Williams stuffily wondered, “Has any of this splashed up against what we do?” Koppel responded: “What works about cable television is it’s cheap and it makes a ton of money. There is nothing cheaper than a bunch of talking heads. The people who hire those talking heads have discovered the more irascible, the more partisan, the nastier they are, the bigger an audience.”

Bill O’Reilly, Ann Coulter, Bill Maher and David Carr were interviewed. MSNBC’s anchors declined to participate in the report, although Lawrence O’Donnell was referenced.

“The rank and file at MSNBC were furious at Brian,” a source told Page Six. “They hated it so much they were still mad about it months later at the office Christmas party.” That’s where some cheered “f - - k Brian Williams” — “It was like a rallying cry,” our source said.