NBC News 'Feeling Really Good' About 'Rock Center' Launch

NBC News says it is happy with Monday night's debut of its new newsmagazine, "Rock Center with Brian Williams" despite the expected lackluster ratings.

"We're feeling really good about the launch," NBC News chief Steve Capus told The Huffington Post during a run-in at — where else? — Rock Center. "It was a great debut, there's terrific buzz and I'm proud to see this news division launch something this big and important — and to add more quality journalism to primetime."

The show drew relatively modest numbers, premiering to 4.1 million total viewers and a 1.0 rating in Adults 18-49 demographic — which is, as Deadline notes, lower than both the premiere and average for "The Playboy Club," which it replaced, and lower than NBC's other newsmagazine, "Dateline." But NBC is emphasizing that Monday night's "Rock Center" debut gave the network its best total-viewers showing in the time period since September 19, beating the two remaining telecasts of "The Playboy Club," and that it was the only 10PM show to grow off its 9:30 lead-in.

But "Rock Center" was never about the numbers, as both Williams and Capus were sure to point out in advance of the show's debut.

"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," Williams said recently. "I know we're going to get crushed. It's not a ratings thing."

And from a critical standpoint, the show's debut — which debuted with a Harry Smith report on a North Dakota town with negative unemployment, a Richard Engel report from Syria, a Kate Snow report on women traveling to the US to have babies and a live in-studio interview with Jon Stewart — has been a major success.

The New York Post's Linda Stasi declared the show "Solid as a Rock," describing the broadcast as "a news magazine at 10 p.m. that is so smart, so unexpected, so entertaining and yet so informative that you might think you just stepped back in time 20 years." The Washington Post's Hank Stuever wrote that it was "assured, quick-paced and enjoyably flavored with a few spicy dashes of Brian Williams's dry rub."

Somewhat ironically, given that it was presumably meant as a draw, much of the negative reaction to the show was centered around Williams' interview with Stewart. "It was — in a word — awkward," remarked The Daily Beast. And TIME's James Poniewozik, who otherwise described the show as "brightly produced" and asked "Why Isn't the Evening News More like This?" found the Stewart interview "uncomfortable."

"Williams and Stewart are both intelligent, funny men, but this proved that Williams does better as a guest on Stewart's show," Poniewozik wrote.

An NBC News insider said that the show's first effort was just that, and that viewers and critics alike should expect tweaks in subsequent episodes.

"You learn so much from a launch," the insider said. "We're happy with the foundation and how they got off the ground. You'll continue to see tweaks for the next 25 years."

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Comments

[Whitney Snyder]

02:41 PM on 11/23/2011

Mesmerizing

[Danny Shea 1]

02:42 PM on 11/23/2011

Thank you.

[pacc1]

01:11 PM on 11/07/2011

The segments need more meat on the bones. The Richard Engle piece seemed like there was a story to tell. It never got told. Trying to do too muh.

[Terrible Towel]

11:40 AM on 11/04/2011

I loved when he was talking about the airline boarding thing and said that "They boarded, put their stuff in the bins, and then sat the he11 down." Loved it!

[jdmn17]

10:46 AM on 11/04/2011

From a network that maybe has two watchable shows anything better than a negative number is called success.

[2toot]

11:30 AM on 11/03/2011

A nicely paced show, hosted by an intelligent newscaster with a sense of humor. Based on this first show, I will watch or dvr weekly.

[catsunshine]

10:42 AM on 11/03/2011

It's not fair to be hard on the first episode of a new series. That being said, Williams' humor needs to be utilized differently. Instead of having a banal "interview" with Jon Stewart, a more inspired (yet still funny) segment could have been pulled off. What about a meta-conversation contrasting a news journalist who wants to be funny, and a humorist who wants to be news-y? Presenting slightly more riveting subjects than their kids' Halloween costumes, this approach would not have to sacrifice Williams' funnier, lighter side.

Or, if its his personality that Williams wants to showcase (which people would love--he's so intrinsically likable), what about seeing him out in the world on location with some celebrity a la Barbara Walters, but stressing the funny interactions the two might have, say, as they do some activity or event together.

My advice to the producers (because I'm sure the producers will take the random thoughts of some anonymous commenter to heart) is to lose whichever writer is producing the "funny" segment(s), and hire someone with a genuine vision who's genuinely funny. Maybe Williams' doesn't want to come off all scripted and Jay Leno-y, but even Jon Stewart, who's naturally funny, has writers writing [at least some of] his jokes. The right person would understand how the various jokes--and Williams' overall humor in general--should be paced as well as placed.

[FLDeziner]

10:26 AM on 11/03/2011

My impression with the Stewart Williams segment was that Williams was trying very hard to be witty like Stewart, and Stewart seemed stunned regarding the moronic topic for discussion during his segment.

[hirst shark]

02:18 PM on 11/02/2011

"Rock Center" has a very 20/20 feel circa the 1990s (which I liked). The Richard Engel segment, as usual, was amazing.

[Maxx Webber]

12:16 PM on 11/02/2011

Very happy about lack luster ratings ?? since when?

[LittleGirl]

11:53 AM on 11/02/2011

I always enjoy Mr. Williams, Mr Engle and the topics were good...especially my favorite - Mr. Stewart.

But...with the usage of DVRs these days, how can they possibly know the true numbers of viewers? I taped it and enjoyed it when I watched it about 15 minutes in the hour.

We don't watch LIVE tv shows anymore. We like to skip the commercialism. I know the advertisers hate that but if they had commercials that were watchable, maybe we'd change our habits.

I have a suggestion, why not put all of the commercials in one segment of the hour and then we could watch 44 minutes uninterrupted. That's what they do on BBC. Why not try that sometime. You'll get more viewers, trust me.

[Lat24]

11:03 AM on 11/02/2011

Have to admit that I am more "Frontline" and old "Nightline" oriented ... but the "Rock" isn't an unwatchable news-mag. Mr. Williams is always an excellent "camera catcher" ... he knows what he's doing. I'll watch it and keep an open mind. I'm a little over the O'Donnell venting show .... he has his point and it's usually correct ....but he needs to cool his jets once in a while.

[ZenGardner]

08:37 AM on 11/02/2011

I thought it was pretty good. A little slow at times.

[zest]

10:11 AM on 11/02/2011

I admit to being 63 years old and I like it a little slow at times.

[Jo Ann Law McGrath]

08:15 AM on 11/02/2011

I wrote the referenced the blog ID hurriedly. Apologies. www.singlecelledviews.blogspot.com

[Jo Ann Law McGrath]

08:13 AM on 11/02/2011

I like Brian Williams. I liked his show. The North Dakota employment boom sounded promising. We know the country needs jobs. But jobs based on fracking? Please consider this: www.singlecelledview.blogspot.com

[RedStateCenterLeft]

07:41 AM on 11/02/2011

Stewart and BriWi are your two smartest guys in the room type of people, so it's natural for people not as smart as they are to not like their segment together. This was a good first date. You have to see what episode three looks like to get a good grasp at what this program really will look like from that point on. Sort of like a third date (usually a bowling date), you can then get a good handle on whether or not she's worthy of further investment of time and money.