‘Panic’ at MSNBC: NBC to Sever Access?

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Just how much intrinsic value will MSNBC have to investors in the aptly named “SpinCo” Comcast will create to sell it off? That’s a question that people at the cable channel are asking themselves as NBCUniversal seems intent on severing itself from its soon-to-be-former subsidiary of NBC News. And that may be more literal than had been thought until now.

In a meeting yesterday with the channel’s stars and staff, NBCUniversal chief Mark Lazarus wouldn’t commit to even allowing the channel to retain its brand. And the New York Post reported that Lazarus apparently left the impression that NBC News could decide to cut off NBC news reporters from appearing on the cable channel:

MSNBC stars Rachel Maddow, Chris Jansing and Katy Tur joined a tense 10 a.m. meeting at 30 Rock in Midtown led by NBCUniversal chairman Mark Lazarus, who will lead the new company, sources told The Post.

Staffers fearing looming layoffs peppered him with questions about whether the network will need to change its name, logos and headquarters after reports surfaced that the new entity could be cut off from the reporting muscle of NBC News, sources said. …

The prospect of being separated from NBC News has spiked fears among journalists at the company because MSNBC and CNBC routinely share reporting and contributors, among other things.

Much of MSNBC’s daytime schedule is filled with NBC News-affiliated correspondents, for instance, which has sparked worries about how the network will manage its coverage and if there will be a major upheaval, as a result.

That seems curious, and perhaps a worst-case scenario rather than a firm reality. Most news organizations want to get more visibility for its news reports and reporters, not less. That’s a strategic advantage that NBC News has had over news divisions at ABC and CBS; neither have a 24/7 cable channel on which to promote their product. Why give up that nominal competitive advantage, not to mention the opportunity to enter a licensing agreement with the new “SpinCo”?

Assuming this report is accurate, one has to wonder whether NBC News sees MSNBC and its hysterical, shrieking tone as a liability rather than an asset. The pursuit of the progressive bubble led MSNBC to sacrifice integrity and even coherent thought, particularly in this election cycle. Servicing that bubble has created an audience capture from which NBC News’ own integrity can’t easily escape. Lazarus may have decided that it’s a great time to cut the anchor on their reputation rather than negotiating a licensing agreement that could easily deal with the separation to come through “SpinCo.”

The Associated Press raises these issues today as well, along with the cost of having access to NBC News severed for the new spinoff. Not to mention the potential for having to find another place to work:

MSNBC’s staff and studios are based in the same Rockefeller Center offices as NBC News, and it was unclear on Wednesday whether they will remain or move elsewhere, Lazarus told MSNBC employees.

MSNBC’s relationship with NBC News has caused some awkwardness, particularly as the network has become known for its stable of liberal commentators while still attached to a news division that stresses impartiality. For much of MSNBC’s broadcast day, NBC News journalists like Katy Tur, Jose Diaz-Balart, Chris Jansing and a host of reporters appear on the network.

It’s unclear whether arrangements could be made for that cross-pollination to continue — where will Steve Kornacki land, for example? — or if MSNBC will bear the expense of building out its own newsgathering operation or lean more heavily into commentary.

Costs will already be an issue even before factoring in the need for licensing news content. The costs of running a 24/7 news channel with featured hosts are considerable, which likely was one of the factors that led Comcast to unload MSNBC in the first place. If investors in SpinCo want to maintain the status quo at MSNBC, will they be willing to carry those costs? For how long? 

Bill O’Reilly concludes that Comcast already grasps that the business model isn’t sustainable. This isn’t a spin-off to SpinCo, O’Reilly told Chris Cuomo last night, and that reporting is itself spin. Comcast is dumping MSNBC, and “ordered” Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski to go to Mar-a-Lago to give the impression of enough chance to make it worth buying at some price:

“They were ordered to go to Mar-a-Lago by Comcast, the parent company out of Philadelphia. They just didn’t show up, okay, and Trump said, ‘Oh, this is great. Here they come, gonna kiss my you-know-what and we’ll get photo ops,’ which they did,” O’Reilly told NewsNation host Chris Cuomo. “What Comcast said, ‘You two, we’re going to have to try to mend some cliche fences, and you two are going to go in there and you’re going to try to tamp it down,’ because Comcast knew the next day they were going to announce that MSNBC is vapor. That is a huge media story.” …

“So, they are uncoupling — their word, Comcast — MSNBC from NBC News. That means MSNBC has no resources at all. None. They’re not gonna be able to pay these people millions of dollars, Rachel Maddow, whatever she’s making. NBC News is saying, ‘We don’t want you around.’ Why? Because NBC News’ numbers, Lester Holt and ‘The TODAY Show’ are catastrophe because half the country acquaints NBC News with MSNBC and they won’t watch,” O’Reilly told Cuomo. “So NBC is desperately trying to save the mother ship of information and they have to throw MSNBC overboard. They’re not putting anything into MSNBC. They want to sell it. So where’s Georgie Soros now? Georgie is buying radio stations. You can get MSNBC for nothing. They’ll give it to you. They don’t want any more of this.”

Is O’Reilly correct? He could be. One does have to wonder whether Soros might decide to spend some cash and rescue MSNBC, which would have been more economical than the purchase of 200 radio stations in an attempt to recreate Air America. At least the MSNBC audience exists, even if it’s much smaller than it was a few weeks ago.