NBC News, MSNBC, ABC News and others from across the pond

Assuming he stays on the programme and isn't replaced by Billy Bush.


So I did - thanks for correcting.

I just don't see Billy Bush replacing Lauer - maybe an occasional fill in but not as a permanent replacement based on his long entertainment career given that they're focusing more on news. I will say I was surprised that he didn't go to school for journalism but rather got his Bachelor of Arts in Government and International Studies so I assume he could handle his stuff.


I've heard from a few anchors that MSNBC is legendary because they have a grueling audition process where the anchors have to either recreate a previous breaking news event or a simulated event with little information known. I would imagine and hope any NBC New anchors (Billy Bush included) go through a similar process. I did see on Twitter after major events producers commending Savannah Guthrie for passing the so called "9/11 test" during the Boston Bombings.


It's worth noting that Access Hollywood and Entertainment Tonight are properties of NBC and CBS respectively but that doesn't mean they air on NBC and CBS affiliates.

Edit : Appologies, I had a tough time editing the quotes on my iPad and some of the quote tags were cut out while I was shortening the thread.

IMO presenters/anchors at any major channel or large market should be tested this way. To me, they can make or break their career or even the channels reputation if they are a complete mess during a major story. My personal pet peeve is an anchor that cant string a sentence together if they are reading off a autocue. They um and ahh and fall into the "thank you very much indeed" syndrome and the awful awful hesitations after each word starts with the deer in a headlights look. And then when they return to the autocue you see they them shift back into the robot mode. Gross.

MSNBC on Saturday updated their election look. Gone is the blue flag motif and its replaced with a bright white version that has a subtle flag waving in the background. I'm having trouble with Metropol so Appologies for using Twitter.

Really liking the updated @MSNBC graphics that premiered Saturday. pic.twitter.com/BjBIWrhEo7

— Ryan Olsen (@rkolsen) June 8, 2016

The top right picture is from Sunday during Meet The Press. When they play out recorded programming or commercials and don't have a squeeze back they frame the video as shown. For a good portion of Tuesday night during breaks they had a small box on the side showing video from different rallies. Unfortunately their TVEverywhere online stream that I use for captures shows either different dommercials or a static slide saying their in a break, so I don't have any examples.

IMO, MSNBC has the best sets and graphics of the three main US cable news channels. They have come a long way since Andy Lack came back to NBC News.

Aside from Way To Early, Morning Joe, MTP Daily, News Nation and Andrea Mitchell Reports, their dayside programming doesn't have much distinctive branding to differentiate one hour from the next, but that seems to be their Place for Politics rolling format through November. I hope once the election is over their anchors will find fixed hours and possibly individual show branding instead of just the Place for Politics. If it's going to be rolling news, which would be fine with me, maybe NBC Newshour/NBC News Live/NBC Newswire/NBC News Today. I am assuming Brian Williams, Steve Kornacki, Stephanie Ruhle and Kate Snow will continue to be weekday anchors after the election. It might be safer for them to not brand those hours because they won't have possible ratings disappointment to deal with and can more easily tinker with the format but it is confusing for viewers to not consistently find an anchor they like at the same time each day.

I am a little nervous about what their programming will look like once the election is over. I know there will be plenty of interesting topics regardless of who the next president is but traditionally all three channels suffer ratings declines once an election is over. FOX News will be fine, of course, but CNN and MSNBC seem to have difficulty with their identities post presidential elections because they completely transform their schedules/formats during the campaign season. I don't want them to revert back into opinion shows during dayside so if keeping it a rolling format would avoid that then they should keep that.

A few things I think they could do now to head off a post election identity crisis:

1. Please get rid of the Lockup marathons on the weekend. I feel they must shed the impression that they are closed on weekends. They have gotten better during the campaign at extending live programming on weekends and utilizing Brian Williams when news breaks even on a weekend but they still run Lockup all night during weekend primetime and overnight. Surely with all the talent NBC News has they can think up more original offerings. What about extending Nightly News past the traditional 6:30-7 slot to a "Nightly News Extra" from 7-8 on Saturday and Sunday on MSNBC? Even an hour of the "best of Today" or "best of Nightly News" from the previous week. An NBC News archive show like Jane Pauley used to do on "Time and Again." They have added many anchors during the week and once the election is over some will need a place to go. The weekends would be perfect for Kate Snow who is already on duty to anchor Nightly News. Alex Witte should get more airtime than she currently does. Whoever anchors Weekend Today can also anchor a couple of hours on MSNBC weekend. I know these aren't revolutionary ideas but, please, anything but Lockup.

2. It's no secret -- Brian Williams is back at MSNBC. He has been trusted with countless hours of breaking news since he came back in September and with their signature primary night coverage thus far so...why are they waiting to give him a show? An actual news bulletin during primetime like he used to do in the 90's-early 2000's or even in early prime would be something that the other two channels don't do and he is really good at it. Maybe he doesn't want his own show but I would find that hard to believe.

