Tom Brokaw Defends Evening News: ‘Bill O’Reilly Would Finish Dead Last’

By Jordan Chariton 

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We caught up with NBC News Special Correspondent Tom Brokaw earlier this week at NYC’s 92nd Street Y where the NBC Newsman interviewed his former “Today’ co-host Jane Pauley about her new book. Brokaw, who anchored “NBC Nightly News” for 22 years, defended the network evening newscasts.

“That audience is so much more substantial than people realize,” Brokaw said. “When I talk to audiences, I say, ‘How many of you think that Bill O’Reilly is the most popular guy in news?’ and they all raise their hands. I say, ‘Bill O’Reilly would finish dead last if he were on the evening news.'”

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Brokaw goes on to recount the strong numbers the three evenings newscasts drew last week: “Nothing else in America delivers that kind of audience.”

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