Robin Red

Megyn Kelly thinks she can be the next Oprah, she said that was who she looked up to and who she aspires to be. Andrew Lack is going to do whatever he can to keep her cause she is a huge gamble. How many Sunday magazine do well when competing against 60 Minutes. They are in over their head with their big egos. Lack has a big ego. At best, he probably promised her a job on Today show or Meet The Press. He will probably phase out Lauer in the next couple of years.

Nicole Wallace is cool. I am happy for her. Stephanie Ruhle, she is cool, like her show, passionate and can host her own business show on MSNBC. Am I the only who thinks that Hallie Jackson is a little overrated? I like Hallie but at the same time I think her fast rise is getting inside her head. She has been given a big push but I was listening to her the other day and she has a motor mouth.She works so much, she must be on speed. She talked way to fast and her story was all over the place. I don't think she is ready for primetime. Needs to go back to being a White House Correspondent before getting a show. What happened to Morgan Radford? She is intelligent and speaks very calmly. Lack should put her on tv. He has a serious lack of diversity issues on MSNBC.

He should keep Lawrence O'Donnell and axe Brian Williams 11pm spot to put in a open panel unrated discussion show. I have been hearing a rumor that Lack wants to give Brian Williams a primetime spot. That is very stupid, cause Williams is damaged goods and lucky to still be working. Williams is a ticking time bomb and all that Lack cares about is getting more juice out of Williams. All that Lack should care about is trying to put Williams into retirement the next few years. Lack has a diversity issue he is hiring all these white bread hosts but once the election rolls around the diverse electorate is going to come back into full force again. He needs diverse hosts, he should steal someone like Angela Rye on CNN who is very smart and great for television. This next election is going to be election for the millenials and MSNBC does not have the pulse of millenials who is going to be a predominant group in the next four years.

I think Andrew Lack and Megyn Kelly are in over their heads. Megyn Kelly's rise to fame is nothing but a mainstream media creation cause she was Trump's favorite punching bag and worked for Fox News. It was conservative vs conservative talk show host and the media ate it up and played the sexism card and she reaped the benefit from it. I think her star power is overestimated. Her show will benefit from a good consistent time slot following Today show but at part of me specualtes that was she signed on to get a big job. She may get Matt or Savannah's job. If NBC fails with her it will be the worse experiment since Katie Couric. Knowing how big an ego Andrew Lack has, he will do whatever he can to show justify her high paycheck. Megyn Kelly is over her head if she thinks she be can be like Oprah. She does not have the natural likability factor and Oprah is in her own legaue. What audience can Megyn Kelly hold onto, besides the conservative over 65 year old base. The only person at NBC who has Oprah like presence and appeal is Lester Holt. He is very likable, credible.

I never was a fan of the 3rd hour to tell you the truth.

Yup it was just a filler hour of the same thing.

Compared to where they were a couple of years ago, Today show viewership is down. GMA and Today have lost viewers dramatically and right now in a little bubble competing with themselves but they are not building new audience. CBS This Morning is building new viewers and is the threat.

Some reports circulating that Megyn Kelly might be Matt Lauer's replacement. And that Lauer was out of the loop when Kelly got hired. His press people are saying that he knew Megyn was getting hired and NBC inside sources are saying he did not know. A clash of two big egos, with Megyn Kelly coming in to NBC no doubt the executives are going to groom her for a top job. Some people say Savannah's job is in danger but I can't see Matt and Megyn working well together. They both are going to compete for big interviews. Some people are saying that Savannah might work with Chuck Todd on Meet The Press. It is possible cause I am sure Savannah outgrew the silliness of morning tv while working with Holt, Todd and Brokaw. I have a feeling that Lauer is going to get pushed out in 2018, the numbers are declining and he is not as popular as Today show producers think he is. I am so happy that Kristen Welker shined inaugration day then Al Roker. He is an overpaid sap who is losing his relevancy, they should move the road warriors over to NBC Today show.

Reason why cause heavy news journalists left the program. Despite what people say about Gumbel he brought intellectulaism to the show. Meredith has outgrown the program and feels forced for her to be there . The current team members is the weakest lineup I have seen. From Matt, Roker, Gifford, Hall, Geist and Kotb a bunch of lightweights. I am glad Jane Pauley is doing very well on CBS Sunday Morning.

