Politico’s Keach Hagey received a statement from FNC on the EEOC lawsuit…
A Fox spokesperson said: “We’re not going to respond to a suspiciously timed press release from the EEOC.”
The timing is interesting to say the least and it occurred to me when I first heard about this. But let’s be honest here. This non-response is most definitely a response. Else, why add the “suspiciously timed” part to the statement?
The New York Times Brian Stelter has more details on the deals which got Anderson Cooper a daytime show opportunity…
Two people with knowledge of the contract with Warner Brothers said it included a provision that Mr. Cooper’s first job, at CNN, takes precedence, allowing him to dart off to scenes of breaking news.
Ms. McLoughlin would not comment on his contract, but said the syndicated show would travel with him sometimes. “We’ve worked this out,” she said.
It’ll be interesting to see that scenario play out. I’m still not 100% sold on the notion that this won’t compromise 360 in some way. For example, under this deal would Cooper have been able to stay as long as he did in the Gulf during the height of the oil spill disaster?
The AP’s Sam Hananel writes about the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suing FNC because of a complaint FNC reporter Catherine Herridge made…(via J$)
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says Fox News Channel reporter Catherine Herridge filed an internal complaint about allegedly discriminatory practices in 2007.
Fox found no evidence of bias, but the EEOC says the network later included language in Herridge’s employment contract intended to stop her from making any more complaints.
Herridge refused to sign the contract. The network agreed to remove the language after she complained to the EEOC.
Below are statements from Jim Walton and Cooper regarding Cooper’s new deal with CNN…
Jim Walton, President, CNN Worldwide: “I am pleased that Anderson Cooper has extended his relationship with CNN and will be with us for years to come. I am also pleased to congratulate Anderson on his new relationship with Telepictures. We think it will be good for Anderson, good for CNN and good for Time Warner.”
Anderson Cooper: “I remain as committed as ever to my program on CNN, and will be with CNN for years to come.”
Telepictures Productions announced that Anderson Cooper will be doing a new daytime show and be staying with CNN and 360…
ANDERSON COOPER TO HOST ONE HOUR DAYTIME PROGRAM
Telepictures Productions Signs Deal with Emmy® -Award Winning Television Personality to Produce One-Hour Daily Strip for Daytime Television to be Distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution
BURBANK, Calif. (September 30, 2010) — Anderson Cooper has signed a deal to host a new, one-hour daily daytime strip, set for national syndication launch in Fall 2011, it was announced today by Ken Werner, President, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution, and Hilary Estey McLoughlin, President, Telepictures Productions.
“Over the course of the past few years, I’ve had the opportunity to work on a number of daytime programs,” said Anderson Cooper. ” It’s fun and interesting to work in daytime television. The format is unique and you can really go in-depth on a wide range of fascinating and compelling stories. With this new program I hope to relay important information and relate to people and the audience in a completely different way. It’s an exciting opportunity to show another side of myself and create something worthwhile and special in daytime.”
“There is a great opportunity in the marketplace for this type of show,” said Ken Werner, President, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. “Fall ’11 begins a transition period when long established franchises are leaving the air and making way for a new generation of shows. Anderson Cooper is one of the most distinctive voices of the next generation of television. His popularity and skills uniquely position him to be the next big syndication franchise.”
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Mediaite’s Steve Krakauer writes about John King wading into the recent Obama controversy over his renewed war on FNC by indirectly taking some shots at FNC and MSNBC…
“Sometimes you feel sad to be left out of a big debate,” he said. “This is not one of those sometimes.” And then he found a way in.
King started with Pres. Obama’s comments that Fox News was a “destructive force” in America, playing some of the more anti-Obama comments from Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity. He followed that by noting Bill Burton had called MSNBC “an invaluable service” – and proceeded to play some of the most vitriolic clips from Ed Schultz and Keith Olbermann.
When King got back on camera, all he needed to say was, “got it?”
I don’t read as much into this as Krakauer does. It’s too soon to draw any conclusions about King’s show based on one segment that occurred during one show. What I will say is that those personalities who were shown in those clips are not the types who will just ignore King’s “attack”. Expect some blowback…
James Hibberd at The Live Feed is reporting that Anderson Cooper is being courted for a talk show…(via J$)
The talk show deal is complex because its being coordinated between Warner Bros., Cooper and Cooper’s employers at CNN — who have an exclusive contract with the newsman. The deal, which has been in talks for more than a month and may close by the end of the week, calls for Cooper to continue hosting “360.” With a lot of moving parts at play, however, sources caution the deal is not yet a sure thing.
