I know this will upset many of you here at DU: Rita Cosby fired from MSNBC

[LynneSin]

http://www.imdb.com/news/sb/2007-03-12/#tv2

MSNBC Host Rita Cosby Handed Walking Papers


Rita Cosby is out at MSNBC. The tabloid-show personality, who recently flew to the Bahamas to attend the funeral of Anna Nicole Smith said on Friday that she will remain with the cable network until the end of the month when her current contract expires, then move on to "explore the new opportunities." Since her 10:00 p.m. show Rita Cosby Live and Direct was canceled in June, Cosby has been working with a "specials unit." But she has received little on-air work since then.
TV Critics Agree

[RC Quake]

1. Oh, that voice!

Good riddance...

[LynneSin]

6. She sounds like she's been smoking 8 packs a day since she was two

Seriously

[question everything]

54. I have heard her only once, by mistake

and thought she had a cold..

[AlCzervik]

2. the same Rita Cosby that got kicked out of the gathering the family was having after the funeral.

asked to leave and then escorted out by security all caught on camera by entertainment tonight, fing hilarious. Oh yeah she was also at the funereal as the "invited guest" of that Vergie woman.

[maddezmom]

ah noooo

I hate to be so petty, but this made my night. :evilgrin:

[azmouse]

3. I'd forgotten all about Gravel Gertie.

Maybe she'll go to Fox Noise to just report on dead and/or missing blonde girls?

[MADem]

11. They fired her for the 'crime' of being too fat and too old NT

[TheLeftyMom]

23. Nah, I think this firing might just be justified.

She was awful. No matter how young/old or what her weight is. Just awful. She was like a rabid tabloid paparazzi. Ugh.

[MADem]

47. No, I was talking about her firing from FAUX. Read upthread.

This dismissal was simply a non-renewal. She knew it was coming because they changed formats at MSNBC. She had time to get a new job--at Catholic Radio.

[AlCzervik]

41. oh horseshit, Candy Crowley is employed and she's not exactly small, the fired Rita

because she serves no purpose.

[MADem]

48. Well, last time I checked, Candy didn't WORK for FAUX, now

Or EVER.

Faux does have an appearance and a weight thing with their females. They also have a lurid lipstick standard, too.

Check Variety and other sources. Rita had great numbers at Faux, but they wanted to cut her salary and she wasn't having it. That show she had over there was a moneymaker. They told her to lose weight. They refused to give her the same pay as before. They figured they could put anyone in the same slot doing the same thing with the same result--it didn't pan out for them, though.

MSNBC grabbed her up and used her to pull in some short-term cash with that LIVE AND DIRECT show before they reformatted under Abrams. She did what she was contracted to do, and now she's moving on.

As for FAUX and their policies on females...my, how soon we forget--and this blurb isn't even about Dildo Really and Andrea Mackris: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9962376/

A sexual harassment lawsuit by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against Fox News Network LLC contends that Fox retaliated against Kim Weiler, a former employee, for complaining about discrimination and that, as a result of the discrimination, Weiler and others at Fox were “constructively discharged” by the network. The suit does not state how many people were discharged.

The complaint contends that Joe Chillemi, a Fox vice president who supervised its advertising and promotions departments, sexually harassed and subjected Weiler and other women to a hostile work environment, routinely using obscenities and vulgarities to describe women or their body parts....The complaint says Chillemi also made a number of derogatory comments about pregnant women.

“In addition, at a department discussion about a segment on sexism in the workplace, Chillemi said that in choosing who to hire, ’If it came down between a man or a women, of course I’d pick the man. The woman would most likely get pregnant and leave,”’ the complaint says.

The lawsuit also claims a supervisor in the advertising and promotions departments, which Chillemi oversees, referred to women in those departments in a derogatory way as his “Promo Girls.”

The complaint alleges Fox discriminated against Weiler and other female employees in terms, conditions and privileges of employment, including assigning women primarily to freelance positions with less benefits, less advancement potential and less job security.

[Deep13]

4. She and Blitzer can share a sandwich of hard-cheese and drywall.

[LSparkle]

5. I just typed this in another thread about 20 seconds ago

THANK GOD!!!!!

It boggled my mind that Keith Olbermann and that ... creature ... shared the same network.

