The Ticker: Scarborough, Martin, Van Susteren...
> So what does this mean? Yesterday morning Joe Scarborough joked with TVNewser that he and Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews and others at MSNBC were, "going to eat Thanksgiving dinner together." But the day before he tells the Daily Intelligencer, regarding Olbermann, "I don't invite him to Thanksgiving dinner and he doesn't invite me to Thanksgiving dinner, but I think everything is fine." > Apparently CNN's Roland Martin is a bit overworked. He's been working the conventions all day for CNN, he overs

Chris Matthews "Thrown Under The Bus" After Shareholder Complaints [Feuds]
Keith Olbermann may have been pushed out of his gig anchoring MSNBC's election coverage, but the Countdown host actually made out pretty well, with the cable news network widely reported to be in the process of extending his contract. Far sadder is the case of Olbermann's fellow shouting head Chris Matthews, also ejected from the election team over his on-air feuds. Matthews' contract is up in 2009, two years sooner than Olbermann's, and yet no one is talking about buttering him up! That's probably because

Morning Memo: Carolina Herrera Dependent on Renee Zellweger; The Eldridge on Facebook; Paris Hilton Thinks Virginity is 'Cool'
The drama at MSNBC continues, with sources saying that Jeff Immelt, the head of parent-company GE, was directly involved in the decision to demote squabbling anchors Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann. [P6] Paris Hilton is defending The Jonas Brothers' decision to wear promise rings, saying virginity is "a cool thing for a kid to keep." [US Weekly] The entire Clinton family made a surprise visit to a Central Park performance of "Hair" on Sunday. [Third item, NYDN] Jerry O'Connell r

"Little By Little, The Slippery Slope Lost its Ground"
A lot of the talk inside NBC and MSNBC today is not about the campaigns, or Hurricane Ike or the markets; it's about today's news that Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews have been removed as co-anchors for MSNBC's political coverage. TVNewser talked with several NBC and MSNBC insiders for their reaction and what the mood is like today. The comments range from 'it needed to happen' to asking, 'what's next?' An NBC News executive believes the Olbermann-Matthews pairing was dicey almost from the start &mda

CHRIS & KEITH 'LEFT' OUT AT MSNBC
THERE'S been a coup against the leftists occupying MSNBC's election anchor desk. Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann have been bumped by the Peacock Network, beginning with the upcoming presidential debates and continuing through election night, a...

Who's On Team Olbermann-Matthews? And Who Wants That Ship to Sink?
Accustomed to playing defense, MSNBC president Phil Griffin finds himself in a worn-in seat prescribing euphemisms toward his embattled network. With the in-fighting between Keith Olbermann, Chris Matthews, Joe Scarborough, and David Gregory taking a backseat to the assumption that Griffin & Co. caved to right-y criticism that the network's coverage leaned too far to the left — thus resulting in K+M moving back to pundit-only chairs — MSNBC now finds itself again defending its internal

Keith Olbermann And Chris Matthews Have Sissy Fight, Get Sent To The Corner
Chris Matthews has never been my cup of tea, and I haven’t had the least bit of interest in Keith Olbermann since he left SportsCenter.  However, it seems that these two primadonnas managed to screw up a very high-profile gig, that of anchoring MSNBC’s political coverage.  First of all, they couldn’t manage to keep their personal opinions and PMS moods to themselves: The benching of the blowhards comes amid accusations that the pair has been shilling for the Democratic ticket. When

Hard Fall: What Happened to NBC?
On Tuesday afternoon, Phil Griffin, the president of cable-news network MSNBC, had had enough of the interviews and was getting angry. Roughly 48 hours earlier, Mr. Griffin had announced his decision to remove Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews from anchoring big political nights for his network. Henceforth, according to Mr. Griffin’s dictum, NBC News’ chief White House correspondent, David Gregory, would handle the news duties for MSNBC. Mr. Matthews and Mr. Olbermann would shift into purely revved-up

Poll: Did MSNBC Make the Right Call?
MSNBC's decision to limit the opinionizing of Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews to their respective primetime shows is predictably not going down well among liberal bloggers, who see the network as turning its back on the viewers who have been powering its ratings growth. "The right dictates MSNBC's programming decisions," grouses Salon's Glenn Greenwald. "[O]f course, only sycophantic, pro-GOP voices should be allowed on the air," snarks Markos Moulitsas. You know what I think. What about you, readers?

MSNBC shifts anchors in dispute
NEW YORK -- MSNBC is replacing Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews as co-anchors of political night coverage with David Gregory, and will use the two as commentators. The change reflects tensions between the freewheeling MSNBC and NBC News. The on-air drama made MSNBC a punch line when NBC anchor Brian Williams appeared on "The Daily Show'' last week. "Does MSNBC have to be the Lohans?'' Stewart asked him. » Click to enlarge image

Anchors Away! Keith and Chris Out at MSNBC
MSNBC has finally come to its senses and taken Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews off anchor duty -- and Olbermann's reaction perfectly illustrates why it was necessary to do so. Throughout the election season, Olbermann and Matthews have co-anchored event coverage even though both function as opinion journalists in their primary roles at the network -- Olbermann as host of Countdown and Matthews as host of Hardball. MSNBC president Phil Griffin has said this arrangement worked because the two men "put on

