Updated: Feb 10 1998 9:54AM

It must be something in the demographics reports -- CNBC is definitely your channel for the White House scandal. While CNN devoted its 10 p.m. slot to an "Impact" resurrection of the Di-and-Dodi saga and Ted Koppel turned his mike time over to "Nightline" backup Forrest Sawyer and a half hour of El Niño film and forecasts, the business channel went full-bore on the Lewinsky mess. Do guys who make lots of money really like politics? Or just stories about oral sex?

After leading with Iraq, "Brian Williams" hosted a point-counterpoint with determinedly sunny White House flack Ann Lewis. Lewis was once again at the head of the Clinton phalanx with charges of "not leaks, but false, malicious information" dripped out by the Starr camp -- making sure to mention the WSJ's collapsed story on the White House steward. From the right, former attorney general Richard Thornburgh blithely claimed that leaks were "the bane of every investigation" and surely unwanted by Captain Ken. Bordering on the surreal was an interview on the scandal's gender gap with "Men Are From Mars" empire builder John Gray, who professed a new American need for "lasting romance" in marriage but never made any kind of connection to Clinton's buoyant poll numbers. It all sounded suspiciously like a book plug.

CNN's nod to the scandal was Larry King's opening segment with former White House chief of staff Leon Panetta, who looks more like Tony Bennett every day. Panetta made a tactful call for full disclosure by Clinton -- "a hard lesson to learn in Washington" -- and yet seemed aware of how easy that was to say from California. Interestingly, Arianna Huffington would also call for confession on "Charles Grodin" on CNBC at 11 --though she and Panetta probably have different speeches in mind. Grodin, meanwhile, continued to grumble that the whole affair is none of our business -- before introducing another show full of scandal pundits. Must be the demographics reports.

Last Laughs: Leno had a beret-topped "Monica" kneeling in cement at Mann's Chinese Theater, and Letterman reported that the Lewinsky family van had been bumped from behind by a carful of reporters: "As soon as word got out that she'd been rear-ended, Bill Clinton issued a denial."

-- Frank Pellegrini