{"id":13726,"date":"2015-02-26T09:19:16","date_gmt":"2015-02-26T14:19:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/msnbc-shakes-up-programming-strategy\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:20:20","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:20:20","slug":"msnbc-shakes-up-programming-strategy","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2015\/02\/26\/msnbc-shakes-up-programming-strategy\/","title":{"rendered":"As 2016 election looms, MSNBC shakes up its programming strategy"},"content":{"rendered":"

MSNBC has long relied on a roster of opinion-heavy shows with a liberal bent to carve out its place in the cable news world. But having struggled to keep pace with its competitors, the network has made moves<\/a> suggesting that it is turning more to straight news in an effort to rebound.<\/p>\n\n

Last week, MSNBC canceled two of its daytime opinion shows: \u201cRonan Farrow Daily\u201d and \u201cThe Reid Report.\u201d The move follows network president Phil Griffin\u2019s end-of-2014 memo, which said that in 2015 \u201cinvesting in original reporting<\/a>\u201d would be the channel\u2019s focus.<\/p>\n\n

\"On<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

This turn to reporting \u2013 and away from opinion \u2013 would be a significant change for the network. A 2012 Pew Research Center analysis<\/a> found that MSNBC\u2019s programming was 85% commentary\/opinion and 15% factual reporting. By contrast, both CNN and Fox News Channel had a relatively even balance: 46% opinion vs. 54% reporting for CNN, and 55% opinion vs. 45% reporting for Fox News.<\/p>\n\n

MSNBC\u2019s strategy had also relied on positioning itself as a liberal alternative to Fox News. In 2008<\/a> and 2012<\/a>, Pew Research found that MSNBC was more negative about Republican candidates than Fox News Channel was about Democratic candidates. MSNBC\u2019s coverage of John McCain and Mitt Romney was 73% and 71% negative, respectively. In contrast, Fox News\u2019 campaign coverage of Barack Obama was never more than 46% negative.<\/p>\n\n

MSNBC\u2019s apparent repositioning comes at a difficult time for the network. Its overall ratings are strong: MSNBC\u2019s median prime-time audience for 2014 (567,500) is higher than CNN\u2019s (494,500), though both are down more than 8% from 2013 \u2013 and down even more from 2008<\/a>. But MSNBC\u2019s total revenue for the year<\/a> (over $400 million as of October) lags significantly behind CNN\u2019s (about $1.1 billion as of October), in part because MSNBC\u2019s prime-time shows draw fewer viewers than CNN<\/a>\u2019s in the 25-54 age demographic.<\/p>\n\n

Both networks trail considerably behind Fox News\u2019 2014 numbers for viewers (1.7 million median prime-time viewers) and revenue (nearly $2 billion as of October).<\/p>\n\n

These changes come as the 2016 election is getting into full swing. Given that cable news is Americans\u2019 top regular source for campaign news<\/a>, election season is a particularly important time for MSNBC. A strong performance in the 2008 election made the network competitive with CNN: MSNBC\u2019s median prime-time audience rose 61% from 2007 to 2009<\/a>, compared with 21% for CNN, and 2010 was the first year MSNBC\u2019s prime-time audience topped CNN\u2019s.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MSNBC shifts its focus toward “original reporting” as its overall ratings remain strong, but total revenue for the year lags significantly behind CNN\u2019s.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":331,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","sub_headline":"","sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"relatedPosts":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[332,346,348],"bylines":[961],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[467],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[515],"research-teams":[527],"class_list":["post-13726","short-read","type-short-read","status-publish","hentry","category-media-industry","category-state-of-the-news-media-project","category-television","bylines-michael-barthel","formats-short-read","regions-countries-united-states","research-teams-journalism"],"label":"Short 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