Back in July, just as he was named president of MSNBC, Phil Griffin said Rachel Maddow was "at the top" of a "very short list" of candidates who would get their own show on the network. And then a few weeks later came the announcement: Rachel would get her own show. Since her debut, the bet has paid off. Ratings for The Rachel Maddow Show are through the roof, beating even her Countdown lead-in and competitor Larry King Live in the adult demo. Griffin's reaction? "I’m pinching myself."
Indeed, Griffin is quite pleased with the performance of Maddow's show. Its success has been on his watch, and he gets to claim credit for the increase in ad dollars that should be pouring in. But it wasn't always this way.
In fact, according to an informant on the ground, back when Maddow started popping up as an analyst on MSNBC, he tried to get rid of her. CONTINUED »
Here we go again! Tucker Carlson has yet another wrong opinion about something! We thought this shit was over after Jon Stewart made a fool out of him and his bow tie and got his show canceled. And if not then, then definitely after he made a fool out of himself on a dancing show and viewers canceled him. But no. Tucker somehow finagled hisself a real-live column over at The Daily Beast, and he's using it just as poorly as he's used every other opportunity in his privileged life.
CONTINUED »
From left to right: Former MS-omething Tucker Carlson, Bill Clinton, Think Secret's Nicholas Ciarelli, Infidel and Jewel of Medina author Ayaan Hirsi Ali, CNN's Christiane Amanpour, Quadrangle Group's Steven Rattner.
Yes yes, Tina Brown's new website The Daily Beast is alive and kicking and slick and already promoting its creator. But while the site asks visitors to "Read This, Not That," we couldn't get past many of the words because … there are so many beautiful people writing for this site! Actually, that's not entirely true — some of them aren't generally inclined to be pretty people, but somehow, through the magic of skilled headshot photographers, a talented art director, and Photoshop, The Daily Beast cast a bevy of beauties who've never looked younger, more well rested, nor pumped full of Botox in their lives.
Okay, we did find one contributor not looking his best: CONTINUED »
Tina Brown and Barry Diller's blogger collaboration, The Daily Beast, launched this weekend. You guys remember Tina Brown right? She looks just like Jane Lynch and was the editor who helmed all the redesigns for the snazzier new Vanity Fair and The New Yorker. And Barry Diller is like the gay Rupert Murdoch who controls IAC (not AIG).
So far, the site works more as a news aggregator than an original content source, but some big names have already signed for the Huffpost-esque site. That explains why Diller, who financed the site, was so keen on snuggling up with Arianna and spending millions for their joint comedy site 23/6. Avoiding bad blood isn't cheap, esp. if you want a such a gracious soundbite from Queen Huffington:
Might MSNBC be having a change of heart over network star Keith Olbermann?
The Countdown host who's become the face (and programmer?) of MSNBC regularly anchored presidential primary debate coverage, which was once the territory not of pundits, but hard news men and women. Such a ratings draw in primetime, Olbermann then headed up Denver's broadcasts from the DNC, where he and Chris Matthews tag teamed lead coverage — and spearheaded a series of on-air dust ups with colleagues.
But this week, in St. Paul at the RNC, Olbermann is nowhere to be found. That's because he's been ordered to stay in New York, while Matthews and none other than Tucker Carlson — MSNBC's whipping boy — will lead coverage from the Republican convention; Morning Joe's Joe Scarborough will also broadcast on location.
So why no Olbermann? CONTINUED »
MSNBC something or other Tucker Carlson will MC a something or other rally for presidential something or other Ron Paul. We're not exactly sure what Carlson's role at the cable network is these days; he lost his opinion show, but now he's listed as MSNBC's senior campaign correspondent, which sounds like a hard news-y position. Which might make his hosting gig a smidge of a probelm. [CFL, via Wonkette]
Thanks to the lovely Google Cache, a blog's since-pulled offline report about Chris Matthews' revelation and Tucker Carlson's confirmation, during a Portfolio photo shoot at MSNBC's D.C. studio, that Arianna Huffington had hired a private investigator to tail a NBC colleague (since identified as Tim Russert) can still be read. [Google Cache]
As it the censored item now reads: "The original author of this post and the editor of this blog would like to sincerely apologize to Conde Nast, Portfolio, Chris Matthews, Tucker Carlson and the photographer on set for any problems or inconvenience we might have caused. We had no intention to bring harm to anybody involved."
Except, well, too late? The blogger, Douglas Thompson, has officially screwed over his friend, the photographer, who he tagged along with. No more Conde Nast work for you, buddy.
Ever since news broke about his brand of courtesy toward waitresses, David Gregory has been clamming up around the D.C. newsroom. But now we're told that his distancing from staff might have more to do with at least 10 consecutive days of dipping ratings, where "he's been losing big chunks of the strong lede-in audience he starts with," says a MSNBC insider. More startling, if the information is to be believed: Race for the White House has been attracting fewer viewers than Tucker Carlson's show did in its last month in the same 6pm slot, even with all the attention paid to the Pennsylvania primary, lending credence to the original theory about MSNBC's buyer's remorse.
Phil Griffin supposedly read the riot act to Gregory and exec producer Noah Oppenheim, with insructions to "get the numbers up … or else." Naturally, MSNBC chief communicator Jeremy Gaines says the info, is "complete and utter bs, just like everything else you post. … Simply not true." Not that the network's recent track record about refuting rumors holds much weight these days.
Who owns the name "Beat The Press?" MSNBC's Dan Abrams just got done delivering a wallop to CNN for ripping off the media mocking segment from his show Verdict. But his segment title, which was borrowed from Tucker Carlson's canceled show – which, from what we can tell, came after Huffington Post launched "Eat the Press," which itself was a riff on Tim Russert's excellent Meet the Press – might be a rip-off itself (via). Boston's public television host Emily Rooney says she has the rights to the title.