Warner Bros. hopes to launch Cooper’s show next fall, coming into the marketplace just as talk queen Oprah Winfrey exits to launch her cable network OWN. The vacancy has spurred a surge of talk contenders whose projects are in various stages of deployment (including Dr. Oz, Nancy Grace and Jenny McCarthy).
Cooper’s show would air in early fringe in a cash-plus-barter deal, counter-programming more celebrity-oriented programs such as “Access Hollywood.” It’s not yet clear which station group Warners will line up as its first carriage partner to help galvanize further clearances.
What makes this story hard to believe for me is that Cooper will still be with CNN doing 360. I just do not see any possible way that can happen without a radical change to 360′s format and Cooper’s mission. What happens when the next big disaster strikes somewhere? CNN will not be able to deploy Cooper to the field because of his talk show commitments – what’s the talk show supposed to do? put re-runs on while he’s out on assignment? No. The only way that Cooper would stay at CNN and 360 is if he becomes solely a desk anchor. But the problem here is Cooper is better on the road; he’s more in his element on the road and 360 works better when he’s on the road. Cooper’s CNN career highlights have mostly occurred on the road. But I do not see a way that can continue and Cooper can be available to go anywhere at any time if he takes and CNN signs off on this syndication deal.
The New York Times’ Brian Stelter writes about FNC blowback to Obama’s comments made about the network…
Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity often disagree with President Obama, but this time it’s personal.
Mr. Obama, in an interview with Rolling Stone posted online Tuesday, said that Fox News promoted a point of view that he thought was “ultimately destructive” to the long-term growth of the United States.
Mr. O’Reilly and Mr. Hannity, the two most prominent right-wing hosts on Fox News, fired back in succession Tuesday night, with Mr. O’Reilly asking, “How on earth is Fox News hurting the middle class?” On Tuesday, Fox News said it would not respond to the president’s comments in the Rolling Stone interview.
The New York Times’ Mark Leibovich turns in a big profile of Glenn Beck. People are going to be focusing on the part of Leibovich’s article that claims Roger Ailes has had “issues” with Beck…
The cross-promotion can be a sore spot at Fox News, particularly for its president, Roger Ailes, who has complained about Beck’s hawking his non-Fox ventures too much on his Fox show. Ailes has communicated this to Beck himself and through intermediaries. It goes to a larger tension between Fox News and Beck in what has been a mutually beneficial relationship. Ailes, a former Republican media guru, runs his top-rated cable-news network like a sharp-edged campaign, speaking with a single voice and — ideally — for the benefit solely of Fox News’s bottom line.
To some degree, all of Fox News’s top opinion personalities have side ventures — speeches, books, radio — that can invite static from the network. In April, for instance, Fox News bosses vetoed a planned appearance by Hannity at a fund-raiser for a Tea Party group in Cincinnati. But more than any other person at Fox News, Beck operates as a stand-alone entity. He is the only major personality at the network whose office is not at Fox News headquarters in the News Corp building (Mercury is a few blocks down Sixth Avenue). He employs his own publicist, Matthew Hiltzik, a communications consultant who is the son of Beck’s agent, George Hiltzik. Beck receives a $2.5 million salary from Fox News, which bumps to $2.7 million next year, the last of the contract. It is a small fraction of Beck’s revenues, the bulk of which he brings in from his radio and print deals.
“There is always going to be the person within the organization who may take issue with or doesn’t like the way the network is programming certain things,” says Cheatwood, the Fox News executive who oversees Beck’s show. “I allow for that anywhere. But in terms of the relationship between Fox and Glenn, it’s extremely solid.”
I love Cheatwood’s response. This isn’t some grunt or producer or talent who ultimately has little input that we’re talking about here but Roger Ailes. If Ailes isn’t happy about something Beck does, he’s going to do something about it regardless of whatever Cheatwood says.
CNN.com has a story by Scott Zamost about James O’Keefe trying to set up a CNN reporter Abbie Boudreau…
A conservative activist known for making undercover videos plotted to embarrass a CNN correspondent by recording a meeting on hidden cameras aboard a floating “palace of pleasure” and making sexually suggestive comments, e-mails and a planning document show.
