Brian Williams To O'Donnell: 'Rock Center' Will Get 'Crushed' In The Ratings (VIDEO)

Brian Williams appeared on Lawrence O'Donnell's Thursday show to hawk --what else?-- his upcoming newsmagazine show, "Rock Center." The two got into it right away, since the show, which debuts on Monday, happens to air at 10 PM -- opposite O'Donnell's.

"You weren't at 10 when I told the network schedulers, 'hey, it's OK,'" Williams said. (O'Donnell's show was recently moved back from 8 PM to its original slot at 10.) O'Donnell said he would advise his viewers to DVR his new rival's program. "I am not going to release them to watch your thing," he insisted.

The pair then discussed Williams' new competition. O'Donnell pointed out that he is going up against some formidable players, including "Dancing With The Stars." Williams said he wasn't concerned. "I don't mean to sound too precious but we've been putting this broadcast together not mindful of the entertainment shows that are going to kill us," he said. "...I know we're going to get crushed. It's not a ratings thing."

O'Donnell had another bone to pick with Williams. Apparently, one of his staffers left "The Last Word" to work on "Rock Center." O'Donnell wondered how Williams could have let this happen.

"He was begging me to get me out of this place," Williams said. "...I met with him once and he just handed me a note that said, 'help me,'" he said. "And it was after one of your staff meetings. It was sad."

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Comments

[Bon1042]

08:39 PM on 11/06/2011

My head blew up when they did segment on the 24 bill or whatever gallons of oil in No. Dakota with Harry Smith and drooling in exclamation when told by the oil rig guy. I see that as NBC pushing support for all the drilling that is quietly going on everywhere in the west and midwest. It's obvious that NBC is in Exxon/Mobil CEO Rex Tillerman's pocket since NBC and MSNBC run tarsands oil and gas fracking ads practically 24 hrs daily now. Means bit ad money fm oil and bigger salaries for Chris, Rachel, Ed, Lawrence and Al Sharpton. My spirit is broken.

Anyone remember the Repower America ads that ran 24/7 after the Gulf rig explosion that killed 11 men and the unique marshes and estuaries?? .... as we watched for 2 1/2 months ...the big oil slick ...slowly drifting.... and drifting to the estuaries and marshes??

A rig exploded in No. Dakota few wks ago, also in Kansas, thousands of gallons... 40,000 gallons in the Yellowstone River in Nat'l Park. One man said all the wildlife, and birds, water life are gone.... gone silent.

[veroneeca j]

10:57 PM on 10/31/2011

Im watching Rock Center right now and it is terrible. I give it 3 weeks, then goodbye

[Mike Clark II]

08:28 PM on 10/31/2011

i am going to watch!

[Lat24]

08:27 PM on 10/31/2011

I recall the first couple of months that "60 Minutes" was on ...... gezzzz did they ever get beat up week after week after week. No one like them, no one wanted to watch them, everyone was a critic. Advertising was almost non-existant and CBS News took it's share of heat over the NEW Sunday night show. Same with ABC's " 20/20" ... more fluff than pith .. but it's still there. NBC's "Dateline" is still there ... so ...... maybe the "Rock" might surprise everyone .... we might learn something we didn't know before .. maybe not ... it's up to those of us who are willing to keep an open mind and pay attention to what is being offered. Mr. Williams is a pro in his field and the group he has assembled is pretty impressive. I'm willing to give the network and the show an hour of my attention. We'll see.

[Flacracker]

11:17 AM on 10/31/2011

Lawrence should be moved to the 7pm slot and the show should be called "The First Word"

[calloy]

10:38 AM on 10/31/2011

you're both going to lose to monday night football on my tv.

[CSKAP]

10:24 AM on 10/31/2011

This is beginning to look like it might be an actual news show for adults. Quite a staff, Richard Engle on Foreign Affairs is a big one right there. He’s actually been there and done that over and over again.
Brian Williams has a great sense of humor and he doesn’t seem too caught up with himself.
I’ll give it a try for sure. If only they can have someone screaming that Obama is a Kenyan, Muslim, socialist, illegal immigrant, communist every half hour so it’s “Fair and Balanced”

[Garbearsf]

09:15 AM on 10/31/2011

What a welcome change from dancing with the stars and all reality garbage. Nothing like keeping America stupid. Thanks NBC for devoting an hour, I assume, during the so called prime time to a serious program.

[Bocababs]

07:49 AM on 10/31/2011

To 50% of the country Laurence O'Donnell is too elite, and Brian Williams is too Moderate. It is not the time slot....it is the same audience who are afraid of most movies, because they may lean a little left of center; plus, and this is something I found out when Keith Olbermann was on MSNBC, that channel is NOT carried as widely as Fox News. Walk into any conservative leaning Hospital, Jiffy Lube or Restaurant in South Florida and Fox News is running all the time. I will divide my time between both of these shows, because I am the OTHER 50% of the country.

[turry]

07:17 AM on 10/31/2011

I use to like Brian Williams until he joined the other anchors and drank the Obama koolaid. Mainstream media bais is unbelievable. They will say and do anything to "attack" whatever the GOP does or says anything. They have no shame and frankly I just don't watch or listen to them as they are totally outrageous.

[nitwitsRus]

09:23 AM on 10/31/2011

like that
Fair&Balanced channel haugh?

[nitwitsRus]

09:26 AM on 10/31/2011

yep THIS don't say NUTIN!
Roger Eugene Ailes (born May 15, 1940) is president of Fox News Channel, chairman of the Fox Television Stations Group. Ailes was a media consultant for Republican presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush

[ydrittmann]

11:39 AM on 10/31/2011

He bragged he was an "unofficial" advisor to George W. Bush.

[LVNVprog]

02:23 AM on 10/31/2011

Richard Engel would be far better at 6PM than Brian Williams. Brian suffers from the "Suck Up" syndrome common at 6PM on the major channels. When is the last time you saw an informative policy question of politicians from these entertainment news hosts.

[JohnnyAce Okeke]

12:02 AM on 10/31/2011

It's not about ratings.

Once you make it all about ratings, you have left the business of news information and stepped into the business of entertainment.

At least Brian is letting it be clear now where his priorities lie, and it isn't some stupid high school popularity contest. It's staying unpopular and making the Honor Roll. {{-_-}}

[mrdpavo]

01:14 AM on 10/31/2011

So true!

[Bryan --]

10:31 PM on 10/30/2011

Greta beats them all at 10

[fried52]

10:56 PM on 10/30/2011

I liked Greta when she defended OJ on CNN. When she had her real face and hadn't sold out to the WWF of news

[Sunnyhorse]

12:01 AM on 10/31/2011

Bwahahahahahaha ... pause to take a breath ... hahahahahaha.

[BlueOnBlue]

08:48 PM on 10/30/2011

Brian Williams is probably the funniest guy in network TV news. I think that also makes him one of the smartest.

[OldKatt]

01:53 AM on 10/31/2011

I've seen Brian Williams hold his own, and then some, as a guest on Jon Stewart's show.

[LittleGirl]

09:57 AM on 10/31/2011

F&F

[iridium53]

08:16 PM on 10/30/2011

In addition to Brian Williams, Harry Smith and Richard Engel are very worth watching.