TV News Review

Mornings aren’t easy. I stay up too late and have to get up way too early to start the work day. In fact, It’s usually not advisable to even talk to me before that first cup of morning coffee. Speaking of that morning coffee, Robin Meade and company are made to go with a morning cup of coffee. Robin is full of energy in the mornings. In fact, she says it’s her job to “get you going” in the mornings. With Robin and Company you can get a good handle on the important stories of the day in 30 minutes and still have time to be at work on time.

My favorite thing about Robin and Company is the way they mix things up. In a 30 minute span, Robin reads the news from behind a desk, moves to a sofa to discuss the day’s sports stories with Larry Smith, banters across the studio with weatherman Bob Van Dillen, hands off to Jennifer Westhoven for a financial news update, and stands to read another segment of news headlines.

I’d love to see more of the cable news programs use this format. Even the great anchors can become stale after spending two or more hours sitting behind a desk reading the news. CNN and MSNBC seem to be the worst for anchoring the anchors to the desk. I’m not suggesting they should have the anchor do silly segments or cooking segments like you often see on the morning programs. I’m just suggesting something as simple as having the anchors read the news from a variety of places in the studio will keep viewers watching a little longer. A viewer will stay for 30 minutes to get caught up on the news. Adding a little entertainment will keep them another 30 minutes. And we all know ratings is the name of the game.