MSNBC axes Live and Direct; moves The Situation to Abrams Report slot…
MSNBC GM Dan Abrams 6:22 pm memo to staff announcing that Live and Direct has been axed, The Situation moves into The Abrams Report’s slot, and Rita Cosby becoming the primary anchor for “MSNBC Investigates”. Nobody should be surprised this happened though putting Rita in at MSNBC Investigates is a surprise. (Sorry for the delay. I was too busy to access Gmail for the past five hours)
From: Abrams, Dan (NBC Universal, MSNBC)
Sent: Thursday, June 29, 2006 6:22 PM
To: @MSNBC Everyone
Subject: AnnouncementFirst let me just thank everyone for helping to make my transition to General Manager relatively painless. I truly appreciate all of your kind words of encouragement and hope that I can live up to your expectations. More important, in a few short weeks, I have become even more convinced that with the talent in this building, we can continue to surge ahead.
With that said, I want to announce a number of exciting changes in our evening schedule.
Beginning on Monday July 10, we will air two hours of taped programs at 10 and 11 pm Monday through Friday. Friday night taped programming has been an enormous success for us. As a result, we will complement our live primetime shows with programs from our library of long form shows. I believe this change will allow MSNBC to better reflect the numerous outlets that make up NBC News. The same way Dateline is a critical piece of NBC News, taped programming should be a critical piece for us as well. As we begin to ramp-up production of new programs, we will work closely with the team over at Dateline NBC to create hours on topics ranging from news of the day, to crime to the war on terror to politics. Of course we will also cover human interest stories which have long been a staple at Dateline as well.
I am thrilled that Scott Hooker will continue to serve as Senior Executive Producer of Documentary Production and Development . I am also pleased to announce that an old friend of MSNBC is back in house. Michael Rubin has returned to MSNBC after a 5 year absence and will serve as Vice President, long form programming. Mike has had a distinguished career producing long form programming here and at CBS News. Together, Mike and Scott will lead our efforts as we continue to build our tape inventory.Rita Cosby is going to expand her role with us and become the primary anchor of “MSNBC Investigates.” We need Rita to help take us to the next level. She will lead the newly created “Rita Cosby Specials” unit. As always, when there’s a big story, Rita will be there. In addition, Rita will be one of the hosts of our documentary programming.
“Live & Direct” has made headlines literally from its first day on the air and I expect that her new unit will continue to do so. I want to thank Rita, Angie and the whole team for their hard work and dedication over the past year.
Tucker Carlson will move from late prime to early prime, taking the place of my show at 4 and 6 pm eastern time. I’m excited to have Tucker jump-start our primetime lineup from his new home-base in Washington. Expect to see a number of new segments which will help better brand the show in the mold of . .well. . . Tucker Carlson. The goal. . . to have him to do a better show than I did!
I believe that this schedule will help take us to the next level. I’m lucky to be able to work with such a great team here at MSNBC. Thanks for all your continued hard work.
Rita will now start beating KO in the ratings via MSNBC INVESTIGATES! The 11pm hour was a mistake from the beginning. I wonder if CNN will follow suit and make AC360 a one hour show again…
Comment by Terance — June 29, 2006 @ 9:02 pm
Dream on, Terance…and roll another joint while you’re at it, because you have to be smoking something really good to believe that.
Rita isn’t going to beat anyone in the ratings. It’s a mystery to me why MSNBC didn’t just fire her emphysemic-sounding butt.
Comment by tanne — June 29, 2006 @ 9:48 pm
Well now we know it’s you, Keith, because we know from your e-mails that you like to cheap-shot Rita Cosby. Keep laughing and sending vulgar e-mails, your show is the next to be cancelled.
Comment by Jimmy — June 29, 2006 @ 10:03 pm
I don’t know about Rita anchoring the programs but this was a good programming move. Both Rita and Tucker had very low ratings and something had to be done. I do like Tucker’s program however and hope he will have more success in the late afternoon than he did in prime time.
