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Barbara Walters’ final episode on the daytime yak-fest “The View” drew a pretty big crowd — and we're not talking about the gaggle of newswomen who gathered on stage to bid her farewell. Friday's episode of “The View” drew 5.2 million total viewers, according to preliminary numbers. Which is farely impressive, but Walters apparently can't match the draw of President Barack Obama. Also read: Former ABC News Anchor Carole Simpson Pissed Over Barbara Walters’ Farewell Snub Friday's episode of “The View” ranks as the fourth most-watched episode of the ABC series in its 17-year history. The most-watched episode was on July 29,...

Apparently every prominent female journalist didn't get the invite to Barbara Walters’ farewell episode. Carole Simpson, a veteran ABC newscaster, took to Facebook Saturday to address her exclusion from “The View” taping while posting a picture of the epic goodbye photo of the many broadcast newswomen who did take part. “I wonder why I wasn't included among the two dozen network newswomen and anchors who feted Barbara Walters at a private party and then on ‘The View?'” Simpson, 72, postulated. “We both worked at NBC and ABC at the same times.” Also read: Barbara Walters Epic Farewell Photo: Most Powerful Female Broadcasters Pay Tribute “I.

When CNN’s Candy Crowley was announced as the moderator of the second presidential debate back in August, she was lauded for being the first female to be selected for that honor since ABC’s Carole Simpson in 1992. That seemed to be enough of a historical footnote to recognize her role as referee — typically a thankless, forgettable role that is rightfully overshadowed by the rhetorical combatants. But after Jim Lehrer was roundly criticized for being a pushover in the first debate and Martha Raddatz seemed to respond to his passive performance by asserting herself more boldly in the vice-president’s debate,...

Three news veterans — including the first woman in 20 years — will moderate presidential debates this October. Politico identifies them as debate mainstay Jim Lehrer of PBS, Face the Nation moderator Bob Schieffer of CBS, and State of the Union anchor Candy Crowley of CNN, though the Commission on Presidential Debates has not yet confirmed Politico’s report. [Update: The Commission has confirmed these names.]

Crowley’s inclusion comes two decades after ABC News anchor Carole Simpson moderated a presidential debate in 1992. (Barbara Walters also moderated presidential debates in 1976 and 1984.) Her selection may have been influenced by a pair of Change.org petitions launched by three New Jersey high school students,...

Candy Crowley will be the first woman to moderate a presidential debate in two decades when she handles one of three debates between President Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney, while Jim Lehrer and Bob Schieffer will moderate the other two. All three were named as moderators Monday by the Commission on Presidential Debates. Martha Raddatz, ABC News' senior foreign affairs correspondent, will moderate the debate between Vice President Joe Biden and Romney's newly minted running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan. Crowley's selection comes after pressure from former ABC News weekend Carole Simpson...

This is a victory for three New Jersey high school students who launched a petition drive calling for a woman to moderate a presidential debate. It’s the first time this has happened since ABC’s Carole Simpson posed questions to former President George H.W. Bush, and his challengers Bill Clinton and Ross Perot in 1992. But Crowley will have a limited role in the way her session goes. It will be conducted as a town hall where vetted audience members ask most of the questions. The Commission On Presidential Debates unveiled its plan this morning. Each meeting will run from 9:00-10:30 Pm Et. There’ll be no opening statements by the candidates, but each can make a two-minute closing statement. There are some tweaks from previous debates that “are designed to focus big time blocks on major domestic and foreign topics,” Cpd co-chairmen Frank Fahrenkopf and Michael McCurry said.