Politico’s Mackenzie Weinger profiles liberal radio host and Current TV talent Bill Press.

And now that he’s on Current TV, even with its small share of viewers, Press said he sees an opportunity for his brand to really flourish.
Current TV’s executive vice president of programming Shelley Lewis said Press “was one of the first people we thought of when we were ready to expand our programming line up.”

“The fact that he gave us a high-profile presence in Washington was a factor. But there are lots of people doing radio or TV shows in Washington,” Lewis said. “Bill is a standout — he’s so smart, so connected, so passionately progressive and so much fun to listen to and watch.”

One of the big challenges facing Press (and Current TV) is that the liberal networks has failed to attract any sort of meaningful viewership since the departure of Keith Olbermann.

Read more

PBS’ “Need to Know” has found its new executive producer. Marc Rosenwasser will now lead the program, replacing Shelley Lewis who left the program to join Current TV. The  series will debut a new recurring segment Friday, October 7th, and the topic du jour will by America’s jobs crisis. The program also made its debut as a half hour series last week.

Former PBS “Need to Know” executive producer Shelley Lewis is joining Current TV as executive VP of programming, the channel announced Thursday. Lewis will start September 19th, and will report to Current president David Bohrman.

Before joining PBS, she served as a co-founder of Air America Radio, and was a longtime producer at CNN, where she served as executive producer of “Greenfield at Large” and “American Morning,” among other programs. She is also a veteran of ABC News, where she served as EP of “Good Morning America” and worked with Bohrman at “World News Now.”

More information, after the jump.

Read more

The ombudsman for PBS, Michael Getler, addressed a controversy regarding “Need to Know” in his latest column. Humorist Andy Borowitz joked at the end of a recent show about “Palinese”, or the linguistic habits of former Alaska Governor and current Fox news contributor Sarah Palin. A number of viewers took issue with the segment.

When I asked Shelley Lewis, NTK’s executive producer, about this, she sent a copy of what she had posted on the program’s website in response to early feedback: “Is a little joking about Ms. Palin’s penchant for malaprops really such a big deal? Last week editorial cartoonist Steve Brodner was pretty tough on President Obama, and we heard plenty from Obama fans about how unfair we were, how rightwing we were, etc. We do try to have some fun at both sides’ expense…”

Getler agreed with Lewis, arguing that Palin’s new word (Refudiate,when she meant to write refute) was fair game. The previous week Getler sided with many of the viewers of the program, who felt that a segment about President Obama was “jarring” due in part to unintentional racial overtones.

Video of Borowitz’s “Palinese” piece is after the jump.

Read more

PBS’ new series “Need to Know,” anchored by Alison Stewart and Jon Meacham premieres this evening on PBS. The show replaces “NOW on PBS” and “Bill Moyers Journal” on Friday evenings.

The staff made the final adjustments today over at WNET’s studios in New York, where the show is produced. “We’re super busy in the edit room putting it all together,” “Need to Know” EP Shelley Lewis tells TVNewser. “Everything’s falling into place beautifully and we’ve eaten a lot of pizza in the last 18 hours!”

“We have more information from many different sources than ever before,” Meacham recently said ahead of the launch. “We hope the show will help break through the extemporaneous information and leave the viewer with what they really do need to know.”

Stories tonight will include the 50th anniversary of the birth control pill, gun control, the gulf oil spill, and the first guest interview: a sit-down with President Bill Clinton.

This morning, Stewart was at the NASDAQ opening bell ceremony. The two anchors also appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” earlier today. Video after the jump.

Read more

Veteran producer Shelley Lewis is joining WNET to EP the new PBS program “Need to Know.”

The show is a “cross-media current affairs magazine” that operates online during the week and culminates with a one-hour, weekly broadcast. It launches May 7th.

Lewis has been an executive producer on CNN’s “American Morning with Paula Zahn” and “Greenfield at Large” as well as ABC News’ “Good Morning America” and “World News Now.”

Press release after the jump.

Read more