Should Elon Musk buy MSNBC?

November 23, 2024, 08:01 AM

joel9507

That post was world-class trolling.

That'd be a bad business move, and he's smart enough to know that.

A) Their existing customer base (both of their viewers) hates him and would flee
B) It's a tarnished brand. The other potential viewers despise that channel and have many other options for news.
C) It competes (in a sense) with Twitter/X.
D) Maybe he has other things* on his mind to focus on, rather than resurrecting a basket case?

* DOGE
* X
* SpaceX
* Tesla

Now, the Babylon Bee buying it, that'd be cool. Shouldn't be all that pricey, with their viewership tanking.

November 23, 2024, 08:28 AM

Rey HRH

quote:
Originally posted by Schmelby:
Maddow just took a big pay cut. Maybe Mr. Musk could "Renegotiate" that again.

What a big fucking pay cut. $20 million from $25 million for showing up just one day of the week? I'm willing to take double the pay cut at that rate. Greg Gutfeld does two shows a day, five days a week and he gets paid $23 million plus a $3 million bonus.

"It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946.

November 23, 2024, 08:36 AM

jljones

quote:
Originally posted by joel9507:

That'd be a bad business move, and he's smart enough to know that.
.

Is it? Do you think the purple haired bio-neutral types are his target audience? Or do you think with the amount of brand recognition that his name has that people will flock to it the way that Twitter turned around after he signed on to the brand?

November 23, 2024, 08:39 AM

MRMATT

quote:
Originally posted by Paten:
I would find it so much more entertaining watching them go out of business. Elon should save his money.

I like this option.

_____________________________
"A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government." George Washington.

November 23, 2024, 08:39 AM

darthfuster

I’d like to see him keep the name enough so that anyone passively observing can recognize that it was resurrected by reporting truth. The default illustration is that Leftists can’t enduringly run anything because they are liars asserting a false ideology.

Maybe call it XMSNBC.

November 23, 2024, 08:43 AM

Paten

Yes, it is a bad business move. Cable is slowly dying. As more Seniors pass, cable viewership will continue to go down. It's on the long slow road to death. Buying into it now would be a huge business mistake.

November 23, 2024, 08:50 AM

RogueJSK

quote:
Originally posted by joel9507:
That post was world-class trolling.

That'd be a bad business move, and he's smart enough to know that.

quote:
Originally posted by Paten:
Yes, it is a bad business move. Cable is slowly dying. As more Seniors pass, cable viewership will continue to go down. It's on the long slow road to death. Buying into it now would be a huge business mistake.

Yep. It's a funny way to troll the left, grab some headlines, and generate some low effort buzz, but Musk knows like everyone else that traditional network broadcast TV is quickly going the way of the dodo.

I don't know anyone under the age of ~50 who still has TV service, or especially who sits around watching 24 hour TV news channels like CNN/MSNBC/Fox News. It's primarily a Baby Boomer/older Gen X thing, and those are dwindling.

So unless there's some tangible assets worth acquiring (studios, real estate, etc.), there would not be much return on investment for Musk. And he's first and foremost a businessman.

It'd be one step above investing in a print newspaper.

November 23, 2024, 09:30 AM

Sig2340

Musk should buy MSNBC, bring in President Trump to declare "You're all FIRED!", then turn it into MAGATV.

November 23, 2024, 09:58 AM

snoris

MSNBC should hold a "fire sale."

Start with burning Joe Scarborough's hair.

November 23, 2024, 03:19 PM

nhtagmember

Think that there is a greater likelihood that The Spew is cancelled long before Musk buys PMSNBC

And a higher likelihood that the entire network is shuttered and sold off for its real estate value since the talent is worthless.

November 23, 2024, 03:46 PM

MikeNH

It would be funny but cable news is a dying industry. He knows that. The only time I see it is at the gym and since I have my earbuds in doing my own thing, all I can do is laugh at the headlines like CNN referring to Dan Bongino as a radio host when he was floated to be head of Secret Service.

November 23, 2024, 05:08 PM

Rawny

quote:
Originally posted by nhtagmember:
Think that there is a greater likelihood that The Spew is cancelled long before Musk buys PMSNBC

And a higher likelihood that the entire network is shuttered and sold off for its real estate value since the talent is worthless.

Keep in mind that whatever happens to MSDNC has no effect on The Spew. That's an ABC show.

November 24, 2024, 07:18 AM

Blackmore

Musk shouldn't waste his money. Spend it on more amazing tech developments.

I'm sure I don't agree with Jen Rubin 99.99% of the time, but I think she nails it with why cable news' current model is dead.

https://nypost.com/2024/11/23/...-over-trump-meeting/