MSNBC

MSNBC (a grammatical blend of MSN and NBC) is a 24-hour cable news channel in the United States. MSNBC is currently America's fourth most-watched cable news channel, after Fox News, CNN, and CNN Headline News, but ahead of CNBC. It is available in 83.6 million households in the U.S. and broadcasts primarily out of its studios in Secaucus, New Jersey.

History

When it launched on July 15, 1996, MSNBC had more viewers than the Fox News channel, but soon struggled due to a series of changes in management and of the direction of the network. Originally, shows drew heavily on the Internet (the MS side). MSNBC streamed programs to the World Wide Web, and show titles like Internight, The Site, and Home Page demonstrated the Web sensibility. When that failed to draw viewers, MSNBC used the historical archive footage of NBC News to run shows like Headliners & Legends and Time & Again, which dominated its primetime lineup at one time. The next phase of MSNBC was with a sort of liberal opinion journalism, with hosts like Jerry Nachman and Phil Donahue giving their take of events. Currently, MSNBC is a mix of opinion hosts from across the political spectrum (Keith Olbermann leans to the left; Chris Matthews, former speechwriter for President Jimmy Carter who admits to having voted for George W. Bush "at least once" http://mediamatters.org/items/200505310005, is a centrist; while Joe Scarborough and Tucker Carlson lean to the right), combined with rolling news coverage during the day.

Related Topics:
July 15 - 1996 - The Site - Jerry Nachman - Phil Donahue - Keith Olbermann - Chris Matthews - Jimmy Carter - George W. Bush - Joe Scarborough - Tucker Carlson

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MSNBC was founded by Microsoft and General Electric, which owns NBC Universal. As of 2005, both companies share control of the company. MSNBC, like sister channel CNBC, shares the NBC logo of a rainbow peacock.

Related Topics:
Microsoft - General Electric - NBC Universal - CNBC

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