About MSNBC

MSNBC is a cable news channel located in the United States that is available in both the United States and Canada. The name is an amalgamation of “Microsoft” and “NBC”. Two partnerships with the names MSNBC and msnbc.com were established in 1996 by Microsoft and General Electric’s NBC unit, which is presently NBC Universal. Although Microsoft and NBC shared operations of MSNBC cable at its inception, it was announced on December 23, 2005, that NBC Universal would buy out a majority stake in the television network,. This left Microsoft with an 18% share. However, the two companies still remain 50-50 partners in msnbc.com. MSNBC also shares the NBC logo of a rainbow peacock with its other sister channels NBC, CNBC and ShopNBC. Many viewers and observers of the network have stated that MSNBC has become more politically liberal in comparison to other networks especially in its prime-time lineup.

Between mid 2007 to mid 2008, the network had procured a great increase in its ratings. Prime time viewings had increased by 61% in that time period. In May of 2008, NBC News President Steve Capus stated that “It used to be people didn’t have to worry about MSNBC because it was an also-ran cable channel…. That’s not the case anymore.”. Tim Russert’s unexpected death took away what The Wall Street Journal deemed the “rudder for the network” and has presently led to a period of change. During the 2008 Presidential election, the network’s coverage of the election was anchored by Keith Olbermann, Chris Matthews, and David Gregory. The three men were widely seen as the face of the network’s political coverage. It was after Phil Griffin assumed executive oversight for MSNBC in 2006, that observers said the network became noticeably more liberal. He went on to become the network’s president in July 2008.

MSNBC is presently unavailable to Verizon FiOS and AT&T U-verse TV subscribers in certain areas of New York, northern New Jersey and Connecticut which all overlap with Cablevision’s cable television territory. The reason for this lack of availability is partially as a result of an exclusive carriage agreement that msnbc agreed to with Cablevision, which restricted competing wired providers from providing the network. The terms of the agreement, that is when the exclusive agreement actually expires, is unknown to the public. A lawsuit from Verizon to the FCC has recently been filed with the aim of forcing the termination of this deal. Connecticut attorney general Richard Blumenthal wrote a letter to the new FCC chairman Julius Genachowski, agreeing with Verizon, stating that the deal may very well have been illegal.

Msnbc.com, is a separate company from MSNBC cable. It is the online news outlet for the NBC News family, inclusive of network shows such as Today, NBC Nightly News, and Dateline NBC, as well as MSNBC TV. Msnbc.com also hosts articles and features from its other partners, including the well known Newsweek magazine and The Washington Post.