|
|
|
Based in the United States and available in the US as well as the UK and Canada, MSNBC is a cable news channel whose name combines the word Microsoft and NBC. It was founded in 1996 by Microsoft and General Electric now known as NBC Universal. The channel focused on interviews, new as well as opinions. It broadcasts news coverage during the day as well as interactive programs with longer and more detailed stories as compared to other channels. MSNBC also used their connections to broadcast stories from a number of their affiliates.
The company has had a long history. In 2001, it trailed close behind Fox News and CNN and they had tried to emulate the success of the Fox News Channel. There were also some shows stopped due to high production costs. After the 9/11 attacks, MSNBC, become an outlet for NBC news to offer updated coverage of the attacks which were also broadcast in CNBC and CNBC-Europe who had little financial news to offer to their audiences. The year 2005 saw NBC announcing that it will acquire an additional percentage on the company shares from Microsoft making it gain more control over the operations of the TV network. They used this opportunity to consolidate the networks operations and other cable properties. The network received a lot of negative publicity due to the lower ratings and had to revamp their schedule. The innovations saw the broadcast of all the programs in new NBC studios in NYC.
The changes saw the Network rise in the ratings from mid 2007 to mid 2008. The ratings increased further during the 2008 presidential elections with Keith Olbermann, Chris Matthews and David Gregory anchoring the MSNBC coverage though Chris and Olbermann were later removed since many people criticized them for being biased while on the channel. This saw the network top CNN for the first time especially in the demography featuring adults of between 25-54 years. The other change incorporated in the network saw the introduction of an opinion program that was hosted by Rachel Maddow who is a renowned political analyst and a Rhodes Scholar, a move that saw the network's rating soar and increased its competitive edge in the time slot of that program which regularly outshines Larry King Live show on CNN. These ratings continued to soar both in prime-time and overall ratings making them beat their rivals such as CNN.
The network also faces carriage issues which are as a result of an agreement they had made with Cablevision which prohibited the carriage of MSNBC by competing wired providers. The year 2010 saw a suit from Verizon fios to FCC with an aim to terminate the deal and now the network is visible in the areas that did not access it such as New Jersey and some portions of New York. MSNBC launched the MSNBC HD on June, 2009 with cablevision able to carry it on the day it was launched. Other providers such as Dish Network and Time Warner Cable added the High Definition at a later date. Some of the carriers such as Comcast added MSNBC HD in various markets one at a time thus leaving other customers unable to access it.
The network has a number of international ventures. In Canada, MSNBC Canada was developed in 2001 with a variety of local content. Rogers Communication was the operator of the channel but the network was discontinued in 2004 after the American version started airing in the country. The programs included repeats of CBC and CPAC shows with the aim of fulfilling the requirements for Canadian Contents as well as some informecials that were not aired in the American programming. The African version is operated by a joint venture between Great Media Limited and MSNBC on Free2View TV which airs the programs from 4 pm till midnight. In Europe and Asia, MSNBC is broadcast on Orbit news - a 24-hour news network that exclusively offers American news programming. A series of unresolved rights issues is keeping some of the European cable companies from carrying MSNBC. In Turkey, the network is available on NTV-the Turkish news channel as a result of joint partnership between the Turkish Broadcaster and MSNBC. The English content is translated into Turkish.
Other development featured on the network involves the launching of the services on XM satellite Radio on channel 120 and channel 90 on Sirius Satellite Radio. The programming of the channel is also available in Msnbc.com which is a separate company from MSNBC cable. The company is a news outlet for NBC News containing a number of articles from their partners. The website is developed on the Microsoft Campus in Redmond Washington. It is a famous site that has topped Yahoo! News and CNN since 2008.
The company has seen a number of issues and controversy. The most famous one is the accusations of liberal bias towards the Democratic Party and the political left, which saw some of their political anchors who were seen to be too opinionated. There were also accusations by Pennsylvania Governor that they had Pro-Obama Bias by covering more of Barrack Obama than Hilary Clinton. The company's on air slogan was also linked to have similarities to Obama's slogan. Other controversies involve the dismissal of one of Weekend Talk host, Michael Savage who snapped at one of the callers. The Don Imus controversy which involved negative comments about the Rutgers University Women's Basketball Team resulting in widespread outrage from the audience who considered the comments as racist and sexist. This saw the withdrawal of advertisements from sponsors and a cancellation of the show. The Rise of the New Right documentary also caused a number of criticisms from the conservatives as well as the Tea Party Movement. It also saw the Issue of a letter of boycott by Freedomworks asking the tea party members and supporters to boycott Dawn and Proctor and Gamble or contact the companies until it drops its advertisements from the documentary. Regardless of all these controversies, MSNBC is a network that offers a number of interesting and details information to their viewers world wide.
| |
