It looks like it might be time to start playing Frank Sinatra's Gone With The Wind for Ronan Farrow.
Mediaite reports that Ronan Farrow might soon be Gone With The Wind because MSNBC might be cancelling Ronan Farrow next month due to lousy ratings. This contrasts sharply with the incredible media hype that greeted the announcment that Farrow would be hosting an MSNBC show last February. First let us look at the MSM gushing from the New York Times followed by the grim reality about Farrow's possible cancellation next month due to few people watching his show:
“Wow, he’s handsome,” one dinner guest said, peering over a throng of photographers.
“He’s going to be our president in, like, 30 years,” another gushed.
The event, last Monday at the American Museum of Natural History, was a benefit for the Blue Card, which aids Holocaust survivors, and the object of the room’s collective kvelling was Ronan Farrow, the 25-year-old lawyer, diplomat, author, boy genius, offspring of two celebrities (though which two is an open question), possessor of alabaster good looks and, as of this month, the latest talent to join MSNBC, where he will host a weekday show starting in January.
Like a styled valedictorian, Mr. Farrow worked his way through the well wishers, his corn-colored hair lightly tousled. Though he already has the résumé of someone twice his age, in the last year Mr. Farrow has come into his own as a public figure, appearing on Vanity Fair’s international best-dressed list and applying his spiky Twitter commentary to everything from politics (“Leadership in America just turned into a pumpkin”) to pop culture (“Miley Cyrus is basically our generation’s Simone de Beauvoir”).
... When he wasn’t busy navigating world events, he was adding some panache to the Washington social scene, often appearing at political fetes with Jon Lovett, a former Obama speechwriter and a co-creator of “1600 Penn.” Still, despite his waggish social-media presence, he is guarded about his private life, suggesting a persona more carefully calibrated than he lets on. (He has been bombarded with interview requests and, through an MSNBC spokeswoman, declined to be interviewed at length for this article.)
That persona will be tested at MSNBC, where, as the only solo host in his 20s, he will again be the youngest in the room. “He’s a man beyond his years,” said Phil Griffin, the president of MSNBC, who seems to be positioning Mr. Farrow as the network’s in-house millennial.
His pivot to broadcasting seems to signal a willingness to embrace his celebrity — on his terms. “This is just a moment where he is able to use his voice,” said Ms. Sawyer, who has advised him on the “the kind of layered people” he needs to support his fledgling TV career. “I’ve told him, ‘If there is anything you want to do that I have a cautionary tale about, I’ll be there.’ ”
Wow! Before Farrow had begun his first broadcast, one would get the impression from that fawning article that he was already a giant up there with Edward R. Murrow or Walter Cronkite. Wait! He actually did win a Walter Cronkite journalism award after just three days on the air. Unfortunately, after just a few months on the air, our future 2044 president has been confronted with some sad news as reported by Mediaite:
A well-placed source tells me MSNBC will be announcing major programming changes sometime in the next month, including the cancellation of Ronan Farrow‘s afternoon program, Ronan Farrow Daily.
Mr. Farrow’s program — which now averages around just 50,000 viewers in the key 25-54 demo — has never performed well despite the hype that originally preceded it last February before its first airing. In the third quarter of this year, the show is down 51 percent from what occupied its 1:00 PM EST time slot a year ago (Andrea Mitchell Reports). Whether the 26-year-old Rhodes Scholar still stays on with the network in a pundit capacity isn’t clear.
One bit of good news for Ronan is the announcement of "support" from MSNBC:
According to a network spokesperson when asked about a possible cancellation of the show: “No, we’re fully committed to Ronan.” Mediaite also reached out to Mr. Farrow’s rep for comment but hasn’t heard back.
Yup! Take heart Ronan. MSNBC is as fully committed to you as NBC was to Meet The Press host David Gregory last summer when they made the same pledge.
Although Ronan's viewership is small he would be deeply missed for his in-depth reportorial work on such topics as Bronies.
And now Ol' Blue Eyes sings a possible farewell to dear Ronan:
Gone with the wind
Just like a leaf that has blown away
Gone with the wind
My romance has flown away...
