The Pope Gives Brian Williams His MSNBC Debut

MSNBC draws a fraction of the audience of its network parent, with 639,000 total viewers in primetime in August, compared with the 10m that Williams’ NBC Nightly News broadcast sometimes drew.

In the carefully orchestrated world that has been the Brian Williams Reputation Rehabilitation Tour, no move made by the disgraced NBC News anchor can be interpreted as mere happenstance.

Williams was the Nightly News anchor for 10 years before he lost his post following the revelation that he had fabricated stories about his experience in Iraq in 2003 while traveling with American troops.

“Good day. I’m Brian Williams at MSNBC headquarters here in New York”, Williams said at the top of the hour, in case anyone forgot. His first story was a major one, for Pope Francis’ visit to the United States has captured the world’s attention. And that was that – he was back.

There’s the possibility that Williams returns to NBC in another role.

But tell Pope Francis that the most surprising resurrection since Jesus himself is close at hand: The redemption of Brian Williams will happen.

“Lester Holt has demonstrated that the evening newscast is first and foremost a correspondent’s medium, not an anchor’s medium”, Tyndall says. “I own up to this”. Burkey began working with Williams in 2000 back on MSNBC.

There was no acknowledgement of his suspension or his return to television.

“We are building a network that has as its core value delivering breaking news better than anyone else”, Lacl said.

That page-turn is a shift from progressive-minded talk to middle-of-the-road news, particularly during the daytime when MSNBC’s ratings are the weakest.

In fact, it was Lack who groomed Williams for stardom. All but his most strident critics will join the sizable fan base that never left him in the first place in rooting for his comeback.

Brian Williams is not living down his mistakes anytime soon. Williams, following a grueling suspension from NBC News, starts tackling breaking news for MSNBC on September 22.

Philadelphia figures to be the main focus of attention, since the city’s Papal mass on September 27 will stand as the only free, public event of Pope Francis’ tour. He called on a team of NBC News personalities and experts – including Kate Snow, Chuck Todd and Andrea Mitchell – to discuss mundane details, such as the pope’s age, health and love of ice cream, as well as the broader political, security and social implications of the visit.

There was one personal detour: Williams helped plan the wedding of his daughter, Allison.

“Brian is one of the most trusted journalists of our time”, Turness wrote in a memo to staffers in February announcing the new deal.