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Tina Urbanski and Colleen King named Executive Producers of MSNBC’s Hardball and The 11th Hour with Brian Williams

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Tina Urbanski, the new Hardball showrunner

 

MSNBC veteran producers Tina Urbanski and Colleen King have been promoted to showrunners for Hardball and The 11th Hour respectively.

Urbanski takes on the role of co-executive producer at Hardball with Chris Matthews, one of the cable channel’s longest-running shows. She takes the reins from Ann Klenk, a veteran producer who spent 19 years at the network and will be retiring from television.

King, a longtime Hardball producer, moves up from senior producer of The 11th Hour. Colleen began her career at CBS and had been a longtime Hardball producer.

MSNBC President Phil Griffin said of the promotions, “Colleen now helms The 11th Hour as executive producer. A key member of the 11th Hour family since the program’s inception, she helped grow the broadcast with Pat Burkey from a 30-minute “pop-up” to the #1 cable news program at 11 o’clock,” and “Tina takes on the role of co-executive producer at Hardball, continuing her fantastic work alongside fellow co-EP Court Harson. She first joined us here at MSNBC in 2002 as an assistant to Chris Matthews, quickly rising through the ranks. While at Hardball, Tina produced memorable interviews with U.S. presidents, politicians and top newsmakers both in-studio and at remote locations around the world, helping the program to become a staple in our primetime lineup.”

You can read Phil Griffin’s full statement below:

Team,

I am thrilled to announce the promotions of two of our best, Colleen King and Tina Urbanski, to executive producer.

Colleen now helms The 11th Hour as executive producer. A key member of the 11th Hour family since the program’s inception, she helped grow the broadcast with Pat Burkey from a 30-minute “pop-up” to the #1 cable news program at 11 o’clock. As a senior producer, Colleen worked across the network on many of our shows and specials, including Hardball, Morning Joe, The 11th Hour and our 2016 election coverage.

With Colleen managing The 11th Hour, Pat will be focusing on Deadline: White House, and will continue working with Brian Williams on breaking news coverage.

Tina takes on the role of co-executive producer at Hardball, continuing her fantastic work alongside fellow co-EP Court Harson. She first joined us here at MSNBC in 2002 as an assistant to Chris Matthews, quickly rising through the ranks. While at Hardball, Tina produced memorable interviews with U.S. presidents, politicians and top newsmakers both in-studio and at remote locations around the world, helping the program to become a staple in our primetime lineup. She was also an important member our 2016 presidential election team, bringing our coverage to life as a senior producer on the campaign trail, from debates to party conventions.

Tina and Court take the reins at Hardball as current co-executive producer Ann Klenk retires after 19 years with NBC family. Ann is a core member of the MSNBC team, and her spirit and dedication are unparalleled. We wish her the best in all her future endeavors.

Please join me in congratulating both Colleen and Tina on their new roles.

How Did MSNBC "Win" The Election Coverage?

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Joe Scarborough & Mika Brzezinski

If Nate Silver won the official election of who’s right, then who took home the popular vote? If you ask Brian Stelter, it was clearly MSNBC.

In a parallel from from years ago, it seems like the 24-hour news channel has bulked up and turned itself around since the last presidential election. The channel’s rough start as “a CNN also-ran to an Anti-Fox” came to a huge change for the 2012 election as channel has morphed into a true counter-brand to Fox News. It required a four-year re-branding message, including a series of ads where notable on-air talent like Chris Matthews, Ed Schultz and Rachel Maddow stand before historic or iconic images–not to mention most were originally shot by Spike Lee.

It could be that the tides are changing, as even Variety has Fox News as a major winner and loser on election night. Buried almost the the end in the lavish praise comes the always tantalizing anonymous sources familiar with all manners of media matter.  Supposedly The Washington Post’s Ezra Miller is being eyed for a possible weekend show along with Chris Hayes, or the coveted 8pm slot.  But that’s neither how, now or why. What’s important is recognizing that MSNBC is skewing itself to a younger market. Whether they’re accomplishing it by not having real-time debate reactions like CNN or eshewing making everything as “Extreme” as Fox News is still up in the air. There’s a shift to get rid of the old weekend documentaries (the “Lockup” series included) and tune to constant political coverage, or even discussion like The Cycle which kicks off seven hours of specialized talking heads.

Either way, it seems like Fox News may have inadvertently followed the plot of Mean Girls too closely. The only question worth answering in the follow-up must be which network is Lindsey Lohan and which is Rachel McAdams. Maybe we’ll find out at next year’s White House Correspondents Dinner?

RTCA Evening Picked up the Pace at MSNBC's Neon After-Party

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By Neil Grace and Catherine Hill

MSNBC threw a memorable Radio and Television Correspondents Dinner after-party that stood apart from parties past.  Held directly across the street from the main event at the Washington Convention Center, MSNBC turned the traditionally staid Historical Society of Washington, D.C. into a brightly-lit fete of themed cocktails, glowing neon necklaces and comfort food.

