Archives: March 2007

Rita Cosby‘s departure from MSNBC is being celebrated tonight “at Meatpacking District nightspot The Plumm,” Radar says. “According to the invite, DJ Doug Grayson will be spinning upstairs, while Kenny Summit will provide the tunes down below.”

the NY Post says Mickey Sherman, Lis Wiehl and “many more” are expected at the party…

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Following up on Jeff Greenfield‘s move to CBS, an e-mailer writes:

“Katie Couric is getting just what she deserves. Sandwiched between Greenfield and Bob Schieffer, they will literally TRY to carry her through the election year (IF she lasts that long) and poor Bob will probably be given his gold watch late in 08 and Jeff given Face the Nation.

It also makes the CBS team even more awkward looking with group of people who have no history or experience together and no leader to bring then together, ie. the three above plus Borger, Axelrod and [a few others] from ABC and CNN that they have picked up. It would be comical were it not so sad to think that this is the network of Cronkite, Sevareid, Wallace, Bradley and so many more and such great political teams, many of whom had worked together for decades…”

The anonymous tips box is working again…

NBC News correspondent Jim Cummins is retiring today.

“He’s the definition of a field correspondent — he has covered every story more than once, and has been the central man in our Dallas bureau for as long as I can remember,” Brian Williams writes. “As I said on our inter-office conference call this morning, he has taught a slew of rookies around here, both in terms of direct mentoring and indirect osmosis. He has been a staple and unshakable presence on network television news, and we will always consider ourselves members of Jim’s home team.”

Cummins joined NBC in 1978. Here’s his bio…

25-54 demographic: (LS)

Total day: FNC: 263 | CNN: 169 | MSNBC: 106 | HLN: 111 | CNBC: 90

Prime: FNC: 452 | CNN: 219 | MSNBC: 151 | HLN: 166 | CNBC: 108

	5p:	6p:	7p:	8p:	9p:	10p:	11p:
FNC	Gibson:	Hume:	Shep:	O’Reilly:	H&C:	Greta:	O’Reilly:
	214	337	348	575	475	307	406
CNN	Blitzer:	Dobbs:	Blitzer:	Dobbs:	King:	Cooper:	Cooper:
	142	245	199	238	240	179	151
MSNBC	Matthews:	Tucker:	Matthews:	Countdo.:	Scarbo.:	Countdo.:	Special:
	108	64	123	180	130	142	88
HLN	HLN:	Prime:	Beck:	Grace:	Beck:	Grace:	Showbiz:
	44/35	95	146	197	109	192	204

Data by Nielsen Media Research. Live and same day (DVR) data.

Rita Cosby anchored her final newscast on MSNBC this afternoon.

“Cosby was given an ovation by the crew as she walked to the desk,” a tipster says.

She anchored the 2pm newscast with only a couple of on-air goodbyes. She didn’t bid adieu at the end of the hour.

Rita’s last day is officially March 31. Earlier, she explained why she’s leaving: “NBC replaced live programming with taped shows during some primetime slots, including mine. I then began discussions with the network about my future interests and expressed my desire to move on…”

This is probably the photo that defines Rita Cosby‘s less-than-two-year tenure at MSNBC:

But it’s not the only one. Click continued for a photo montage of her MSNBC experiences…

Read more

The NY Sun puts it this way: “It’s not every day that Jesse Jackson denounces the Congressional Black Caucus, but today is such a day.”

It involves yesterday’s announcement of two Fox debates. Jackson says: “Why would presidential candidates, or an organization that is supposed to advocate for Black Americans, ever give a stamp of legitimacy to a network that continually marginalizes Black leaders and the Black community? FOX moderating a presidential debate on issues of importance to Black Americans is literally letting the Fox guard the henhouse — FOX should be rejected.”

The Caucus notes that Color of Change is launching a “demand the CBC drop Fox” campaign…

Is CNN contemplating a move from its First Street digs in DC, just blocks from Union Station and the Capitol? “CNN and a couple of law firms are sampling the wares in Southeast D.C. by taking tours of new office buildings cropping up around the new baseball stadium,” Washington Business Journal reports…

Washington Post scoop: “Jeff Greenfield, a senior political analyst for” CNN “for nine years, has agreed to join CBS as the presidential campaign gears up.”

Howard Kurtz says Greenfield “has been concerned that the network has not used him more frequently, say those who know him.” He “was first approached by CBS News President Sean McManus early this year.”

More: “CNN made Greenfield an attractive offer but that he wanted to return to a broadcast network” and work with two executives fellow former ABCers Rick Kaplan and Paul Friedman…

> Bio: “Greenfield was a media critic for CBS News’ coverage of the 1980 Republican and Democratic national conventions and the 1980 presidential elections.”