Will NBC ever let Brian Williams return?
The news of Brian Williams's suspension and NBC's naming of Lester Holt to be his temporary replacement has made waves across the media world.
Mr. Holt, the longtime weekend anchor on the Today Show and NBC Nightly News is a familiar face to viewers. The network will give him six months to win back the audience who may have turned away following Mr. Williams鈥檚 embellishing of a report during the time he was covering the invasion of Iraq for NBC.
The controversy has prompted聽聽and聽criticism from , as well as . On Wednesday, another voice from the broadcast news world weighed in on the matter.
Television and radio host Larry King by a TMZ reporter and asked about Williams. Mr. King said that the whole incident was unfortunate, but mentioned he did not think Williams would be welcomed back as lead the anchor at NBC. 聽
鈥淚 like Brian [but] what he did was not excusable, but I hope he comes back though,鈥� Mr. King . When asked if he could see Williams returning after six months, King said, 鈥淚t will be hard [to return] because the whole basis of the news is trust. But America 蹿辞谤驳颈惫别蝉.鈥�
In six months鈥� time, America may very well have forgiven Williams. But if Lester Holt performs well as the lead anchor, the network would most likely balk at the opportunity to give Williams back his hold job, according to King.
鈥淸Holt] is going to do [the broadcasts] for six months. I think if he gets good ratings and [NBC] like[s] him, .鈥�
In the broadcasts since the announcement of the suspension, from the Nightly News title, according to the Los Angeles Times. This week聽 to the incident聽and he said, "Brian is a member of our family but so are you, our viewers, and we will work every night to be worthy of your trust," Mr. Holt said.
However, there may be a inside the walls of 30 Rock who are not in support of Williams returning to the anchor desk, according to CNN.聽Now NBC executives are left to debate聽 for a news organization: Do they stick it out with Williams and let America鈥檚 onetime favorite anchor return to his post, or will ratings and profits be higher without him?
However, if the powers that be inside NBC are basing their decision off ratings alone, it could very well spell the end for Mr. Williams who was viewed as the logical, well-established replacement for Tom Brokaw when the veteran anchor retired in 2004.
ABC鈥檚 鈥淲orld News Tonight with David Muir鈥� has reportedly experienced a since Friday, the only evening network newscast to see a boost in the all-important 25-54 age demographic since Friday. The ratings grab continued for ABC as Mr. Muir鈥檚 newscast was the only one to see a ratings boost from the , going from 1.5 million to over 2.3 million viewers, according to the report.
