The Newsroom

Interview with Matt Frei on his new US job

(September 2007)

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ST
stuartfanning
Is This Man Ready For A "Forgiving" American Audience?
Gail Shister
TVNewser Columnist

Yanks say anchor. Brits say presenter.

What's the bloody difference, Matt Frei?

"If I went to the pub and told my friends I was an anchorman, they'd think of the Will Ferrell movie. If I told my American friends I was a presenter, they'd say, 'Presenter of what? Dog shows?'"

Frei was named Wednesday as anchor of "BBC World News America," to launch Oct. 1 at 7pm. A BBC correspondent for 21 years — the last five based in Washington — the 43-year-old newsman understands the culture clash between England and the colonies.

"Presenting seems like the more obvious word, but maybe we're too literal in Britain," says Frei (pronounced "fry.") "Anchor is slightly more daunting. If an anchor fails, the ship goes adrift."

Look for Frei to drift over to the late night circuit, where his speed-of-light wit may provide some competition for NBC's Brian Williams.

On whether he got a raise with his promotion: "I'm so devoted to the program, I took a 50 percent cut. I was also given BBC bookends."

On joining the BBC at 22 as an opera and theatre critic for its German radio service: "Basically, they were desperate for a young, underpaid member of the slave class. I was the obvious choice."



On whether he'd rather be President or Prime Minister: "Obviously, president. You get the big plane, the flashy car, the nice chopper.

"When Gerald Ford keeled over, his funeral on cable TV would have made Winston Churchill blanch with embarrassment. He won the second world war and was voted out of office. We're brutal with prime ministers. You Americans tend to be very forgiving."

In his new position, Frei says he won't over-play the humor card.

"I won't try to be a standup comedian, but cheekiness is part of my DNA. I think it's important to use your personal voice. In my case, it's mildly ironic and irreverent."

Frei was born in Essen, West Germany, a city that "makes Cleveland look like Venice." (So much for mildly ironic.) Both his parents were German; his father was a correspondent for German radio. The family moved to London when he was 10.

Married to painter Penny Quested, the couple has four children. The youngest, three-year-old Alice, was born in the U.S. "We're training her to run for president," Frei says.

Source: TVNewser
NG
noggin Founding member
Matt should be really good in this role - I hope the show is carried on News 24 as well as World and BBC America. It is a pity it isn't getting a wider outlet in the US - as although BBC America punches far above its weight in the US - it is still nowhere near to the levels of influence and audience of a major US network - or even a minor news channel AIUI.

Matt did a short stint presenting on News 24 this summer - and I thought he did a really good job (with a few basic schoolboy mistakes that can be forgiven) It is a shame we won't see him reporting - he was a real class act, with a very distinctive, knowledgeable yet slightly personal style.

Look forward to seeing the show - if I can (officially)
GI
gilsta
Is he no longer Washington Correspondant then? I thought BBC News were keen on people having several roles.
NG
noggin Founding member
gilsta posted:
Is he no longer Washington Correspondant then? I thought BBC News were keen on people having several roles.


I suspect anchoring a newscast Mon-Fri would preclude him travelling and thus being able to report effectively. We could still see him do the odd live from the Washington bureau I guess - but don't expect to see him buzzing all over the US.

After all - you don't see Katty Kay, Huw Edwards or George Alagiah doing much reporting on the road (with obvious exceptions)
TV
archiveTV
noggin posted:
Matt should be really good in this role - I hope the show is carried on News 24 as well as World and BBC America. It is a pity it isn't getting a wider outlet in the US - as although BBC America punches far above its weight in the US - it is still nowhere near to the levels of influence and audience of a major US network - or even a minor news channel AIUI.

Matt did a short stint presenting on News 24 this summer - and I thought he did a really good job (with a few basic schoolboy mistakes that can be forgiven) It is a shame we won't see him reporting - he was a real class act, with a very distinctive, knowledgeable yet slightly personal style.

Look forward to seeing the show - if I can (officially)


Don't forget Matt will also be presenting the PBS version of the show at 2300. This programme already gets a bigger audience in the states than anything on CNN, bar Larry king Live.

Chances are the 0000 show will be repeated later on News24
NG
noggin Founding member
archiveTV posted:
noggin posted:
Matt should be really good in this role - I hope the show is carried on News 24 as well as World and BBC America. It is a pity it isn't getting a wider outlet in the US - as although BBC America punches far above its weight in the US - it is still nowhere near to the levels of influence and audience of a major US network - or even a minor news channel AIUI.

