Tucker Out, David Gregory In at MSNBC

MSNBC Cancels Tucker, to Replace It with Race for the White House with David Gregory

By Alex Weprin -- Broadcasting & Cable, 3/10/2008 1:56:00 PM

MSNBC canceled Tucker, its Monday-Friday 6 p.m. show, NBC confirmed. In its place, the cable network will debut Race for the White House with David Gregory, a daily look at the latest presidential-election news anchored by NBC News chief White House correspondent David Gregory.

Tucker Carlson -- who has shifted time slots, shows and formats on a number of occasions since joining MSNBC -- will remain with the network in an as-yet-unannounced capacity.

David Gregory won’t be the only NBC Newser making the jump to the network’s cable channel. Andrea Mitchell, NBC’s chief foreign-affairs correspondent, will anchor MSNBC daily from 1 p.m.-2 p.m.

Other programming changes include a change of format for Live with Dan Abrams, which will relaunch as Verdict with Dan Abrams and will now air every weekday from 9 p.m.-10 p.m.

Abrams’ new show will continue to look at the days’ news from a legal perspective. Perhaps taking a cue from its lead-in, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, Abrams will choose winners and losers on topics ranging from politics to pop culture.

Countdown will also get a second showing in primetime, with a replay of the show airing at 10 p.m.

"Viewers are incredibly engaged this election season, with a real appetite for political news," said Phil Griffin, senior vice president of NBC News and executive in charge of MSNBC, in announcing the programming shuffle. "As NBC News' chief White House correspondent, David is the perfect person to lead this key hour of our election coverage. Tucker is one of the top political minds inside the Beltway, and we look forward to continuing to feature his insightful analysis."

Adding Gregory and Mitchell to the daily MSNBC lineup marked the latest in a series of moves that have seen greater integration between MSNBC and NBC News.

Unlike rivals CNN and Fox News Channel, MSNBC can cull talent from its highly rated network-news team for analysis on the cable network -- an opportunity it has been keen to take.

With the broadcast networks, including NBC, preferring to rely on entertainment programming during much of the presidential primary season, broadcast anchors Brian Williams, Tim Russert and Tom Brokaw have instead appeared on MSNBC’s primary coverage.

Williams, Mitchell and Gregory have all filled in as guest hosts on MSNBC in the past.