TVSquad

The name might not immediately ring a bell, but you know who he is. Jay Barbree is the guy who reports for NBC/MSNBC whenever there is space news or a shuttle launch. It seems like he's had the job forever, and actually, he has. Yesterday Barbree celebrated 50 years of reporting on the space program for the network. In fact, Barbree is the only journalist to cover every single manned mission that the U.S. space program has had, starting in the early 60s. When NASA started the "teacher in space" program in the 1980s, they also started a "journalist in space" program, and Barbree was one of the 40 finalists (both were shut down after the Challenger explosion).

One thing I didn't know was that Barbree also wrote the novel Pilot Error, which was based on an episode of The Six Million Dollar Man. He also wrote the book Moon Shot, which was made into a TV documentary in 1994. Happy 50 years, Jay.

I caught up to Keith Olbermann at NBC's all star party last night, and talked to him a little bit about the election, the origin of his "Special Comments," and getting back to doing highlights with Dan Patrick. More on that in a few days. But the first thing on my mind was if he read the comments uttered by Fox News' Chris Wallace earlier in the tour, notably that MSNBC's election coverage was biased because commentators like Olbermann are used as anchors.

"Oh yeah, I thought they were disingenuous and ill-informed," he told me, "because during the primaries as I'm sitting there, and we have the other monitors on, and a couple of weeks at least I saw O'Reilly on in the middle of the primaries, one week Laura Ingrahm filling in for O'Reilly, and Hannity and Colmes at 9:00. It's the same thing, whether you officially say, 'Well, this is not our election coverage between 8 and 10, but between 6 and 7 was, and 10 to 12 was ... ' It's a game being played that's pretty silly."

Um....OK, so I just turned on MSNBC to get the latest news and I get a notice on the screen that says this.

NOT AUTHORIZED
To order MSNBC service on channel 114, call 1-800....

What the hell? So I go to channel 114 and it has the same message. At first I thought it was one of those temporary glitches that sometimes happen to cable systems (in this case, Comcast), but then I read this over at TV Newser. Seems that Comcast is starting to drop MSNBC from its basic package in many areas and putting it in the digital package. They're doing it in Pennsylvania, Oregon, and Connecticut, and now it looks like it is affecting Massachusetts, too. Anyone else out there not have MSNBC?

I think we pay approximately $4000 a month for cable and we have a digital package, so I would hope MSNBC would be covered (especially since CNN and FOX News are there). I'm going to get my paperwork and find out why this move isn't included in it. This isn't even remotely Comcastic.

Do you ever watch Deadliest Catch and ask yourself, "How do they stay up for three days straight, pulling pots?" It would be good to know if you are a fan of the Olympics, because NBC is going to have some 3,600 hours of coverage from the games between TV, online, and mobile. The main network alone will have 225 hours over the 17 days.

On TV, there will be seven networks combining for the coverage, including NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, USA, Telemundo, Universal HD, and Oxygen. All 34 sports will get airtime, and 75% of that will be live on the east coast. Apparently all that coin they dropped to get the games gave NBC the stroke to get most of the key finals scheduled in the morning in Beijing, which will be prime time on the east coast. That prime time selection will include all 32 finals for swimming, four nights of gymnastics (featuring Alicia Sacramone, pictured), beach volleyball, and the marathons.

Now that the Democratic party has decided to present the final night of their convention from Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium in Denver before as many as 80,000 enthusiastic voters -- a venue that will underscore Senator Barack Obama's skill as a speaker -- the networks are deciding how they want to cover the event. Will the big three give the Democrats the entire night? One hour, two hours?

Will ABC and CBS be compelled to cover the night, when NBC and Fox have the option of using their cable outlets and keep entertainment on the broadcast side?

Microsoft has been offering Windows Media Center since 2002. But six years later, many PC users don't even know the 10-foot interface for viewing media and recording TV shows exists -- even if it's already installed on their computers.

But does that make Windows Media Center a failure? MSNBC seems to think so. In an article on Microsoft's hits and misses during Bill Gates tenure, MSNBC calls Windows Media Center a miss.

It's true that other products like TiVo and generic set top boxes have been more successful at infiltrating the living room. Not only do these consumer devices let users record and pause television, but in many cases they're letting users access internet services without a TV.

Meanwhile, few people want to stick a computer next to their television set. But that might not be the point. Windows Media Center might not be as familiar a name as TiVo, but the software is powerful and well thought out. And high end home theater PC makers have been designing fancy computers to take advantage of the software for years. And a growing number of companies are releasing Windows Media Extenders that let users access media on a PC connected to a home network without sticking a PC next to the television.

What do you think? Is Windows Media Center a hit or a miss? Keep in mind, MSNBC considers Halo a hit and Clippy a miss. So what I'm really asking is whether MCE fits in the same category as Clippy.

[via Chris Lanier]

Interesting (and very long) article in The New Yorker about Keith Olbermann. Mostly it's about Olbermann's career, his take on the news, his battles against various politicians, his special comments, and what others at MSNBC think of him (they even interviewed Tim Russert for the story), but there's a very intriguing morsel halfway through the piece that got my attention.

