While NBC is committing all its ten o'clock hours next fall to Jay Leno, MSNBC is looking for a ten o'clock star. They want a show to secure stronger foothold on prime time by filling that hour with a new show. Right now, it presents a rerun of Countdown with Keith Olbermann, but that's not how it's going to remain. Phil Griffin, MSNBC prez, would like to develop a new hour to go along with Countdown and The Rachel Maddow Show, and presumably build on the audience Olbermann and Maddow are generating.
Looking at the current roster of MSNBC talent, there doesn't seem to be a star on the rise in the way Maddow was. She emerged quickly and her success has been meteoric. David Gregory is out of the loop since he's been promoted to NBC and Meet the Press. Chuck Todd is the Washington bureau chief, so he's a possibility, but I don't see him as a star. Same with David Shuster or Andrea Mitchell. Chris Matthews is already firmly entrenched at five o'clock (and seven).
Nobody's asked for my suggestion, but one curve ball might be an hour from the right since Maddow and Olbermann are firmly on the left. Michelle Bernard is a conservative talking head, and so is Pat Buchanan. Would anyone watch a hour show anchored by either of them? I can't see Joe Scarborough jumping to prime time.
Maybe they would go in the Jon Stewart/Stephen Colbert direction and do a comic take on the political news? The only problem with that idea is that Leno will be a direct competitor in fall 2009.
"It's almost like we're one personality away," said Griffin, adding that whoever they find, "I want it to be organic." I think that means watch for every fill in for Olbermann and Maddow to be basically auditioning for a chance.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
1-23-2009 @ 3:39PM
Joseph said...
They need to get Cenk and The Young Turks from XM and YouTube if they want the ratings.
They have over 60 million hits on YouTube and would give a voice to the pragmatic young progressives out there that ran to their channel for Rachel Maddow (who is a friend of the show btw).
I couldn't even imagine a better line up, olbermann, maddow, tyt, and then on to the daily show.
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1-23-2009 @ 7:26PM
Tom said...
Exactly. Cenk of The Young Turks would be perfect!
He's intelligent, and his irreverent and animated style would be unique in that lineup. He was awesome as a pundit on CNN-HN, and he always gets amazing guests for the show (Naomi Wolf, Naomi Klein, Howard Dean and on and on).
1-26-2009 @ 9:19AM
willy the impeached said...
60 Million youtube hits translates into what? Maybe 1200 real viewers. Look this is simple. Its all about demographics and I'm sure they know that. Theres one clear choice that speaks to the pMSNBC viewer: William Ayers.
1-23-2009 @ 4:03PM
Jeanie said...
Michelle Bernard's appeal certainly goes beyond conservative viewers. MSNBC would be smart to give her that timeslot. I saw her moderate a panel for Spike Lee during the Inaugural weekend, and the (certainly NOT conservative) audience adored her. She makes a lot of sense.
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1-23-2009 @ 4:19PM
Elf said...
Remember also that a 10pm show on MSNBC would only be competing with Leno in the East. Those in the West who watch Olbermann at 5pm and Maddow at 6pm would get fresh programming at 7pm.
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1-23-2009 @ 4:49PM
James said...
How about an hour of the best of that day's Morning Joe?
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1-23-2009 @ 4:49PM
Zachary said...
They should have someone forge MS in front of NBC wherever it appears in Leno's contract. That's a win for the viewers and MSNBC, and it gives NBC a chance to correct their horrible horrible mistake.
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1-23-2009 @ 4:56PM
Ponyboy918 said...
They should pick TYT. Cenk is AWESOME.
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1-23-2009 @ 4:59PM
Scott said...
They should have a conservative show at 10 --um--why? Because they're doing so well with progressive shows at 8 and 9? So flip everything around? Huh? And the Rachel Maddow audience will stick around to hear Pat Buchanan bloviate? (Except when he's on with her, I can't stand him) On what planet is this a good idea? This sounds more like a dumb NBC idea, not MSNBC.
Maybe they should see who else is still around at Air America, or another progressive radio host. I don't think one of their white-bread MSNBC news people is the answer here. Rachel works because she has a perspective, and isn't obnoxious. Keith works because he has credibility, having started saying this stuff back when it was unpopular and thought to be unpatriotic to criticize the administration.
What's Phil Donahue up to these days? :-)
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1-30-2009 @ 5:54PM
Jason said...
Alison Stewart.
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1-23-2009 @ 7:24PM
Imanon said...
I second Alison Stewart. Otherwise, Stephanie Miller would jump at it. Of course, Michael Smerconish could run counter as Scarborough Country did.
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1-23-2009 @ 8:31PM
ckzx2 said...
Contessa Brewer or why, not bring back Abrams.
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1-23-2009 @ 8:53PM
Michael said...
Go with a sports show hosted by Olbermann's old buddy Dan Patrick (who is as smart and as well spoken as Olbermann himself).
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1-23-2009 @ 10:24PM
Bill said...
Cenk Uyger... Nuff said.
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1-24-2009 @ 6:44AM
Derek said...
I'd like to see Cenk get that spot too, I can't think of anyone more perfect for that lineup.
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1-24-2009 @ 11:01AM
Andrew said...
How about Arianna Huffington? She makes quite a few appearances on MSNBC and could absolutely carry her own show with a great set of staff writers from the Huffington Post and other talking heads.
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1-24-2009 @ 12:42PM
Franklin said...
"Maybe they should see who else is still around at Air America..."
Yeah, because THAT worked out so well.
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1-24-2009 @ 2:24PM
royce said...
Yes, Rachel Maddow has worked out very well for MSNBC. So yeah, picking at the corpse of Air America has been very good to them so far.
1-24-2009 @ 3:14PM
Pierre-Luc Allie said...
George Stroumboulopoulos
Yeah, The guy from The One...
http://www.cbc.ca/thehour/ The guy can interview anyone from music, tv, politics, sport and his interview always deliver.
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1-25-2009 @ 5:31PM
Mathieu Plante said...
David Shuster already has a show at 6 PM, I don't see why he would work better at 10 PM. Pat Buchanan used to have a daily show and it failed, they seem to like him better as an analyst. Joe Scarborough had a primetime show already but now that MSNBC finally has a hit in the morning, I don't think they'd send him back to primetime.
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