The AP’s David Bauder writes about the changes ahead for MSNBC’s daytime schedule and speaks with MSNBC president Phil Griffin, who admits that his network is taking its programming in a different direction:
“We did some experimentation to find out what the audience during the daytime wants and I think we found out they want your basic facts — give me the facts, ma’am,” Griffin said. “We can still do it with our passion and a fast pace.”
MSNBC transitioned to more personality-driven daytime programming back in June when Dylan Ratigan and Dr. Nancy Snyderman joined the line-up. In recent weeks, MSNBC announced that Ratigan was moving to 4pmET and Snyderman was canceled.
Bauder writes, “MSNBC will be committed during the day to making sure that viewers who tune in are told the big stories of the day within five or 10 minutes, Griffin said.”
Back in June, when MSNBC was using the tagline “Appointment TV” for its then-new programs, Griffin had this to say about the programming shift:
“We’re changing dayside away from the TelePrompTer headline news to Dylan Ratigan and Dr. Nancy. And we’ll continue to do that less–of people sitting behind a desk, reading TelePrompTers,” Griffin says. “Our audience knows what’s going on. They’ve got BlackBerrys. They’re on the Web. So we’ve got to give them more.”
Speaking of MSNBC:
- Matea Gold adds White House correspondent Savannah Guthrie, who will be anchoring a new program in the altered dayside line-up, to the LA Times “Faces to Watch 2010” list.
- WaPo’s Tom Shales names MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” #7 on his best of the decade list, saying that the program “blossomed forth on the revamped MSNBC and proved that the political left doesn’t have to be locked out of TV by the garrulous right.”