Yes, I have seen the reports. It is no longer NBC's Brian Williams but MSNBC's Brian Williams. He is now a cable guy.
Cable may not have the cachet of broadcast, but cable is a whole lot more exciting and challenging than broadcast. Nightly News on broadcast NBC? Think about it. It is 22 minutes of reading the news and usually reading what others wrote. Exciting? I don't think so.
But cable? Get ready! You have to be fast, nimble and on top of your game at all times because it is fast and, yes, unpredictable. Any second something could happen... and yes, it does.
I compare the broadcast and cable to the Senate and the House. The Senate, the upper Chamber, is stuffy (you do get the better title of Senator, right?) and can be slow and tedious. There is just not a lot of action in the Senate. It is even quiet on the Senate side. You feel like you should whisper on the Senate side of Capitol Hill.
What is the House of Representatives like? Wild and gritty! Speaker John Boehner once described his job to me as like having a wheelbarrow full of frogs and having to move that barrel from one side of a large room to the other side without all the frogs jumping out. That's the House! Just like cable, there is lot's of action.
Here is another one -- the Supreme Court and traffic court! Yes, the Supreme Court is the top court and all lawyers want it, but is it exciting? No. I think the day to day job is slow. Think about it. The Justices ponder and ponder... taking a year to decide a case and they also have staffs of lawyers to do their research and writing. That sounds slow to me. Of course it is an important job -- and you get that fancy title -- but the job itself is slow which can mean dull.
And traffic court? Fast and extremely important -- don't undersell it. It has real and direct impact on peoples' lives every single day of the week. A traffic court judge makes quick decisions (and hundreds each day) that always impacts someone's direct livelihood. You don't get the title of Supreme Court Justice and chances are the lawyers don't always have matching shoes on, but the job is challenging, extremely important to citizens...and never dull.
(As an aside, I don't know anyone who ever practiced in traffic court who doesn't have the best stories to tell!)
Cable is a great platform. We are not spending our time stepping all over each other to get air time -- we have it, and lots of it.
Williams may miss the cachet of being able to say he is the anchor of NBC Nightly News but he should get ready! Cable news is exciting!
Brian, welcome!