The problem is that NBC has build the Today show so much around Lauer then everybody else. He is very overrated host, he is just an interviewer and not a well rounded journalist. That they can't focus beyond that. They have good enough hosts, where the show will be find without him. You don't need great journalism skills to run a show that focuses on cooking, clothes, celebrities and silliness. To most hard news journalists, hosting the Today show is like a day off. Lauer has conned people at NBC to believe that he is some great journalist at Today show when he is nothing more then a host . Since Lauer has so much control over the show, it is hard for journalists to rise. Look at what they have done to Hoda Kotb, she was a solid journalist and overtime she became a silly party girl. That is the problem and that is why Savannah could not rise. Also Savannah lacks certain elements to make her a good host. Savannah rises when she is out of the Today show element or when Matt is not there. She works very well when she is with Lester Holt, Chuck Todd, Tom Brokaw cause she is surrounded by people who are hard news focused journalist. If they can focus on Today show not being so personality base then good journalists would rise there. Today show started to change when Katie Couric left, the silliness and fratness of the show started to happen. Meredith did the best she can, but she was pressured to make the chemistry work with Lauer then the journalism and she became very silly.Ann Curry's problem was that she did not want to do the entertainment aspect of the show. She felt the program could've gone a more serious direction in becoming a more informative morning show then a show that caters towards soft news and entertainment. That was one of her goals which is why she advocated for certain guests to come on her program like the Dali Lama. If Ann Curry had a host she was able to work with like Lester Holt, they she would've kept her job and Curry had a better partner that shared her philosophies then most of the NBC drama would've been avoided. That was the problem that Ann Curry had as well, she wanted the show to focus more on the news and less on the celebrities and the hosts acting silly. She was scape goated cause she did not want to flirt with Lauer and act silly, it is plain and simple. If you start to surpass Lauer or don't cater to him then you get pushed out.

Meredith Vieria has outgrew kiddie morning television, I can't blame her. The witless banter and stupid off color jokes gets tiring over time. Meredith tolerates Matt but Katie knows how to keep her distance from Matt to do what she has to do. When she was at the Today show, Katie always knew how to be her own person. Whereas with other co-anchors they have to play a second fiddle to Matt . Meredith should go and do a trial at CBS This Morning, it is a better show and better platform if you want substance.

Part of Andrew Lack's plan to rehab Brian Williams image. It won't work cause he is already a laughtng stock and Fox News continues to kick their ass.

Jeff Glor is not a terrible anchor but for a weekday gig, he is not cut out for it. Glor is a a good sub guy, he is not a clown, he is all about business which is possibly a reason why he is still with CBS. Glor from the Early Show was the best one if you look at the last team. I am not trying to say you have to be a Mr Personality to become a evening news anchor, but people have to be familiar with you and your work to get the job. Even when CBS had Katie Couric it failed cause Katie Couric was not a "serious journalist". What has Glor done, to make people remember his work.

People still watch the evening news, they get higher numbers then the network morning shows. I don't think that is the major issue, the issue is how being a network anchor is going to fit in during this age of cable news and partisanship. Network evening news will have to tweak and do different things, their jobs is to be the highest standard of news unlike cable. Network anchors are going to have reach out beyond their platform. CBS needs bigger platforms. I also think demographics plays a part, CBS will need people of diversity. NBC is by no means a superior news division but they have mutiple platforms, which is how they are able to get talent. CBS will have to create multiple platforms for their news division CBS could do a poach, but who can they bring in. I can't think of anybody on television who qualifies for CBS evening news. Jeff Glor is bland, a carrot got more personality them him. Glor is a leftover from the failed team at CBS Early Show. CBS overall has the strongest news division out the big three networks. ABC has GMA and NBC has Nightly News CBS has Sunday Morning, 60 Minutes and positive reviews with CBS This Morning.

Matt and Savannah are bland but Savannah is the lesser of two evils, if one had to make a choice. Savannah is not out there messing and backstabbing people. Savannah only needs a strong male anchor to make the partnership work. The Today show would be fine without Matt if they only got a likeable host like a Lester Holt or Carl Quintanilla type. They missed their chances too many times and petty politics at NBC. Matt would not have gotten anywhere if he did not ride on the female anchors who were more likable them him. From the way it is going, they will have a day care center.

