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 »
Bob Scheiffer is going to wreck this last debate. The CBS anchor is already planning his moderator status on an episode of The West Wing (to be fair, Aaron Sorkin characters are way more precise and eloquent than anything you're going to hear tomorrow night), and is hoping for a "freewheeling" debate where the candidates just talk honestly and sufficiently about the issues at hand, all the while being mindful of the time constraints. Oh, wait, that's not what freewheeling means?
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SNL's Weekend Update moved to a new spot in lieu of the upcoming elections, and last night marked the first time the precursor to The Daily Show featured a mid-week special, hosted by Seth Meyers and Amy Poehler.
Was it funny? Meh. Was Bill Murray there? Ye-op:
As bad as that town hall presidential debate was on Tuesday (it was the worst), a lot of it could be blamed on the terrible format, the weird lights, and Tom Brokaw's incessant whining. So the third and final debate next Wednesday in New York is going to be better right?
Not if Bob Schieffer has anything to do with it. The anchor of CBS's Face the Nation is moderating, and yes, it will also be the worst debate:
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NBC's Meet the Press is sloooowly dipping in ratings since the death of host Tim Russert. The station was beaten out by CBS's Face the Nation last month, barely ahead of ABC's This Week.
The question isn't: Why is MTP falling, since the answer is obvious: Russert was Meet the Press. The question is, why did it take so long?
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Best moments of the debate included Palin winking, Palin telling Biden that his wife's reward was in heaven (4:15 into the clip), and everyone agreeing on gay rights.
But what did the guys who are paid to analyze the debates think? A pundit round-up, after the jump:
JOSSIP REPORTS — Um, Tom Brokaw? You're a liar. Yes, you're a well-respected newsman, who anchored NBC Nightly News for nearly two decades with aplomb, overseeing everything from the First Intifada in the Gaza Strip to the Monica Lewinsky scandal. But you're also full of fibs.
When Jossip and others reported earlier this month that you were among the NBC News veterans voicing your concerns to the high ups that Keith Olbermann and Chris Mattthews' partisanship was making 30 Rock stink of liberalism instead of neutrality, you quickly denied the claim, saying you never voiced concerns to GE chief Jeff Immelt, NBC News head Steve Capus, nor MSNBC president Phil Griffin.
Except here we are, just a few weeks later, and — what's this? — you've changed your story. CONTINUED »
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.
And that makes two. After Felix Gillette's Observer piece that claimed a number of NBC News veterans were voicing their concerns about the direction the network, and MSNBC, were headed (i.e. the left) to top brass, at least two of those namedropped have come out to say Gillette got it wrong. First was Andrea Mitchell (via Keith Olbermann's "Worst Person in the World" segment), who says she never stood up at a NBC News gathering in D.C. to say she was worried, and now it's Tom Brokaw who insists he never spoke to the likes of GE chief Jeff Immelt, NBC News president Steve Capus, or NBC Universal head Jeff Zucker about NBC's editorial leanings. Which must come as a surprise to all the 30 Rock insiders we've spoke with, who might counter Brokaw's claim.
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 »
Karl Rove sits atop many lists. This week, it's New York magazine's media popularity contest for pundits. (Immediately below Rove? Rush Limbaugh.) Too bad New York, while writing about "opinionmongers," doesn't understand "pundits" are the people doing the commentary, not reporting the hard news, so it's a bit ridiculous to see names like Tom Brokaw, Bob Scheiffer, or even Andrea Mitchell on here. [NYMag]
The race for the White House this year has been nothing if not a historic moment for gender and race issues, so it's only apropo that the commentators chosen by networks to moderate the debates reflect this change in socio-political discourse. That's why it's so refreshing to hear the Commission on Presidential Debates has chosen three old white guys to man the helm; Tom Brokaw for NBC, CBS's Bob Schieffer, and PBS's Jim Lehrer. Yeah, eff Andrea Mitchell, what with her lady parts and her stupid non-partisan politics. And screw Gwen Ifill, what with her full lips and broad nose. Stay the course, old white guys. Four more years!