Matt did a short stint presenting on News 24 this summer - and I thought he did a really good job (with a few basic schoolboy mistakes that can be forgiven) It is a shame we won't see him reporting - he was a real class act, with a very distinctive, knowledgeable yet slightly personal style.

Look forward to seeing the show - if I can (officially)


Don't forget Matt will also be presenting the PBS version of the show at 2300. This programme already gets a bigger audience in the states than anything on CNN, bar Larry king Live.

Chances are the 0000 show will be repeated later on News24


Are the two shows BBC America at 2300GMT and PBS at 0000GMT? Or have I got my timezones in a twist?

Does this mean Matt becomes the main US News presenter for BBC World - effectively replacing Katty Kay?
GI
gilsta
noggin posted:
gilsta posted:
Is he no longer Washington Correspondant then? I thought BBC News were keen on people having several roles.


I suspect anchoring a newscast Mon-Fri would preclude him travelling and thus being able to report effectively. We could still see him do the odd live from the Washington bureau I guess - but don't expect to see him buzzing all over the US.

After all - you don't see Katty Kay, Huw Edwards or George Alagiah doing much reporting on the road (with obvious exceptions)


I supose in that sense he will be desk-bound except for truly major stories when he'd be anchoring on location for the BBC America show anyway. It would be interesting to see if they used him on the Ten as presenter on location rather than flying someone out, there wouldn't be much difference between his intros for either programme.
TV
archiveTV
noggin posted:
archiveTV posted:
noggin posted:
Matt should be really good in this role - I hope the show is carried on News 24 as well as World and BBC America. It is a pity it isn't getting a wider outlet in the US - as although BBC America punches far above its weight in the US - it is still nowhere near to the levels of influence and audience of a major US network - or even a minor news channel AIUI.

Matt did a short stint presenting on News 24 this summer - and I thought he did a really good job (with a few basic schoolboy mistakes that can be forgiven) It is a shame we won't see him reporting - he was a real class act, with a very distinctive, knowledgeable yet slightly personal style.

Look forward to seeing the show - if I can (officially)


Don't forget Matt will also be presenting the PBS version of the show at 2300. This programme already gets a bigger audience in the states than anything on CNN, bar Larry king Live.

Chances are the 0000 show will be repeated later on News24


Are the two shows BBC America at 2300GMT and PBS at 0000GMT? Or have I got my timezones in a twist?

Does this mean Matt becomes the main US News presenter for BBC World - effectively replacing Katty Kay?


Other way round. PBS at 2300UK time, 1800 EC, BBC America at 0000UK time, 1900EC.

And Katty has been appointed Washington Correspondent for the new show. Matt takes over as main US presenter along with Philipa Thomas who will anchor the 0300UK Time World News Today
ST
Steve Founding member
It is a real shame he'll no longer be reporting - imho he's one of the best there is, especially at packages (presumably with a pretty good team) - his matching of pictures and words is top of the league.
RE
reggieB
Steve posted:
It is a real shame he'll no longer be reporting - imho he's one of the best there is, especially at packages (presumably with a pretty good team) - his matching of pictures and words is top of the league.


Agreed
IT
itsrobert Founding member
When these changes come into effect, what will the logistics be? Currently, it's pretty straightforward: N9 produces BBC World between 0500-0100 UK time, with N8 taking the reigns between 0100-0500. Obviously overnight, there is only one team of people (I was at BBC World one night at 0030 and the gallery/studio was powered down and everyone went home) so what's going to happen with this new WNT at 0300? Will that be going out on News 24 as well, or will there have to be a separate team to produce that, whilst N24 carries on as usual (albeit without the international agenda, if World aren't watching)?
GI
gilsta
itsrobert posted:
When these changes come into effect, what will the logistics be? Currently, it's pretty straightforward: N9 produces BBC World between 0500-0100 UK time, with N8 taking the reigns between 0100-0500. Obviously overnight, there is only one team of people (I was at BBC World one night at 0030 and the gallery/studio was powered down and everyone went home) so what's going to happen with this new WNT at 0300? Will that be going out on News 24 as well, or will there have to be a separate team to produce that, whilst N24 carries on as usual (albeit without the international agenda, if World aren't watching)?


From what I understand the 0300 WNT will at least be presented from Washington and I'd be surprised if it wasn't produced, at least in the main, there. So there would be scope for N24 to do their own thing although not much logic in it (except for breaking news).

Is the 0500 WNT continuing? If it is N8 could shut down at 0230 with the 0400 bulletin coming from Washington or N9. That would probably save a few pennies.

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