In accordance with a report from Oliver Darcy’s Standing e-newsletter (notice that it’s behind a paywall), the left-of-center MSNBC information community is seemingly toying with shaking up its enterprise mannequin so it may be on “better terms” with Republicans.
Darcy reported that Mark Lazarus, the newly put in chief of SpinCo, a brand new firm comprising networks like CNBC, MSNBC, and E!, indicated that he would love the outlet to include “more GOP voices on its air.” Darcy cited folks acquainted with Lazarus’ considering however stated that no formal directive or editorial steering has been given to MSNBC anchors or producers.
“To be clear, Lazarus has signaled that he needs the channel to retain its core progressive identification,” Darcy reported. Lazarus has additionally acknowledged he intends to maintain high expertise, together with Rachel Maddow.
However there’s proof that among the community’s different well-known anchors need a greater working relationship with Trump. In mid-November, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, cohosts of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” had been broadly criticized after they visited Mar-a-Lago to go to the president-elect.
Maybe Lazarus’ considering is merely business-driven. In any case, based on information from Nielsen, which was cited in reporting by the Wall Road Journal, MSNBC averaged 603,000 prime-time viewers from Nov. 6 to Dec. 8—down by greater than half from the community’s year-to-date common. CNN’s rankings tumbled after Election Day, too, whereas Fox Information was up by 12%.
There’s additionally the looming risk of mega-billionaire Elon Musk. In November, the Tesla CEO teased that he may purchase MSNBC. “How much does it cost?” he requested in a publish to his social media community X.
His query was in response to a re-post by Donald Trump Jr. that falsely acknowledged Comcast is placing MSNBC up on the market. (Comcast as a substitute plans to spin off NBCUniversal’s cable networks right into a separate firm, however this alteration isn’t anticipated to have an effect on particular person channels or property.)
After all, MSNBC may need a tough time discovering a GOP viewers—even when it does pivot barely to the precise. In accordance with 2023 analysis coauthored by UC Berkeley, a placing variety of People are in “partisan echo chambers.” By that phrase, researchers had been referring to the truth that celebration affiliation impacts the place you get your information. They discovered that 32% of Fox Information viewers establish as “strong Republicans.” One other 42% ranged from “less partisan Republicans to independents.”
In the meantime, viewers of CNN and MSNBC tended to carry extra progressive politics. Thirty-six p.c of viewers of each networks reported having a “strong Democratic identity,” with 42% being “less partisan Democrats and independents.”
Shifting ahead, Republicans may also discover solace in different right-wing networks, particularly now that disgraced former Rep. Matt Gaetz is ready to host a cable present on the far-right propaganda community One America Information.
But when MSNBC strikes ahead with this plan it wouldn’t be the primary outlet to preemptively bow to Trump earlier than his subsequent time period within the White Home begins.
On Wednesday, President-elect Donald Trump met with Jeff Bezos, the proprietor of The Washington Submit, at Mar-a-Lago. In accordance with reviews, Bezos and his fiancee Lauren Sanchez had been seen at Trump’s Florida property, strolling behind Trump and his spouse, Melania. The quartet additionally dined on the similar dinner desk.
This assembly occurred, after all, after Bezos pulled the plug on his newspaper’s deliberate endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris in October. And regardless of their turbulent skilled relationship, Bezos now appears to have taken a liking to Trump. Notably, he was one of many first billionaires to congratulate Trump on his November win.
Different media moguls have additionally seemingly caved to Trump. This previous weekend, ABC Information, which is owned by Disney, introduced that it will pay out $15 million in a donation to Trump’s presidential library to settle a defamation go well with introduced forth by Trump—a transfer that angered workers at ABC.
Patrick Quickly-Shiong, the proprietor of the Los Angeles Instances, is seemingly kissing Trump’s ring, too. In accordance with The New York Instances, Quickly-Shiong killed an op-ed that was crucial of Trump’s wildly unqualified Cupboard picks.
Whereas it’s unclear if MSNBC will truly transfer ahead with its plans to incorporate extra Republicans on air, the information is considerably of a concession from the left-wing information outlet that has leapfrogged previous its erstwhile rival CNN in rankings.
Even when it doesn’t, Trump appears to be loving the eye he’s getting. In a publish to his social media community, Fact Social, on Thursday morning, the president-elect wrote: “EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE MY FRIEND!!!”
