A Los Angeles Times report on Saturday made it sound like disgraced NBC anchor Brian Williams was going to be spread all over the schedule on MSNBC. The headline was “MSNBC opens daytime hours for breaking news; Brian Williams will helm.” Reporter Stephen Battaglio seemed to forget all about two hours or Jose Diaz-Balart, or two hours of Thomas Roberts, or Andrea Mitchell, or Tamron Hall:
Williams will be set up at his own anchor desk on the third floor of NBC News headquarters in New York's Rockefeller Center, across from the main MSNBC set used for such shows as Morning Joe and NewsNation With Tamron Hall.
Williams, who isn't likely to show up on the air until September, will be MSNBC's go-to anchor from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the East Coast. "Meet the Press" moderator and NBC News political director Chuck Todd will have a daily program at 5 p.m., giving him a higher profile during the presidential campaign.
We’re told this “plays into the strength of NBC's deposed evening anchor, who gets a second chance after disgracing the news division and nearly torpedoing an accomplished television career.”
He may be terrible when he exaggerates his derring-do out in the field, but how can he do that if they glue him to a desk in New York?
On Thursday, Battaglio reported “there are no plans yet in place for him [Williams] to have a regular program.” So being the “go-to anchor” means he just “breaks in when the news breaks out,” as Dan Rather puts it? Or will he haunt every daytime show like Marley’s ghost?
NB reader Gary Hall reports these numbers were on the front of the Los Angeles Times:
Total July viewers
985,000 For Fox
426,000 For CNN
373,000 For MSNBC
283,000 For HLN
Source: Nielsen Co.
