Not quite must see TV

Meacham of Newsweek in Talks for Weekly PBS Show

The Pulitzer Prize-winning editor of Newsweek, Jon Meacham, is negotiating to add a television job to his schedule. He is in final talks to be the co-host of a new PBS Friday night public affairs series called “Need to Know,” said several executives with knowledge of the production who declined to be named because the contracts had not been signed.

The co-anchor for the program, which begins May 7 at 8:30 p.m., is expected to be Alison Stewart, formerly of NPR’s short-lived “The Bryant Park Project” morning show and, before that, anchor of MSNBC’s “The Most.”

So let me get this straight. When PBS decides they need a new show, they turn to a guy whose magazine is losing readers by the boatload. Then they toss in a co-host who has already failed twice before.

Maybe the guild thought they might need a lifeline. That's the only thing that makes sense.