When television networks are treated to the ratings bonanza (read: 60 million viewers) known as this fall's four presidential debates, viewers will see PBS anchors Jim Lehrer and Gwein Ifill each moderate a debate, along with NBC's special something Tom Brokaw and CBS News' former anchor and current chief Washington correspondent Bob Scheiffer. That means no involvement from ABC News or, for that matter, a one Katie Couric. But you know who was selected to participate by the Commission on Presidential Debates? MySpace. News Corp.'s social network will power MyDebates.org, which will live stream the debates and poll users in real time on the issues being discussed. Granted, this is not the same thing as letting MySpace users frame the questions, like the CNN-YouTube primary debates did. But at least they were asked to the table. Sorry Couric. Sorry Gibson.
Broadcasting from the hills of Wyoming yesterday, Meet The Press, the third since Tim Russert died and Tom Brokaw's first since being named permanent interim moderator, was, by all accounts, nothing like the broadcast viewers remembered. Brokaw anchored a (taped) segment from the Western Governors’ Association. Invited guests, usually booked to at least spur some argument, included Gov. Bill Ritter Jr. of Colorado and Gov. Dave Freudenthal of Wyoming, who "me too'd" each other. The only modicum of debate? With NBC's own political director Chuck Todd. CONTINUED »
Though Brian Williams filled in the moderator's chair on Meet The Press today, Mr. Tom Brokaw will take over through the election as we suspected. It might've been easy to think Williams was actually quite apt for the gig: He followed Russert's traditional line of questioning that brought up past statements and offered politicos the chance to contradict themselves or reaffirm their past; Joe Biden was today's example, asked about the vice presidency. (He had said before that under no circumstances would he want to be VP. He said that again today. Then he qualified that statement by saying he doesn't want to be VP because Barack Obama just wouldn't ask him — if if Obama did ask, he'd have no choice but to say yes.)
But that's not what Jeff Zucker and Steve Capus had in mind. The official announcement came this morning, and Williams telling viewers at the end of today's broadcast, with 30 Rock revealing Brokaw will take over MTP beginning next Sunday and last through the November election. CONTINUED »
Nonsensical media "critic" Jon Friedman weighs in with his latest bit of not-though-out piece of advice, this time for NBC News: Do not hire Tom Brokaw to fill in for Tim Russert. Doing so would signal a vote of "no-confidence" in Meet The Press and his future, goes Friedman's flawed thinking. "As terrible as [Russert's] passing is, it affords NBC the chance to put a new stamp on Meet the Press, the most popular of the many Sunday-morning news shows examining politics, and the opportunity to showcase one of its stars. [...] There will no doubt be a clamor for NBC to bring Brokaw out of retirement. His presence can comfort viewers in mourning and provide continuity during a difficult period. That's one way of looking at the decision. But these factors are outweighed by the need to blaze a dynamic, post-Russert path."
Then there's one other way of looking at the decision: CONTINUED »
On a NBC News conference call this morning, NBC head Jeff Zucker, NBC News chief Steve Capus, and anchor Brian Williams joined in with a number of others to discuss the future of Meet The Press and the D.C. bureau. A source who was not on the call, but overheard a colleague's speakerphone listening session, says Tom Brokaw's name was bandied about. (It's unclear whether Brokaw was on the call.)
More on the post-Tim Russert future is here.
One might think 30 Rock wouldn't be particularly excited about Peter Boyer's 6,200-word New Yorker profile of Keith Olbermann that's intent on revisiting every charge of polarizing bias aimed his way in recent weeks and months. But, apparently, they weren't, since everyone from MSNBC head Phil Griffin to Olbermann himself participated in the article. Then again, the profile isn't as anti-Olbermann as, say, Fox News' PR department could have hoped.
Olbermann, who says he chose his 4th floor corner office at 30 Rock because it has a view of Fox News' studios across Sixth Avenue, has enjoyed both Jesus and pariah status atop his Countdown post. His fans are legion; his critics are loyal. Some of his biggest naysayers have, rightly so, come from across the avenue: Names like Bill O'Reilly and Steve Doocy come to mind, and those are just the ones with public soapboxes.
But many of the folks who have tired of Olbermann's routine also walk the same halls of 30 Rock he does. 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 »
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