What Will Wolff Bring To MSNBC Prime?

Six months ago, I bet Bill Wolff didn’t expect to be named the executive in charge of primetime for MSNBC. But that’s his new title, effective Tuesday, as Rick Kaplan announced in an e-mail to staffers. Wolff, who EPed The Situation with Tucker Carlson, will now oversee the cable net’s evening lineup, including Matthews, Olbermann, Cosby, Scarborough, and Carlson.

“He’s the best producer I have ever met,” a trusted insider raved this evening. “He is exactly what we need.” What can he bring to MSNBC? Energy, in a place that is craving it. “There’s nothing negative about him,” the insider added.

> Did you know Wolff was the captain of the Harvard water polo team?

> MediaWeek: “Wolff joined MSNBC in April from Fox Sports Networks, where he developed the daily talker I, Max. Prior to that, Wolff served at ESPN, where he was creator and coordinating producer of Around the Horn and also worked on signature shows such as SportsCenter NFL Countdown and College Football Gameday.”

> Wolff was the Disembodied Voice of Around the Horn…

> Matt Labash‘s must-read dispatch from New Orleans calls Wolff a “manic executive producer.” On the team’s seven-hour drive from Houston to Baton Rouge, Wolff drove, “medicating himself with unhealthy quantities of Nicorette and Diet Dr. Pepper…”

> TV Week: The Situation “has not helped MSNBC dig itself out of fourth place…but the show’s audience is the youngest (median age 53) in MSNBC’s nighttime lineup.”

> Also: Situation senior producer Brad Como is the new EP…