History of MSNBC: 2008–2015
The following is a history of MSNBC from 2008–2015. MSNBC is an American basic cable and satellite news television channel that was founded in 1996. This era is known for its focus on more opinionated programming, which was drastically cut back in the recent shift towards hard news.
2008 election under Dan Abrams
Race for the White House
Controversies
During the 2008 election, MSNBC was accused of bias in favor of Barack Obama[1] and bias against primary challenger Hillary Clinton.[2][3][4] During the conventions, Matthews and Olbermann had a bitter argument on the air.[5] As a result, David Gregory took over as the only news anchor of debates and election night.[6] Despite this, however, all of the aforementioned anchors were present on the 2008 general election coverage without incident, giving notion that the "dust-up" earlier in the year was taken completely out of proportion.[citation needed]
In the fall of 2008, MSNBC had a new channel slogan called "The Power of Change", which put emphasis on their support for Obama's "change" rhetoric.[7]
New leadership under president Phil Griffin
In July 2008, former CNN producer
The Rachel Maddow Show
On September 8, 2008,
"Those people should just watch the show. We're hiring Rachel because she's a smart person. Rachel goes far beyond politics. She's an expert on military affairs. She was a Rhodes scholar."[8]
Reviews for the show were mostly positive. Los Angeles Times journalist Matea Gold stated that Maddow, "finds the right formula on MSNBC",[9] while Christopher Goodwin of The Guardian wrote Maddow has become the "star of America's cable news".[10] The New York Times writer Alessandra Stanley opined, "Her program adds a good-humored female face to a cable news channel whose prime time is dominated by unruly, often squabbling schoolboys; Ms. Maddow's deep, modulated voice is reassuringly calm after so much shrill emotionalism and catfights among the channel's aging, white male divas".[11]
The move to create a new program for the network was widely seen as a smart ratings move, where beforehand, the network lagged behind in coveted primetime ratings.[12] The show began to regularly outperform CNN's Larry King Live, and made the network competitive in the program's time slot for the first time in over a decade.[13][14]
Third primetime show
Speculation
On January 21, 2009, The New York Times reported that Phil Griffin would be prioritizing on increasing MSNBC's ratings in the 10 pm slot. In an interview done after the
"Losing the 10 p.m. replay is a very small price to pay for a last piece to the puzzle."
Three talk show hosts were campaigning for the job. They included
On March 31, 2009, Griffin announced that at that time the 10 pm slot would not be filled because ratings of the Countdown rerun were higher.[20] However, Cenk Uygur decided to continue the campaign anyway and decided to start "Stage 2".[21][22][23] On June 1, 2009, Griffin went back on what he said a few months earlier by saying:
"Clearly it should be someone who is both smart and funny like she is. ... But I will make one promise: we're not done yet! This is such a vibrant time in media, and I want to say to Rachel's audience – and everywhere I go I get stopped, there's such a connection between her and her audience, she's helped open a new world of approaches for us – that people who like Rachel will like our new 10 o'clock show host and what we are going to do there. No, I take that back, Rachel's audience will love it! I promise."[24]
The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell
MSNBC eventually launched a 10 pm show to replace the Countdown rebroadcast and to pad out its primetime lineup with entirely first-run talk programs. Lawrence O'Donnell began hosting a 10 pm ET show on the channel called The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, which premiered on September 27, 2010.[25]
The Ed Show
On March 10, 18, and 23, 2009, Air America radio host
On April 1, 2009, the network announced that Schultz had been given the 6:00 pm ET slot, replacing 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, with Shuster being reassigned by the network as substitute host for Olbermann on Countdown.[29] Schultz's new talk program The Ed Show premiered as a weeknightly program on MSNBC on April 6, 2009.
The Dylan Ratigan Show
When the show relaunched as The Dylan Ratigan Show on January 11, 2010, the show featured a new graphics package and set design. The change was made in order to make room for The Daily Rundown with Chuck Todd and Savannah Guthrie at 9 am, as part of MSNBC's commitment to straight news programming during the day.[31] The show focused on debate and discussion relating to politics and the economy. Ratigan often offered commentary on the subject matter and rebuttal to many of the guests who appear on the show.
MSNBC HD
On April 2, 2009, it was announced that MSNBC would launch a 1080i high-definition simulcast feed, MSNBC HD, on June 29, 2009.[32]
Ratings under Griffin
In March 2009, MSNBC finished in second place in primetime, ahead of CNN for the first time in its existence. Phil Griffin, MSNBC chief executive, attributed this to the network's decision to go liberal with Olbermann and Maddow along with problems at CNN.[33]
In the first quarter of 2010, the network beat CNN in primetime and overall ratings, marking the first time it did so since 2001.[34] The network also beat CNN in total adult viewers in March, marking the seventh out of the past eight months that MSNBC achieved that accolade.[34] In addition, the programs Morning Joe, The Ed Show, Hardball with Chris Matthews, Countdown with Keith Olbermann and The Rachel Maddow Show all finished ahead of their time slot competitors on CNN.[34]
During 2014, MSNBC's total ratings in the 25 to 54 age group declined 20%, falling to third place behind CNN. The only demographic in which MSNBC still leads is among Hispanics and even more so among African-Americans.[35]
Keith Olbermann's suspension and departure
In November 2010, MSNBC announced that
On the January 21, 2011, episode of Countdown, Olbermann abruptly announced that the show would be his final MSNBC broadcast.
