Monday we heard that WNBC's Chuck Scarborough and KNBC's Paul Moyer, the Kent Brockman and Ron Burgundy of New York, were both potential buyout targets. And now loooooooongtime WNBC sports guy Len Berman—the guy who shows the bloopers!—is getting bought out:

Len Berman, a New York television sports fixture since 1979, including for the past nearly quarter century at WNBC-TV, will leave the station sometime in the next 30 to 60 days.

The station and Berman, 61, had been discussing for months a settlement of his contract - believed to be the most lucrative among his anchor peers with an annual salary one TV industry source estimated at $1 million.

He says he's ready for the "next phase" in his career or something, which presumably involves sitting in a rocking chair counting the staggering pile of money that he was paid over the course of his career, for some reason. You were good at what you did, Len, but it's a new era now. The only media people who deserve that kind of money these days are bloggers. [Newsday]

NBC is said to be buying the news dinosaurs out of their very, very expensive contracts. Scarborough, who just marked his 35th anniversary at WNBC last week, makes a reported $3 million per year.

Moyer is reportedly one of the models for Will Ferrell's Ron Burgundy character, and Scarborough (pictured above) looks and behaves on the air precisely like Kent Brockman.

It used to be that, in local news at least, the anchor meant everything and was worth outsize salaries some of them have commanded in major markets. If Scarborough and Moyer, both of whom are giants in the business, get axed, it means that "NBC is essentially getting out of the local news business," one NBC source says.

We put in a call to KNBC and WNBC flacks but haven't heard back yet. UPDATE: WNBC spokeswoman Anna Carbonell says "it is not true. He is not being bought out. Chuck is a big part of our station."

Another source says similar moves are underway at all of NBC's stations, which are aggressively cutting costs: "NBC no longer sees the local news business as a star-driven product. It's more of a utility, and they're going to pay accordingly." NBC will start axing sports anchors, who often get paid $500,000 and more to introduce packages from other sports reporters, and doing away with the two-anchor, ethnic-lady-plus-white-man format.

In buying out Scarborough and Moyer, NBC would continue to pay their salaries, but the cost would be moved off of the news budget, a source says. And concocting fake gimmicks to reduce the news budget is all the rage at NBC these days. Expect an uproar from lonely old ladies who are losing their TV boyfriends.

hi,
i'm very sorry for what happened last night. i had no idea we were on live. i was playfully trying to get chuck's attention. unfortunately, i got the attention of thousands and many were not amused. i admit i have a potty mouth at times. never never did i intend for new york to receive an example of it. i can't take it back. i can apologize. i'm still very embarrassed today. i'm trying to answer each and every person thats contacted me.

i hope you will accept my apology.

thanks, sue

Indications Simmons' email address is gone:

Former Web page (August 2007):

Current Web page:

What's surprising about Simmons' apparent email address blackout is that it indicates people have been bombarding her with mail. Are there really that many New Yorkers outraged at hearing the word "fuck?" Really?

[Animal New York]

She's been here and she's had drinks with her dinner," a Jean Georges employee said. "She's had a cocktail or two, yes, between shows, with dinner."

The Times rounded up some New Yorkers shaken to their cores by the incident:

... said Omar Villaneuva, a doorman at 27 West 72nd Street, between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue... "when you’re a news reporter, you’re supposed to report the news. You’re not there to swear.”

Peter King, who works in an architectural office on the Upper West Side, echoed Mr. Villaneuva’s point. “It’s overused, and we are crasser than we were for it,” Mr. King said. “It’s just another indication of standards declining. I mean, I curse like a sailor, but I know how to talk to my dad and talk to clients, versus how to talk to my friends.”

Sarah Bassine, a filmmaker, said that Ms. Simmons was a role model... “Certainly, a newscaster should be able to express herself or himself better. People who are in the public eye have a responsibility to conduct themselves in a responsible manner.”

