What tv news shows skillfully cover the news of the day, and offer a bit of analysis, in 30 minutes?

March 11, 2008 2:01 PM

I love that ESPN's Pardon the Interruption takes only 30 minutes each day to not only cover the biggest sports events of the day, but to also provide some analysis and decent interviews with people in the news. Bonus points, at least for me, on the show's humor and personality. I'd love to find another show that does the same thing with national and world news. Looking for something 30 minutes long (or less, if the front end of some larger thing works), that's smart and quickly paced - NPR's top of the hour update fleshed out a bit and filtered through that PTI sensibility.

The Fox or MSNBC night-timers sort of fit the bill, but they get too bogged down in a few stories, or in opinion, or on the host. And the Daily Show and Colbert are too focused on the humor end.

posted by boombot to media & arts (8 comments total)

The McLaughlin Group?
posted by schoolgirl report at 2:04 PM on March 11, 2008

There's nothing really out there like this and for shame. I think a general news network with the ESPN sensibility could be really big.
posted by krark at 2:04 PM on March 11, 2008

Has it got to be a TV show?
posted by Science! at 2:09 PM on March 11, 2008

I'd prefer a TV show, airing every day (or weekday).
posted by boombot at 2:13 PM on March 11, 2008

Countdown with Keith Olbermann?
posted by anastasiav at 2:48 PM on March 11, 2008

Well I really really love the "It's All Politics" podcast from NPR. It's usually 15-20 minutes and comes out weekly. It is focused on politics, but they touch on news stories and current events when it's applicable. The humor is just my style.
posted by Science! at 6:02 PM on March 11, 2008

I was going to say Countdown as well. It's an hour long but otherwise fits the bill.
posted by the christopher hundreds at 10:53 PM on March 11, 2008

BBC World News America on BBC America at 7 pm Eastern (and again at 10 pm I think). It's an hour but the main stuff happens in the first 30 minutes. It's from the BBC studios in Washington.

I think it's the best news show on US TV with good reporting and there's certainly some subtle British style humour thrown in from time to time.
posted by tetranz at 10:18 AM on March 12, 2008