Tom Brokaw currently occupies the chair once held by the late, great Tim Russert on NBC's Meet The Press. While there's been much speculation on who will hold that spot once Brokaw's interim is over (with the current popular theory that it will be a whole host of people, including David Gregory and Chuck Todd) there is no doubt who won't be in the posish: Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews.
The MSNBC in-fighting during the DNC was well-documented by the MSM, and it turns out that the catfight between Olbermann and Matthews nixed their chances of being the political anchors for the station…because of Brokaw himself.
Two famous curmudgeonly felt-men took over the New York Times Op-Ed section today, delighting children everywhere with their rapier wit and cranky disposition. Unfortunately, Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews say they have no intention on making this a standing gig.
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Katie Couric has done an ample job of resuscitating her reputation. Once the piñata of television news — everyone got a turn beating her, and she had to hang there and take it — she's quickly rebranded herself as RESPECTED JOURNALIST and, before that, got a reprieve from media critics bashing her when Keith Olbermann took some of the heat away. But as Couric exits the stage, temporarily, it's no longer Olbermann who's filling the void of short-lived attention spans by media critics. It is, actually, another woman. Her name is Rachel Maddow, and the industry freakin' loves her. CONTINUED »
It took just one week for Rachel Maddow to beat Keith Olbermann. It tooks just two weeks for her to beat CNN's Larry King Live, as well as double the ratings for the last two weeks of Dan Abrams' Verdict. And it will take just five more minutes for MSNBC to announce a bonafide hit on their hands. And then just two more minutes for Fox News to shoot down the good news by reminding everyone Bill O'Reilly is still the ratings king. But before you let the spin get to you, realize what's going on here: A woman — a gay woman — has, right out of the gate, made a huge mark on cable news punditry. While viewers flock to Keith Olbermann for his left-wing rhetoric (which, to be sure, is pretty logical much of the time), they're flocking to Maddow not for her bitchy rants or extremism, but her sensibility about the political climate. It's pleasing to see her rewarded for it.
With the Dow Jones dropping more than 800 points, the dollar weakening with news of AIG's government buyout, and a total loss around one trillion dollars for the country in this week alone, you'll have to forgive Chris Matthews for forgetting himself for a moment and actually asking a legitimate question to Eric Cantor (R-VA):
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So … Keith Olbermann couldn't have been expecting thing. In lobbying MSNBC to give protege Rachel Maddow her own show, Olbermann thought he'd scored two programming hours for his political agenda. Which, well, he did. But he also didn't just provide a solid lead-in for Maddow's 9pm show — he gave her the opportunity to beat his own ratings. CONTINUED »
Despite the Lehman bankruptcy and the end of modern world, wrinkly-necked Jeff Zucker is "extremely comfortable" with the future of NBC:
"The deals that don't get done probably shouldn't get done, you know?" he said. "Maybe there's some rationality that's now in the marketplace that's driven by external circumstances, but that's not necessarily a bad thing."
Yeah guys, this little "dissolution of the free market" thing is no big deal. Remember NBC's Olympic coverage? How about last week's SNL premiere? Nah man, NBC is doing fine. No chance of a deep plunge for the network, or even if there is, you shouldn't worry about it.
Especially don't worry about Keith Olbermann or Ben Silverman or any of those guys that keep NBC/MSNBC on the brink of an amber alert every week. Just keep buying those GE stocks and hope for some sort of Xtreme media merger in the meantime.
At any rate Jeff Zucker will be just fine, so don't worry about him.
Ah, the Australian Scrooge McDuck. Do you ever wonder about what you would say to 77-year-old Rupert Murdoch if you were ever in the same room as him? Well, now Esquire graciously provides you with a list of insightful soundbites from the man himself without the nagging context of "questions" from the reporter, meaning you can just insert your liberal hippie rant into one of the spaces in the margins and then choose whichever sad, callow response best suits the topic at hand:
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While you figure out whether you want to watch the History Channel's all-day (and all-night) coverage of the Twin Towers falling, Keith Olbermann already determined how he wanted to usher in the day of mourning: by slamming the McCain campaign's supposed exploitation of 9/11. "This is supposed to be a day of remembrance," Olbermann said last night. "Remembrance of the attack, remembrance of the national unity which followed it. Most important of all, remembrance of the dead." Except then McCain went and exploited it! We've got Olbermann's entire delivery below, but as you watch, imagine not Olbermann saying these words, but Barack Obama. The Countdown anchor has become the Democratic nominee's mouthpiece in all attack matters, and while Olbermann may have spoken these words all on his own — whether Obama was in the picture or not — it's becoming harder to separate official campaign talking points from Olbermann's own rhetoric. Much the same way it's always been hard to distinguish the Bush administration's agenda from Bill O'Reilly's. CONTINUED »
Tim Graham is the portly Director of Media Analysis at the Media Research Center, which sounds very Marshall McLuhan but in actuality is a conservative watchdog group. So already you know what station he likes to make guest appearances on (hint: rhymes with "box"). This man is obsessed with MSNBC's recent woes, and bringing down Keith Olbermann.
Tim Graham, like any other red-blooded American male, is also fascinated by lesbians, most notably MSNBC's Rachel Maddow:
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It's getting a wee bit exhausting talking about how hard Katie Couric's CBS Evening News has fallen, and then rehashing the issue every time bossman Les Moonves publicly shows his support, even though backroom speculation has the two working on a way to split after the November election. But then Couric had to go and perform what on-lookers called some of the best political convention coverage that aired, and so here we go again. 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 »
Keith Olbermann never hid the fact that it was he, Lord of MSNBC, who got Dan Abrams kicked off 9pm to make room for Rachel Maddow's namesake show. Shocker, then, that when The Rachel Maddow Show debuted last night, with Countdown's 8pm lead-in, her first guest was a one Keith Olbermann. And the first thing they talked about? The interview Barack Obama gave to, uh, Keith Olbermann, who just aired the segment during the previous hour — complete with a question from Rachel Maddow. So is this what we should come to expect: Olbermann rants during 8pm, and Maddow rehashes the rant at 9pm? Annoying, perhaps, but even we'll admit: Brilliant self-marketing strategy. Olbermann's Obama interview, below. CONTINUED »
Ugh, shut up Fox News. Doocy? You're ridiculous. Kilmeade? You're barely a sidekick. We're more than fine with watching you dump on Olbermann and Matthews, but it's exhausting to listen to you talk about the "way left" MSNBC, especially in the context of "commentators … used to do actual news anchoring," when you've got Brit Hume playing nonpartisan news anchor like you're fooling anyone. Sadly, you are. [via TVN]
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 »
Rachel Maddow is so Keith Olbermann's protege, she's supposedly trying to get people fired. Just like her mentor! "Maddow tried to replace all the staffers who work on the 9 p.m. time slot, which she takes over on Monday, but management refused," claims the indefatigable Page Six. This would be, of course, Dan Abrams' former team at Verdict. And ya know who Olbermann can't stand? A one Dan Abrams, who for a time played MSNBC general manager, and thus, Olbermann's boss, but the two never clicked, and neither wanted to pay mind to the other. You'd expect, then, that the 9pm producers are Abrams loyalists — aside from the Olbermann camp, Abrams is well liked at 30 Rock — and won't be too keen on any of the serial in-fighting Team Keith motivates.
And therein lies the problem: CONTINUED »
'Griffin and Olbermann were at the Chicago Cubs game Saturday, separately. Olbermann also went to Sunday's game and, during a morning email exchange, Griffin suggested Olbermann should go back to New York, instead of on to St. Paul. Olbermann responded "Seriously?"' [TVN]
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