MSNBC marks its 10th year on the air this summer, but there isn't a lot to celebrate. Even with the muscle of NBC News behind it, the cable news network has lagged in third place behind Fox News Channel and CNN in recent years. The powers that be at 30 Rock hope to jump-start the operation with the surprising appointment of Dan Abrams as its new general manager. The network legal correspondent and host of The Abrams Report will run the day-to-day operation and report to Phil Griffin, a senior executive at NBC News who also keeps his eye on Today. The Biz talked to Abrams, son of well-known First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams, about his new job behind the camera.
TVGuide.com: So how was that first day?Dan Abrams: A lot of phone calls. A lot of interviews. But also a lot of walking around. I'm trying to make it cl
read more
As a boy, Sean McManus stood nearby as his sportscaster father, Jim McKay, reported live on the kidnapping and murder of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. ABC Sports president Roone Arledge was overseeing the network's extraordinary coverage and would eventually take over the network's news division, building it into an industry leader. So it was hard not to refer to Arledge when McManus, president of CBS Sports since 1996, added CBS News to his portfolio. He takes over for Andrew Heyward on Nov. 7. The Biz recently spoke to McManus about the challenges he faces in his new job.
TVGuide.com: You must be pleased with the comparisons to Roone Arledge, especially because he and your father put ABC News on the map with the Munich coverage.Sean McManus: The biggest event in my father's professional career happened to be a news event, not a sports event, and I was lucky enough to spend that entire period in the stud
read more
