Less than 36 hours ahead of his return to MSNBC after being dethroned as NBC Nightly News anchor for lying about stories he’s covered, The New York Post reported on Sunday night that Brian Williams is “already been causing trouble” at the ratings-deprived MSNBC.
Writing for the paper’s Page Six section, Ian Mohr cited sources within the network that the disgraced Williams is “going to town at MSNBC” and “dictating personnel changes.”
Along with Williams joining MSNBC as a breaking news anchor, NBC Nightly News executive producer Pat Burkey has also been booted to the role of executive producer for MSNBC’s afternoon programming.
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Mohr further elaborated on the relationship between Burkey and Williams as the pair have now both been kicked down to the peacock network’s cable channel: “‘Pat’s going with Brian, but it’s being looked at like a demotion,’ said a source. Burkey began working with Williams in 2000 back on MSNBC. Sam Singal has been named the new “Nightly News” EP.”
In addition to MSNBC Vice President of Talent and Development Izzy Povich being named executive producer of the morning shows, Mohr’s sources explained on what all this means for the network as Williams make his return on Tuesday (coinciding with Pope Francis’ arrival in the U.S.):
“Izzy and Pat are a formidable team — and they both have the distinction of having been with MSNBC on our very first day in 1996,” network president Phil Griffin wrote in a memo.
A source sniffed: “Pat and Izzy were at MSNBC before, and they rose up. Now they’re being forced to go back because of Brian.” But an MSNBC rep insisted: “These were two of the most sought-after positions in news. Dozens of people raised their hands, including lots of résumés from CNN, but ultimately we found two outstanding and homegrown talents to help guide MSNBC dayside back to its hard-news roots.”
The moves, among others, are the biggest since Andy Lack returned to NBC News as chairman. A source said: “Andy’s first task was to resolve the Brian issue ... now his priority is to reinvigorate [MSNBC] daytime.”
