So blogs are reporting that David Gregory is definitively, definitely the new host of NBC's Meet the Press, and that Tom Brokaw will sign off his interim period after next Sunday's meet and greet with Barack Obama.
Of course, for now they remain rumors as NBC is like "What, we never said that!" and Gregory's camp refuses to comment. But The Huffington Post, which is claiming credit for the scoop, isn't exactly an unreliable source, so if they are reporting the story as fact, NBC might as well throw in the towel and give the job to Gregory anyway.
But confirmed or unconfirmed, Jeff Zucker's choice of David Gregory to fill Tim Russert's shoes is a strange one:
The biggest controversy on MSNBC this election wasn't whether or not Sarah Palin deserved her clothing allowance, or how good of friends Barack Obama was with Bill Ayers, or even whether or not a "chirpy" lesbian anchor would succeed during prime time. No, the huge debate on Phil Griffin's network was whether Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews' gigantic hissy fits and in-station catfighting was going to prevent either anchor from hosting duties during the historic election.
And so far, it seems like they have. David Gregory and Brian took over most of the duties of straight news coverage, while Keith and Chris were delegated back to their originally scheduled programming of being treated like the pundits they were, instead of the objective news anchors they ostensibly were pretending to be.
But now it is the eve of the great and historic election and suddenly all bets are off. Welcome to MSNBC's All-Nighter "hosted" by Keith and Chris (and "anchored" by David Gregory) ! It's their world folks, we just roll our eyes at it.
With the election finally upon us tomorrow, it's time to move beyond who's going to play house in the White House to who's going to fill Meet The Press' moderator chair, to replace Tom Brokaw, who replaced Tim Russert on an interim basis. Back in June, when Russert died, the list of possible candidates included these names: Andrea Mitchell, David Gregory, Katie Couric, Chuck Todd, Gwen Ifill, and Tom Brokaw. Now that we're approaching the timeline of when NBC News will supposedly make a decision — between Nov. 4 and Dec. 31 — the names being floated about are: Andrea Mitchell, David Gregory, Katie Couric, Chuck Todd, Gwen Ifill, and Tom Brokaw. Oh good: Change we can believe in. [NYT, earlier]
Some folks can actually see beyond Nov. 4, to a time after Americans know who their next president will be. And who their next Meet The Press moderator will be. Right now, Tom Brokaw is filling in for the deceased Tim Russert, but he's only holding things down till the election. Then, a replacement will be named; some suspect multiple moderators might be chosen (unlikely, say we). David Gregory and Chuck Todd are said to both be serious contenders. They are both white men, just like Russert and Brokaw! Which has led some — including those capable of registering domain names — to urge NBC to consider non-white, non-male candidates. We hear there's some lady named Gwen Ifill? CONTINUED »
While watching the debates on Thursday, did Tom Brokaw's chummy relationship with John McCain make you a little bit uncomfortable? The two seemed like golfing buddies right? It was weird. But at least Brokaw doesn't have any personal history with the Republican nominee, which is more that can be said for 2004's moderator Bob Schieffer, who will also be doing the duty at the third debate this week. Schieffer has close ties with George W.: his brother co-owned a Major League baseball franchise with the Prez, and was elected Ambassador to Australia by his old buddy.
Though the connection was obvious between Shieffer and Bush, you didn't see Americans getting riled up in the same way they did when, oh say, Gwen Ifill moderated the VP debates, because she was writing a book about Obama's politics. Then it was all cries of "partisanship!" and "biased-media!"
It begs the question: Who gets called out on media partisanship more, the left or right?
CONTINUED »
Looks like the McCain campaign isn't the only organization that has to worry about their cozy relationship with Fannie and Freddie: MSNBC's David Gregory, who's been asked to step up on Meet the Press since Keith and Chris were reduced to pundits by Tom Brokaw, is married to Beth Wilkinson, who was the executive vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary to Fannie Mae until last month.
Definitely some conflict of interest there, especially when the station will have to start reporting on the federal investigation into Fannie and Freddie, whose loans are the reason our economy started failing in the first place. Will Gregory put work first and forsake his wife, or will he end up as a mortgage meltdown apologist? Or will he just join colleague Andrea Mitchell, wife of former Fed chief Alan Greenspan, in blissful ignorance?
