Air America to simulcast MSNBC’s Race for the White House?
Rory O’Connor blogs that due to Rachel Maddow’s highlighted presence on MSNBC as a panelist on David Gregory’s Race for the White House, Air America will be simulcasting the 6pm program. (via Johnny Dollar)
That’s right — a woman who calls herself “a supplicant who worships in the Temple of Journalism” – but whom others have described as “Amy Goodman with animal noises” – is now firmly ensconced in the upper echelon of the political punditocracy. With her own rising radio show on Air America, coupled with regular appearances on MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann program, where she is often, oddly and excellently paired with Patrick Buchanan, this self-described “thirty five year old, liberal, lesbian girl-who-looks-like-a-man” is on the brink of becoming progressive media’s next mainstream breakout star. One significant measure of Maddow’s new-found favor: the decision by MSNBC, effective next week, to hire her as a regular panelist on its newest nightly campaign program Race for the White House – and to allow Air America to simulcast the 6 pm nightly program as the first hour of its own nightly Rachel Maddow show.
Man if this is true, Bill O’Reilly is going to have a field day with this. And rightfully so. If this happens, 30 Rock might as well drop any pretense that MSNBC’s “leftward tilt” on its hour long, non-news programs are not being planned out. Because putting Race for the White House on Air America is a corporate decision. It’s not the same thing as Keith Olbermann coming to NBC and asking permisson to blog on Daily Kos. That’s a bottom up move. This would be a top down move.
Up until now I have repeatedly defended NBC in the attacks that MSNBC had gone left to cater to a demographic because the evidence wasn’t conclusive to me and could be interpreted differently depending on your point of view. There is no other way to interpret simulcasting Race for the White House on Air America other than as a deliberate calculated move to appeal/pander to one demographic segment as a business decision. Bill O’Reilly will have been proven right.
Ugh. I can’t believe I just wrote that…
April 9, 2008 at 5:15 pm
I like Rachel. I think she’s super smart, has great insight and is actually funny. I just don’t like her with her own show on MSNBC. I have a real problem with ANY network that tries to blur the line between news and opinion and giving Maddow her own show would put them firmly in Fox News territory, just from the liberal side of the equation. But this doesn’t shock me in the least. They let her host Countdown last week (which I thought was a huge mistake. And the liberal blogs have been pushing for months to get her a full-time gig at MSNBC.
April 9, 2008 at 5:17 pm
Welcome back, ICN! Missed ya……
Don’t cringe when O’Reilly is proven right….when it comes to his take on MSNBC, he is spot on.
I noticed that once the dabates stopped, MSNBC dropped like a rock right out of the top 30 cable networks…where it belongs.
April 9, 2008 at 6:33 pm
I disagree Spud. I think they just understand who their viewership is. The show wont change, and Race for the White House is hardly a left-wing show.
April 9, 2008 at 7:30 pm
But hnmnf, logically that doesn’t hold up.
Air America is not interested in “un-biased” reporting… they are only interested in leftward take on the days current events. (I’m not saying they’re unique in this, there are right-wing places that are the same.)
There would be no incentive for them to simulcast anything from anywhere, unless it met their desired slant. Thusly, and logically, we can conclude that it must have some sort of appeal to Air America’s staunchly leftwing audience.
When you run an ideologically driven radio station… you don’t highlight, promote, or broadcast something that goes against your stated goals. That just doesn’t make sense.
April 9, 2008 at 8:24 pm
First of all I think this is a real stupid decision no matter what. I dont think its smart on Air America’s part because this isnt a left wing show. I’m sure their listeners will change the channel once they hear Joe Scarborough or Pat Buchannan shitting on the dems (Specifically Obama for AAR’s case). I just dont see how any honest person can see Race for the WH as a Left-wing show. Wiht guests like Buchannan, Scarborough (who has found his RW roots, actively cheering for CLinton along with the other Republicans on MSNBC), Blankley, etc, this is hardly a LW show.
April 10, 2008 at 5:19 am
Hasn’t anyone figured out yet why Scarborough and Buchannan are rooting for Hillary? The Republicans know they can crush her like a bug if she’s the nominee.
April 10, 2008 at 9:31 am
Man if this is true, Bill O’Reilly is going to have a field day with this. And rightfully so.
Bingo! About three minutes ago, it was mentioned on The Radio Factor.
April 10, 2008 at 4:40 pm
First of all I think this is a real stupid decision no matter what.
While simulcasting Olbermann may make some sense, NBC has nothing to gain from the proposed deal with AA. And it is especially bad for the alleged objectivity of White House correspondent David Gregory.
April 10, 2008 at 6:25 pm
Do we really need any further evidence that NBC News will shred any credibility it has down the river for ratings?
I think not.
April 21, 2008 at 4:20 pm
[...] David Gregory will be simulcasted on Air America beginning Wednesday. I’ve already hashed the significance of this move so I won’t be analyzing it again. Suffice it to say that NBC can no longer claim [...]