Phil Griffin takes over day to day managerial role at MSNBC…
MSNBC announced today that Phil Griffin will be assuming day to day management of MSNBC. Current GM Dan Abrams will be permanently hosting MSNBC’s Live with Dan Abrams at 9pm ET. And Joe Scarborough’s “Morning Joe” program is now officially the 6-9am ET program on the network. Additionally, Shannon High-Bassalik will be joining MSNBC as Managing Editor, overseeing live news programming and breaking news coverage.
Effective today, “Live with Dan Abrams” and “Morning Joe” officially join the MSNBC program schedule. As Dan Abrams moves into a primetime host role, NBC News Senior Vice President Phil Griffin will assume day-to-day management of MSNBC. The announcements were made today by Steve Capus, President, NBC News. Abrams, who has been filling-in as host of the 9 p.m. hour for the past three months, will continue to anchor that hour as host of “Live with Dan Abrams,” Monday-Thursday at 9 p.m. ET. Abrams will also increase his on-air presence throughout NBC News programs as NBC News Chief Legal Correspondent. The management change is effective upon MSNBC’s move to 30 Rockefeller Plaza in mid-October; Griffin will also continue to oversee “Today” on NBC. Additionally, Griffin today announced that Shannon High-Bassalik will be joining MSNBC as Managing Editor, overseeing live news programming and breaking news coverage.
“Morning Joe,” hosted by Joe Scarborough, will also officially join the MSNBC lineup on weekdays from 6-9 a.m. Scarborough has been hosting the early morning time slot since May.
“We are fortunate at NBC News to have a wealth of great talent in every area of the business — on the air and off,” said Capus. “With this announcement, we solidify our on-air strengths with two incredibly talented people in two critical timeslots. Under the leadership of Dan and his team, MSNBC has never been stronger and is well positioned to capitalize on the momentum that has been building over the last year.”
“As MSNBC moves into 30 Rock and Dan moves to anchoring a primetime program, it’s the right time for me to assume a more direct role in the management of the network,” said Griffin. “Dan leaves the General Manager role with the network in the best competitive position in six years, up 62 percent in the target demographic in the last 15 months, and will enable us to continue to grow our primetime audience as host of ‘Live with Dan Abrams.’”
“Leading MSNBC stands out as one of the most rewarding experiences of my career,” said Abrams. “I am so grateful to those who gave me this opportunity and so proud of the unprecedented growth we have achieved in a short period of time. That success has also led to a new opportunity to beat CNN in prime time. With that in mind, the chance to host a new 9 p.m. show was just too tempting. This is going to be a lot of fun.”From political conflict to crime, “Live with Dan Abrams” will cover the most talked about stories of the day. Abrams will always lets the viewers know his “take” as he leads up to the winners and losers of the day. For the month of September to date, Abrams has seen a 39 percent increase in the adults 25-54 demo and a 31 percent increase in total viewers over last year.
“Morning Joe” will continue to feature interviews with top newsmakers and politicians; recent interviews have included presidential candidates Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen. John McCain, Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney; as well as former CBS News anchor Dan Rather. Scarborough, a former Congressman, joined MSNBC in 2003 as host of the primetime program “Scarborough Country.”
MSNBC continues to be the home of the fastest growing and most critically acclaimed program in cable news, “Countdown with Keith Olbermann.” Third quarter to date, Keith and the Countdown team have increased their audience by an astonishing 75-percent.
High-Bassalik will oversee MSNBC’s live news programming, including weekday, weekend and breaking news coverage and will assist Griffin in the administration of the network. High-Bassalik will report to Griffin; she begins her new role in October. She previously spent eight years at WFOR/WBFS in Miami, Fla., most recently as Vice President, News, where she re-organized the newsroom and took the newscast from last place to first place in the market. She previously served as Assistant News Director with WSVN-TV in Miami. High-Bassalik, an Edward R. Murrow Award winner, began her career as a producer with WBTV-TV in Charlotte.
Griffin was named Senior Vice President, NBC News, executive-in-charge overseeing “Today” in April 2005 and also served as Executive-in-Charge of MSNBC since 2006. Previously, Griffin was Vice President, Primetime Programming for MSNBC.
Will Mika Brzezinski officially be Joe’s co-host, sidekick on Morning Joe as well?
Comment by jman — September 24, 2007 @ 12:48 pm
So basically Abrams got a big-time demotion…
Comment by Anonymous — September 24, 2007 @ 12:59 pm
I watched a few minutes of MJ this morning and Mika seemed to take over for Joe…which made me turn the channel. She’s like fingernails on a chalk board to my ears. My fav, Willie, was there but I didn’t hear him say a word before I moved on.
I thought I’d enjoy Abrams again since I liked the Abrams Report but Dan has turned into a shorter, toupeed KO and spends time bashing Fox which is such a turn off. Do your stories Dan and stop it because it makes you seem petty and jealous.
Comment by moonbeam — September 24, 2007 @ 12:59 pm
Anonymous: I think the real message is that MSNBC couldn’t find anyone better who was interested in doing the morning show so they made Scarborough permanent.
Comment by Ira — September 24, 2007 @ 1:21 pm
It is ashame you did not realize you had everything in one basket with Don Imus. MSNBC is a loser to about A million people. No one watches Joe Scarborough in the morning. And less people watch Dan Abrams. But you will never learn (MSNBC) that is. They truly Suck.
Comment by Bruce — September 24, 2007 @ 1:23 pm
Bruce - what’s the status of an Imus comeback? I haven’t heard a peep in months and look forward to his return.
Comment by moonbeam — September 24, 2007 @ 1:24 pm
Joe sucks. Snobbish, smarmy elitist. Mika = waste of space. Adds nothing to the show in personality or eye candy. She reminds me of Glenn Close.
Comment by Lurker — September 24, 2007 @ 2:30 pm
it was a huge mistake to fire imus. i have only watched mnbc in passing since. what used to be a somewhat entertaining channel.. with an incredibly unique morning show.. has now become more of the same mindless crap that is on every other channel. the mistake of losing imus will be glaringly apparent when he returns.. which many of us hope is very soon.
Comment by djtr — September 24, 2007 @ 2:41 pm
the move to 30 rock from seacacus is not the last move for msnbc, if this lastest attempt to boost rating fails the network will be absorbed quietly by nbc.
Comment by eric l. thomas — September 24, 2007 @ 4:56 pm
Lurker, I concur with your assessments of Joe and Mika.
I thought Tucker and Willie were perfect for that morning slot, and cannot see how MSNBC could have possibly selected Joe and Mika over them. Go figure.
Comment by Missy — September 24, 2007 @ 10:35 pm
And another thing - they’re acting like giving Abrams the 9 p.m. slot is a big deal? He already HAD it a few years ago! How innovative is that?
They are being disingenuous for not mentioning that fact.
Comment by Missy — September 24, 2007 @ 10:37 pm
when Imus returns, MJ’s ratings will plummet!
Comment by cas — September 25, 2007 @ 6:49 am
The problem is this woman (MIKA) is closed minded, not someone willing to look at rational answers to real world problems, ex. the answer she gave Joe on the situation with the legally armed voulounteer guard who shot the attacker in the Colorado church. Her No, no no no no no tirade shows her ignorance about licensed, trained, and legal citizens who can and do carry concealed weapons, defending themselves and others. If she had not acted there is no telling how many innocent people this dersanged idiot could have killed. Yes I am a member of the NRA as well as the USCCA an a former LEO. I hope they get rid of her, and as expediantly as poissible, she’s never lasted in any othere position either.
Comment by Arthur L. Mackey, Jr. — December 17, 2007 @ 11:46 am