James O’Keefe, best known for hitting the community organizing group ACORN with an undercover video sting, hoped to get CNN Investigative Correspondent Abbie Boudreau onto a boat filled with sexually explicit props and then record the session, those documents show.
The plan apparently was thwarted after Boudreau was warned minutes before it was supposed to happen.
“I never intended to become part of the story,” Boudreau said. “But things suddenly took a very strange turn.”
TVNewser’s Chris Ariens writes that Ed Schultz got called on the carpet again by Phil Griffin, this time for his Chris Christie commentary…
On his show last Friday, MSNBC’s Ed Schultz went off on New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and now TVNewser hears Schultz has been reprimanded by MSNBC president Phil Griffin.
Schultz’s position at MSNBC is tenuous at best. He’s a loose cannon and while this was obvious to some of us long ago it’s becoming readily apparent to MSNBC brass now. Between the “torch this place” incident and now this (not to mention the “Republicans want to see you dead” and myriad other quips he could have been called on the carpet for) Schultz is rapidly burning through his nine lives at the network. And with the much less volatile Cenk Uygur waiting in the wings for an MSNBC slot to open up, Schultz’s days may be numbered indeed.
Well it must be election season…the White House is taking sides in cable news again…The Upshot’s Michael Calderone writes about the latest uproar…
Just hours after President Obama’s swipe at Fox News made its way around the blogosphere, Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton praised a couple of commentators on MSNBC — the cable news rival presenting itself as a liberal alternative to Fox in prime time.
CNN is noting its Q3 numbers…
HLN’S MORNING EXPRESS WITH ROBIN MEADE TOPS MSNBC’S MORNING JOE FOR SIXTH STRAIGHT QUARTER AMONG 25-54; HLN TOPS FNC AND MSNBC FOR THE QUARTER IN REACH
CNN POSTS MOST MONTH-TO-MONTH GROWTH IN SEPTEMBER
CNN DIGITAL NO. 1 IN ONLINE AND MOBILE NEWS
CNN Blog Network More than Doubles Since Last August, Strengthens Traffic Success
CNN & HLN
Third Quarter, 2010
CNN/U.S. reached more than 90 million viewers each month Q3 2010, while HLN reached 82 million, topping MSNBC and FNC’s third quarter average of 80 million each.
All cable new networks in Q3 2010 are down vs. the same quarter last year in both total day and primetime. Declines are more pronounced in primetime vs. total day, where all networks are down by double-digit margins among both total viewers and key adults 25-54. During head-to-head non-opinion programming (9am-5pm), CNN topped MSNBC in both total viewers (455k vs. 280k) and in the demo 25-54 (122k vs. 88k) and in total day/total viewers (393k vs. 387k).
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Someone really has it in for Anderson Cooper. Business Insider has been getting advanced leaks of AC360′s numbers, and basically nobody else’s, for a while now and today is no exception…
The first hour of “Anderson Cooper 360,” which airs nightly from 10 to midnight, just had its worst quarter ever both in total viewers and in the 25-54 age demographic, according to Nielsen Media Research.
During the third quarter of 2010, which ran from June 28 to September 24, Cooper averaged 582,000 total viewers and 180,000 viewers in the 25-54 demo, according to Nielsen. For some context, that’s down from 1.2 million total viewers and 424,000 demo viewers in the third quarter of 2008.
No doubt about it. The numbers are bad. But who has picked Business Insider to torpedo Cooper with bad numbers?
The AP’s David Bauder profiles Lawrence O’Donnell…
“He’s the type of person that you want to hear at the end of the day,” said Phil Griffin, MSNBC’s chief executive. “He’s very thoughtful, experienced and he’s got this elegance when he talks.”
O’Donnell’s experience on the network was also key. He’s a familiar face to regular MSNBC viewers, as was Rachel Maddow when she got her own show. It’s less chancy than starting from scratch with someone completely new.
Griffin envisions O’Donnell recounting the drama of a day in political life such as an episode of “The West Wing.” His competition is Greta Van Susteren at Fox News Channel, the ratings leader in the time slot, and the first part of Anderson Cooper’s nightly newscast on CNN.