Actually, between this cuss out, Bill O'Reilly's recently resurfaced Inside Edition tantrum and the million other on-air TV news meltdowns in recent (and not-so-recent) memory, on-air swearing (followed by not getting fired) has kind of become a sign that an on-air personality has finally arrived.
[Times]

[Animal NY]

the NYC Blogger Summit, hosted by WNBC NewsChannel 4. Join other bloggers who cover news, politics, entertainment, arts, culture, sports and more from the New York area for an evening of discussion and networking.Rob Morrison of Today in New York will lead the discussion, with appearances by other WNBC anchors, reporters and management.

You're invited to the NYC Blogger Summit, hosted by WNBC NewsChannel 4.

Join other bloggers who cover news, politics, entertainment, arts, culture, sports and more from the New York area for an evening of discussion and networking.

Rob Morrison of Today in New York will lead the discussion, with appearances by other WNBC anchors, reporters and management.

Please feel free to send this invitation to other local bloggers you think might be interested, in case we missed them.

WHEN: Wednesday, January 31 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Food will be served.

WHERE: NBC Studios, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, Studio 6B

RSVP to: Erin Monteiro by January 24
You MUST RSVP if you plan to attend due to security issues.

Email Erin.Monteiro@nbcuni.com with the blogger's name, name of the blog, web address and a brief description of your blog.

[Image via]

• David Carr discovers TMZ.com, "the limitless appeal of the famous performing the mundane ." [NYT]
  
• George Bush, Guardian reader. Also, particle physicist. [Guardian]
  
• Diane Sawyer to succeed Charlie Gibson as anchor of ABC's World News Tonight.
  
• Bank of America singing douchebags have violated Universal's copyright for, uh, parody of U2's "One." Where does Bono go to get his reputation back? [NYT]
  
• Yahoo sees Google's newspaper ad deal, raises. [AP]
  
• "Dr." Max Gomez to be replaced by rotating phalanx of nationwide fake doctors. [NYDN]
  
• GQ, Men's Health, Maxim readers all got older and less wealthy last year, according to the latest round of numbers sure to be contradicted by the next set of metrics that comes down the pike. [WWD]
  
• Brian Williams needs to spend less time reading blogs. [NYT]
  

• Jeff Zucker may take over for Bob Wright as head of NBC by the end of the year. Honestly, you get the feeling that Zucker could rip the head off a transgendered prostitute and skullfuck it in the middle of a board meeting and he'd still get promoted. [NYP]
  
• It's not exactly news that Jason Binn is a "scumbag," but this time it comes from his mentor, so it carries some extra authority. [Radar]
  
• Fox News source for Iraq reports: internal Fox News memos. [CJR]
  
• NBC #2 Randy Falco to head AOL. [NYT]
  
• BBC will pay for user-generated video, but only if it's really good footage, e.g. a Lib Dem minister eating a rent boy's turd. [Guardian]
  
• HBO/AOL to collaborate on comedy site. Let's hope it's as funny as Lucky Louie was! [Reuters]
  
• Are we the only ones getting tired of the use of the word "civilians" to mean "people tangentially connected but not involved in the media industry"? Also, hot internal Gawker memo gossip. [NYT]
  
• Yep, it's true: Avellar, Hanson, and "Dr." Gomez out at WNBC. [NYDN]
  
• Adorable WSJ reporters somehow think refusing to do podcasts will give them leverage in current labor dispute. [AP]
  
• Wallpaper guy to take British Esquire "upmarket." Guardian]
  
• Newsweek tech correspondent to NYT? [Valleywag]
  
• Larry King: has never used Internet, misses rotary phones. [ThinkProgress]
  
• Correction of the Day: "An obituary on Monday and in some copies on Sunday about Isadore Barmash, a retired business reporter for The New York Times, rendered incorrectly the name of a department store that he wrote about frequently. It was Gimbels, not Gimbel's. Gimbels, which closed in 1986, has been referred to correctly in The Times more than 500 times since 1980 and incorrectly more than 120 times; this is the first time the error has been corrected." [NYT]
  

I can confirm that "Dr." Max Gomez, Joe Avellar and Jane Hanson all got the boot from WNBC today.