And, in fact, she does. Since 1993, the WGBH host (and daughter of 60 Minutes' Andy Rooney) has owned the copyright to "Beat the Press," and uses the title for her own show. "I think this is intellectual thievery," she says.
Funny, 'cause when Abrams called out CNN's copying, he claimed it was "pure intellectual thievery."
Who's stealing intellect now?!
Recession? Iraq? The Hills? None of them take up enough time to keep Fox News' Neil Cavuto from backhandedly defending Jay Leno and Tucker Carlson while getting in digs at their GE overlords, or Dan Abrams from going after CNN for ripping off his "Beat the Press" segment or their DUMBEST POKER GIMMICK EVER. [TVN]
In this four-question interview, MSNBC's exiting anchor Tucker Carlson says: "Can’t complain about MSNBC. I wish they weren’t killing the show - I like it and think it’s good - but other than that, they’ve been nice to me." [BHDC]
Correspondent Wendy rounds up the best comments made on cable news in recent days.
• "I woke up yesterday morning and one of the first thoughts I had was — this is something that happens to me a lot — what is Clay Aiken doing?" —Tucker Carlson, previewing how he'll spend his time now that his show's been canned, Tucker, March 7 CONTINUED »
Out goes Tucker Carlson, in comes NBC News veteran David Gregory. From Washington, the White House correspondent will begin filling the 6pm slot while continuing to carry on his regular duties, which includes playing fill-in for Matt Lauer on Today. Gregory's show will be called Race for the White House, which, by definition, has a sell-by date of November. Meanwhile, the adept Andrea Mitchell will begin anchoring the 1pm dayside news broadcast, a similar role she had leading up to the 2000 election. [TVN, AP]
Perhaps the most distasteful joke about Tucker Carlson (at last) losing his MSNBC show: That he killed himself over it. Fake news site Unconfirmed Sources has the "story," with Heath Ledger's death scenario mixed in: "Tucker Carlson was found dead Tuesday of a possible drug overdose in a Lower Manhattan apartment, the New York Police Department said. [...] Carlson was found naked and unresponsive, facedown on the floor at the foot of his bed by a housekeeper trying to wake him for an appointment with a masseuse, said police spokesman Paul Browne, 'Pills were found in the vicinity of the bed,' he told UCS News. 'This is being looked at as a possible overdose, but that is not confirmed yet.'"
With Tucker Carlson out as an anchor at MSNBC, humor writer Peter Smith has a suggestion for a new job: The hosting gig on Meet The Press. Nevermind that Tim Russert currently holds that job, and has no intention of leaving. So why give Tucker the prestigious gig? "Carlson is younger, better-looking and faster-talking." Reasonable. [HuffPo]
MSNBC TICKER Tucker Carlson confirms his show is canceled. We hear his replacement, despite the opportunity for the network to balance out its arguably misogynistic coverage, will not be naming a woman as his replacement.
Is those rumors we've been hearing about Tucker Carlson's removal from his 6pm timeslot on MSNBC turn out to be true – and multiple sources assure us they are! but we've heard that before! – then his replacement will almost certainly come from in-house, we're hearing. One source insists Rachel Maddow, the Air America host and MSNBC analyst whose been on air regularly during primary coverage, will be taking over. In January, Queerty interviewed Maddow, which, predictably, means she's a gay. And also: She's "not a Hillary Clinton fan."
Update: Insists one MSNBC source: It is not Maddow. Though she did tape a pilot for the network, the opportunity isn't on the table for her. Then again, neither is it for David Shuster. More unknowns!
Are Tucker Carlson's days at MSNBC numbered? Rumors of his demise have been circulating for months years. At the time, those reports were "accurate": Carlson was supposed to be removed from the network. But then he volunteered to take a pay cut (reportedly slicing his salary in half) to stay on the air. Now we're hearing rumblings that plans are being made inside 30 Rock to swap him out at 6pm for a new project. No word yet on who would, theoretically, replace him, or whether Tucker would be asked to leave the NBC News campus entirely. As for timeline? It's been said that two weeks ago, Tucker's fill-in was to have taken over already, so it's unclear whether MSNBC's decision has been solidified, or whether brass still has a few more Ts to cross. Or whether Tucker is entirely safe!
• Bill Nye, the Science Guy is seeking a restraining order against his ex-fiancee whom, he claims, is poisoning his vegetable garden. Seriously.
• Tucker Carlson devotees protest his impending involuntary departure.
• Jay-Z finally admits his lyrics have inspired "a whole generation of bad writers."
• Louis Vuitton successfully sues Britney Spears for cheapening the brand's luxury image. Talk about an open and shut case!
• There is a time and a place for rabid environmentalism. And that time is not December 25th.
• Breaking: Kate Spade's elderly, Jewish friend agrees to don Santa suit for emergency purse campaign.
Have we (as we speculated last week) finally seen the last of Tucker Carlson's bow tie and annoyingly conservative ideals? Possibly, but MSNBC is keeping things ambiguous for now.
Rumors have been flying recently that Tucker Carlson could soon be on the way out at MSNBC. In a report that aired this morning on NPR, Phil Griffin, a senior vice president at the cable network, described Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews as part of the MSNBC "brand". Asked whether Mr. Carlson was also part of that brand, Mr. Griffin replied: "He is right now."
That is, assuming MSNBC's definition of "ambiguous" roughly translates to "You have until the end of the day to clear out your things."
Editorial Director