Comment by Scott — June 29, 2006 @ 10:23 pm
Scott: MSNBC really has nothing to lose by this move.
But I doubt that this will be the only major change for the Dan Abrams regime.
Comment by Ira — June 29, 2006 @ 10:55 pm
Only six words into a new thread about Abrams/Carlson/Cosby before OLBERMANN was brought up (and attacked, of course)…Congratulations, T, a new record!
Comment by museglet — June 29, 2006 @ 11:22 pm
I feel sorry for Tucker. Moved out of primetime to the 11 pm graveyard, now demoted to a daytime show with the worst possible lead-in: The Least.
Comment by johnny dollar — June 29, 2006 @ 11:34 pm
tanne, you libs are supposed to be “people of tolerance”. Even a conservative such as myself knows it’s wrong to attack someone for a physical attribute. You can go after Rita for her tabloid journalism, but her voice should be off-limits.
As for Carlson, I hope he does well in the 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. ET time slots, but who knows? I love the guy and his program, but am well aware that he caters to a niche audience. And speaking of programs which attract a niche audience, bring back Curtis & Kuby!!!
Comment by Missy — June 30, 2006 @ 12:13 am
Well I bet CNN is THRILLED because the 4-6pm timeslots at MSNBC are going to be NO competition for them anymore…
Comment by Anonymous — June 30, 2006 @ 1:14 am
Well, museglet, I gotta admit, it is amusing that certain people can’t disabuse themselves of the notion that I am Keith…entertaining as heck!
Now, little Missy…first of all, I am not a “lib,” I am a person with a spectrum of beliefs. Second, Rita Cosby’s voice is part of what makes her an annoying TV personality to me. I see it as fair game for criticism. Put it this way, the day the right-wing nuts stop calling Olbermann ugly is the day I will stop complaining about Rita’s voice.
I suppose if I said I’d rather watch a TV show starring a suitcase full of rocks than watch her, Jimmy would REALLY think I was Keith…LOL! Nah. He wishes!
Comment by tanne — June 30, 2006 @ 7:03 am
It ought to be interesting when the Q3 ranker comes out and “the suitcase” is clearly ahead of KO. But, I guess then the excuses will start flowing..FYI my disdain for KO has nothing to do with his political leanings. It has more to do with him devoting segments to other cable news anchors instead of covering something more important.
Comment by Terance — June 30, 2006 @ 7:10 am
It is a given that if you are in the broadcast business, your voice is an integral part of your delivery. Rita’s voice is a definite detriment, accoustically offensive. It is definitely a factor in her failure. But of course, the real reason for her demise is her trailer trash choice of subject matter. She lowered the discourse at the nework.
Good Riddance.
Comment by cella — June 30, 2006 @ 8:01 am
When Rita was at FOX News on the weekend, not many people seemed to have much a problem with her… oh, and she got nearly 3x the ratings too. So stop using the voice excuse just because she’s on a 3rd place network… Reality is nobody gives a hoot about her voice and will/have watched her stories on other networks. Perhaps not the highest rated show on FOX, but she did average out pretty well compared to where she is now… and the shows on FOX after she left continue to do well. They could place a chimp on camera and it would get better ratings than some of the stuff MSNBC airs.
Comment by Nobody — June 30, 2006 @ 8:27 am
Nobody: Excellent points!
Regarding Rita you and me seem to be in a distinct minority. I wouldn’t mind seeing Rita return to FNC to resume her weekend prime show.
Oddly the weekend ratings at Fox have slipped since Rita left and Geraldo went to his struggling syndicated show.
Comment by Ira — June 30, 2006 @ 11:58 am
Terance, “the suitcase” isn’t going to come out ahead of KO in Q3. Looks like you’re a Bill-O fan, though, because Keith isn’t in the habit of trashing any other “news anchors” (using the term loosely). It aches you when KO gives the “KO” to your hero, eh?
Gotta agree with cella somewhat. Rita’s choice of subjects DID do her in, but her voice is so bad I couldn’t watch her show if she did a one-on-one interview with Keith!
