MSFNC?: Comcast Doesn’t Rule Out Launching Right-Leaning Fox Competitor

by Steve Krakauer | 3:26 pm, December 15th, 2009

» 17 comments

Ever since Fox News launched in 1996, it has been alone in the cable news world as the only right-leaning network (in the words of Bill O’Reilly).

Wouldn’t it be ironic if it was NBCU that launches the first competing network? It’s now a possibility, thanks to the Comcastic new deal.

Kenneth P. Vogel of Politico talks to Comcast’s Executive Vice President David L. Cohen for a larger article about the company’s political ties. Cohen himself is a major Democratic donor and fundraiser, but said the company has worked to “foster an image as a ‘purple’ company.”

But Vogel writes that Comcast may have another trick up its sleeve:

Cohen – who oversees the company’s Washington operation spent last week pitching the deal to regulators, editorial boards and reporters – described himself as “a news junkie” who watches MSNBC, CNN and Fox News. He didn’t dismiss out of hand the possibility of launching a right-leaning network to compete with Fox News, and he said Comcast wouldn’t tamper with NBC or MSNBC’s operations.

MSNBC – a left-leaning cable news outlet – and a right-leaning competitor to Fox News, under the same Comcast/NBCU umbrella? It would be a very bold move. It would be almost unfathomable, but in the current state of the media industry, where conglomerates are merging with conglomerates, this could be where we’re headed. Will Rupert Murdoch launch a left-leaning competitor at News Corp. aimed at knocking MSNBC out of picture completely?

Keith Olbermann weighed in on the Comcast takeover, saying: “I’m confident they know exactly what they’re doing and exactly how valuable a commodity MSNBC has become.”

Here’s one more quote from Cohen to Politico about his company’s space in the political sphere:

Cohen explained that Comcast’s job is not “to shape the content that people receive. It is our job to facilitate the delivery of a diverse set of voices and opinions to consumers, and we believe it’s up to the consumer to decide which of that content he or she would like to listen to or watch and which of that content he or she would like to avoid.”

This Comcast/NBCU deal will stay in the news for the next year, and likely even longer. Expect more side storylines like this to bubble up while the process continues.

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Comcast, David Cohen, David Cohen Comcast, fnc, fox news, Fox News competitor, msnbc, NBC

http://www.sailrabbits.com Magister

If Tiger doesn’t come back, Comcast’s Golf Channel could give them a position on the dial.
dhg

This is a business and it hasn’t escaped Comcast’s notice that FNC has far far higher ratings than MSNBC.Why not take a piece of the pie especially when that pie is the biggest one of them all?Beyong that did this article really need a shot of Olbermann’s ego?And can he explain both his own and MSNBCs ratings slide?Personally I’d prefer to see Comcast go after CNN and add an unbiased news channel or naybe they could just buy CNN too!
TfT

What a shocker – someone actually talking about trying to compete with FNC. MSNBC and CNN just compete with each for the lefty audience where FNC gets a good contingent of viewers from D, R, and I political leanings. It always surprises me that CNN didn’t do anything to try to gain some credibility with independents and conservatives to try to eek out some of FNCs viewers; instead they went into the “teabagging” gutter and the Obama love-ins and lost what few independents and conservatives they once had.
http://www.sailrabbits.com Magister

@dhg: Though I kind of doubt Comcast will make the move, but do you (or anyone) think it would escape an FNC-devotee’s notice, when they package the same field reports to go across the NBC parent, MSNBC and whatever a right-leaning network might be called.

I mean, it’s all about cost-cutting and bang for the buck, so it’s not like they’d put out another team.
rmbltmbl

This would be a transitional network when MSNBC fails.. and they will be admitting MSNBC is leftist. Please do!
m

>Will Rupert Murdoch launch a left-leaning competitor at News Corp. aimed at knocking MSNBC out of picture completely?

No. Have you seen the ownership of News Corp? Its a smorgasbord of conservative media. Every. Single. One. All of them are slanted towards conservatism.
m

>and they will be admitting MSNBC is leftist. Please do!

