The final edition of Verdict aired tonight on MSNBC. But it also may have been the beginning of the end of Dan Abrams’ 11-year run with NBC News and MSNBC.
He’s been a correspondent, anchor and general manager of the third place cable news network and when the news broke earlier this week that his show would have to make way for The Rachel Maddow Show, an insider predicted Abrams would leave MSNBC. “There’s interest from other news networks,” the source told TVNewser. But at the end of tonight’s finale, Abrams left the door open, if only half-seriously, to a return.
> Update: A tipster writes: “I work(ed) on Dan Abrams’ ‘Verdict’ show. I am a crew member. Dan shook the hands of his floor crew and said ‘goodbye.’ He is leaving. After the conventions, he will be gone.”
The farewell show included a compilation of his nightly Beat the Press segments; a commentary about his nemesis Karl Rove; and, in a segment which included campaign ads related to the McCain/homes story, Abrams talked about a future in voice work: “I think my next career may be in doing voiceovers, those haunting voiceovers.”
But the best was saved for last. Another “exiled” MSNBC anchor, Tucker Carlson phoned in from his vacation. “This is not a business you get into if you crave stability,” Carlson counseled Abrams. “Tucker, I am proud to join you in the ranks.” Abrams and Carlson will be in Denver next week at the DNC reporting for MSNBC. In addition, Abrams will be a fill-in anchor on the Today show, and reporting for Dateline and other NBC News broadcasts.
But in his parting comment, Abrams didn’t rule out a return to the MSNBC prime time airwaves. “This is the third goodbye show I’ve done at MSNBC in five years,” Abrams said. “So don’t count us out entirely.”