3. There are several unknowns post-election. Will they address the 8pm slot or leave Chris Hayes as the lead-off of primetime? What will they program at 6 when "With All Due Respect" goes away when the hosts write their book about the campaign? I think they have a lot of options with Brian Williams at their disposal if they are truly going the newsier route. I don't think they would want him to go up against Lester Holt at 6:30 so maybe he could lead off primetime with a straight bulletin at 7 or 8, or insert a news bulletin between the opinion/analysis/talking heads at 9? Hardball has performed strongly at 7..should it be brought back to primetime? Should the whole lineup be shifted up an hour with All In moving to 10 or 11 or early prime? I have never figured out the right balance or flow of their primetime and unfortunately, they haven't either. The only channel that has figured out the right formula/balance is Fox News.

Hi there!

As far as I'm aware News Nations no longer a brand? Most of the daytime shows that had distinctive brands - including The Daily Rundown, News Nation - are now just 'MSNBC Live'.

There's no word yet on what show Stephanie Ruhle will host, or even what type of show it will be or where it'll fit into the schedule.

I think the use of NBC News personalities filling the bulk of the MSNBC schedule is here to stay - though I'm surprised they haven't branded such programmes as 'NBC News' in some form to create a greater distinction between the opinion-based programming (particularly in prime time) and the straight news hours. I think each presenter does have a specific time slot, but they're a little shaken up by the elections and on location broadcasts. Using a generic brand, and not aligning it too closely to any one presenter, is a way of both protecting the likes of Kate Snow from being 'tarnished' by the MSNBC brand, and a way of limiting controversy in the future if a presenter says something controversial, or is let go (see the long, long list, including recently Melissa Harris-Perry, Ed Schultz, Martin Bashir, Alec Baldwin [wait was that a dream? Surely.]...).

I don't think there's any plan to give Brian Williams a show so far - I think the assumption was going that going from anchoring. America's most watched nightly news programme to an hour on the 2nd/3rd most watched cable news channel would be too humiliating a demotion (more so than co-hosting MSNBC election results shows and major breaking news). I think he'll only host a show full time if they can find something that has more gravitas and an increased magnitude compared to the rest of the prime time lineup.

I wouldn't be surprised if Steve Kornacki ends up taking over MTP Daily after the election, if not taking over from Chris Hayes. Kornacki's very good and they've done well to reposition him as an analyst rather than a talking head.

It'll also be interesting to see if John Heilemann and Mark Halperin move 'With All Due Respect' to MSNBC, exclusively, after the election given Mike Bloomberg recent suggestion that the show is unlikely to continue on Bloomberg beyond November.

I'm a little intrigued that they've added Stephanie Ruhle to Saturday Today in the newsreader role (in all but name) that they'd done without since Sheinelle Jones replaced Erica Hill (now off to HLN), and the weekday show is eliminating the role entirely (and Sunday Today doesn't have one). The only scenario that makes sense to me is they want to ease Sheinelle Jones out (possibly a promotion to the weekday 9am hour? Or a demotion to correspondent), and let audiences get used to Stephanie (most of whom won't be familiar with her from Bloomsberg) before moving her into Sheinelle's position. Four presenters for a two hour programme on once a week seems excessive, whereas it makes sense to have two co-hosts who have full time duties away from Today and a weather forecaster who essentially works full time on Today as it is.

Thanks for the info on News Nation and the anchors being at fixed time periods...I only get to watch the M-F dayside shows when it's a holiday or I'm on vacation. I too am surprised by the Place for Politics branding being on the hours when NBC News anchors are there. I would've thought that at least those hours would get special branding like Andrea Mitchell and MTP Daily apart from the MSNBC Live brand. That's why I thought they didn't have set schedules because they were floating all over the place when there was breaking news.

As for Brian Williams, I suppose it makes sense to only bring him out for rolling breaking news or special events like primary/election night/inaugural etc. I was trying to model him after Shepard Smith's Fox News Deck at FNC. I view a theoretical show for him like a standalone program that would probably fit better earlier in the newsier part of their schedule, but the flipside of that would be that less people watch then and that could be seen as equally demoralizing or whatever term one would use. Maybe I should view his new role as something like the "David Dimbleby of MSNBC" minus Question Time (joking of course.)

I haven't caught Saturday Today since Stephanie Ruhle joined; 4 presenters is way too many for that show. I wouldn't have guessed they would add her as unofficial news reader or that she would move from Bloomberg for that. You may be on to something about moving her out or to 9am...we know they like to handle those transitions as awkwardly and clumsily as possible. I also don't know what time would best suit Stephanie at MSNBC? Maybe to beef up weekends (I can dream.)

I don't know what they'll decide with Steve Kornacki/Chris Hayes/ and the 6 and 8 pm slots. It seems like the 6 slot has always been a tough one to counterprogram against Nightly News on NBC and that's also when both CNN and FNC have their flagship Washington shows on. I don't know what they could do to the primetime lineup to add any gravitas or impact that would make it possible for Brian to be included.

