NBC Celebrates the Obama Presidency

In 2007 I visited the NBC studios and store in New York City. Back then Barack Obama was just a freshman senator with a thin resume' of actual achievements.

Today's he's the president with a thin resume' of actual achievements, and NBC is celebrating their part in making it happen:

Barack Obama’s campaign slogan “Yes we can!” became “Yes we did!” on November 4, 2008, thrilling his supporters nationwide.

Evidently, NBC also was quite pleased with the win, and the news network is still celebrating.

NBC is selling “YES WE DID” t-shirts online as well as at its Manhattan company store in Rockefeller Center.

“We,” NBC? Do you have a mouse in your pocket or are you just admitting how deep you’re in the tank for Obama?

Unlike the DVD NBC hawked back in November as “commemorative” to celebrate Obama’s “victorious history-making win,” the t-shirt is actually claiming success.

The store also features Barack and Michelle magnets, fit in between “Saved by the Bell,” “Superstar” and “The Tonight Show” memorabilia.

Although the NBC store largely celebrates their entertainment division, a company with a major news division should be a lot more careful about taking political sides. Everyone knows NBC and especially their cable subsidiary MSNBC is hopelessly in the tank for Obama, but you'd think they'd be a little more careful about admitting it.

Perhaps NBC should be paying more attention to this:

This summer is one for the record books: more than a dozen new programs launched on broadcast television and not one breakout hit, with returning shows down and ratings at an all-time low.

After a tough season for broadcasters, summer has been a huge disappointment.

"The sheer amount of waste is staggering," one broadcast executive said. "They say reality is low cost, but there are still costs."

Accumulated near the bottom of the ratings list are new programs like ABC's wonky "Grey's Anatomy"-in-space drama "Defying Gravity" (3.3 million viewers, 1.0 adults 18-49 rating); ABC's ironically titled "The Superstars" (3.8 million, 1.3); NBC's crime drama "The Listener" (4.7 million, 1.3); Fox's scripted psychological procedural "Mental" (4.6 million, 1.4 adults 18-49 rating); NBC's once-promising drama "The Philanthropist" (5.6 million, 1.4); the CW's relationship reality show "Hitched or Ditched" (1.4 million, 0.6); NBC's imported miniseries "Merlin" (4.8 million, 1.3); and NBC's "Great American Road Trip" (3.9 million, 1.1), or, as one publicist called it, "Great American Roadkill."