As part of Phil Griffin's ongoing effort to boost the ratings of MSNBC, the cable channel's president announced on Thursday that Chuck Todd -- the 12th moderator of the Meet the Press Sunday morning series and political director for NBC News -- and Kate Snow -- a national correspondent for a number of the network's news outlets – are joining the weekday afternoon slate as part of the cable channel's attempt to move from liberal commentary to hard news.
In his memo, Griffin stated: “This is an exciting time. Thanks as always for all your hard work. We’re making great strides every day.”
He began his message by stating:
As we sharpen our focus on live, breaking news in the daytime and smart, informed analysis and opinion in prime time -- I want to share some new programming elements and management changes with you.
Starting next week, we’ll welcome two new anchors to our afternoon line-up as we draw on our best breaking news talent from across MSNBC and NBC News.
On Monday, Sept. 28, “Chuck Todd’s new show will debut at 5 p.m.,” the network president stated. “MTP Daily will bring the insight and power of Meet the Press to our air every day of the week.”
“We hope it will become the daily cable news show of record for the 2016 campaign,” Griffin asserted.
Before taking the helm of Meet the Press, Todd was chief White House correspondent for the network and host of The Daily Rundown on MSNBC. He also serves as the on-air political analyst for NBC Nightly News With Lester Holt and Today.
In addition, Griffin stated, “I’m happy to share the good news that Kate Snow will join our anchor team and be in the chair from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. each day.”
”Please join me in welcoming Kate to our dayside lineup,” Griffin added, “and also congratulating her on another new role. ... Kate is now the anchor of the Sunday edition of NBC Nightly News.”
Snow has been a national correspondent who has contributed to many NBC news programs, including Dateline NBC, The Today Show and Weekend Today .
Before joining NBC News, she was a co-anchor for the weekend edition of Good Morning America on ABC from 2004 to 2010. Snow had also appeared on its weekday edition and World News as a fill-in anchor or correspondent.
Snow was also a correspondent for the short-lived NBC newsmagazine Rock Center With Brian Williams.
“Also, as you know, Brian Williams will be leading our live, breaking news coverage -- helping viewers navigate big moments,” the network president added. “He will begin on Tuesday with the arrival of Pope Francis.”
Of course, the memo contained no information regarding Williams' “embellished personal experiences,” which led to his suspension as anchor of the weeknight NBC Nightly News program.
The company president then referred to developments taking place “behind the scenes:”
Powering our new line-up is an outstanding editorial leadership team. Izzy Povich will be the executive producer of our morning news coverage, and Pat Burkey will be the executive producer in charge of afternoon news coverage.
Izzy and Pat are a formidable team -- and they both have the distinction of having been with MSNBC on our very first day in 1996.
“You all know Izzy as a highly accomplished and respected producer,” Griffin continued. “In Pat, we are fortunate to have an extremely talented editorial force coming off an incredible run at Nightly -- leading the flagship broadcast through four straight years as number one in all categories in a very competitive field.”
In addition, “Rashida Jones will be the managing editor for dayside and will have the pivotal role of overseeing all of our coverage throughout the news day,” the network president indicated. “She will work closely with Izzy and Pat -- all three will report to me.”
“The whole team will partner with Mark Lukasiewicz during big, breaking news events,” he indicated. “Mark will lead coordination across both networks.”
As NewsBusters previously reported, the new MSNBC shows replace a roster of mostly liberal talk shows, including Now With Alex Wagner, The Cycle, The Reid Report, Ronan Farrow Daily, PoliticsNation With Al Sharpton and The Ed Show.
Will this new weekday schedule bring in viewers who heard about the Pew Research Center study that found MSNBC to be by far the most opinionated cable news channel in America, with 85 percent of the programming as liberal opinions?
Of course, the real question is: Why has MSNBC been content to dwell in the ratings cellar for so long?