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As guests walked down the blue carpet entrance, we asked them the question of the night: are you a nerd or a jock? Politico’s Mike Allen said he was “all of the above!” and Patrick Gavin thought he was a hybrid of the two.  NBC’s Andrea Mitchell exclaimed she was a “total jock.” John “I’m a PC” Hodgman discussed the modern cultural divide at length during the dinner.

Inside the party, the scene downstairs included a Starbucks-sponsored coffee bar where guests ate ice cream sundaes and desserts.  From the main bar, guests walked outside to a large outdoor patio, where dance music had the party-goers on their feet for “Don’t Stop Believing.”  Faces and heads glowed in the light of neon necklaces and headbands.

Upstairs, special guest bartender Rachel Maddow was mixing up cocktails at her heavily-branded “Rachel Maddow’s Bar”– complete with MSNBC napkins and “Rachel’s Bar” menus.  Maddow’s signature cocktail was listed as a Hearst: a mix of gin, sweet vermouth and bitters (though she told us she actually served more of her cava drink, “Airmail” which mixed rum, fresh lime juice, honey and the bubbly cava on top).  Afterwards, Maddow relinquished her bar duties to catch up with Ana Marie Cox and John Hodgman.

Later in the night passed treats included mini-pancakes and mini-ham, bacon and cheese croissants.  As the bars began to close, guests went out back. Among the last to leave at 3:00 a.m. were MSNBC Morning Joe’s Willie Geist, Luke Russert and many of the cable network’s junior staffers.

Media heavy-hitters spotted at the party: Steve Capus, Tamron Hall, Norah O’Donnell, Contessa Brewer with Matt Ackland, Joe Scarborough with Mika Brzezinski, David Shuster, Carlos Watson, Chris Matthews, Lynn Sweet, Margaret Carlson, and Eugene Robinson.

Politicos rounded out the guest list, including Obama senior adviser David Axelrod, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Obama economic adviser Larry Summers, as well as Hilary Rosen, Alex Castellanos, Brad Dayspring, and Kevin Madden.

Rachel Maddow to Bartend at MSNBC's After-Party

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2009 Winter TCA Tour - Day 9

Maddow to Bartend at MSNBC After-Party

Fox News set the bar for RTCA after-parties with its disco extravaganza in 2004, and this year, MSNBC will try to top it with Rachel Maddow, who will be mixing cocktails behind the bar. If that’s not enough, there will also be a chocolate fountain.

More than 400 guests are expected to cross the street from the Convention Center when the dinner ends to an MSNBC logo-swathed Washington Historical Society, at 801 K Street.

Maddow won’t be at the dinner; she’ll head to the party after doing her show; her “special cocktail” is being kept a tightly guarded secret. But an insider reveals the rest of the menu will include mini-milkshakes, ice cream bar, the chocolate fountain and breakfast, for those who stay to the bitter end. And a Starbucks Coffee Bar, in honor of the new “Morning Joe” sponsor. There won’t be a band, just a DJ.

MSNBC muscled in on the party after Fox News backed out. MSNBC was initially told Fox had locked up the Historical Society, the only party venue around in that part of town, and “It was this space or nothing,” said an insider. No official word on why Fox may have changed its mind but someone in the know said it was due to the ever-changing dinner date, from April 2 to June 4 to June 19, a Friday-and Father’s Day weekend, no less. (Many on-air talent types at all the networks are begging off this year because of the timing.)

NBC is going all-out with dinner tables, too, purchasing 13, which will seat administration guests including Attorney General Eric Holder; David Axelrod and Valerie Jarrett, senior advisers to President Obama; White House economic adviser Larry Summers; Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. Congressional guests include Sen. Susan Collins, R.-Maine, and Rep. David Obey, D.-Wisc.

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NBC’s lengthy list of on-air talent attending includes: Chris Matthews, Pete Williams, Andrea Mitchell, Chuck Todd, Tom Costello, Savannah Guthrie, Jim Miklaszewski, Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski, John Harwood, David Schuster, Carlos Watson, Tamron Hall, Contessa Brewer, Monica Novotny, Alex Witt, Ed Schultz, Norah O’Donnell, Dylan Ratigan, Willie Geist, Kelly O’Donnell and Luke Russert, as well as a number of commentators and analysts (Lawrence O’Donnell, Ana Marie Cox, Michelle Bernard, Eugene Robinson and Richard Wolffe.)

Execs include NBC News President Steve Capus, MSNBC President Phil Griffin, SVP and Washington bureau chief Mark Whitaker, and Betsy Fischer, the longtime exec producer of “Meet the Press.”

“This is our year, this is our time. We’re the place for politics and we really wanted to make a big splash in D.C. at this dinner,” said spokesman Jeremy Gaines.