MSNBC to go HD in the spring
by Ben Drawbaugh 
posted Oct 24th 2008 at 10:12AM
Evidently as much as MSNBC wanted to go HD in time for the big election push, it just didn't get done. We'd like to think that the fact that MSNBC isn't presented in HD is the reasons why it's behind both CNN and Fox News in ratings -- which have both been HD for some time -- but it's probably the content. Either way though, in the spring MSNBC will finally make the big upgrade. But what's more interesting is how important MSNBC's president, Phil Griffin, thinks HD is. In fact he said that "you better be in HD in the next year or so, because you have to be in that tier." Obviously we've been saying this for some time now, but it's refreshing to know that even network big wigs are on board with the rest of us HD snobs now.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Crabby @ Oct 24th 2008 10:41AM
Maybe this will double viewership to 20 people.
Pete @ Oct 24th 2008 11:39AM
They'd have to fire Keith Olberdouche to do that...
The Aggie CEO @ Oct 25th 2008 8:55AM
you guys must be Fox News people........lol......
gene inger @ Oct 24th 2008 11:41AM
since when is Fox News broadcast in HD?
Fox Business is in HD; and is a 'training center' for FoxNews personnel; but as the most bearish analyst for the last two years, I see them all; and FoxNews is not yet in HD daily (on DirecTV which would have them if it existed). Looking forward to it though, and to a bottom in the market; but not yet LOL
good job Engadget by the way!
gene inger
crawdad62 @ Oct 24th 2008 11:49AM
While most of their programming is SD with HD "wings" there is some native HD programming.
http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/10/17/fox-news-turns-hd-on-directv/
Tom @ Oct 24th 2008 11:39AM
I don't think so. Imagine Andrea Mitchell in HD.
Scott @ Oct 24th 2008 12:17PM
FOX News is in HD. Directv picked it up on 360 a couple weeks ago.
gene inger @ Oct 24th 2008 12:27PM
well.. I'm humbled for a guy whose motto is 'I'm not always right, but I'm never wrong' LOL.
My appreciation... Engadget just changed my daily life (and that's saying something). As a long-time DirecTV customer (12 years), and 'top timer' market analyst, I was incredibly using multiple monitors not only for stock charts, but for financial and regular news coverage. Was not aware of 'news mix' nor the switch to FoxNews in HD (similar to FoxBusiness display).
As the pioneer of financial television (later an original CNBC market maven), I'm embarrassed but will fess-up to having missed this, and unnecessarily complicated my news monitoring. I only wish they would put CNBC World into the mix, and just nix the Weather Channel.
thanks to Engadget for doing more than enlightening me about the latest gizmo's.. wow!
gene inger
(and the market hasn't made a low yet; stay tuned)
bobjfs @ Oct 24th 2008 2:07PM
What a snarky thing to say about MSNBC. Olbermann and Maddow easily win their time slots every night, which is no small fete, including the reruns throughout the evening.
Why is this not an easy accomplishment?
Because Comcast carries the station in the digital tier. People must have a digital receiver to see it. This is not the case for CNN and Faux Noise. Not all subscribers receive it, as they do the others.
And given how large Comcast is, that translates into a lot few potential viewers from which to draw. Not all ratings are built from the same universe.
And Comcast is clearly playing politics with General Electric.
Ryan @ Oct 24th 2008 2:55PM
I'm waiting for them to do that in Baltimore, removing it from the basic lineup. Luckily two of the TV's have HD STB's but the rest of the SD ones dont.
Fios here we come.
chumley @ Oct 24th 2008 3:17PM
bobjfs: You are wrong, MSNBC is not digital-only on Comcast, it's on analog also. Don't blame Comcast for MSNBC's low ratings.
DallasJayhawk @ Oct 24th 2008 2:56PM
I thought the snarky tone was appropriate given we're talking about Olbermann and Maddow who make their living by being snarky. Don't fret though, I'd put Sean Hannity in the same boat,,,and what a sight that would be.
I'm on U-verse and we don't have Fox News in HD but it's rumored to be coming soon. I don't know how long Fox News has been in HD on other services but if it's only been two weeks on DirecTV then that isn't enough time to explain why Fox News is blowing the doors off everybody in their category. Perhaps the reason is that they are the only conservative voice in the news. Just for the record, nobody in the news business is balanced anymore and all you get is cheerleaders from the left and from the right, but there are more left cheerleaders than right.
