What the network spinoff means for MSNBC

When NBC launched MSNBC in 1996, the network was marketed with the slogan “It’s Time to Get Connected,” a line that acknowledged the emergence of the internet as a game-changing force in the media.

Now, MSNBC is being upended by the very technology it first embraced, with streaming video accounting for nearly half of all TV viewing, according to Nielsen. The decline of pay TV has culminated in Comcast placing MSNBC — along with sister networks such as CNBC and E! — in a spinoff company that will essentially be a repository for its cable outlets.

The plan means MSNBC will be owned by a separate entity from its parent NBC News. Nothing changes right away, however. The spinoff, valued at $7 billion, isn’t expected to be completed for about a year.

Nonetheless, the deal raises questions about the future of liberal-slanted MSNBC, which has at times beat its more down-the-middle rival CNN in ratings for major events such as election night.

NBCUniversal Group Chairman Mark Lazarus, who will oversee the new spun-off company, told MSNBC staffers that he was unsure what the arrangement would mean for the channel’s name and logo, which incorporates the recognizable multicolored NBC peacock.

Changing the name would require a massive promotional campaign. Its audience of habit-bound older viewers — the media age is over 70 — might be resistant to trust a brand they don’t recognize.

The spinoff also could increase pressure on talent salaries, which are under scrutiny across all TV news organizations that are facing shrinking audiences.

In 2021, NBCUniversal signed its star host, Rachel Maddow, to a deal paying her a reported $30 million a year. Maddow reduced her MSNBC workload to one day a week in a deal that also has her working on film, documentary and podcast projects. How that arrangement would work under the new structure is one of the issues the new company will face.

In its early years, MSNBC served as a training ground for NBC News talent. Brian Williams and Lester Holt both spent hundreds of hours handling breaking news coverage on cable before they were promoted to the anchor chair at “NBC Nightly News.” Correspondents such as Savannah Guthrie frequently appeared on the channel, honing the skills that eventually brought her to NBC’s “Today.”

Eventually, MSNBC followed the model set by cable news ratings leader Fox News, which succeeded by adding conservative opinion to the mix. Keith Olbermann became the first prime-time star on MSNBC in 2008 by publicly taking on Bill O’Reilly, who was then the signature Fox News host.

The formula worked. The network became even more popular after Donald Trump emerged as a viable Republican presidential candidate in 2015. Once Trump got elected, MSNBC became home base for viewers opposed to him.

As MSNBC’s reputation as a destination for progressive viewers became more pronounced, its fans rejected the more neutral approach of NBC News journalists. Meanwhile, MSNBC’s function as a 24-hour service became redundant with the launch of NBC News Now, a free streaming news channel.

Lazarus tried to keep an optimistic tone when addressing staff, according to one attendee at the meeting.

“I completely empathize with people who think this would be a bittersweet thing,” Lazarus said. “I think it’s exciting.”