BUSINESS
August 1, 2009 | Joe Flint
The on-screen and behind-scenes feuding between rivals Fox News and MSNBC, which has erupted in recent months like two kids squabbling, has gotten so loud that their parents are trying to tell them to knock it off. Rupert Murdoch, chairman and chief executive of News Corp., which owns Fox News, and Jeffrey Immelt, chief executive of General Electric Co., which owns MSNBC, met up at the Microsoft CEO summit in Redmond, Wash.
ENTERTAINMENT
June 24, 2009 | Scott Collins
In recent days, much of the news media's attention has been focused on post-election protests and violence in Iran. But at MSNBC, the crisis has taken on a bit less urgency, at least if viewers are to judge from what the network is airing.
ENTERTAINMENT
February 25, 2009 | Matea Gold
With gloomy economic news dominating the headlines, Fox News and MSNBC posted substantial audience increases in the last four weeks compared to the same period a year ago, while CNN shed a large share of its audience. Top-rated Fox News drew an average of 2.4 million viewers in prime time between Jan. 26 and Feb. 22, a spike of 28%, according to Nielsen Media Research data. CNN held onto sec- ond place with 1.2 million viewers but dropped 30% from last February, while MSNBC posted an average of 949,000 viewers, up 23%. Part of CNN's audience fall-off can be traced to the three presidential primary debates the network hosted last February, including one that drew 8.3 million viewers, greatly boosting its average viewership for the month.
ENTERTAINMENT
February 19, 2009 | Matea Gold
Television network executives looking for new talent are accustomed to getting pleas from agents urging them to check out their clients. But in the last few weeks, MSNBC has experienced a different kind of onslaught: a flood of unsolicited endorsements from fans of liberal radio hosts touting them as the network's next potential big star. The grass-roots campaigns were triggered by the news that the cable channel is contemplating creating a new show for its 7 p.m.
NATIONAL
January 8, 2009 | Matea Gold
MSNBC host Chris Matthews put an end to speculation that he was considering a bid for the U.S. Senate, telling his producers Wednesday that he had decided not to jump into the 2010 race in his home state of Pennsylvania. In a routine production meeting before his daily show "Hardball," Matthews informed the staff that he was not going to pursue the seat, network spokesman Jeremy Gaines said. The cable host, who is negotiating a new contract at MSNBC, declined to comment.
ENTERTAINMENT
December 31, 2008 | Matea Gold
After a year of explosive audience growth, the cable news channels head into 2009 buoyed by record ratings, a rare bright spot in what has otherwise been a gloomy media season. Thanks largely to avid interest in the historic presidential campaign, all of the networks scored their largest prime-time viewership in history this year -- though they suffered a steep drop in viewers after the election.