Skip This David Gregory Noise, Let's Get Diddy In The MSNBC Anchor Seat
It was reported yesterday that Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews will be relieved of their duties as co-chairs of MSNBC's prime time election season coverage because they were fighting too much. David Gregory will be replacing them. Some people are claiming that the shake up is in response to right wing complaints that the network was showing a distinct liberal bias, and apparently the people at NBC were also upset because it reflected negatively on the objectivity of their August institution insofar as it

Barack Obama Vs. John McCain ESPN The Magazine Picture
The latest issue of ESPN the Magazine hits newsstands Friday and will feature Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain in the 0.01 section going head-to-head in football uniforms. Obama is decked out in Chicago Bears gear while McCain wears the uniform of his home state Arizona Cardinals. Charles Gibson is going to referee the game although the McCain camp wanted the Bill O’Reilly-Sean Hannity crew and Barack’s side was hoping for Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews. Democratic Vice P

Is Jeff Zucker Hanging Jeff Immelt Out on the Olbermann-Matthews Fiasco?
If GE chairman "Jeff Immelt's fingerprints [are] all over" a supposed deal to beef up Keith Olbermann's contract while letting Chris Matthew's ride out his agreement until it expires next year, than Jeff Zucker's fingerprints are all over the Page Six item saying it's so. Zucker, the NBC chief and notorious New York Post leaker, has much to gain from the item, which fingers a Immelt-Olbermann coup that put David Gregory in the anchor chair while demoting Olbermann and Mat

KEITH DEMOTED - BUT WITH A PAY RAISE
NETWORK execs mollified the cantankerous Keith Olbermann as they demoted him by promising to sweeten his $4 million-a-year contract. But his more professional MSNBC co-anchor, Chris Matthews, didn't get anything but half the blame. David Gregory was...

Report: MSNBC's Lefty Experiment to End
MSNBC is moving back the center. According to a report by The New York Times' Brian Stelter, the cable news network's experiment in more partisan election coverage "appears to be over." Writes Stelter: After months of accusations of political bias and simmering animosity between MSNBC and its parent network NBC, the channel decided over the weekend that the NBC News correspondent and MSNBC host David Gregory would anchor news coverage of the coming debates and election night. Mr. Olbermann and

MSNBC Removes Olbermann & Matthews From Election Anchor Duties
With less than 60 days until the election, MSNBC is replacing Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews as a co-anchors of prime time political coverage and replacing them with NBC White House correspondent David Gregory. For months the network has been criticized for allowing Olbermann to anchor election coverage while he continued to host "Countdown" where his opinion was made clear in segments and "Special Comments." In a story in tomorrow's New York Times, Olbermann calls his situation as being, "not utte

Bloggers Have Their Say About the Change in the Airwaves
WaPo's Howard Kurtz picks up much of the left-leaning blog reaction to Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews being pulled from co-anchor duties for MSNBC's politics coverage. A couple examples: • Salon's Glenn Greenwald: "This decision by MSNBC is as alarming as it is illustrative. They just implicitly chided and overtly demoted their most popular and valuable news personality because the White House, the McCain campaign and the Right demanded that they do so." • Talk Left's Jeralyn Merritt:

RNC & Gustav: Prime Time Coverage Notes
• Fox News Channel will remain live until 2amET tomorrow morning (later if news warrants) with coverage from the Gulf coast and reports from the RNC as well. Greta Van Susteren interviewed Laura Bush and Cindy McCain to air later tonight. Shepard Smith anchors a special hour at 11pmET. Fox & Friends will begin at 5amET tomorrow. • On CNN Campbell Brown anchors a two hour Hurricane/RNC special from 7-9pmET. Larry King Live will air live at both 9pm & Midnight. And AC360 from 10-12pmET. Anderson

NBC News' uneasy cable hookup
NBC's decision to move Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews out of the MSNBC anchor slots for this fall's election - widely seen as an attempt to protect the traditional NBC News brand - points up a longer-term problem with splitting that brand, a rival executive said yesterday. After weeks of infighting, several uncomfortable on-air moments and mounting criticism that MSNBC's political coverage was tainting NBC's image of objectivity, NBC announced that David Gregory would become MSNBC's chief anchor. Olbe

MSNBC shifts Matthews, Olbermann
MSNBC said Monday that it will replace the team of Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann as anchors of its live political coverage for the rest of the presidential campaign season. David Gregory, NBC News’ chief White House correspondent, will be the primary host of coverage of the presidential and vice presidential debates coming up over the next two months, as well as election night, said Phil Griffin, MSNBC’s president. The decision was first reported in Monday’s editions of The New York Times and Th

When The Tide Turned At MSNBC
In a must-read in the New York Observer, Felix Gillette gets the story behind the story of MSNBC's decision to take Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews off the political anchor desk for the rest of the campaign. While MSNBC president Phil Griffin has spent the last 48 hours trying to tamp down rumors, Gillette details the open dissension and behind-the-scene maneuvering that led to the change. First, the rumors. The New York Post reported that GE Chairman Jeffrey Immelt facilitated the change because

Matthews and Olbermann removed from election coverage
Filed under: News, Industry, Programming, Reality-Free In a move that can be considered either a turn back to neutral coverage of political events or a fearful tactic to curb further criticism on their network, NBC News has decided to dump Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews as co-anchors of NSNBC's election coverage. Replacing them on the upcoming debates and election night will be White House correspondent David Gregory. Some say the decision to drop the two most popular personalities on the network fr

Olbermann and Matthews no longer anchoring
Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann will no longer anchor during upcoming news events on MSNBC.