Olbermann was interviewed twice to take over for Dan Rather on The CBS Evening News.

Tim Russert, the chief political reporter for NBC and host of the long-running Meet The Press, died of a heart attack this afternoon. Russert was recording voiceovers for Meet The Press and collapsed.

This is obviously sad and odd because he was young, but it's also crazy because we're in the middle of an election year, and Russert was one of the faces of NBC and MSNBC when it comes to politics. He was an unabashed political junkie and was front and center in this year's election, being involved in all of the primary coverage and even participated in debates along with colleague Brian Williams.

Russert worked in for Democratic Senator Daniel Moynihan's campaign in the mid 70s and in the early 80s worked on Mario Cuomo's campaign for Governor of New York. He joined NBC in 1984 and became moderator of Meet The Press in 1991. He also wrote two books.

Who would have thought that there would be on television this category, this trend of personality known as the "money honey?" They're the beautiful girls who give us the financial news and stock numbers on the cable news networks.

It all started with CNBC's Maria Bartiromo (who actually trademarked the "money honey" title a while back) and now it has extended to others as well. There's ABC's Bianna Golodryga (that's her in the pic), who is being touted as the big new money gal, MSNBC's Erin Burnett, Fox Business Network's Alexis Glick, and...well...the entire on-air staff at the Fox Business Network, actually.

According to this fascinating story at The New York Times Magazine (online several days ahead of its Sunday publication), that's what he is worried about.

Matthews has always been outspoken, from his early days when he was involved in several political campaigns to his current stint at NBC and MSNBC. He's worried that the "suits" at the network want him out and even says that several people at the network are wondering why he is being profiled in the Times instead of Keith Olbermann, who seems to be the top ratings getter at the network right now.

Arch, conservative, preppie guy Tucker Carlson has been ousted from his MSNBC show. Carlson's one-hour talk show, called Tucker, has been canceled. NBC News correspondent David Gregory will take over the hour slot, 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, which will be called Race for the White House. This week will be Carlson's last. Gregory starts on Monday, March 17.

MSNBC is reportedly making a series of changes, amping up the political chatter. Considering how much politicking is going on now, including Tucker, it's hard to fathom how switching Carlson for Gregory is going to increase the discourse.

Here are the weekly cable ratings, by number of viewers.

Yes, I did a double take too: is that really NCIS in the top 10 of the cable ratings? I'm used to seeing it in the top 20 every week in the network TV ratings (even though I don't know anyone who watches or even talks about it), but I was surprised to see the USA rerun at number 9 for the week. Project Runway makes an appearance this week, along with the usual suspects Spongebob, iCarly, wrestling, and election coverage.

1. Democratic Debate (MSNBC)
2. Debate Coverage/Analysis (MSNBC)

I like these "Found Objects" videos that Harry Shearer has at My Damn Channel, even if I'm not surprised by what news people do behind the scenes and during commercial breaks. They fuss with their hair and clothes, they argue with staff, they rehearse segments. All the stuff you'd expect to find on videos like this. Of course, that's not to say that there's something mesmerizing about watching Ann Coulter chew Nicorette Gum.

That's one of the many things you'll see in this variety video after the jump. Coulter is waiting to be interviewed on one of the cable networks. You also see Bill O'Reilly looking into a mirror and sighing heavily because "Dave"couldn't get something right in the studio, Chris Matthews talking about a guest that's coming up, and more shots of Katie Couric and her clothes. There's also some footage from a woman I recognize but who's name escapes me at the moment (maybe from The Early Show?), but she urges us to remember that " 'synonymous' is not a good morning show word."

I'd just like to say that there are a lot of TV sites on the web, but TV Squad is "The Best TV Site That Has Ever Existed Or Will Ever Exist On This Planet Or Any Other." And that's official, by the way.

Now that I've announced that, there seems to be a little battle going on with the cable news channels and even the regular networks when it comes to coverage of this year's Presidential election. CNN reminds us every three and a half minutes that they are "The Best Political Team On Television," almost as much as they remind us that "we're in The Situation Room"), and now CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric has jokingly named her team of Jeff Greenfield and Bob Schieffer "The Best Political Team In The Galaxy." They liked that, especially Greenfield, who used to be the political expert over on CNN.

This is no laughing matter. John Gilmore, executive director of Autism United, said today that CBS must apologize for an insensitive remark made on the Julie Chen-hosted reality show Big Brother during last week's episode. One of the contestants, a man named Adam, said that if he was the show's big winner, he would use the money to start a hair salon for people with developmental disabilities. Adam went on to say he wanted a beauty shop "so retards can get it together and get their hair done." When Sheila, another contestant, protested, "Don't call them that," Adam declared that, "Disabled kids. I can call them whatever I want. I work with them all day, okay?"

According to CBS's Big Brother web site, Adam is a public relations manager for an unnamed foundation. The 29-year-old is from Cherry Hill, New Jersey, but is now living in Delray Beach, Florida.