MSNBC Spinning Off and Spinning Out

Yesterday, Comcast—which owns NBCUniversal—announced plans to spin off its declining cable assets into a new venture. The networks included are CNBC, USA Network, E!, Golf Channel, and MSNBC. With cable on its last legs, this new venture would offer an opportunity for someone, likely Paramount or Warner Bros. Discovery, to consolidate additional cable assets and essentially milk them dry. The logistics of this are puzzling—why would anyone invest in a company likely just three to five years from bankruptcy? But that’s why I’m writing on a laptop instead of working on Wall Street.

One cable network that will not be sold off is Bravo, which retains value because it supplies Peacock with its reality programming. We’re essentially witnessing the slow death of cable. Once ESPN establishes a standalone streaming service, that decline will only accelerate. It’s hard to see much value left in most cable networks; few are producing new programming, and what little there is often ends up on streaming platforms. Cable has essentially become a very expensive version of Tubi, while Tubi itself remains free.

It’s strange to reflect on how we went from a world with four or five TV channels to one with 500 cable channels, only for it to contract again to four or five major streaming options (albeit with significantly more content available).

Among the cable assets retaining some value is MSNBC, though its worth without NBC News—responsible for much of its newsgathering—is unclear. If detached, MSNBC is likely to function purely as an opinion and analysis network, which is essentially its current role. The hope is that it can maintain a large enough audience to justify a standalone streaming service, but given the transition from traditional media, that feels uncertain.

At this point, “mainstream media” has been redefined as the likes of The Joe Rogan Experience, The New York Times: The Daily, and Call Her Daddy. MSNBC’s prospects aren’t helped by recent actions from Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski. Their meeting with the President-elect drew significant criticism, which the Morning Joe hosts dismissed as social media yap. However, that didn’t stop the show from suffering a 40% ratings decline in the hour following the announcement, according to Oliver Darcy’s Status.

The disgust with Morning Joe will likely deepen, and it’s hard to imagine Scarborough and Brzezinski regaining their audience’s trust. The goddamn show is still trotting out Mike Barnicle. This is especially concerning as Morning Joe is MSNBC’s flagship program. With Rachel Maddow down to once-a-week appearances and NBC’s newsgathering resources unavailable, it’s unclear how much value remains in MSNBC, no offense to Lawrence O’Donnell and Chris Hayes.

There seems to be little appetite among liberals at the moment for the kind of resistance programming that once thrived on MSNBC. Democrats will undoubtedly regroup and continue the fight in the weeks and months ahead, but I doubt MSNBC will play a significant role in that effort.

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