MSNBC is shaking up the lineup during the daytime, and weekend. For the past couple of weeks it has announced new shows, most that will begin June 29th, 2009. The same day that MSNBC will begin going HD (High Definition). If you are interested please continue to read below the fold.....
MSNBC is GOING HD
MSNBC will begin telecasting in 1080i High Definition on Monday, June 29.
"MSNBC is in the best competitive place its ever been, beating CNN in primetime last month and continuing incredible growth," said Griffin. "Broadcasting in HD is only going to help us build on the great success we've had so far this year, and will give viewers what they've been asking for, a full high definition broadcast of MSNBC."
Building on the NBC News HD infrastructure already in place, MSNBC launches 1080i High Definition utilizing two full HD capable control rooms, integrated HD graphics, and new HD commercial integration master control and distribution systems. Since October of 2007, MSNBC has been telecasting from two HD-ready studios.
It's nice to see that MSNBC is catching up with its cable news competitors in going HD. I don't really agree that it will "increase" ratings, but rather stopping people from changing the channel to CNN or FOX.
Chuck Todd to get MSNBC Weekend Political Show
MSNBC is developing a weekend politics show to be moderated by Chuck Todd, the New York Observer's Felix Gillette reports.
Todd, who was reportedly in consideration for the "Meet the Press" moderator gig before it went to David Gregory, burst onto the TV news radar during the 2008 election season as NBC News' Political Director. He was promoted to Chief White House Correspondent in December.The move towards original weekend programming is a bold step for MSNBC, (in)famous for its weekend slate of prison-style documentary programming.The new show on MSNBC, to debut in late spring, would give Mr. Todd more experience as a political moderator and provide him with a good opportunity to develop his long-form interviewing skills. At the same time, it would give MSNBC an original political program to show off on a weekend schedule that is currently dominated by crime documentaries and taped content.
I am soooooo excited to finally see that MSNBC is working on doing something, anything with its weekend programming. I have always liked Chuck Todd, and have always felt he deserved his own show. Now whether or not you like Chuck Todd, I am sure that you would take that over anymore Lockup.
The ED Show
Veteran talk radio host Ed Schultz joins MSNBC as host of "The Ed Show," premiering on Monday, April 6. "The Ed Show" will air weekdays, 6-7 p.m. ET. The announcement was made today by Phil Griffin, President, MSNBC.
"I am thrilled to have Ed kicking-off our primetime lineup," said Griffin. "Ed's proven that he can connect with Americans and will be a perfect compliment to Chris, Keith, and Rachel. He's already made his mark on radio and I'm excited to see what he'll do with the 6 p.m. hour."
"I'm excited to have this opportunity with MSNBC," said Schultz. "I look forward to having a day to day discussion with fellow Americans on issues that really matter to all of us."
I have enjoyed the Ed show more than I expected I would. He has the hardest hour on MSNBC at 6p.m. but it looks like he is improving the hours ratings. Hopefully MSNBC will keep him on, and let his audience grow.
David Shuster and Tamron Hall 3p.m.-5p.m.
Starting Monday, April 6, "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue" will be replaced by "The Ed Show" hosted by Ed Schultz at 6 p.m. EST. David Shuster will join Tamron Hall as host of a new 3-5 p.m. EST program on MSNBC. Shuster will also continue to anchor breaking news coverage during the day and serve as a regular substitute anchor for "Countdown with Keith Olbermann."
I LOVE that David Shuster hasn't just been thrown out to the curb. I can't wait for the show to begin. Him and Tamron together seems like a strong combination.
Dylan Ratigan Gets MSNBC Show
Dylan Ratigan, who left CNBC in March reportedly in search of a broader platform, has joined MSNBC.
The network announced today that the former host of CNBC's "Fast Money" will be anchoring 9-11 AM weekdays beginning June 29.
Last month, Ratigan told Business Insider's Henry Blodget that he wanted to address "major policy failures in America" through at a larger news platform than CNBC. When asked which outlets he had in mind, Ratigan, who had been rumored to be in talks with ABC, rattled off the names of several networks.
"Pick them," he said. "ABC, CBS, HBO, MSNBC, CNN, FOX."