Nobody, your argument that Rita got bad ratings only because she was on MSNBC makes no sense when you consider that she was canceled BY MSNBC apparently because other MSNBC shows got higher ratings. Duh…
People like you and Ira make no sense to me. You hate everybody at MSNBC, but if they were on Fox, you’d love them. That’s the impression I get.
Comment by tanne — June 30, 2006 @ 7:45 pm
Tanne: I never said I hate anybody at MSNBC including, surprise, surprise, KO! In fact I once exchanged e-mail with him concerning the inaccuracies in Ken Burns’ PBS Special “Baseball.”
For all your claims of him presenting news, what Keith now has is a TV version of Air America Radio, which specializes in out-of-context personal attacks on Republicans and rivals in the media! It is sad that Keith, who definitely is a bright and talented guy, with an impressive resume, has now chosen to live in the gutter.
And you remind me so much of somebody on one of those radio blogs I read: no matter how bad the ratings are for Air America, just repeat the PR and parse the numbers.
Yeah, since 2000 O’Reilly is down 27% among 18-34 bald headed men or fat redheaded women or some other nonsensical group! Yippee! Whatever O’Reilly allegedly lost certainly didn’t move over to Olbermann. They are probably watching Nancy Grace and her success is another embarrassment for Keith and MSNBC.
Tanne: The bottom line, no matter how much you spin on these boards (and your irrational hatred of Bill O’Reilly notwithstanding) is that Olbermann’s show is barely breathing, on a network that nobody watches! And with a new regime in charge, he may be on a very short leash!
Comment by Ira — June 30, 2006 @ 8:38 pm
“Looks like you’re a Bill-O fan, though, because Keith isn’t in the habit of trashing any other “news anchors” (using the term loosely). It aches you when KO gives the “KO” to your hero, eh?”
Tanne, I am not a fan of BO. Did you forget about KO ripping on AC360 & Glenn Beck?
Comment by Terance — June 30, 2006 @ 9:04 pm
OK, Ira, my apologies. But I still disagree with you about KO’s show presenting “out-of-context personal attacks on Republicans and rivals in the media.” I find them to be perfectly within context. Nothing gutterlike about it. And the demo in which O’Reilly is down is not some “nonsensical group.” Advertisers don’t give a damn about “nonsensical groups,” they care about groups who actually buy products and services they advertise. If O’Reilly is down in that demo, you can bet it’s serious trouble for him indeed…or could be. And I see no great evidence of Nancy Grace’s success in having captured what he lost, either. Sometimes she does well, sometimes she does abysmally.
I don’t hate Bill O’Reilly, either; I dislike what he does, and think he’s a smarmy human being, and my reasons for doing so are perfectly rational. What are your reasons for disliking Olbermann’s show, aside from the fact that it presents viewpoints with which you disagree? And if his show is “barely breathing” and “nobody watches” his network, why do you care so very, very much about having to damn him at every turn?
Also, given that his show is one of the highest rated on MSNBC, I sincerely doubt KO is going to be on a very short leash at all. He sure didn’t act like it this past week, as the news about changes in the schedule came down.
And Terance, my apologies to you too. Sorry I mistook you for a fan of Bill-O, when in truth you’re a fan of Mr. “I Think the Hurricane Katrina Victims Are Whiny Complaining Scumbags and I Hate Those Whiny Families of 9/11 Victims Spoiling It for Everyone Else” and Mr. “I’m a Sensitive News Reporter Because Hurricane Katrina Made Me Cry, So Watch My Show.” What can I say? That’s what I think of Glenn Beck and Anderson Cooper.
Comment by tanne — July 1, 2006 @ 8:47 am
haha… you’re too much, Tanne. I’m not a fan of AC360 or GB either. It doesn’t matter which news personality KO attacks, I don’t think its appropriate. I realize it might be hard for you to comprehend that I dislike KO because of his personality and not politics. I prefer having good-looking, qualified, women deliver my news.
Comment by Terance — July 1, 2006 @ 9:09 am