[madinmaryland]

7. OMG, ARE YOU SERIES!!1!!

What are we going to do without "The Voice"

[devilgrrl]

44. That picture cracks my shit up!

:rofl: what a tool she is! :rofl:

[southerncrone]

8. How sad....... when will Nancy Grace get her walking papers? Soon....? I hope.

[ArbustoBuster]

51. She must have photos of someone in a compromising position.

I figure that's the only reason why Nancy Grace and Wolf Blitzer are still working. They've got photos of the head of CNN in bed with a sheep.

[tularetom]

9. Well it ain't quite like Alberto Gonzales or Karl Rove being fired

but it's pretty funny news for a Monday.

[Richard Steele]

10. What are the odds she DOESN'T end up at Fox?

Seriously, where else could she go at this point?

[MADem]

13. Oh, a hundred percent. See, they fired her for being fat and old.

MSNBC gave her a soft landing.

[Richard Steele]

14. Oh, yeah, that's right. THX MADem! nm

[EarlG]

17. I think she's already been there

If I'm not mistaken, she was at Fox before MSNBC stole her away. I believe it was considered quite a coup for MSNBC at the time, lol.

[MADem]

21. MSNBC didn't steal her. Fox dumped her. They were irritated at her weight gain.

They like their bimbos slim, with cleavage, and not too old, you see. She made the mistake of sliding into middle age, and got a pink slip for it. They were, to be totally accurate, willing to keep her on, but at less money in exchange for her crime of aging. She was pulling in good ratings, but they figured they'd do better with a newer model who cost them less.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117922709.html?categoryid=14&cs=1

NEW YORK -- Fox News Channel will not renew a contract with weekend host Rita Cosby, as the two sides couldn't come to an agreement on an extension, the network said.
Cosby hosted "The Big Story Weekend Edition With Rita Cosby" at 9 p.m. Saturday. On Sunday at 6 p.m. she hosted "Fox News Live With Rita Cosby."

Cosby will leave the network immediately. No replacement host has been appointed, nor has a decision been made on the future of the shows, Fox News said.

[KoKo]

34. Maybe CNN will hire her...they don't seem to bother about things like weight gain.

Candy Crowley has been on CNN forever.

[MADem]

42. Who does gossip at CNN? That's not in the cards, I don't think, at least not yet

Nancy Grace is really the crime queen there. Rita Cosby actually did some time as a journalist before she got down to the gossip beat. She interviewed Arafat, fachrissake. And Sharon. And a host of others. If you ignore her willingness to do what her boss asks, she has a not unimpressive CV: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8755935/

But, since she's off to Catholic Radio, I guess her life has taken a different direction (she did get an audience with JP2, too)...

She might end up in a regional market--who knows?

[marlakay]

59. My local news Spokane & Seattle

Spokanes news ladies are overweight and Seattle not. Its not a big deal to us but we have noticed it. I have noticed lately that liberals overall tend to weigh less and eat healthier. Or is that just me??

[MADem]

62. It's just you. Two words--Annthrax Coulter.

Weight isn't political. People can keep a good weight by eating right...or vomiting.

[Richard Steele]

22. Yeah, that's right. Me brain no work good always! (or even regularly, these days)

But DU keeps my mistakes TEMPORARY, as a general rule.

[AlCzervik]

43. you know your organization is in trouble when getting rita Cosby is considered a great catch.

[MADem]

63. She did help break loose a number of Faux viewers.

She had a following. By putting her after KO, she got many people to tune in a bit early. That helped grow KO's base. He always put the goofy oddball stuff at the end. It appealed to people who decided to check out the whole show.

That's part of why they hired her, for that short term bump. She delivered. They gave her a soft landing and time to prepare to move on.

[BonnieJW]

35. I think she CAME from Fox.

As another Du'er more clever than I said, her voice was caused by the lump of bullshit caught in there.

[Richard Steele]

36. Yes, she did. I'm back on track now, thanks. nm

[Auntie Bush]

68. Didn't MSNBC steal her from FOX?

If so, I doubt FOX would want her back.

[Lex]

12. Someone even worse (I know! but I bet so) will pop up in her place at MSNBC.

nt

[MADem]

16. I doubt it. They're paring the stable, not adding to it.

They are making a nice bundle showing reworked documentaries about prisons and crime and perverts. Faux viewers galore are switching over for those shows.

