One could argue that the making of a good news organization is the ability to know in an instant what is newsworthy and what is not. Gone are the old days when news ran on a 24 hour cycle when there was ample time to reflect and discuss current events before sharing them with the viewing audience. The ability to know what is important to one's particular audience is important too as cable news channels scramble for viewer share. Notice how adroitly Andrea Mitchell maneuvers from Jane Harman's report on reforming the NSA to what interests her viewers most, Justin Bieber.
Of course knowing one's viewers is little help when the NBC parent company decides that instead of Special Ed Schultz and Rachel Maddow the viewers really need to watch more hockey. From Norman Chad's column at the Washington Post;
MSNBC will carry hours and hours and hours of live hockey. I feel for MSNBC, I really do. The cable network has gone through a litany of left-leaning nighttime hosts in search of an audience that never materializes. And now these poor rascals have to present hockey every evening for two weeks? You’d get a better Nielsen number showing a Zamboni running over a carton of eggs on an icy stretch of road in Chautauqua, N.Y.
If I were an MSNBC executive, I’d just run the film “Miracle” on a continuous loop.
3 comments:
There are a few ways to view MSNBC's decision to run hockey games. One, is that they are following a possibly dangerous trend of surrendering the branding. History Channel shows cheesy reality shows, as does Discovery, Scyfy shows wrestling and True TV shows basketball games. MSNBC started out as a mainstream news organization that went far left, possibly--and I believe this wholeheartedly--to enrich their parent company, General Electric. This might signal the start of a rebrand effort.
I never bought the idea that Jeffrey Immelt held David Corn in high regard and I doubt if he invites the staff of Mother Jones into the boardroom. Corn and company provided ongoing adulation for the keepers of purse strings.
Prime time hockey might signify that GE has milked this administration for all it can get and their brain trust can also read poll numbers. Hockey might be a segue to a new image of balance and eclecticism just in time for the 2014 elections.
Isn't GE the minor partner now? What's going to happen to all the loons? Andrea Mitchell can probably still make it at NBC but the rest? What channel wants Special Ed or Sharpton?
GE might be a minor partner but they still hold an interest. Fairly recently CNBC still did an "In the interest of full disclosure..." disclaimer when discussing GE.
Al Jazeera took MSNBC reject John Shuster. They might take Ed and Al. PBS and NPR still hire loyal comrades. What exactly did Al do before MSNBC? He might resurface as a Nutrisystem spokesman, targeting that urban niche that Dan Marino and Marie Osmond had trouble penetrating.
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