Eat The Press

MSNBC Shakeup: Abrams Shuffles The Prime Time Lineup

TV Newser |  Posted Friday June 30, 2006 at 08:48 AM

The 40-Year Old Executive Virgin has made his first move since being named General Manager of MSNBC, and there are a few surprises: two hours of taped investigative programs per night, a la Dateline (and a la an earlier report by the New York Times), airing at 10 and 11; and a program shuffle to accommodate that change, with Tucker Carlson moved up from 11pm into Dan's old slot at 4 and 6 pm Eastern. (I actually think this is a terrific move; Carlson's show covers a ton of material and is a great cheat-sheet catch-up for what you may have missed during the day.) The big surprise is a new and expanded role for Rita Cosby: Abrams has named her the primary anchor of the new reporting block, "MSNBC Investigates," saying "We need Rita to help take us to the next level. She will lead the newly created "Rita Cosby Specials" unit. As always, when there's a big story, Rita will be there. In addition, Rita will be one of the hosts of our documentary programming." Wow - huge show of support for Rita. Guess he doesn't hold the portrait thing against her.

UPDATE: I should clarify that the surprise (to me, at least) was Cosby's expanded role - not that "Live & Direct" was cancelled. But apparently Cosby is unhappy since she was promised prime time when she came on board. Still, that was a year ago - and ratings talk.

On the production/programming side, Scott Hooker continues as Senior Executive Producer of Documentary Production and Development, and MSNBC vet Michael Rubin is back as VP, long form programming after a five year stint at CBS.

Full memo after the jump (via TVNewser).

First let me just thank everyone for helping to make my transition to General Manager relatively painless. I truly appreciate all of your kind words of encouragement and hope that I can live up to your expectations. More important, in a few short weeks, I have become even more convinced that with the talent in this building, we can continue to surge ahead.

With that said, I want to announce a number of exciting changes in our evening schedule.

Beginning on Monday July 10, we will air two hours of taped programs at 10 and 11 pm Monday through Friday. Friday night taped programming has been an enormous success for us. As a result, we will complement our live primetime shows with programs from our library of long form shows. I believe this change will allow MSNBC to better reflect the numerous outlets that make up NBC News. The same way Dateline is a critical piece of NBC News, taped programming should be a critical piece for us as well. As we begin to ramp-up production of new programs, we will work closely with the team over at Dateline NBC to create hours on topics ranging from news of the day, to crime to the war on terror to politics. Of course we will also cover human interest stories which have long been a staple at Dateline as well.

I am thrilled that Scott Hooker will continue to serve as Senior Executive Producer of Documentary Production and Development . I am also pleased to announce that an old friend of MSNBC is back in house. Michael Rubin has returned to MSNBC after a 5 year absence and will serve as Vice President, long form programming. Mike has had a distinguished career producing long form programming here and at CBS News. Together, Mike and Scott will lead our efforts as we continue to build our tape inventory.

Rita Cosby is going to expand her role with us and become the primary anchor of "MSNBC Investigates." We need Rita to help take us to the next level. She will lead the newly created "Rita Cosby Specials" unit. As always, when there's a big story, Rita will be there. In addition, Rita will be one of the hosts of our documentary programming.

"Live & Direct" has made headlines literally from its first day on the air and I expect that her new unit will continue to do so. I want to thank Rita, Angie and the whole team for their hard work and dedication over the past year.

Tucker Carlson will move from late prime to early prime, taking the place of my show at 4 and 6 pm eastern time. I'm excited to have Tucker jump-start our primetime lineup from his new home-base in Washington. Expect to see a number of new segments which will help better brand the show in the mold of . .well. . . Tucker Carlson. The goal. . . to have him to do a better show than I did!

I believe that this schedule will help take us to the next level. I'm lucky to be able to work with such a great team here at MSNBC. Thanks for all your continued hard work.