The 10 p.m. rerun was starting to feel stale and it was important for MSNBC to get a fresh hour of programming, said Andrew Tyndall, a news consultant who publishes The Tyndall Report on TV news content. The host almost doesn’t matter as long as the show fits MSNBC’s left-of-center brand. Maddow established her own style and identity after getting on the air, he said.
O’Donnell is “definitely not a big enough name to get people to tune in” on his own, he said.
CNBC (1), CNN (1)
CNBC
CNBC WINS NEWS AND DOCUMENTARY EMMY AWARD
CNBC’s “Inside the Mind of Google” Wins In Outstanding Business And Economic Reporting—Long Form Category
ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J., September 28, 2010—CNBC, First in Business Worldwide, received a News and Documentary Emmy Awards in the category of Outstanding Business and Economic Reporting—Long Form for the network’s one-hour documentary “Inside the Mind of Google.” The awards, which recognize the very best news reports and documentary films aired on national television or streamed over the Internet, were presented by the National Academy of Arts & Sciences (NATAS) in a ceremony held at Frederick P. Rose Hall, Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center.
CNBC’s “Inside the Mind of Google,” reported by award-winning anchor Maria Bartiromo gives viewers an inside look at the most powerful and influential technology company in the world. CNBC’s Mitch Weitzner is senior executive producer and additional credits include senior producer Wally Griffith, producer Morgan Downs, contributing producer Lulu Chiang and editors Patrick Ahearn, Richard Korn and Lisa Orlando. Ray Borelli is the Vice President of Strategic Research, Scheduling and Long Form Programming.
CNN
CNN Digital No. 1 in Online and Mobile News
CNN Blog Network More than Doubles Since Last August, Strengthens Traffic Success
In August, CNN Digital held its No. 1 position among ALL Global News and Current Events sites in several key metrics, beating sites such as MSNBC Digital, Yahoo! News and Fox News Digital. Additionally, CNN Digital was No. 1 in mobile news among ALL News and Current Events. (See below for detailed data and charts)
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News on News got a tour of Bloomberg’s London offices…
Bloomberg’s London headquarters doesn’t sound like much on paper, or indeed a computer screen, but that would be understating matters considerably. Based on the picturesque Finsbury Square located in the financial heart of London, Bloomberg occupies City Gate House, a former gentleman’s club serving the trading districts of the British Capital. The building was originally designed by Giles Gilbert Scott, who also designed the iconic red telephone box, and the Battersea Power Station, both still visible in and around London. When Bloomberg acquired the building, which is in fact is located on Finsbury Circus, the old Standard Life building at 50 Finsbury Square was also acquired, and the two combined to create the building as it stands today, thus taking the more affluent address of the latter. The whole complex also takes in a third, smaller building, which was merged into the current layout when Bloomberg took up its tenancy, this building being located in Lackington Street. The structure, which overlooks the square, and is surrounded by banking institutions from around the world, is reminiscent of the stature and symbolism of the old British Empire. Indeed, one could easily confuse it as the central bank of an industrialised nation.
Behind the Scenes of In The Pulse with Andrea CatherwoodInside, things couldn’t be farther from the ornate colonial outer shell of the building. Immediately upon entering the main entrance, a modern – as far as to say futuristic – reception area spreads out over a vast open space. Immediately, the sheer expanse of the facility becomes self-evident, and the hustle and bustle inside, is a far cry from the peaceful, relaxing atmosphere right outside the door in Finsbury Square.
Mediaite’s Steve Krakauer interviews Jon Klein…
Whether the new prime time line-up is successful or not, Klein will forever be tied to Parker Spitzer and the upcoming Piers Morgan show. “I hope they’re runaway successes,” he said of the new programs. “I expect they’ll be very successful from the standpoint of quality. And they’ll continue to grow audiences over time. I think CNN is very well positioned. I’ll be watching.”
CNN (2)
CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360°, PEOPLE Magazine and Cartoon Network Team up for Anti-Bullying Initiative Town Hall, Special Series Titled Bullying: No Escape AC 360 Special Report with PEOPLE Magazine and Cartoon Network
As part of a larger commitment to the anti-bullying efforts across various Time Warner divisions, CNN, PEOPLE Magazine and Cartoon Network will team up for a special multi-platform report on the bullying epidemic facing young people in America.