Ann Curry is a solid journalist, the problem was that she did not want to do the entertainment aspect of the show. She felt the program could've gone a more serious direction in becoming a more informative morning show then a show that caters towards soft news and entertainment. That was one of her goals which is why she advocated for certain guests to come on her program like the Dali Lama. Matt Lauer and Ann Curry were apples and oranges with their philosophies, he wanted to do more soft content and she wanted to do more serious news content. Lauer is by no means a serious journalist, he is just an interviewer and he has a very plum job for doing nothing of journalistic standards you can't teach an old dog new tricks. If Curry had a better partner that shared her philosophies like Lester Holt, then most of the NBC serial behind the scenes drama would've been avoided. I fancied a Lester Holt and Ann Curry pairing which should've happened, and what viewers were trying to advocate for before her firing. That fear of ratings slippage if Lauer leaves is a myth, the program will survive without him. Today show ratings are declining with him still there, within the next couple of years CBS This Morning is slowly going to place a dent on Today's show ratings and they are starting to already. Ratings on both GMA and Today show have declined compared to a couple of years ago. Part of it is due to CBS This Morning's rise. The thing about Today show is that if you don't play the game or flirt with Matt Lauer, you will never be part of "club". It is well know that morning show like Today is like high school clique and it is part that culture. Today show started shifting more entertainment esque the last year Meredith was there. Today show is no longer a program for the serious journalists, they had serious journalists who hosted before but look at what happened to all of them, they either could not fit in, demoted or left to do new projects. Savannah Guthrie is someone who got ahead cause what she was, which was a lawyer. Lawyers move around pretty quickly in the news business. They will get a promotion quicker then someone who graduates with a journalism degree. A good portion of pundits, hosts, analysts and reporters are lawyers. If Savannah Guthrie was not a lawyer, she still would have been a journey woman anchor/reporter. Overall, not taking anything away from her, she did build her way up but it was unfortunate that she got the job at the expense of another respected journalist. Curry did not do anything wrong, she was scapegoated out of her job and it was awkward for Savannah to get the job that quickly. The optics was poor taste.

Be serious, nobody wants to watch Brian Williams. When he was demoted it was put in the contract that he can't have a slot where he competes indirectly with Nightly News.

Because Today show is kiss of death for male anchors that are not Matt Lauer. They have a bad track record of how they mismanaged replacement prospects. The only one that escaped unscathed was Willie Geist. Lester Holt probably was not considered a "front runner" for a long time, but he was viewers favorite also respected by execs and producers. He was his own man and wanted to protect his reputation as a serious journalist. The fact that he has yearly contracts show that NBC does not have much faith in him for a veteran and that he costs to much considering that their ratings have been stagnating. George.S and Robin Roberts have iron clad contracts, so they will likely keep their jobs for another 10 years.

Figure that and within the next couple of years they will have to make a decision on who can replace him.

They should do a better job, they shortened up the concert to accomodate that Macy's concert which is crappy.

Fox News is enjoying their ratings highs, as expected since a Republican won the White House. I wonder if MSNBC is mulling on bringing back Keith Olbermann to shake up the program.

Do you think they will host 4 of July concert?

You are very funny, just calling it like it see it and plus the reports about Lauer and what they are doing to rehab Lauer's image is out there. It is not like I am saying this out of the blue, a lot of this is observed and backed up by media critics and reporters like Brian Stelter.

They are okay together but there is nothing special about their partnership. Matt has to many unlikable qualities, one of the things Meredith and Katie were able to do was make him as Tom Cruise says "not as glib". Savannah is just cookie cutter host, she is intelligent but her strengths does not come out hosting a mediocre morning show, she lacks certain maternal and warm qualities that people associate with female hosts. Today show producers have been trying hard to change Lauer's image to be more sincere. He played a huge part as well as Jim Bell, he was leverging his contract with NBC, he manipulated the execs and NBC was willing to pay him $25 million dollars so he can stay. In exchange, he said he will stay as long as she leaves, Curry was scapegoated and left to hang dry. It is known by people who work behind the scenes that Lauer played a part, the problem with Matt is that he has used other people and their misfortunes so he won't take accountability and keep himself on top. He is known to be a type of person who has no humble qualities about him. He did fill in one night and he got negative reviews across the board and when doing evening news, Matt hardly qualifies as being a "credible" or "legit" journalist. He is just a tv personality who for the last 20 years of his career made a living playing around with celebrities, cooking food and dressing up as a woman.

I just miss this woman, NBC and Matt Lauer should be ashamed of themselves for getting rid of her. When will Matt's contract end, he needs to go and bring her back. That will bring NBC back on top and be a good PR move. This heavy news cycle right now, NBC needs her. I miss her clarity and the seriousness she brought to the Today show. All those years of hardwork wasted because she did not want to flirt with Matt Lauer and the celebs.