 | |
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | United States and Canada |
| Headquarters | 30 Rockefeller Plaza Manhattan, New York City |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English |
| Picture format | 1080i HDTV (downscaled to letterboxed 480i for the SDTV feed) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | NBCUniversal (Comcast) |
| Parent | NBCUniversal News Group |
| Sister channels | CNBC CNBC World NBC |
| History | |
| Launched | July 15, 1996 |
| Replaced | America's Talking (1994–1996) MSNBC Canada (in Canada) |
| Links | |
| Website | MSNBC Website |
| Availability | |
| Terrestrial | |
| Digital terrestrial television | Channel 20.4 (Alexandria, Minnesota) |
| Streaming media | |
| fuboTV | Internet Protocol television |
| DirecTV Stream | Internet Protocol television |
| Sling TV | Internet Protocol television |
| YouTube TV | Internet Protocol television |
MSNBC (originally short for Microsoft NBC)[1][2] is an American news-based television channel and website headquartered in New York City. It is owned by NBCUniversal — a subsidiary of Comcast — and provides news coverage and political commentary. The network produces live broadcasts for its channel from studios at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, New York City, and aggregates its coverage and commentary on its website, msnbc.com.
In the fourth quarter of 2023, MSNBC was the second most-watched cable news network in the U.S., averaging 792,000 total day viewers, behind rival Fox News, which averaged 1.212 million viewers, and ahead of CNN, which averaged 502,000 viewers.[3] In 2023, one of MSNBC's most watched shows, The Beat with Ari Melber, averaged 1.8 million viewers.[4] In 2023, MSNBC's top five highest-rated shows were The Rachel Maddow Show, The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, Deadline: White House, The Beat with Ari Melber, and All In with Chris Hayes.[5][6][7][8] In November 2023, MSNBC's most watched nightly shows were The Beat with Ari Melber and Deadline: White House; The Beat was "the highest-rated non-Fox News show in the demo" on cable news, AdWeek reported.[9][10]
MSNBC and its website were founded in 1996, under a partnership between Microsoft and General Electric's NBC unit, hence the network's name.[2][1] Microsoft divested itself of MSNBC in 2005, and its stake in msnbc.com in 2012. The general news site was rebranded as NBCNews.com, and a new msnbc.com was created.[11]
MSNBC has been the object of various criticisms, most centering around accusations of a liberal bias and of other biases. In November 2024, Comcast reported plans of spinning off the network as its own company and speculation began on its sale, Elon Musk was reported as being interested in purchasing the company.
- ^ a b Yoon, C. S. (1999). "Chapter 6, Impact on the media; Acronyms and abbreviations used in the text". In Tawfik, M; Bartagnon, G.; Courrier, Y. (eds.). World Communication and Information Report. 1999-2000 (PDF). A. Clayson. Paris: UNESCO. pp. 99, 301. ISBN 978-92-3-103611-8. OCLC 43403188. Archived from the original on September 26, 2022.
- ^ a b Stelter, Brian (October 6, 2010). "MSNBC on the Web May Change Its Name". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 26, 2017. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
- ^ "This Is the Q4 2023 Cable Network Ratings Report". www.adweek.com. January 4, 2024. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
- ^ "Week of Oct. 23 Basic Cable Ranker: Top-Ranked Fox News Is No. 1 in Total Day Viewers, But Sheds Primetime Viewers". www.adweek.com. November 1, 2023. Retrieved November 3, 2023.
- ^ Steinberg, Brian (September 19, 2023). "MSNBC Isn't Using Blue-State Chatter to Build a Daytime Nation". Variety. Retrieved November 3, 2023.
- ^ Grynbaum, Michael M. (March 16, 2023). "The New Prime Time for TV News: Afternoons". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 3, 2023.
- ^ "Fox News Dominates Cable News For October With Israel-Hamas Coverage, But MSNBC and CNN Both Gain Year Over Year". Mediaite. November 1, 2023. Retrieved November 4, 2023.
- ^ "Thursday, November 2 Scoreboard: The Five, Gutfeld! Split First Place in Ratings". www.adweek.com. November 3, 2023. Retrieved November 4, 2023.
- ^ "Here Are Top-Rated Cable News Shows of November 2023". www.adweek.com. November 30, 2023. Retrieved December 4, 2023.
- ^ Johnson, Ted (December 1, 2023). "Fox News Tops November Ratings; MSNBC Shows Total Day Gains Vs. 2022". Deadline. Retrieved December 4, 2023.
- ^ Stelter, Brian (July 15, 2012). "Microsoft and NBC Complete Web Divorce". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 3, 2012. Retrieved October 9, 2012.