[Lex]

33. The only thing that makes them money is info-tainment like Rita Cosby

and her ilk. The stats show all the sheeple tune in for that crap.

I think they'll go even sleazier. I bet they just didn't want to pay her the bucks she wanted, so they'll get someone cheaper.

[MADem]

39. That is just NOT true. Those shows cost too much. The DOC BLOC is making money.

Google that and Dan Abrams and you'll see. Why walk when you can ride? They're going for CHEAP. It is a specific market niche they're going after. It's working, too--the Faux people are coming over. They aren't doing new shows after nine, and they aren't doing news on weekends. They never did weekend news very well, anyway. They aren't going to try.

If you have a reporter, you have to PAY them a big fat salary. You have to pay to design a studio and logos, you have to pay unionized cameramen, soundmen and makeup men (the men is generic, they could all be women) and so forth. You need producers, directors, editors, researchers. You have to pay electric bills for lights, you have to send people out to film B roll, or get interviews, and you also have to have interns to go through the video files for pictures and do research.

It's WAY easier to repackage the obituary footage that they have for EVERY celebrity and call it "Headliners and Legends" and make someone already on the payroll do five minutes of announcing for it per show. It's way easier to put together those LOCKUP shows with file footage and a narration by John Siegenthaler and re run them forever. It's hugely cheaper to show old DATELINE shows repackaged as something else--a crime story, what have you. It's a piece of cake to take those CATCH A PREDATOR shows and run them in tight rotation three times a week, two of those times on weekends.

Look--no star to pay, no studio to light, no grips, electricians, camera people, sound people, engineers, producers, makeup people to pay. Just file footage, put together by an intern, double checked by an old editor. Stone Phillips--here's the script--give us five minutes of good stuff. Up it goes, it's costing NOTHING.

Rita Cosby was let go because they went to the DOC BLOC format, she had a one year term, and their existing stable has longer contracts. But I wouldn't count on any new shows, unless they REPLACE a cancelled show. Those doc-blocs are here to stay for the near term.

[Lex]

40. Advertisers don't want to pay big $ for ads that run during re-runs of documentaries

and the ads are what generates revenue.

Advertisers are going to want their ads to run while people are watching and the ad rates are tied into how many people are watching at any given hour.

These documentaries like "Headliners and Legends" will tank. People will switch the channel to something else over time.

[MADem]

45. Again, you aren't comprehending what I am telling you. DOC BLOC brings in VIEWERS

They come from CNN and FAUX. LOTS of them. And advertisers pay for EYES on the SCREEN. They don't care what people are watching, if it's Keith Olbermann or a rerun of the Three Stooges, so long as there are sets tuned to the show. And maybe YOU switch, but "people" aren't. They're watching in bigger numbers than they did the talking head reruns.

Advertising on DOC BLOC is cheaper, too, because the costs to produce the show are lower. The advertiser gets more eyes on the screen, more people watching their ad, for LESS, because the costs are less to produce the programming.

It's basic economics. Don't believe me, believe Dan Abrams. This is his baby, and he's brought the network back from DISAPPEARING entirely--they were going to scrap it completely, and toss the scraps to CNBC. They already sold off their SECAUCUS studio assets--all of the shows that were airing out there (from IMUS to KO) have moved back to 30 Rock and broadcast out of the city now.

[nadinbrzezinski]

46. you get it

adn sometines doc bloc has interesting thigns on to boot

[Berry Cool]

74. They haven't moved back to 30 Rock yet.

They've still got to finish building the new studios there. Keith Olbermann usually does his show out of 30 Rock every Thursday and Friday, and you can tell, because they stick him with only one camera in a studio the size of a broom closet. It's obviously not the optimal environment. The rest of the time he still does it out of Secaucus, and that's where most of the rest of them are doing theirs from, except Tweety, who's in DC.

[Gabi Hayes]

15. har...thanks for the reminder. she bounced right back, though:

she has her very own show on Sirius...the Catholic Channel--159

just heard the advert the other day.

[saltpoint]

18. I flew into a rage as soon as they announced it.

The living room's a wreck.

Smashed plates strewn across the kitchen.