Accustomed to playing defense, MSNBC president Phil Griffin finds himself in a worn-in seat prescribing euphemisms toward his embattled network. With the in-fighting between Keith Olbermann, Chris Matthews, Joe Scarborough, and David Gregory taking a backseat to the assumption that Griffin & Co. caved to right-y criticism that the network's coverage leaned too far to the left — thus resulting in K+M moving back to pundit-only chairs — MSNBC now finds itself again defending its internal decisions. If only criticism of the cable news network, then, were coming from Fox News and sites like Olbermann Watch. In fact, for months it's been NBC News insiders who've besieged the ears of Griffin, NBC News president Steve Capus, and GE chief Jeff Immelt, begging for change. So who's been complaining? CONTINUED »
BFFN: Best Friends For Now?
If GE chairman "Jeff Immelt's fingerprints [are] all over" a supposed deal to beef up Keith Olbermann's contract while letting Chris Matthew's ride out his agreement until it expires next year, than Jeff Zucker's fingerprints are all over the Page Six item saying it's so. CONTINUED »
MSNBC staffers didn't appreciate waking up this morning to read the latest company fumble in the New York Times instead of, say, a staff email or memo from topper Phil Griffin. That's just the latest in a string of complaints reaching us from across NBC News' bureaus following the revelation that Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews would no longer be manning the anchor chair during hard news events; instead, they'll once again return to the pundit circle.
Part of the announcement was that David Gregory would be playing center square, turning to O+M for their analysis while he moderates the hard news during the presidential debates and election night returns. And that's the other sticking point for NBC News staffers: Nobody wants Gregory in that role, according the temperature our sources have taken inside the network. "The Phil [Griffin] management style has infuriated people who aren't even fans of Olbermann," says one spy. Gregory's own 6pm Race To The White House has been a ratings dud, and while Olbermann and Matthews have kept MSNBC's ratings alive, many fear Gregory will tank that progress. Staffers are cheering for the home team, but find it hard when the guy making the calls is Griffin.
And who might be taking the news the hardest? Joe Scarborough. CONTINUED »
And so, they've done it. After weeks of on-air in-fighting and months of accusations of liberal bias, MSNBC demoted stars Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews from all-around sensations back to where, some might argue, they belong: the pundit caste. No longer will they man the anchor chair usually reserved for straight newsmen like Brian Williams and Tom Brokaw, who have made no secret of their disapproval for the "gone too far" approach of pretend-friends Olbermann and Matthews. In the coming weeks, as all the cable networks head into the final stretch of the presidential election, O+M will, at least on the surface, play a far less significant role. When the presidential and vice presidential debates come roaring around, and election night results flow in, it will be NBC News chief White House correspondent (and Meet The Press candidate) David Gregory who mans the anchor chair; Olbermann and Matthews will be mere "analysts." The move, officially handed down from MSNBC head Phil Griffin, will be seen by outsiders and critics as the network admitting it veered too far to the left in its political coverage. Not so. CONTINUED »
JOSSIP REPORTS — With Keith Olbermann back in New York and supposedly making up with Chris Matthews, and Joe Scarborough insisting everyone at the network is going to have Thanksgiving together, everything should be hunky-dorey at NBC News, yes?
No.
Joe Scarborough is still taking shots at Olbermann on the air (excellent video here). Oh, and then there's this little matter of Chuck Todd, David Gregory, and Brian Williams — and Meet The Press. It's a clusterfuck, and these are the details: CONTINUED »
Who knew Greg Gutfeld was still collecting a paycheck? Perhaps he's not, and Fox News just has an hour to kill during the wee hours. But it's warming to know Bill O'Reilly isn't the only one on the network filling programming hours with attacks on their MSNBC competitors. But while Keith Olbermann remains Bill's favorite target, Gutfeld prefers himself another silver fox.
Holy, holy crap. If you thought last night's blow up between Joe Scarborough and Chris Matthews/Keith Olbermann was explosive, you didn't see today's Morning Joe, where Scarborough all but tore into his colleage David Shuster. While Mika B. unsuccessfully played referee, Joe and David's sparring over John McCain (around the 4:00 mark) only hinted at a deeper disconnect: The two guys hate each other. Read into Joe's complaining about David "sleeping through" and skipping three recent Morning Joe appearances as you will, but according to one control room source, "producers couldn't believe it. Some know these two don't get along, but it was awkward even for us. I watched [the clip back] later and it was even worse the second time."
Of course, this is just a long list of internal MSNBC feuding. Scarborough has aimed his ire at Keith Olbermann (later excused as an attack on Anderson Cooper, though nobody believed it). And more interesting, Scarborough appeared excited when he turned to David Gregory on remote — since these two hate each other as well.
