Why I Find Big Ed's Demotion To Weekends Troubling

[MADem]

34. Gee, it doesn't seem that way to me at all. He makes the same money, he works one hour less.

He does his work in two days instead of five.

He gets to see his family--and his wife, recovering from ovarian cancer--more often.

He can spend more time in his home state.

He also sees his new show as the one that will get "the first whack" at the Sunday talkers--and he has a point, there. He will aggregate all the crap FOR us; his staff will watch so we don't have to--that alone will provide a lot of value-added to his Sunday program.

I think you're mistaken, but, as always, time will tell. I do tend to look askance anytime POLITICO is behind the bashing and negativity, as they have been on this story--something Ed himself pointed out. POLITICO is owned by the far right wing Albritton crew; they play a "non-partisan" game but they subtly advance a right wing agenda--this "Mean Liberal Network Screwing Hard Working Old Union Man" story is a "classic" demoralizer right out of their playbook. Divide and conquer!


http://www.mediaite.com/tv/ed-schultz-insists-he-isnt-headed-to-no-mans-land-praises-replacement-hayes-in-final-primetime-farewell/

MSNBC’s Ed Schultz used the final moments of his final weekday primetime show to address his move to weekend afternoons and welcome his replacement Chris Hayes with open arms.

Schultz’s farewell message was mostly positive, though he did work in an ornery dig at POLITICO writer Dylan Byers, who wrote that Schultz’s new time slot was “a relative no-man’s land for cable news programming.”

“Really?” Schultz asked. “Well, I guess I wouldn’t want it any other way because we’re going to build those hours to the best hours in cable.” He vowed to stay loyal to the subjects he’s always covered on The Ed Show: “The people on the road, the stories, the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker, the middle class Americans who are fighting for a fair share.”

After thanking his wife Wendy, who recently struggled through a difficult bout with ovarian cancer, Schultz reminded viewers that on Sunday afternoons “the biggest brand in liberal talk” will be getting “the first whack” at the Sunday shows.

I can tell you it is MORE likely that I will watch Ed now, because his weekday show time was incompatible with my viewing habits, and the weekends (on Sunday, after the noon hour) are a wasteland--but with him on the schedule, they won't be anymore. MSNBC would not be paying for four hours of televised coverage of a real human being, with producers, staff, cameramen, lighting people, makeup, wardrobe, etc., unless they wanted to make something happen. It would be cheaper to pay him and show LOCKUP. The fact that they are making an investment in this weekend show suggests they are pursuing a different paradigm for their weekends. Good thing. Long overdue, too.