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MSNBC is considering a name change

KeithE4 said:
Television isn't supposed to be boring. NPR is boring.
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I used to work with a gentleman with a lot of "country wit" to spice up the day. Hardly a day went by that he didn't spice up the office with this observation: "Everyone to his own taste, said the farmer, as he kissed his cow."

Have you noticed the wide variety of automobile styles? Apparently not every agrees that are are only two or three ways to style a vehicle.

Maybe you find NPR to be boring. But some of us find it interesting.... invigorating.... stimulalting... driving our curiosity. Is it written the Communications Act of 1934 or the Masonic Bible or maybe in the list of Boy Scout attributes that ALL radio has to sound alike. And who gets to decide which style of radio gets to live and which style gets to continue and thrive?

As others have pointed out in these forums... NPR stations in a number of markets are garnering some pretty good ratings.... when you take into considertion the NPR is just plain boring..... kind of like kissing a cow.
 
Before Frank comes back from enjoying his Saturday, let's get back to the topic and the original point. One possibility for MSNBC is to emulate NPR. Actually, NPR today is a lot like what NBC News used to be in the Chet and David era. After all, All Things Considered was modeled after Monitor. Maybe better to say NBC should go back to its roots. And counter target demographically instead of counter programming.
 
Oscar Madison said:
Before Frank comes back from enjoying his Saturday, let's get back to the topic and the original point. One possibility for MSNBC is to emulate NPR. Actually, NPR today is a lot like what NBC News used to be in the Chet and David era. After all, All Things Considered was modeled after Monitor. Maybe better to say NBC should go back to its roots. And counter target demographically instead of counter programming.
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1960's Today = Current-day Morning Edition I'd agree, this would be a good strategy.
 
Oscar Madison said:
All Things Considered was modeled after Monitor.
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Aren't you the guy who disagreed with me about this a month ago?

http://www.radiodiscussions.com/showthread.php?600292-NBC-News-and-Information-Service/page4

The fact is that both ATC and Monitor are radio shows. TV is supposed to be more than radio with pictures. Today's generation grew up with TV, not Monitor. So if you want to attract younger demos with a TV service, the way to do it is with something uniquely visual, not audio.
 
TheBigA said:
Oscar Madison said:
All Things Considered was modeled after Monitor.
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Aren't you the guy who disagreed with me about this a month ago?

http://www.radiodiscussions.com/showthread.php?600292-NBC-News-and-Information-Service/page4

The fact is that both ATC and Monitor are radio shows. TV is supposed to be more than radio with pictures. Today's generation grew up with TV, not Monitor. So if you want to attract younger demos with a TV service, the way to do it is with something uniquely visual, not audio.
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I think he knows that, A ... what I read in his post is that perhaps a television version of Monitor, very visual, but running as a continuous feed of news, features, etc., might be just what a generation that grew up on music videos and flashy websites would be attracted to.

It's the concept that's important ... how you adapt it for today's audience is the implementation.
 
K.M. Richards said:
what I read in his post is that perhaps a television version of Monitor, very visual, but running as a continuous feed of news, features, etc.,
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But you're using a 70s radio term to describe basically what they were doing before they added all the talk shows. Rather than describe it as a TV version of Monitor, why not suggest they go back to their roots and return to what was working ten years ago? Drop the useless talk shows. If that's what you're suggesting, I agree.
 
It's also the "suggestion" Aaron Sorkin made in the HBO program "The Newsroom."

I never described what I suggested as a TV version of Monitor. I suggested NBC return to the style of reporting and the type of stories it covered back then. And that it not target the same slackers, mouth breathers and dummies everybody else is going after.
 
Has changing a name of a channel ever really helped? I mean other than changing the name of the channel when you change the content of the channel?
 
Markxxx said:
Has changing a name of a channel ever really helped? I mean other than changing the name of the channel when you change the content of the channel?
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Heck, sometimes they change the content without changing the name (like Bravo, which used to be a channel for cultural programs) or just using the initials (like AMC, which used to be a classic film channel, or HLN, which used to be all news).
 
Markxxx said:
Has changing a name of a channel ever really helped? I mean other than changing the name of the channel when you change the content of the channel?
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Apparently they are planning a change of content.
"MSNBC’s format going forward would be “breaking news during the day and op-ed (opinion) at night"
 
They discussed it today on CNN's Reliable Sources, and it sounds like the daytime talk shows will be going away. The name change wasn't discussed, but clearly the "MS" part of the name has no purpose or meaning any more. The question is: If you have CNN and MSNBC both doing breaking news during the day, what sets one apart from the other? They both have deep resources, they both have established anchors, and they both have heritage names. How can NBC attract new viewers to its cable news outlet?

One guest on Reliable Sources suggested NBC use synergy to drive viewers, with its multiple platforms of broadcast, internet, and other NBC Universal cable channels.
 
Oscar Madison said:
The same could be asked about the evening/nightly network news, the morning shows, local news, smartphone operating systems.....
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That's why I then asked the more important question: How can NBC attract new viewers to its cable news outlet?

Interesting that Reliable Sources pointed out that since making Lester Holt the new anchor of NBC Nightly News, that broadcast has returned to #1.
 
TheBigA said:
That's why I then asked the more important question: How can NBC attract new viewers to its cable news outlet?
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Maybe the question should be: why are so many people not watching TV news at all? TV seems to focus on how to get viewers away from the other guys instead of figuring out how to satisfy the unsatisfied viewers who stopped watching (or tried watching and checked out).
 
Oscar Madison said:
Maybe the question should be: why are so many people not watching TV news at all? TV seems to focus on how to get viewers away from the other guys instead of figuring out how to satisfy the unsatisfied viewers who stopped watching (or tried watching and checked out).
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I've learned that you can't win back unsatisfied customers. No matter what you do. If they don't like what you do, they'll never like what you do. Once they're gone, they're not coming back.
 
TheBigA said:
I've learned that you can't win back unsatisfied customers. No matter what you do. If they don't like what you do, they'll never like what you do. Once they're gone, they're not coming back.
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Only if you're not still doing the same thing. The whole principle of flipping is based on getting customers dissatisfied with what you've been doing.
 
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