The New MSNBC Lineup
Slight shakeup over at MSNBC. Tucker Carlson’s eponymous show in the 6 PM slot is out, replaced by David Gregory’s Race For the White House. What difference will this have? Well, for one thing, Tucker packs up his bow tie and continues with the network as a correspondent-at-large. For another, David Gregory could now plausibly lay claim to the title of “Hardest-Working Man in News.” In addition to covering the White House for NBC, he’s anchoring the aforementioned show, and still making regular appearances on NBC’s Nightly News.
So, for practical purposes, what does it mean for the lineup from night to night? On one level, it does mean that the cable net is more tightly intertwined with its broadcast parent. This is especially clear on the nights of primaries and caucuses, when the likes of Brian Williams, Tim Russert, Tom Brokaw, and Gregory share airtime with the usual suspects. On another level, it replaces Carlson’s feisty conservative bent with Gregory’s more centrist presentation, drawing on the same cast of characters that tend to appear on the other programs: Air America’s Rachel Maddow, Eugene Robinson (associate editor and columnist for the Washington Post), NBC Political Director Chuck Todd, ex-Congressman/current MSNBC host Joe Scarborough, and Carlson.
Gregory does a servicable job within a predictable format, with predictable results. This isn’t a bad thing, as such, but not as good a thing as you’d hope, either… The host has already proven his repertorial mettle in many a White House press conference, as perceptive as he is persistent. While his questions to his panelists are sometimes pointed, and generally well-considered, the format doesn’t lend itself to the kind of questioning on which he’s built his name.
The 7 pm and 8 pm slots remain unchanged. The former still belongs to Chris Matthews, who alternately fawns over and badgers his guests and panelists (sometimes in the same sentence), while Keith Olbermann still holds down the latter slot, alternately channelling Murrow, and Dennis Miller back when Miller was funny. Dan Abrams’ 9 pm show gets a new title and some snazzy graphics, but remains otherwise unchanged despite promising a legal perspective on the news. It’s neither more nor less so than it had been previously, which is a shame since this would, one thinks, play to the host’s strengths.
Carlson’s farther-right perspective seemed to me a good counterweight to Olbermann’s farther-left tendencies, even though (if I’m going to be completely honest here) I tend to agree with him about as often as I find myself disagreeing with Olbermann… which is to say, hardly ever. It’ll be interesting, either way, to see what further changes may be ahead as the already two-year long election cycle trudges its way to November.
Tags: Chris Matthews, Commentary, Dan Abrams, David Gregory, Keith Olbermann, MSNBC, News, Tucker Carlson