Ari Melber, a frequent television analyst and columnist for The Nation, has been named permanent co-host of The Cycle, where he will join conservative commentator S.E. Cupp, former Virginia Congressional candidate Krystal Ball and the cultural commentator Toure on the ensemble political talk show that airs on weekday afternoon on MSNBC.
“I’m excited to continue and advance my Read More
Last week, OTR found ourselves at a “salon” hosted by the pioneering webmag, Salon. The conceit of a “salon” harks back either to French wits gathering to amuse nobility (and one another) or to Viennese coffeehouses where intellectuals would debate philosophy and gossip. In modern-day New York, however, a “salon” is more often a euphemism for “panel discussion.” And Salon’s salon was no exception. Read More
Over Christmas weekend, Matt Ritter, a lawyer-turned-comedian, premiered his new reality show on a seemingly unlikely channel—MSNBC. Mr. Ritter came up with the idea for the program when he was living in his childhood home in Plainview, Long Island, with his recently divorced parents. Because they couldn’t sell their house, they were stuck cohabitating for over two years after the divorce went through.
“It was horrible. The pain should have ended, but they were forced to keep living together,” Mr. Ritter told Off the Record. Read More
Is it really surprising that former MSNBC host Dylan Ratigan is fleeing his Tribeca loft? The political pundit and anti-Wall Street crusader was definitely a little too close for comfort to those Greedy Bastards living at 55 North Moore Street, so we’re not shocked to see that he’s sold it for $1.38 million.
Mr. Ratigan announced in June that he was leaving his eponymous show, a move telegraphed by what appeared to be his growing frustrations with the limitations of talking things out on cable news. Now, he’s appears making an even bigger move. Either Mr. Ratigan is fleeing Manhattan, cesspool of corporate thieves that it is, or he’s shopping for something a little more in line with a man of his prominence. After all, Tribeca and loft sounds impressive, but his one-bedroom was scarcely more than 1,000 square feet. Read More
The New York Times reports that Willie Geist, a co-host of MSNBC’s kaffeeklatsch Morning Joe and host of its wee-hours lead-in, Way Too Early, will be setting the alarm ever-so-slightly later; he’s moving to the 9am hour of Today on NBC. Mr. Geist will likely stop hosting the 5:30am Way Too Early but may well stay on Morning Joe, writes the Times.
Though he’s jumping from Read More
At a recent party to toast the one-year anniversary of MSNBC’s 6 p.m. hour, one of the news net’s on-air personalities offered up a confession. “I don’t know if I would have brought Al Sharpton on to do a show!” he told the assembled guests. Read More
This just in from today’s DNC coverage: Tom Brokaw accidentally ate half an Ambien before appearing on Morning Joe. He’s O.K., though!
Cue the music: Read More
Blog-eating media network BuzzMedia lost a top exec. Village Voice Media named someone who is popular for something to a top spot. The president of MSNBC is excited about winning, or as Charlie Sheen would have it: #Winning. In this edition of Wednesday Afternoon Media Briefs, it’s All Nihilism Everything: Read More
The anchor Thomas Roberts, behind his desk at MSNBC, wears a pair of jeans, though the part of him visible to the camera is suited up in shirt, tie and jacket. Given that he’s only there in the event of major news breaking during the Olympics broadcast (which has pre-empted all other daytime programming), he Read More
Politico White House correspondent Joe Williams was suspended over remarks he made on MSNBC last night, according to Politico.
Discussing why Mitt Romney appears so frequently on the Fox News program Fox and Friends—the subject of a New York Times story yesterday—on MSNBC’s Martin Bashir, Mr. Williams said that Governor Romney is comfortable with people who are like him.
“They’re like him,” he said. “They’re white folks who are very much relaxed in their own company.” Read More
