Currently Booming: Brian Williams Already Throwing His Weight Around at MSNBC

(Photo: Twitter)

Brian Williams has only been back on the air for a few short weeks and already he is making his presence felt behind the scenes at MSNBC. Williams, the former anchor of NBC Nightly News, caught a break earlier this year when the network decided to shift him over to the ratings-challenged MSNBC rather than flat out firing him. Williams was sidelined with a six month suspension after being caught embellishing several of his news reports and rather than returning with a bit of humility, his known ego is still front and center.

According to a report by Page Six, "Brian has been going to town at MSNBC, He’s dictating personnel changes.” Pat Burkey — Williams’ executive producer at NBC’s “Nightly News” who remained when Williams was suspended and Lester Holt got the gig — was relegated this week to executive producer in charge of afternoon news coverage at MSNBC. “Pat’s going with Brian, but it’s being looked at like a demotion,” said a source.

That situation is only one example of Williams insisting that MSNBC cater to his demands and his co-workers are reportedly furious because it has cost several people their jobs. Are you surprised that the network kept Williams on board at all?  It seems an incredibly tough task to expect a credibility-challenged former anchor to save a network that itself is known for credibility issues, doesn't it?

Currently Booming: Brian Williams Debuts on MSNBC

(Photo: Twitter)

Brian Williams made a somewhat triumphant return to the anchor desk yesterday when he took over the afternoon coverage on MSNBC. Williams first task is to report on Pope Francis' visit to the United States which means that he was brought in the door with a decent breaking story to kick off this phase of his career.

By now everyone knows that the former NBC Nightly News anchor sat out a six-month suspension for lying on air about his active involvement in several of the stories that he was hired to report on. While Williams never fully admitted to lying it is obvious that he had developed quite a pattern of "misremembering". While many insiders believed that he would and should ultimately be fired from NBC, the powers-that-be opted to reassign him to the ratings-challenged MSNBC instead.

In other words, this guy with serious credibility issues has been brought in to help save a network that also has credibility issues. That seems like a pretty tough task to master, doesn't it? We know that Williams is scheduled to handle any breaking news between the hours of 3-5 p.m. weekdays on MSNBC. Do you support NBC giving him an opportunity to redeem himself and if so, do you think that it's a realistic possibility that he can do so and give MSNBC a boost as well? Or is his coming back just a pipe dream?

You can check out Williams first broadcast on MSNBC right here.

Brian Williams Off Suspension, Heading to MSNBC in September

Brian Williams six month suspension without pay from NBC quietly ended last week. Back in February the popular news man was removed from the NBC Nightly News anchor spot because he was caught and later admitted to embellishing a story about being shot down in a plane in Iraq.  The network imposed a six month suspension and when they did some digging NBC turned up several other instances where Williams was caught being dishonest. His lies eventually cost him the coveted top seat at the network but Williams somehow still does have a job waiting for him over at the always-struggling MSNBC.

Rather than firing him outright, NBC news honcho Andy Lack instead decided to create a position for Williams at the sister-network. Beginning in September he will be in charge of breaking news segments for MSNBC. While Williams should be thanking his lucky stars that he has a job, rumor has it that MSNBC is none to happy to be stuck with him. The network's ratings are dismal and they are struggling with credibility issues as a whole so bringing in Williams, with his reputation in shambles hardly seems the best move.

Still, Lack is hoping that Williams presence will somehow not only steady the ratings, but also prompt people to tune in to watch his exclusive coverage of important breaking events. Do you think that Williams still has that kind of power? Or will his credibility always be called into question after his past chronic lying on camera?