I know they have enough on their plate already but they really should consider renaming the channel NBC News (I guess they can't rename it NBC News Channel because that is apparently still the name of their affiliate news service?) like BBC News did with the BBC News Channel/BBC News 24. It would be more consistent and go one step further toward removing the old MSNBC-Lean Forward-more progressive type programming that they seem to have expressed a desire to shed.

As far as I know Stephanie Ruhle only started two weeks ago. I fast forwarded through the episode and I believe she sat in the newsreaders chair. There were no Saturday Today / Sunday Today broadcasts this past weekend because of French Open coverage..

I don't think it's going to be renamed NBC News Channel - MSNBC is a brand that has been associated with liberal views for over a decade. Unless Comcast decides to start over completely with new non partisan programming I see the name staying. I can't see NBC taking a risk at making it appear that certain programs such as The Rachel Maddow Show and the Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell (both of which I love) appear as if they reflect the voice of the entire NBC News division (even though MSNBC is a part of the NBCUniversal Newsgroup). I also think the NBC Affiliates may get pissed off if the channel was renamed - a lot of Fox stations still deal with the association of Fox News.



Their main studio set still looks good in my mind considering it was launched nine years ago. They've changed desks a few times, added that big LED video wall and a horizontal monitor array in a corner separating the studio portion from the newsroom and on the opposite side of where their flash cam was. The only thing that's no longer in use is the balcony.

The anchor schedule has been generally fixed for the past few months. They have Steve Kornacki at 9, Telemundo's Jose Diaz-Balart at 10, Tamron Hall at 11, Andrea Mitchell at 12, the 1 PM time slot has varied but today I belief it was Peter Alexander, Thomas Roberts at 2, Kate Snow at 3 and the 4PM slot has been varied as well the most frequent anchors are Steve Kornacki and Chris Hayes.

MSNBC has decreased their output of LockUp. A few months ago they would start the marathons around 2 or 3 PM on Saturday and Sunday's but rolling news coverage continued until at least 5PM. The thing about Lockup is that it's incredibly cheap to produce and makes good ratings. I think Rachel Maddow characterized it as an ATM machine that just gives out money.

I really think they should bring back Rock Center with Brian Williams on MSNBC. It was an excellent show / news magazine which fitted his personality perfectly. The show ended in June 2013 but I still have the final season sitting on my TiVo. While giving him a broadcast would be great - the time frame would be limited. Nightly News goes out at 6:30 PM ET and gets fed until I believe 10:30 ET (7:30PM PT). If they put Brian Williams in any slot around that time it would possibly cannibalize the Nightly News viewership on the network especially if the packages are the same.

I'm having trouble starting / finding a thread on graphics (feel free to split it up). On Saturday NBC Artworks started to roll out a new graphics package to their owned stations reportedly dubbed Look N. They launched Saturday Night on WNBC New York, then Sunday on WVIT in Connecticut and today at 4PM on WTVJ in Miami.

It looks like a good mashup of the Hearst diagrid package, CNBC and MSNBC. The only thing I don't care for is the bar at the top of the screen. Checkout NBCNewYork.com for more video.



Video courtesy of AllanNYTVRadio

Unsettled weather looming later this week...here's your 10 day forecast: pic.twitter.com/TevafXL13d

— Raphael Miranda (@Raphael4NY) June 13, 2016

Wonderful, but windy start to the workweek! #wind #sunshine #today #nyc @NBCNewYork @StormTeam4NY pic.twitter.com/E98N5zYt1g

— Storm Team 4 NY (@StormTeam4NY) June 13, 2016

Very strong wind gusts in the Tri-State today. Monday is a 5-star day; tune in after golf for details! @NBCNewYork pic.twitter.com/pJxFeaYxj9

— Storm Team 4 NY (@StormTeam4NY) June 12, 2016

Ivy Hernandez knew 26 people at the Orlando club. She's heard from none since the shooting https://t.co/vbXG30oSaxhttps://t.co/j3ecBz00qN

— NBC New York (@NBCNewYork) June 13, 2016

I'm wondering what the new graphics system is based on. NBC News and MSNBC are in the process of transitioning their graphics systems to VizRT platform but I'm not sure about their owned stations. I think they were based on Chyron hardware.

The new graphics aren't bad - but, annoyingly, NBC's O&Os geoblock their live newscast streams outside the US. For a couple of years, WNBC was an exception (along with WMAQ in Chicago and possibly others I'm not aware of), but now they've gone the way of the others.

Anyone know why? They seem to be the only US local stations that do this.

I don't think there's anything towards media rights except for maybe sports but most stations throw up a card explaining why, have their own deals in place (but some completely ignore it when it airs during a newscasts - clips from the sportscasts almost never make it online).

Are there any issues of watching NBC News Programs - such as Nightly News.

I wonder if it changed when Comcast took over full ownership of NBCUniversal in 2013.

I'll just note quickly that Willie Geist handled the Orlando shooting coverage on Sunday morning as an NBC Special Report - not sure if he's done one before, but I thought he handled it well.