Peacock7

Only this week for the President's trip to Asia. They made the same call when he was in the middle east due to time changes and his schedule being off the standard-EDT time zone. Watch for it to return to 5AM next week.

Very much agreed on this front. Out of the three main cablers, MSNBC had far and away the best coverage... and I'm not just saying that. Most of the coverage was handled by Ali Velshi and Brian Williams, who I think did something like 19 hours of coverage between the two of them over the course of two days. Bill Karins was commendable as always. One part I did like was the placement of Chris Hayes in Florida, who on non-political stories, has the kind of journalistic altruism that a lot of people look for. The addition of Sam Champion from Miami was also a nice touch.

Logo for the show is similar to other MSNBC logos, just this one looks a bit more urbanesque to match the theme of the show name. Should be good.

It appears as though Mike Viqueira has joined Kristen Welker on the MS/NBC News congressional beat, a return to the network from his brief stint at AJAm. He's been appearing all week as the "NBC Capitol Hill correspondent." Kelly O'Donnell, who was originally slated to be MSNBC's lead Capitol Hill reporter has essentially taken over Chris Jansing's old duties at the WH.

From the vantage point of someone inside the industry, it appears as though MSNBC is trying for this: personality-driven "angles" on the news of the day. Allow me to explain... Ali Velshi is now the face of business news at the network, Hallie Jackson is the face of on-site political coverage, Morning Joe is the face(s) of insidery-ish government dealings, Greta will be the face of legal coverage, Andrea Mitchell is the face of foreign affairs, and so on... with BriWi at the helm of it all (kind of). Several different angles and vantage points on the dominant political story of a generation: Trump's governance. That's what Phil Griffin is going for, and it seems to be working, albeit for the jacked-up scheduling and random appearances on air.

As stated earlier... some details: expect a show equal parts politics and legal stuff, expect to see a lot of Ari Melber during legal stuff, expect some synergy and a lot of cross-promo between network side and cable side.

Watch for Greta.

A few things... Be watching for a new 6PM show premiering sometime in Jan/Feb based out of DC. Lots of buzz around Halperin subbing Monday and Tuesday on MJFL, but only temporary for the holidays, so I hear. Hayes, as of now, appears safe at 8PM. Ratings aren't terrible and typically beat Anderson in the slot. A possible switch-a-roo could occur with Hayes, O'Donnell, and Williams could come in the Spring. Look for an expansion of news and "Originals" on the weekends in 2017, built around Thomas Roberts.