Posted on 12/23/2005 11:35:40 AM PST by HAL9000
NBC Universal says it's taking over operations of the MSNBC cable channel from Microsoft, with an option to buy out Microsoft's remaining shares in two years.Ten years ago, it seemed an odd marriage: software titan Microsoft—only beginning to hear serious antitrust rumbling—getting into the cable news business with General Electric's NBC to form MSBC, a 24-hour cable news network intended to rival Rupert Murdoch's Fox News Ted Turner's CNN.
Oh, but how the world changes: Ted Turner sold to Time Warner, Time Warner merged with AOL, the U.S. divided into red and blue and Fox veered towards crimson, and NBC bought out Vivendi Universal. Now, NBC is severing some of its links with Microsoft, announcing it's taking full control of the MSNBC cable channel with an option to assume 100 percent ownership and buy out all Microsoft's remaining shares in 2 years' time.
No financial terms of the deal have been disclosed. NBC and Microsoft will continue to run the MSNBC.com Web site as a joint venture.
The MSNBC channel has struggled to find an audience between Fox News and CNN, recently pulling in fewer than half a million prime-time viewers compared to more than 1 million for an ailing CNN and more than 2 million for the strident Fox News. However, the MSNBC site is actually profitable and consistently ranks among the top-viewed online news sites.
Just adding more water to a sinking ship.
Getting rid or DNC mouthpieces (Matthews and Abrams) and RINO's or wantabe Conservatives like Tucker Carlson and Scarbrough might help too.
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
If they get rid of a few hosts, it might help some more. If they tell Lawrence O'Donnell to take a hike from his being a political analist, they might actually start making money.
Yep that's what I was wondering -- Is MS going to take all the hosts with them :^)
I guess NBC does not think Microsoft can twist the truth as much anymore.
they gotta keep the babes though.
I havn't noticed any I'd consider real babes.
You're a liar!
Filthy liar!
Dirty liar!
and
You're a dirty filthy liar!
I saw him make a complete a$$ out of himself that night. It's the first time I ever saw Pat Buchanan at a loss for words. O'Donnell was off MSNBC for quite a while after that. Do you know if he was off because of that or a rumored drug problem?
I thought he was temporarily banned for that tirade against John O'Neill....... Has he been back on since?
what about Olberman??????
He's been appearing on the Scarborough show for a couple months. I emailed him and said I wouldn't watch the show until O'Dim was permanently gone but I think he still comes on. I no longer watch Tim.
ohhhhhhh yes! His blogging about the Plame affair and Rove, etc., and the tie-in to West Wing (he was writing script) got him back on Scarborough and as a result I kept my promise and will never watch Scarborough again (I wrote at the time and said I would never watch again if O'Donnell ever returned).
Olbermann? Him too! I used to live in LA way back when when KO was just a local sportscaster and pretty damn witty. Since he went national though fuhgeddaboutit! It also came out that at one time he was stalking Lisa Leslie, WNBA player.....
I did the exact same thing, but they brought the turkey back on anyway.
Me, too.. and when he first appeared on MSNBC I had a hard time figuring what a sportscaster new about politics ...
It was the last straw for me and Scarborough.. especially since he trashed the President so after the hurricane and when called on it tried to make out that since I didn't live in a hurricane zone I didn't know what I was talking about and HE was the expert.... trouble was, I knew what was really going on because I was here on FR researching everything while he was in Biloxy grandstanding.
I wonder if both members of their audience will notice the switch.
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