CNN’s Anderson Cooper, who has covered numerous stories about the rise of bullying, will recognize October’s Bullying Prevention Month by presenting a one-hour special town hall on Anderson Cooper 360°. The town hall, titled Bullying: No Escape; an AC 360 Special Report with PEOPLE Magazine and Cartoon Network, will air Friday, October 8th at 10pm ET on CNN.
The town hall participants will include author and psychologist Dr. Phil McGraw, and Rosalind Wiseman, author of the best-selling book “Queen Bees and Wannabees”, which inspired the movie “Mean Girls”. American Idol finalist Crystal Bowersox will share how being bullied fueled her creative passion and how she plans to protect her son from experiencing what she did. Also, families struggling with this painful and important issue will discuss how bullying has become so prevalent and what parents and children can do to stop it. Cartoon Network Bullying Prevention Board members Kevin Jennings, Assistant Deputy Secretary of Education for the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, and Dr. Susan Limber of the Institute on Family and Neighborhood Life, Clemson University, also will participate with the AC 360 town hall to discuss the latest understandings and response options for bystanders, who represent 75-85% of students in schools considered witnesses to bullying. Cooper will explore who bears the responsibility to stopping bullying.
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Bloomberg announced that Linda Yueh has been hired as an economics correspondent…
LINDA YUEH JOINS BLOOMBERG TELEVISION AS AN ECONOMICS CORRESPONDENT
New York and London, September 27, 2010–Bloomberg Television, the global 24-hour business and financial news network, today announced that Linda Yueh has joined the network as a London-based economics correspondent.
Yueh, a fellow at Oxford University and an economist, joins Bloomberg Television’s markets desk. She will cover breaking news and provide analysis of top stories including the impact of the European debt crisis on markets around the world. Yueh will appear on Bloomberg Television’s weekday morning programming, including “The Pulse with Andrea Catherwood” (10-12 PM CET) and “On the Move with Francine Lacqua” (9-10 AM CET).
Read more »
The Hollywood Reporter’s Georg Szalai interviews newly minted CNN President Ken Jautz…
HOW IMPORTANT IS ANDERSON COOPER TO THE CNN LINEUP AND BRAND?
Jautz: Extremely. Anderson Cooper is the standard bearer for the type of journalism that CNN has become famous for and that we want to continue to be known for. One of the most memorable stories this year was Haiti, and nobody covered it as comprehensively as CNN, and nobody did as brilliant a job while covering it as Anderson Cooper or Sanjay Gupta and their teams.
ANY OTHER FAVORITE SHOWS ON CNN THAT ARE GOOD EXAMPLES FOR WHAT YOU’RE LOOKING FOR?
Jautz: I was just named head of this network. This is like saying which kid do you like better. I can’t do that.
ANY INTEREST IN BRINGING IN KATIE COURIC?
Jautz: Like I said, I am really focused on these three personalities and two shows and I don’t have any other announcements — be it shows or people — beyond that.
What’s Hot:
Jonathan Klein Fired by CNN – The notion that Klein would be fired by CNN isn’t that big a deal. Many had been taking bets on how much longer he would last. But the timing of the firing; after setting up 2/3 of CNN’s new soon to launch primetime, was very unexpected and head scratching. Klein said he “got shot” and he was right. Klein’s firing is not so much of a signal of an impending course correction as it is window dressing meant to buy time. There may be adjustments to CNN programming and personnel but CNN’s mission and how it’s carried out – which Klein was a big proponent of – are likely not to fundamentally change much. Ergo, Klein is the sacrificial lamb meant to buy CNN time to continue down the path that Klein sent it.
Ken Jautz – It’s now Jautz’s job to manage Klein’s legacy since there are no plans to halt the yet to be seen Parker Spitzer or Piers Morgan programs. There may be changes coming for American Morning but primetime is more or less set in stone and won’t be altered. This has boxed Jautz in for at least the near to mid term.
Scot Safon – Safon will be taking over at HLN.
Jeff Zucker – What everyone was anticipating has happened. Zucker has announced that he will leave NBC Universal when the sale to Comcast is completed.
Steve Capus – With Zucker gone speculation is rife that Capus may be getting a promotion of some sort.
Joe Scarborough: Loose Cannon? – Scarborough took a couple of digs at Keith Olbermann and Ed Schultz on Morning Joe this week. Bet that didn’t go over too well with Phil Griffin.