The following month, Olbermann announced he had joined a soon-to-be-relaunched Current TV as its new primetime host and news director. He also started a blog called FOKNewsChannel.com, a commentary site parodying Fox News, which included written commentaries and articles based on former Countdown segments.
Ratings 2015–present
In 2015,
References
- ^ Shea, Danny (February 13, 2008). "Chris Matthews: "I Felt This Thrill Going Up My Leg" As Obama Spoke". The Huffington Post.
- ^ Keith Olbermann (May 23, 2008). "Clinton, you invoked a political nightmare". Archived from the original on May 26, 2008.
- ^ CHRIS MATTHEWS: Paddling Hilary?. YouTube. January 31, 2007. Retrieved July 1, 2015.[dead YouTube link]
- ^ U.S. News & World Report: Media Sexism Doomed Hillary's 2008 Bid. December 23, 2011.
- ^ "MSNBC: Keith Olbermann, Chris Matthews won't anchor politics". Associated Press. August 8, 2008.
- ^ "Topic Galleries". Chicago Tribune.
- ^ "MSNBC Under Fire For New Obama-Like "The Power Of Change" Slogan". Huffington Post. November 10, 2008.
- ^ Carter, Bill (August 20, 2008). "MSNBC Changes Prime-Time Lineup". The New York Times.
- ^ Gold, Matea (September 29, 2008). "MSNBC's new liberal spark plug Rachel Maddow, political junkie and TV rookie, launches to surprising ratings". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 11, 2010.
- ^ Goodwin, Christopher (September 28, 2008). "Gay TV host is liberal queen of US news". The Observer. London. Retrieved March 11, 2010.
- ^ Stanley, Alessandra (September 25, 2008). "A Fresh Female Face Amid Cable Schoolboys". The New York Times. Retrieved March 11, 2010.
- ^ At MSNBC, The 'M' Is For (Rachel) Maddow: MarketWatch Columnist Jon Friedman Says Network's New Star Is Opinionated, But Restrained CBS News Retrieved 2010-03-26
- ^ When Left is Right: Rachel Maddow always thought she was an outsider. How did she become a star? Newsweek Retrieved 2010-03-26
- ^ For first time, MSNBC tops CNN in primetime Politico Retrieved 2010-03-26
- ^ a b New York Times January 21, 2009 MSNBC Wants to Add a 3rd Prime-Time Show
- ^ "The Young Turks Announce Candidacy for MSNBC Slot". The Huffington Post. March 5, 2009. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
- ^ "TYT Network". Archived from the original on February 25, 2012. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
- ^ "Log into Facebook - Facebook". Facebook. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
{{cite web}}
: Cite uses generic title (help) - ^ "Open Left". openleft.com. Archived from the original on October 4, 2013. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
- ^ Google News April 2, 2009 MSNBC finding rerun is wise prime-time strategy
- ^ TYT / MSNBC Update. YouTube. April 1, 2009. Archived from the original on December 20, 2021. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
- user-generated source]
- ^ "TYT Photos". theyoungturks.com. Archived from the original on September 1, 2012. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
- ^ Oconnor, Rory (June 1, 2009). "Rachel Maddow, Keith Olbermann, Ed Schultz -- How MSNBC Became a Liberal Mecca". Huffington Post.
- ^ Lawrence O’Donnell Gets His Own MSNBC Show New York Times June 15, 2010
- ^ New York Observer March 24, 2009 MSNBC's Latest Acquisition, Ed Shultz, Is Roiling Rustic on Populist Mission
- ^ The New York Observer March 20, 2009 MSNBC In Discussions with Ed Schultz
- ^ "ABOUT ED". wegoted.com. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
- ^ POLITICO. "MSNBC gives Schultz the 6pm slot". politico.com. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
- ^ Guthrie, Marisa (June 28, 2009) "MSNBC Aims to Raise Profile with HD", Broadcastingcable. com.
- ^ (December 14, 2009) "New lineup for msnbc dayside in 2010", MSNBC.com. Retrieved January 9, 2010.
- ^ "MSNBC to Go HD on June 29 - TVWeek". tvweek.com. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
- ^ Associated Press March 28, 2009 CNN in third place in prime time for first time
- ^ a b c MSNBC Beats CNN in 1Q 2010 In Primetime; And In Total Day Among Adults In March, First Time Since 2001 TV by the Numbers Retrieved 2010-03-31
- ^ "Fox News Dominates Cable News Ratings In 2014; MSNBC Tumbles". Huffington Post. December 31, 2014. Retrieved February 19, 2015.
- ^ Keith Olbermann signs off from MSNBC, CNN.com, 22 January 2011
- ^ Critics see Comcast's hand in Olbermann departure from MSNBC, The Hill, 22 January 2011
- ^ Olbermann Fired Because of Comcast via TMZ - Stance on Net Neutrality To Blame?, The Daily Kos, 21 January 2011
- ^ Olbermann and MSNBC: a failing relationship Archived October 18, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, Associated Press, 22 January 2011
- ^ Staff, Mediaite. "Wednesday Cable Ratings: CNN's New Day Nearly Doubles Morning Joe in Demo". Mediaite. Retrieved March 24, 2015.
- ^ Stelter, Brian. "MSNBC says 'prime time lineup is solid'". CNNMoney. Retrieved March 24, 2015.