The TV Zone

"Yoohoo, Dubya, over here...It's me! Stretch!"

I'll remove that "?" as soon as the press release comes, but it does now appear to be official: NBC News has landed on David Gregory to helm one of the great prestige vehicles in all of television AND one of the oldest.

When NBC names him - I'm guessing by tomorrow, but maybe today - he'll of course replace Tim Russert, who died in June. Tom Brokaw has held the moderator chair on an interim basis and made clear to bosses and everyone else that he wanted to step down after the election.

Yes, Ted Koppel's name came up, too, and he was genuinely interested when his deal with Discovery abruptly ended last week. But there were all sorts of reasons why that wasn't going to happen (headed by $$$.) Gregory's the logical choice and seemed to be almost from the moment of Russert's death although insiders were - logically - reluctant to seem too anxious before (as the bard might say) the funeral meats were hardly cold. That didn't stop an almost unbelievable amount of tab spec, which had people like Keith Olbermann vying for the gig - denied by him - and "insiders" pointing to political analyst Chuck Todd as a reasonable choice, too.

So why Gregory - given that his MSNBC show has zero buzz while Rachel Maddow's (she's also been in the rumor circuit) has endless buzz? That's a good question, and I would advise a quick check of his work via MSNBC.com or Youtube. His reporting style is often cocky - and it has rubbed some NBC colleagues the wrong way (the guy's bedside manners are reputed to be appalling, and have been reputed to be so for years) - but he's an extremely smart and efficient interviewer. But I do think his "likability quotient" - a phrase I just made up! - is so low that it gave NBC some pause.

Meanwhile, I do wish someone would point out that Tim's MSNBC show didn't exactly burn up the ratings either. Far from it - even though his "Meet the Press" was the top-rated Sunday ayem talk show for many years, and top-rated by a considerable margin.

I guess someone just did point it out.

Plus, why take Maddow out of MSNBC? MSNBC isn't some sort of farm team; it's worked desperately for years to get traction and finally has it with Olbermann/Maddow. If this duo continue to click during the Obama administration, MS's primetime lineup will make far greater profit than "MTP" ever could. (Could Maddow conceivably do both? I suppose - and she'd go INSANE. Working seven days a week, 56 weeks a year, and the "MTM" gig is high stress to begin with.)

Watch Gregory's stuff on "Today" too - he brings a real intelligence to the hard interviews on a show that doesn't always (ahem) require that. I know for a fact that his "people" have been vying to get him nestled into a position where he would ultimately replace Matt Lauer - when Matt decides to leave. The assumption at NBC is widespread that Lauer has no intention of besting his pal Bryant Gumbel's fifteen years in the ayem, so Gregory would have appeared to be a logical successor.

Here's some interesting inside speculation: That Gregory may have finally forced this issue by threatening to walk to "Good Morning America," where he'd end up going AGAINST Matt Lauer. Again, that's speculation, but intriguing nonetheless.

But no more. By the way, Huffpo broke this yesterday, and Politico's Mike Allen has a story up that has the scoop, and says that the decision is a fait accompli.

(I'm surprised, BTW, that NBC News didn't leak this to their usual favored recipient - the New York Times - but I suppose there's some bad blood for the moment over that devastating Sunday piece on Gen. Barry McCaffrey.)

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