"MSNBC is on a terrific roll, and adding Dylan really bolsters our lineup of strong personalities," said network president Phil Griffin in the announcement. "Dylan will be the perfect complement to 'Morning Joe' and he rounds out a great team in the morning."
"I am grateful to Phil Griffin for this incredible opportunity to create a program and collaborate with the impressive talent that makes up MSNBC," Ratigan added. "While I look forward to broadening my scope in covering the multitude of issues facing our country today, what draws me to MSNBC is that they have offered me a 2-hour forum to discuss any and all political issues with no directive other than to provide compelling content. Which apparently now I actually have to do."
I like Dylan Ratigan, but do not know him enough to see how he will do. I like that MSNBC is trying to put an actual program in the morning rather than just five hours of MSNBC LIVE.
David Gregory to Anchor Weekly Hour on MSNBC
When asked for specifics on the heightened MSNBC presence, Gregory said, "What I'm going to try to do is appear where I'll be anchoring an hour once a week at this stage, because I want to be a presence on all of our platforms. And our cable operation MSNBC is terrific....We haven't worked out the details, but the thinking is we'll try to do it Wednesdays at 11 a.m."
Well this is kind of weird. One hour a week, in the middle of the week. I don't know what to say about this.
Snyderman To Anchor New MSNBC Program
The new additions to MSNBC dayside keep coming — MSNBC announced today a new one-hour program hosted by NBC News chief medical editor Dr. Nancy Snyderman.The program will air at NoonET beginning June 29.
"Health is a topic that is at the forefront of American politics," said MSNBC president Phil Griffin in the release. "Nancy's new program will allow viewers to get an expert's perspective on health issues that affect their daily lives."
• It appears the show is part of a larger company-wide initiative, launched by GE, called "Healthymagination." It will include "in-depth reports on key health issues periodically throughout the year," by NBC News, among other parts of NBC Universal.
This is different. It is nice to see MSNBC taking some risks. I liked Mrs. Snyderman on Morning Joe . She seems intelligent, and nice to see a cable news show taking a break of the "all-day politics".
MSNBC's 10p.m. Search
MSNBC will continue airing Keith Olbermann's talk show twice each weeknight in prime time, putting on indefinite hold a search for a new 10 p.m. program.That time slot has attracted attention ever since MSNBC chief executive Phil Griffin suggested earlier this year he was on the lookout for a new show. Fans of the Internet show "The Young Turks" and of Air America's Sam Seder have openly campaigned for their favorites.
MSNBC currently reruns Olbermann's "Countdown" show only an hour after its original airing ends. It trails Fox News Channel's Greta Van Susteren and CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360" in the ratings, but MSNBC executives have been surprised at its showing.
Fox has 2.1 million viewers, on average, in the time slot in March. Cooper on CNN has 1.2 million and Olbermann has 902,000, according to Nielsen Media Research. On a handful of nights, a rerun of Olbermann has even beaten a live Cooper in the 25-to-54-year-old demographic that MSNBC watches most closely.
MSNBC may give up entirely on the idea of putting a new live show in that time slot, Griffin said.
"We're not going to mess with it until we see where it levels off," he said. "It places the burden, if we are going to put a show there, (for it) to be a big show because the repeat of `Countdown' is doing so well."
I WANT A LIVE 10p.m. show. I Love Countdown and TRMS but MSNBC needs to put some live programming to close out the night.
MSNBC has been quite weak in late morning/and daytime programming, hopefully with these changes it can have a complete day of Cable News Programming, and compete with its competitors. MSNBC is averaging about 490,000 total viewers for the entire day. CNN is averaging about 600-800,000 total viewer, and FOX has around 1,300,000. So it seems that the daytime program has been really bringing down MSNBC's ratings, so time will tell if these changes work out for MSNBC.
If it were my choice I would replace Chris' 5p.m. Hardball with a new show and put him on just live at 7p.m. This would increase ratings for both hours and for Countdown, too. I also think that MSNBC should have an ED show rerun at least once. The constant repeat of Rachel and Countdown is unbelievable, especially when I DVR them.
(Also major thanks to Huffingtonpost and tvnewser for the content)
So it seems that the date is June 29th for the new MSNBC lineup to take place. So what do my fellow Kossaks think.....