And I have no idea where the cat is.

[durrrty libby]

19. She does not bother me half as much as Tucker the Yucker

[shain from kane]

20. The Hoarse Whisperer.

[mikelgb]

28. ding

lol

[SlowDownFast]

49. LMAO

:rofl:

[Ino]

24. The 1st time I saw Rita was during Katrina

I thought, "Oh that poor woman! She's been on-air for so long she's losing her voice!" :D

[TheLeftyMom]

25. I hate her, but I'll give her credit there

You've reminded me that she did a nice job during Katrina.

Then she got hung up on dead blondes and made those nasty remarks about Dems and blacks. I was done with her then.

[tblue]

26. Buh-bye and good riddance!

[jazzjunkysue]

64. You. Are. So. Bad.

And I love it. :rofl:

[tblue]

71. I know. At first I started to feel guilty, then I thought about who I was dealing with

[Graybeard]

27. Randi Rhodes on that adolescent voice changing problem...

...she always says, "How long do we have to wait for Rita Cosby's testicles to drop?"

[The Straight Story]

29. Will she host the cbs evening news now?

:rofl:

[tblue]

32. ABC, darling. ABC

[BluePatriot]

30. Eh, she wasn't that great

and her voice! Ugh.

[ms liberty]

31. What? Raspy Rita dumped? What shall I do?.....

Woooooo-hooooo! Time to par-tay!

Buh bye Rita - don't call us, we'll call you...NOT!

[kskiska]

37. Well, there's always CNN Headline news or CourtTV

With the upcoming Anna Nicole murder case, they'll need an on-the-spot reporter to breathlessly report every move. I'll bet John Mark Kerr misses her.

[nadinbrzezinski]

38. My, my

GOOD NEWS

[Supersedeas]

50. Next Nancy Grace and Tucker plz

[graywarrior]

52. Yippeeeeeeee ! ! ! ! !

I hope I never have to hear that horrible, fucking Don Corleone voice again.

[sammythecat]

53. Good news. It really is.

I hope the last time I heard her remains just that. The last time.

[Stinky The Clown]

55. Oh My Gawd! I'm crushed.

The Fuschia Sausage is leaving???? Say it isn't sooooooooo.

On a related note, CBS's bottom rated news reader, Katharine Couric, was heard to say she watching Sumner Redstone's every move as the Cosby Machine swings toward a new gig.

And on yet **another** related note, Ms. Couric was oevrheard speaking earnestly with Connie Chung, another failed CBS woman newzer, about wanting to find a third woman with whom they could team to give Barbara Walters a run for the View money.

Ms. Walters was unavialable for comment. Rosie O'Donell was, but no one cared to ask her anything.

[Janice325]

56. Aw, gee whiz.

I am sooo disappointed! My heart is breaking.:sarcasm:
k&r

[AtomicKitten]

57. I'm crushed.

[No DUplicitous DUpe]

58. I'm OK with that. The stories she covered drove me up a wall.

I'll be OK without seeing her on MSNBC, really, I will.

[SalmonChantedEvening]

60. I'm so broken up I could just Bray. n/t

[DesertRat]

61. This post needs more cowbell! k&r

[jazzjunkysue]

65. Great idea!

[jazzjunkysue]

66. Maybe, now, she'll take that sausage out of her throat...

I kept hoping she'd cough up the hairball and be done with it.

Of course, she'll head straight to radio.....

Little too much bleach seeping in through the follicles....

It isn't that she's, fat, but her personality is so piggish. She just can't get enough camera time...

[jazzjunkysue]

67. Rec #8. Hell. Ya only live once! n/t.

[LittleClarkie]

69. Never quite got how she landed the job in the first place

She can't talk. She sounds like she has permanent laryngitis. Surely that wouldn't make her a candidate for broadcasting.

[Lex]

70. kick

[EmperorHasNoClothes]

72. I hear she's going on to work for the Cheese Grater and Tobacco consortium

Someone get that woman a lozenge.

[Kurovski]

73. Foghorn Leghorn's hatchling

left scratching and pecking in the barnyard to "explore the new opportunities".

There's always KFC, Rita.

[B Calm]

75. I bet Kathy Malloy is pissed. She had Rita Cosby down pat!