With all of NBC News' execs in Beijing, David Gregory thought nobody would notice if he took off last Thursday's Race to the White House. His excuse, according to a well-placed insider: He didn't want anything to interfere with his appearance on The Daily Show. Staffers at NBC "found it incredibly bizarre" that Gregory, NBC News' chief White House correspondent, would skip out on his own show to make sure there weren't any distractions for his guest spot on Jon Stewart's show. We're told "nobody" at NBC or MSNBC has ever skipped their own show to appear on another network. (Possible, but we can't guarantee it.) And the option of pre-taping Race and then heading to Comedy Central's studio? Also not a good enough option — perhaps because Gregory thought "all of the execs are in Beijing and won't care" (not an exact quote). So, while Gregory skipped off to joke about Brett Favre with Stewart, Rachel Maddow filled in his seat at 30 Rock. And what'd Gregory ditch for? To get schooled by Stewart on the lack of "news" in "news reporting": CONTINUED »
Yesterday, NBC News political director Chuck Todd anchored an hour of daytime programming for MSNBC. He also told colleagues he's going to anchor an hour a day during the network's convention coverage, newsroom sources tell us.
Know what Todd's colleague David Gregory said to his colleagues? That Todd is "gunning" to be the host of Meet The Press — a gig Gregory is said to desperately want for himself.
Too bad our informants say common opinion under the 30 Rock umbrella reveals few staffers want either of 'em to get the gig.
The candidate everybody is pining for? A certain presidential debate moderator. CONTINUED »
To any Jossip reader, the Observer's story today that David Gregory — once the great hope of NBC News — has turned from commodity to casualty will be of little surprise. We've pointed out Gregory's less than stellar ratings. His riffs with colleagues. The fact that we'd rather watch QVC than Race to the White House (a show title, though catchy, even Tom Brokaw has trouble remembering).
But as Race begins to wind up its short-lived run, with November's crowning of a president acting as the show's by-definition ending, it's time to figure out what to do with Gregory. Should he keep his MSNBC show, which is less a place to break news than it is an analyst rehashing of talking points by NBC News stars? Should he return to the White House press pit, where he starred in many a YouTube video battling with press secretaries? Or should he be elevated to something like Meet The Press moderator, where he'll be charged with carrying on Tim Russert's legacy and shine a light on politician's double-speak? Might he be invited to take over Katie Couric's chair? Or Brit Hume's? CONTINUED »
Now that Tony Snow is dead, everybody who made it their jobs to hate him, rebuff him, criticize him, and expose him as a White House shill. Every one is a saint in death!
Last night, it was David Gregory's turn. Here, he delivers a "Remembering Tony Snow" tribute. Quite touching, really. Nevermind that Gregory couldn't stand the guy. CONTINUED »
NBC News is doing the respectable thing and not commenting, publicly, about their plans in naming a successor to Tim Russert, whose death on Friday at the network's Washington studios has left them without a Meet The Press anchor, or a D.C. bureau chief. As a show of respect for Russert's family and his colleagues, 30 Rock is holding off on telling anyone what they plan to do come this Sunday.
While NBC News chief Steve Capus and NBC head Jeff Zucker wisely selected Tom Brokaw to moderate yesterday's MTP Russert tribute, with a line-up of the guests the late anchor would've booked himself, there's nothing firmed up for the weeks ahead, claims NBC.
None of that means media's chattering classes aren't placing over-unders on who's going to fill Russert's slot, at MTP or leading the network's Washington unit. There's a list of usual suspects, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. So who's the most likely to take the very big reins?
Let's take a look. CONTINUED »
As tasteless as it may seem, the rush to find out what to do with Sunday's Meet The Press, following Tim Russert's sudden death at NBC's D.C. studio this afternoon, is on. We're told Steve Capus & Co. are already plotting out what to do, and it's likely Andrea Mitchell will be asked to chair the show, though David Gregory is also a candidate. It's very possible Sunday's show will be used, at least in part, to air a video memorial of Russert, with Tom Brokaw being asked to join the panel, along with Chuck Todd, and others. It's unclear what the role of Brian Williams, who is anchoring NBC Nightly News from Afghanistan, will be, says, a source.
MSNBC anchor David Gregory may have been dancing up a storm with Chris Brown this morning on Today, but last week, his choreography wasn't so great.
That's because Gregory reportedly backstabbed a colleague in order to get on the NBC Nightly News, reporting on the Scott McClellan book scandal, all the while edging out NBC correspondent Kevin Corke, who did most of the reporting. CONTINUED »
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