Prey521 @ Oct 24th 2008 3:03PM
MSLSD is a joke of a "news" network. With a moron like Keith Slobberman as their main guy, its no wonder that their ratings are tanking. He should've have stayed at ESPN, at least then, he knew what he was talking about.
bobjfs @ Oct 24th 2008 7:05PM
If the purpose of the article is to tell us HD is coming to MSNBC, then Ben Drawbaugh, the author, blew it. If the purpose was to show bias, he wins the lipstick-wearing pig.
What I find so funny about the right is how, when you give them a taste of their own medicine, they react like a cat trying to gag up a pill. We learned the technique from you, from Lush Rimjob and the boys at Rupert Murdoch's attempt at monopoly. I wish we didn't have to do it, but when competing against theater of the mind, you have to create some pretty snarky imagery. Worst of all for Faux and Lush, we have something unique on our side: facts.
Now, please, Chumly. Have a look at the following news articles. I should have qualified the ratings statement, though. They beat both CNN and Faux Noise among the 25 - 54 demographic, which is considered the most important by the TV meisters. It turns out even Chris Matthews is kicking elephant in this demographic. If MSNBC was on in major cities like Boston and Denver in the lower-cost tier, I think they'd surpass CNN and Faux in all demographics.
Considering the likely outcome of the election in a few weeks, this should not be a surprise. They decided a year ago to concentrate their programming on all-politics, all-the-time, especially in the evening.
I do agree that MSNBC has a real problem during the middle of the day. But when you add together NBC's ratings for both MSNBC and CNBC, they do well.
And here is a personal story about Faux Noise. Go back to the Columbine High School massacre. I lived only a few blocks from the school. The press came en masse, including Faux. Their booth was about 10 feet from the mourning wall of momentos, letters, and flowers people left in Clement Park nearby.
I was standing there when, in back of me, I heard some moron cussing out somebody in New York over his headset. I turn around, and it's Shepard Smith. I looked at him and said, as quietly as I could, "Please lower your voice. There are people in mourning, here." He looked shocked that I had the temerity to correct him.
I went home, called Faux in New York, and talked to a producer about it. Shepard was not seen again on Faux for weeks.
Does it mean anything now? No. But it told me something about the people who work there, and still do. And I absolutely love Faux and Frauds in the morning: It's like Goebbels, Himmler, and Eva Braun with coffee mugs.
---
A Small Sampling of Stories Related to MSNBC's Relegation to the More Expensive Digital Tier:
* http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/11/10/03833/426
* http://mobile.multichannel.com/index.asp?layout=article&articleid=CA6448160
* http://getsatisfaction.com/comcast/topics/comcast_charging_more_money_for_channels_like_msnbc
* http://monkeyinmymind.com/2008/08/06/boston-comcast-responds-to-charges-of-political-motivations-behind-removal-of-msnbc-from-standard-cable/
MSNBC Beats O'Reilly, Hannity, and Larry King:
http://www.reuters.com/article/industryNews/idUSTRE49M3FG20081023
"The cable news channel beat both Fox News Channel and CNN in the adults 25-54 demographic, Nielsen Media Research said Wednesday. MSNBC averaged 786,000 viewers in the key demo between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET, compared with CNN's 710,000 and Fox News Channel's 672,000. But Fox News Channel was still top dog in viewership with 2.8 million pairs of eyeballs to CNN's 1.9 million and MSNBC's 1.9 million."
JBDragon @ Oct 25th 2008 12:33AM
I'm pretty sure HD has NOTHING AT ALL to do with no one watching that crap channel. Yes I watch FOX and I only get it in SD, no HD in my area yet. I don't watch CNN either these days even though I do get that in HD. About the only time I see any CNN is over at my Grandmothers house when she has Larry King on. I'm about ready to throw up watching it. I guess if you want your face on the tube and not asked any hard question, hell some decent easy questions, then Larry King is the show to get on. MSNBS is a joke of a news channel. It's not news on there. It's complete Leftest Propaganda B.S. That's why so few watch it. Like others that have been dieing the last few years, New Your Times for example, or what's the paper in LA, the subscribers are leaving in droves. It's suppose to be NEWS, not Leftest Commentary garbage pretending to be news. News is suppose to be fair are balanced. Your own views kept out of it. You don't take sides. You actually report all the news and not hide one side and report B.S. on the other side. SD/HD, makes no difference.
