Hard-left show hosts on cable news are a little like left-handed relievers in baseball. No matter how badly they screw up, there always seems to be a place for them somewhere.
And what better place than a resolutely hard-left venue like Olbermann\’s former employer, MSNBC – where the viewership for some of its shows is roughly the attendance figure for New York Knights games before Roy Hobbs signed on (sorry for the obscure reference, but I couldn\’t resist).
Excerpted from Andrew Kirell\’s article at mediaite.com:
Late last year, as MSNBC bled primetime viewers, network chief Phil Griffin openly sought to “broaden” the channel\’s coverage, away from progressive commentary-heavy talk shows and back to human interest stories and hard news. Since then, multiple shows have been cancelled and jobs have been called into question…the struggling cable net has to figure out how to overhaul its programming following two of its worst quarterly performances in recent memory.
According to multiple sources within the network, the biggest rumor to emerge is that MSNBC has engaged in talks with soon-to-be-departed ESPN2 host Keith Olbermann about returning to the cable network\’s primetime lineup.
But even a theoretical Olbermann return could suggest…that several other shows are likely on the chopping block.
Multiple sources within the network tell us that several shows are at risk: All In with Chris Hayes, which currently runs at 8 p.m., opposite Fox\’s ratings titan in The O\’Reilly Factor; PoliticsNation with Al Sharpton, which features the controversial host\’s commentary in the 6 p.m. hour; and The Ed Show, which was cancelled once before, moved to the weekend, and then revived at 5 p.m. on weekdays.
Which brings us to another key problem for MSNBC bigwigs: how to revive its daytime programming that sometimes loses to the ratings challenged Al Jazeera America in demo ratings and, some suggest, sets the poor performance tone for the primetime shows.
I don\’t think Andrew Kirell intended this as a humor piece, but I have to admit that when he reminded us of Phil Griffin seeking to broaden MSNBC\’s coverage beyond a steady ratatat of hard-left commentary, and I thought about what the network\’s lineup is right now, it gave me a smile and a spontaneous chuckle.
I wonder if Mr. Griffin thinks that a re-do of Keith Olbermann would broaden things. If so, he needs some serious recalibration.
Anyway, more on this once the changes, if they are actually going to occur, have been put into motion.