CNN Supresses “war crime” Footage? – Former CNN reporter Michael Ware made the charge that he filmed an alleged war crime for CNN but the network never aired it. Whether it was a war crime or not is open for debate. But it’s not really the kind of story CNN wants to deal with in either case…
FBN Anchor Changes – FBN is shuffling up its anchor rotation.
What’s Not:
A Debate, A Debate, My Network for a Debate! – The race is on for the cable nets to televise local/regional debates for a national audience in the run up to the November elections. It makes the nets look important and political but will audiences in California care about debates that don’t impact their state, I don’t know…
Gadgets R Us – CNN has made it known that it will juice up its election night coverage with more slick gadgets and technology. What about reporting?
Barry Nolan loses Comcast lawsuit – He never really had a chance to begin with.
TVNewser’s Chris Ariens writes that Steve Burke will become CEO of NBC Universal…
Former CNN Reporter Jamie Mcintyre writes about the firing of Jonathan Klein…
CNN still has many fine journalists doing first-rate work, and Klein trumpets them, and even takes partial credit for their success in his farewell memo. But among his dubious editorial improvements Klein cites marrying “…Rick Sanchez’s boundless energy to the endless possibilities of Twitter.” And also his latest solution to the sagging evening ratings: the hirings of Eliot Spitzer, Kathleen Parker, and Piers Morgan, whom he calls “three intelligent, magnetic personalities.”
The fact is Jon Klein has overseen the slow, and sometimes not-so-subtle tabloidization of CNN, as he has systematically shed programming that aspired to provide context and perspective, in favor of ratings-seeking formulas aim more at fanning the flames of outrage and emotion.
There are still islands of excellence on CNN, and Klein points to some of them in his valedictory missive. Candy Crowley. Fareed Zarkaria. But those islands of excellence are increasingly threatened by an rising tide of mediocrity and cynical tabloid sensationalism.
The New York Times’ Brian Stelter profiles MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell. Interestingly, O’Donnell was ripping the times during Morning Joe on Friday because he said this article got his age wrong. But it seems Stelter is an equal opportunity offender. I think Greta Van Susteren will lob a few grenades his way for the end of this sentence…
In the cable news world, the 10 o’clock hour is the time slot when CNN and the much higher-rated Fox News Channel wrap up their days with one final hour of news mixed, especially at Fox, with bombastic views.
Update: Bingo!
Brian Stetler of the New York Times, in an article today, refers to ON THE RECORD at 10pm as bombastic views. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think the adjective bombastic was meant to be a compliment but I think we can all agree it is an opinion…apparently his opinion and that of the New York Times for which he writes and they printed.
I saw the reference on inside cable news (a media website) so I copied the note copied below for you to see. It is part of Stetler’s article in today’s NYT about MS/NBC new show launch.
While I much appreciate the New York Times’ (Stetler’s) acknowledgment (it must kill them!) that we are the “much higher rated” …..(yes, ON THE RECORD at 10pm has been #1 at 10pm for 100 straight months….or 8 1/2 years)….
But the article is mostly about O’Donnell and his new show The Last Word…
It was Mr. Olbermann’s “Countdown” that first showed MSNBC there was a substantial audience for anti-Bush administration, anti-Republican commentary. Two years ago during the presidential election it added a companion in “The Rachel Maddow Show” at 9. Then Phil Griffin, the president of MSNBC, started thinking about adding a show at 10.
Ms. Maddow and Mr. O’Donnell were hired in much the same way: they were both substitutes for Mr. Olbermann, who managed to retain nearly all of his audience when he was away from work. But Mr. O’Donnell, unlike Ms. Maddow, has had a long history with the channel; he has been on the payroll since its founding in 1996, as a political analyst and as a very occasional weekend anchor. His appearances waxed and waned depending on his Hollywood commitments. “A year ago Keith was taking a night off, and they needed somebody,” he said.
Mr. Griffin recalled, “I watched and thought, ‘Holy cow,’ Lawrence commanded the screen. In prime time, the people who work on cable news, they own the screen.” Mr. Griffin signed him up as the permanent sub for Mr. Olbermann.
Some people campaigned mightily for the 10 p.m. time slot at MSNBC; Mr. O’Donnell is not one of those people. He turned down Mr. Griffin the first time the job was offered to him. He is, fundamentally, a writer and creator.
