The Ticker: Smerconish, Siegel, Bergen…

> A tipster says: “Look for pundit Michael Smerconish to be anchoring the live news on MSNBC for one hour a day in the early afternoon all next week…”

> Two weeks ago, TVNewser asked how Joel Siegel was doing. He appeared on GMA this morning. “To my eye, he seemed frail and flushed. His voice was hoarse and weak,” an e-mailer says. Update: 11:34am: From another e-mailer: “I watched him this morning — same sense of humor — same sense of mischief. Okay, so he’s a little older and maybe not full of health, but he’s the best in the business…”

> ShopTalk says Peter Bergen has signed with N.S. Bienstock, Inc. Is the freelance contributor at CNN looking for something more?…

> First FishBowlNY said these three ABCNews.com staffers had departed. Then we confirmed Jen Brown was out the door, too. Now a tipster says this: “All told, about 10 mid-level and junior level producers have left in the past three months…”

> SCOTUS Chief Justice John Roberts says no to televising the court: “Roberts says the court’s oral arguments aren’t a vehicle for showing the public how the court functions. He says televising them would have an ‘adverse impact’ on protecting ‘an extremely valuable institution…”

> On Public Eye, Aaron Barnhart wonders why TV entertainment thrives while TV news struggles (via Romenesko)…