Lawrence O'Donnell ... OUT?

[PsychoBabble]

(don't know quality of this source)

MSNBC Ending Lawrence O’Donnell “The Last Word” Show Despite Top Ratings (Exclusive)

I can confirm that MSNBC is ending the top rated “The Last Word” with Lawrence O’Donnell, the popular show that follows Rachel Maddow at 10pm. O’Donnell’s contract is up shortly, and the network has not made any overtures about keeping him on.

There is a fear that despite Maddow’s dogged liberalism, MSNBC is taking a turn to the right. O’Donnell would not fit into that model. But they’ve installed Fox News’s Greta van Susteren at 6pm, and more changes are coming. (This follows the disaster with Tamron Hall and the coming of Megyn Kelly from Fox News, too.)

It seems just like MSNBC to abruptly kill their own success. They’re finally beating CNN and Fox, so why not reverse course? Crazy. O’Donnell’s ratings have never been higher.

“The Last Word” has been on since 2011, and O’Donnell has been with MSNBC since it began. If CNN were smart, they’d pick him up right away. He’s one of the smartest guys in the room, and a pleasure to watch. Among his credits are writing for and consulting on “The West Wing.”

UPDATE
My NBC sources say that O’Donnell’s tireless criticism of Donald Trump is the cause of the trouble. O’Donnell calls Trump a liar on TV almost ever night. Says my observer: “Phil Griffin fought back Trump’s demands to Comcast chief Steve Burke that O’Donnell get fired for years. But now he’s president and now it’s Andy Lack’s decision and Andy has never run a single promo for O’Donnell and he wants access to Trump for Lester Holt interview and more.”

Morale at NBC News has been low for some time. My source says: “This version of NBC news would have handed the Pentagon papers back to the Pentagon. The New York Times and Washington Post remain our best hope.”

http://www.showbiz411.com/2017/05/15/msnbc-ending-lawrence-odonnell-the-last-word-show-despite-top-ratings

[SticksnStones]

1. Variety saying otherwise...

http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/lawrence-odonnell-msnbc-1202427309/



Who knows?

[PsychoBabble]

2. I also heard contract negotiations had re-started yesterday, so ....

SALT GRAIN = TAKEN

[FloridaBlues]

4. I also read that they are in negotiations

Let's hope he stays

[C_U_L8R]

3. Seems like this is positioning by both sides

Regardless, I'm rooting for Lawrence.
Screw MSNBC and their new agenda.

[PsychoBabble]

5. Griffin plus Maddow plus O'D?

A Sunday Huffpost story suggesting that O’Donnell’s show is on the chopping block has fueled internal speculation about O’Donnell’s future, along with other rumored shakeups at MSNBC, including fears of a change in status for its longtime president, Phil Griffin, who reports to Andy Lack, chairman of NBC News and MSNBC.

A network executive told The Daily Beast that the Huffpost story is wrong, and said O’Donnell and MSNBC management are negotiating “with an eye towards renewal and a new deal.”

The same exec said on Tuesday that Griffin’s job is safe, and that he’ll remain as MSNBC’s president “for years to come.”

Griffin loyalist Rachel Maddow, who happens to be the top-rated personality in cable news, had privately expressed concern about her boss’s future and declared to colleagues in recent weeks that if Griffin leaves, she would follow him out the door.

The 61-year-old Griffin, who has been running the cable outlet for the past decade and officially was named president in July 2008, is the executive who took a big risk on Maddow in August of that year, giving the little-known radio personality and left-leaning cable commentator her own prime-time television show.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/05/16/is-lawrence-o-donnell-facing-the-chop-at-msnbc

[Doreen]

6. If they get rid of him Rachel is probably next.

She is as brutal to trump and his administration as O'Donnell is. She might go about it in a different way but just as brutal. I have not doubt they will also get rid of Hays. I hope someone picks up both Rachel and O'Donnell. I think those two work very well together.

[iamateacher]

7. You can call Comcast, email NBC

Great thread on this topic....
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10029073351|

[PsychoBabble]

9. Thanks

[CousinIT]

8. I read that SHitler (aka Trump) had been pestering Andy Lack to get rid of him. n/t

[kerry-is-my-prez]

10. Here's an article that says they want to replace him with Brian Williams

https://www.yahoo.com/tv/msnbc-boss-andy-lack-wants-dump-lawrence-o-163811015.html

[bresue]

11. LAWRENCE O'DONNELL IS STILL BEING PROMOTED THIS MORNING

MSNBC is still promoting his show as of this morning. The promotional ad listed each show in their evening line-up....Mathews, Hayes, Maddow, O'Donnell, and Williams.

[PsychoBabble]

12. Ok, looks like ... still TBD

[athena]

13. Being let go for criticizing the president?

This is very worrisome. This is exactly what happened in Turkey about ten years ago. Erdogan pressured the owners of newspapers to fire the journalists and commentators who were critical of him, often threatening them with tax audits and the like. Over time, all the critical voices were silenced. Without media criticism, Erdogan was able to convince a bare majority of the public to keep re-electing him and to finally give him all the authoritiy he wanted.

If Americans don't want to turn into what Turkey has become, they have to make their voices heard now.

Criticism of the president, and of the government in general, is one of the news media's most important jobs. Such criticism is not, and never should be, a valid reason to let a journalist go.

[imanamerican63]

14. Trump can stand out in public and call everyone around him liars, but when.....

he hears somebody call him a liar, he explodes in a rage. Hey Donald, the truth hurts sometimes and you are so thin skinned and it shows. You can't have everything you wish and criticism only help shape who you are! Oh wait, you eat to much chocolate and we can see how you are shaping outward!