Change doesn't always happen overnight... sometimes it takes an entire year. And you don't have to be an expert reader of tea leaves to recognize that 2024 has been a pivot point for TV news. The steady accumulation of resignations, promotions, job changes, and corporate reorgs--as well as a few notable passings of celebrated journalists--over...

This is TVNewser's basic cable network ranker and cable news report for the week of Dec. 9, 2024. The cable news nets had a ho-hum week as none of the big three outlets posted week-to-week gains with total viewers in primetime. But CNN did have something to be happy about as the network saw a...

Joining the Early Shift: Ali Vitali will anchor MSNBC's early morning program Way Too Early starting Monday, Jan. 6. She takes over from Jonathan Lemire, who joins Morning Joe's 9 a.m. broadcast in an expanded role as a co-host. Vitali joined NBC News in 2012 and has been a Capitol Hill correspondent prior to this...

CNN will have a new home within Warner Bros. Discovery in 2025. The news network's parent company announced a corporate restructure that will create two new operating divisions next year. Global Linear Networks will house the media giant's numerous cable assets, including linear channels like CNN, TBS, and TruTV. Meanwhile, Streaming & Studios will encompass...

It looks like another linear cable channel is adding a streaming-friendly plus to its name. Variety reports that CNBC will launch CNBC+ in the first quarter of the new year, bringing the NBCUniversal-owned business network to a streaming menu near you. According to Brian Steinberg, CNBC+ will launch without any original programming, instead offering a...

Friday, Dec. 6 The Five ends the week as the most-watched show with over four million total viewers. Deadline: White House with Nicole Wallace finished as MSNBC's most-watched program and OutFront with Erin Burnett was first for CNN. Those three shows repeated their victories in the Adults 25-54 demo. 25-54 Demographic (Live+SD x 1,000) Total...

This is TVNewser's basic cable network ranker and cable news report for the week of Dec. 2, 2024. News of Hunter Biden's pardon, plus the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and the subsequent manhunt for the killer, was enough to lift the cable news networks out of the holiday doldrums. All three cable news...

Tuesday, Dec. 3 The most-watched programs on all three networks aired in the pre-primetime evening hours. Fox News' The Five led with over four million total viewers at 5 p.m. ET, while The Beat with Ari Melber finished first for MSNBC at 6 p.m. and the 4 p.m. hour of The Lead with Jake Tapper...

Friday, Nov. 29 Live programming was absent during primetime as the networks filled their schedules with re-airing of weekday programming or original specials. Even with that caveat, Fox News still averaged nearly two million total viewers in primetime, with Jesse Watters Primetime registering as the most-watched show. Meanwhile, both CNN and MSNBC were under 400,000...

Tuesday, Nov. 26 Even during the slow Thanksgiving holiday period, Fox News' The Five continues to be appointment television. The show hovered above the four million mark in total viewers, and was the network's second most-watched show in Adults 25-54 demo. MSNBC's most-watched program in total viewers was Deadline: White House with Nicolle Wallace, while...

Friday, Nov. 22 CNN's total viewer audience once again fell below 500,000 total viewers in primetime and total day. The network's most-watched program in total viewers was the 5 p.m. hour of The Lead with Jake Tapper, while NewsNight with Abby Phillip was first in the demo. 25-54 Demographic (Live+SD x 1,000) Total Day: FNC:...

This is TVNewser's basic cable network ranker and cable news report for the week of Nov. 25, 2024. The long Thanksgiving holiday resulted in all three networks experiencing week-to-week declines in total viewers and the Adults 25-54 demo. Double-digit drops in both measured categories were recorded during this slow news period. Fox News continued to...

The culmination of the 2024 presidential election between Vice President Kamala Harris and President-elect Donald Trump resulted in big numbers for Fox News and audience erosion for MSNBC and CNN. Trump's win was a big boon for FNC as it commanded the largest cable news share in its history with 62% of the cable news...

This is TVNewser's basic cable network ranker and cable news report for the week of Nov. 18, 2024. All three cable news networks continued to see week-to-week declines in both total viewers and the Adults 25-54 demo in the period following the 2024 presidential election. However, Fox News remained the most-watched of the three major...

If Election Day is the political world's equivalent of the Super Bowl, then NBC News' digital platforms scored a touchdown to kick off the month. NBCNews.com and NBC News Now saw their two highest days on record on Nov. 5 and Nov. 6, and also dominated the social space among the big three broadcasters. "It...

Tuesday, November 19 Fox News continues to lap the competition in both total viewers and the Adults 25-54 demo. Jesse Watters Primetime was the network's most-watched show in the latter category, while The Five took No. 1 with the former crowd. Meanwhile, CNN fell short of 500,000 total viewers during primetime, and only mustered 379,000...

As Comcast readies a sale of its legacy media outlet, the rightwing billionaire has mused about an acquisition.

• Elon Musk teased the idea of buying the TV network MSNBC.
• "How much does it cost?" Musk wrote on X.
• Comcast plans to spin off some of its cable channels, including MSNBC.

Elon Musk has teased the idea of buying the liberal TV network MSNBC.

Musk floated the idea on social media, responding to a post on X shared by Donald Trump Jr. that said Comcast was putting the network up for sale.

"Hey @elonmusk I have the funniest idea ever!!!" Trump Jr. wrote alongside the post.

"How much does it cost?" Musk replied.

Musk, the world's richest person, later added: "The most entertaining outcome, especially if ironic, is most likely," accompanied by a laughing emoji.

While he may have been joking, it's worth remembering that Musk made a similar comment years before acquiring X (then Twitter) in 2022.

In 2017, Musk took to the platform to declare his "love" for Twitter, to which someone replied: "You should buy it then."

"How much is it?" Musk asked.

While there's no formal indication that Musk intends to go ahead with an offer for MSNBC, the idea has already sparked some concerns.

Thomas Whalen, an associate professor of social sciences at Boston University, told The Telegraph that Musk's idea was "a bombshell on the broadcasting landscape."

"Musk's move seems like a hostile takeover and it bodes badly for the media moving forward," Whalen said. "I think how Vladimir Putin and oligarchs have been buying the free media in Russia."

It follows Comcast's announcement earlier this week that it would be spinning off some of its cable television networks, including MSNBC, into a separate company.

The new company, called "SpinCo," will provide news, sports, and entertainment content, Comcast said in a press release.

President-elect Donald Trump has dished out some strong criticism of MSNBC in the past, and the impending Trump era is adding to internal fears over the network's future.

In a Truth Social post in 2023, Trump called the network "the world's biggest political contribution to the Radical Left Democrats" and "nothing but a 24 hour hit job on Donald J. Trump."

"Our so-called 'government' should come down hard on them and make them pay for their illegal political activity," he wrote.

Business Insider has contacted MSNBC for comment.

Top of the Ticker: CNN seems to be pleased with the performance of its satirical news show, Have I Got News For You. The Roy Wood Jr.-helmed American version of the long-running British series scored a Season 2 order. Have I Got News For You has paired well with CNN's encore presentation of Real Time...

Morning Joe ended a tumultuous week with a precipitous ratings drop. Since co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski disclosed their in-person meeting with President-elect Donald Trump, the MSNBC morning show has seen a steady erosion in viewership. While that dovetails with the larger post-Election Day ratings woes facing both MSNBC and CNN, it also suggests...