Story Updates

A few updates on stories I've commented on of late:

Dylan Ratigan may have lost his morning show on MSNBC, but he has a new show that begins at 4 PM Eastern today. Still no word on what's going to become of Dr. Nancy Snyderman, but David Shuster and Tamron Hall will still be on between 3 PM and 4 PM Eastern.

A new MSNBC show, "The Daily Rundown," began today at 9 AM Eastern. It's hosted by Savannah Guthrie and Chuck Todd. I can understand why they would have Savannah Guthrie, who's as cute as a button, host a show, but aren't people tried of seeing Chuck Todd and his goatee?

Saab may not be dead after all. General Motors is still interested in sell the Swedish car company to potential bidders, which include the Dutch firm Spyker, but the clock is ticking and they are already going ahead with phasing out Saab if there is no deal son. AlixPartners, a consulting firm, has already been hired by GM to oversee the dissolution. There's still a chance, Saabphiles, that your favorite brand will survive, but it doesn't look good.

I now return you to my regularly scheduled musings.

MSNBC's Weekday Problem

Earlier today I commented on MSNBC's unwillingness to air news shows or talk shows on the weekends. But that's only part of their problem. While the liberal cable news channel is holding its own well enough on weeknights, their weekday morning and afternoon programming is still in need of fine tuning.

This past summer MSNBC launched two weekday shows anchored by anchorman Dylan Ratigan and NBC medical editor Dr. Nancy Snyderman. Both shows have been canceled and will soon be replaced. And so the shows hosted by Ratigan and Dr. Snyderman join the shows of John Hockenberry, Phil Donahue, and the late Jerry Nachman, as well as Ron Reagan and Monica Crowley's "Connected: Coast to Coast," in the Archipelago of Failed MSNBC Shows - where Happy, the baby new year, has reportedly been sighted after having been missing for a decade.

MSNBC had long been throwing anything to the wall to see what sticks to produce a lasting prime time lineup, something the network finally achieved with some coherent planning. Now they need to do the same for their daytime schedule.

Incidentally, anyone who's watched MSNBC lately most likely has noticed that the network has changed its graphics and now spells out its initials in lowercase letters. I just hope the liberal network isn't on its way to belittling itself.