The Morning Fix: Graden leaves MTV, which was already in the lurch; Murdoch-Berlusconi feud; Letterman sorry...again

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After the coffee. Before taking the car in for that estimate.

He doesn’t want his MTV anymore. Brian Graden, who for almost 13 years has had a tremendous influence on culture and youth as the top programmer for several of Viacom’s cable networks including MTV and VH1 is stepping down at the end of the year. The departure, notes The Los Angeles Times, comes as ratings and revenue have fallen at MTV and VH1. Variety weighs in that this might be the start of a generational shift at MTV.

It isn’t personal, it’s just business. Italy’s prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is accusing News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch with using his media outlets to undermine his administration as part of their satellite TV competition there. Murdoch denies there is any agenda in how his company has covered Berlusconi’s relationship with a young model. The New York Times.

Swish! While ABC certainly would have liked the Lakers-Magic series to at least go six games, the ratings for the series were just under last year’s and the second best for ABC in the last five years. The Hollywood Reporter.

Bad news for local news. NBC’s flagship station WNBC New York is pulling the plug on its 30 year-old 5 p.m. newscast in favor of a lifestyle show aimed at women, says Broadcasting & Cable. No doubt NBC will be watching to see if the show -- ‘LX New York’ -- can be turned into a national brand.

Shake up at Huffington Post, read all about it for free. Betsy Morgan, the former CBS News executive who two years ago joined Huffington Post as CEO is being replaced by Eric Hippeau, a managing partner at SoftBank Capital and a Huffington Post board member. Founder Arianna Huffington tells paidContent that ‘staying still doesn’t work.’

In The Los Angeles Times: David Letterman again apologizes to Sarah Palin. Patrick Goldstein on director Michael Mann.