MSNOW, the left-wing cable channel formerly known as MSNBC, is openly abandoning any pretense of being a straight news outlet and is instead doubling down on its real business model: anti-Trump, resistance-style opinion programming.
According to the Gateway Pundit, the networks latest overhaul makes clear that its executives understand what their core audience actually wantsand it is not balanced reporting. Viewers tune in to MSNOW not to be informed, but to have their anti-Trump and anti-Republican prejudices validated, to applaud as hosts insult Trump and all things Republican, and to consume a steady diet of progressive talking points dressed up as journalism.
As reported by NewsBusters, the rebranded MS NOW has been struggling since NBCUniversal effectively sidelined it last year, and the network is now responding with a sweeping daytime shakeup. After being cast out into the wilderness by NBCUniversal last year, things didnt appear to be going well for the rebranded MS NOW, the outlet noted, adding that the new schedule will see daytime completely reshaped with two anchors losing their seats with at least one already announcing that she had quit, Morning Joe experiencing some shrinkage, while a new face would appear during the 11th Hour, among other shifts.
The most visible change comes to the networks flagship morning program, long a favorite among Beltway liberals and Democratic operatives. Going down the line up, first, Morning Joe will be losing an hour, NewsBusters reported, observing that after spending some time at an inflated four hours of Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski shrieking at the camera, the purported preferred morning show for Washington D.C. insiders would be returning to just three hours.
That lost hour will not be filled with hard news, but with more personality-driven commentary. Anchor Stephanie Ruhle is leaving The 11th Hour and will now occupy the reclaimed Morning Joe hour, plus the following one, meaning her time slot would be 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
One of the more telling casualties of this ideological consolidation is Ana Cabrera, who had been positioned as a more traditional news anchor. One of the more noteworthy line items in the shakeup was Ana Cabrera losing her position as an anchor of the 11a a.m. slot, and her announcement that she would be leaving the company, NewsBusters noted, underscoring the networks retreat from anything resembling neutral coverage.
Fox News reports that insiders see this as a deliberate move away from even the appearance of editorial separation between news and opinion. One network insider told Fox News Digital that MS NOW is veering away from the Andy Lack nonsense of the editorial programming separations between daytime and primetime, referring to the networks former chairman during its MSNBC days from 2015-2020.
The same insider admitted that the line between news and commentary has been intentionally blurred. Both internally and to the viewer, the distinctions are less clear than they used to be, including the distinctions between perspective and news, the MS NOW staffer said. The sort of the general weakening of CNN has caused MS NOW to lean more into what it is and what its viewers like.
Executives are particularly encouraged by the performance of Nicolle Wallaces aggressively partisan Deadline: White House. The insider pointed to the success of Deadline: White House hosted by Nicolle Wallace, highlighting how her 4 p.m. show earns viewership that rivals the networks primetime programming.
That success is driving the broader programming strategy: more opinion, less reporting, all day long. What were finding is you can achieve that in different parts of the day if you dont pretend to be CNN for half your lineup, the MS NOW staffer said. So, I think what youre going to be seeing is changes to shows that just seem like news, right?
The insider was blunt about which types of shows are being phased out. The Ana Cabrera, Chris Jansing thing those are disappearing. I think youre gonna see that throughout the lineup. Everythings going to feel a little more MS NOW all the way through.
For a network that has long catered to the progressive base, this is less a transformation than an unmasking. MSNOW knows which side of their bread is buttered, and is leaning into the programming that their fans demand, even if that means abandoning any serious claim to journalistic objectivity.
While Fox News continues to dominate cable news ratings, the numbers show that some of MSNOWs most partisan offerings are drawing decent returns, especially among liberal viewers seeking confirmation rather than information. CNN, by contrast, appears completely lost, caught between a collapsing brand of legacy journalism and an inability to compete with MSNOWs unapologetic ideological programming or Foxs commanding conservative audience.
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