Tuesday, November 06, 2007
It's Official -- Almost --MSNBC Will Listen
It's almost official, MSNBC will listen to Howling Latina and give the boot to Tucker Carlson and bring shows to MSNBC of like-minded spirits as Keith Olbermann of "Countdown."
The New York Times reports today that MSNBC is now looking "to showcase its nighttime lineup as a welcome haven for viewers of a similar mind."
The howler is not at all sure O'Donnell would be the best person for the time slot, especially when measured against someone like, oh, say David Shuster. However, as she wrote back in June 2006, pairing Ron Reagan with Monica Crowley and adding Tucker and Rita to their stable of evening program hosts was disaster in the making.
Geez, whodda thunk it?
The New York Times reports today that MSNBC is now looking "to showcase its nighttime lineup as a welcome haven for viewers of a similar mind."
Lest there be any doubt that the cable channel believes there is ratings gold in shows that criticize the administration with the same vigor with which Fox News’s hosts often champion it, two NBC executives acknowledged yesterday that they were talking to Rosie O'Donnell about a prime-time show on MSNBC.Now cable viewers may recall the calamity that was Rita Cosby when the suits at MSNBC brought her from Fox News and had her and Tucker from 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM every weekday.
The howler is not at all sure O'Donnell would be the best person for the time slot, especially when measured against someone like, oh, say David Shuster. However, as she wrote back in June 2006, pairing Ron Reagan with Monica Crowley and adding Tucker and Rita to their stable of evening program hosts was disaster in the making.
The top two cash cows at MSNBC are "Countdown" and "Hardball, two shows with a progressive or centrist host, although Howling Latina has to acknowledge MSNBC keeps the righties under a tight editorial gridlock; no outlandish lies or spin allowed of the Hannity and O'Reilly variety.So, almost a year and half later program executives have finally chanced upon something so simple and evident they had to be dragged by their nose, screaming and wailing. Well, here are a few words from the prescient Howling Latina on the subject over a year ago:
Call me loony, but if I were trying to establish a new brand with loyal viewership, instead of trying to outflank Fox and their wingnut audience, HL would go after all the lefties in Cable-land; once word got around the liberal blogosphere, MSNBC's ratings would skyrocket.
MSNBC need[s] to stop trying to be like Fox and mold their own brand ALA Keith Olbermann's "Countdown."And some more words of wisdom from yet another post:
It's not rocket science, folks. Olbermann’s left bent "helped increase the ratings of his program by 33 percent in just the last year."It seems like only yesterday when Rita and Tucker were bloviating on MSNBC at 10:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m.
Their ratings were nothing to brag about, though, so Rita was yanked, Tucker was moved and in came two full hours of "Investigation."
[...]
If MSNBC had a brain cell inside their corporate brain, they'd hire lefties for the 6:00 and 10:00 p.m. slots, for sure.
Geez, whodda thunk it?
// posted by Howling Latina @ 7:19 AM 
