. We'll definitely be tuning in for the sequel.

Which is clever, because it's about tv. Which just happens to be Gail's area of expertise!

We have many "regular reads," but most of them are mere blips in our RSS reads. Of the few actual bookmarks we visit on a given day, Gail Shister's Philadelphia Inquirer TV industry column is among them. But on Tuesday, the paper gave us reason to delete it: They canned her strip. Instead of focusing on news anchors and morning show hosts, Shister will be expected to pen items that are less industry, more pop culture.

Why the switch? Inquirer features editor Sandy Clark says "the paper's goal is to 'serve our readers, not to make Romenesko.'"

And also: It's not like we can rely on Alessandra Stanley for accurate recaps of last night's American Idol. Or much of anything.