I know all the Leftest HATE FOX, and complane how RIGHT it is. Yet I don't see them complane how LEFT everything else is!!! I really don't think most of them even watch the channel. FOX unlike the others is for the most part Fair and Balanced. They get BOTH SIDES. They get guests both BOTH SIDES. With shows like Hannity & Colmes, and let me tell you I'd like the strangle the hell out of the Idiot Alan Colmes. There are a lot of Leftest people on FOX. Sorry, but you just don't get that on CNN and MSNBC. There's no Right point on view on those channels. I no longer watch David Letterman anymore for all the HATE and nasty garbage coming out of his mouth these days. I want to see the news, and not the Negative Hate Leftest View on everything. I can see the messages flying at me now. Lots of HATE, HATE, HATE. I'll have to go with Hannity. News died early on in 2008. It's now all about 'The ONE'. It's no longer about the news. Now most Reporters aren't Reporters, they're Commentators.
The Aggie CEO @ Oct 25th 2008 9:08AM
Just cause CNN and other DONT bash on Democrats ALL the time it doesnt mean they are alllllllllllllllllllllllll the way on the left.......
With people like Lou Dobbs & Campbell Brown its MORE than enough NON-Bias on there.........
unlike Fox News that runs stories without checking them out: i.e. "Obama went to a Muslim School in India" and "Black male Obama Supporter Carves 'B' into white female supporter of John McCain Face"
Bill "Oh REALLY?!?" is still there after that sexual harassment case because he brings in ratings...no reason other than that.....
The Aggie CEO @ Oct 25th 2008 9:08AM
Just cause CNN and other DONT bash on Democrats ALL the time it doesnt mean they are alllllllllllllllllllllllll the way on the left.......
With people like Lou Dobbs & Campbell Brown its MORE than enough NON-Bias on there.........
unlike Fox News that runs stories without checking them out: i.e. "Obama went to a Muslim School in India" and "Black male Obama Supporter Carves 'B' into white female supporter of John McCain Face"
Bill "Oh REALLY?!?" is still there after that sexual harassment case because he brings in ratings...no reason other than that.....
Valicore @ Oct 25th 2008 4:18PM
I'm glad HD is coming for MSNBC because... well... I prefer HD content :P I watch CNN HD and not MSNBC sometimes just because of the HD thing.
I think Fox News is bullshit (well mostly): I think they pander to the fears of the less educated. My Dad makes me watch Fox sometimes lol and they hype up a 15 point drop of the DJIA to make it look like someone just bombed Washington. I'm a strong believer in the "mental" recession idea however. Both Hannity AND Colmes need to be thrown off the boat: Hannity is a flaming evangelical neocon and Colmes is just worthless.
CNN: I don't know why but I always used the think that CNN was impartial, at least compared to Fox News and MSNBC, but now even they're spewing BS in favor of one candidate. I may want Obama to win, but that doesn't mean I think that only one side of the story should be told.
MSNBC: I like Chris Matthews 'cause he'll call people on their shit without being polite about it. I used to like Keith Olbermann, but then all of the sudden he turned into this insane I'm-so-far-to-the-left-that-I'm-going-to-fall-off-the-boat kinda guy, and he is so angry that it gets in the way of whatever he's trying to convey. Sometimes he really DOES look bitter. Rachel Maddow I think is one of the more respectable of any of them because she has some class and I really respect that she has Pat Buchanan on and even though they disagree they can still say good job to each other at the end of the night
In summation, there's no one objective out there anymore, and that's kinda scary.
Valicore @ Oct 25th 2008 4:20PM
I'm glad HD is coming for MSNBC because... well... I prefer HD content :P I watch CNN HD and not MSNBC sometimes just because of the HD thing.
I think Fox News is bullshit (well mostly): I think they pander to the fears of the less educated. My Dad makes me watch Fox sometimes lol and they hype up a 15 point drop of the DJIA to make it look like someone just bombed Washington. I'm a strong believer in the "mental" recession idea however. Both Hannity AND Colmes need to be thrown off the boat: Hannity is a flaming evangelical neocon and Colmes is just worthless.
CNN: I don't know why but I always used the think that CNN was impartial, at least compared to Fox News and MSNBC, but now even they're spewing BS in favor of one candidate. I may want Obama to win, but that doesn't mean I think that only one side of the story should be told.
MSNBC: I like Chris Matthews 'cause he'll call people on their shit without being polite about it. I used to like Keith Olbermann, but then all of the sudden he turned into this insane I'm-so-far-to-the-left-that-I'm-going-to-fall-off-the-boat kinda guy, and he is so angry that it gets in the way of whatever he's trying to convey. Sometimes he really DOES look bitter. Rachel Maddow I think is one of the more respectable of any of them because she has some class and I really respect that she has Pat Buchanan on and even though they disagree they can still say good job to each other at the end of the night
In summation, there's no one objective out there anymore, and that's kinda scary.
Valicore @ Oct 25th 2008 4:21PM
Damn it damn it damn it, user error there, sorry.