MSNBC has admitted its leftist after one year of going liberal. While it took Fox News 12 years to admit it was right-wing.
Fidoohki

It ought to be good for a laugh or two.
Facebook User

this is a ridiculous idea… comcast adding a right-leaning network would totally marginalize msnbc (not just ratings wise). what they can do is just make msnbc itself a little more right leaning. granted, there is a republican congressman hosting a 3 hour morning show everyday, but they can easily add a michael smerconish or pat buchanan to have their own program. thats something to think about, but starting a whole new network would just compete with msnbc and it would create an in-fighting within nbc’s news channels. thats a recipe for disaster.
ImNotBlue

Let’s please not forget that FNC’s success isn’t entirely due to its “opinion.” Rather, their talent has a large roll to play as well.

There have been quite a number of other programs across the dial that have tried to emulate FNC’s success… but never came close. Lou Dobbs on CNN, “Coast to Coast” with Ron Reagan and Monica Crowley on MSNBC, Tucker Carlson on CNN and MSNBC, and so on. It takes more than just a right-leaning opinion program to do well.

That isn’t to say that being part of the FNC brand doesn’t help… Beck’s career on HLN versus FNC proves that. Just that “personality” is important as well. If Comcast does try this (I doubt they will, they’ll have their hands full for a long time with MSNBC), I’ll be interested to see who they can grab as talent. Furthermore, the dynamic between MSNBC and Right-MSNBC would be very interesting… would Olbermann attack them (he has stated sometimes you have to take your own network to task… but he virtually never does, unless someone has apologized first or is about to get fired)… or would they pretend like the other doesn’t exist? I’m sure it would be interesting!
TinaFromTampa

ImNotBlue says:
December 15, 2009 at 6:58 pm
I’m sure it would be interesting!

With analytical skills like that, you and TfT are operating on about the same low level.
ImNotBlue

NsA says:
December 15, 2009 at 9:02 pm

I write three paragraphs of analysis… and the best you can do is to take my last sentence out? You make no comments about what I’ve said, you make no analysis of your own… only quote the summation of one point I made. Really?! That’s it?!

Maybe that’s why you’re a stalker… it’s the best you can do.
TinaFromTampa

ImNotBlue here’s what you need to know.
The conservative journalists (as you might want to pretend they are) will go to the highest bidder.
Wave the cash, I’m sure Gretchen Carlson will be able to read the prompter with the same ease.
She can make the same, lame observations no matter what camera is in front of her.
Somewhere, there’s another Griff Jenkins out there, who is just as inane as he is.
Conservatives who have accepted paychecks from MSNBC… let’s see there’s Pat Buchanan, Laura Ingraham,
Alan Keyes, Michael Savage and apparently Gregg Jarrett.
With a lineup like that, to quote you, I’m sure it would be interesting.
ImNotBlue

TinaFromTampa says:
December 15, 2009 at 9:42 pm

The conservative journalists (as you might want to pretend they are) will go to the highest bidder.

Well… I’m not sure what you think I’m pretending, but I’ll ignore that part for the second half. Of course they’ll go to the highest bidder… that’s just business. Just like Wesley Clark, former Sen. Ford, and others… the highest bidder. But what’s wrong with that? As for current FNC talent, unless MSNBC pays to get the out of their contract, they won’t be going anywhere. Again, business.

Conservatives who have accepted paychecks from MSNBC…

Who’s arguing that? There WERE conservatives on MSNBC… WERE being the key.

It seems to me that you’re arguing something I didn’t actually say… probably because being unpleasant and disagreeable is all you know. I guess I can’t fault you for peeing on the rug, when you haven’t been potty trained.

My point (for your benefit) is that FNC’s talent is part of its recipe for success… not simply providing an opinion that the other networks and the MSM don’t often present. If a future, more conservative MSNBC is to form and succeed, they will need to find equally engaging and interesting talent. Furthermore, if it is to form, and Comcast then own two competing networks of differing political ideology, it will be interesting to see if they’re allowed to battle with each other, or being from the same parent company, are forced to make nice or ignore the other. That would be a tough dynamic for any station, and an interesting story for sure.

Now what in that paragraph do you disagree with?
ireenawagner

I think its more sinister, its like they got him in the back room and one of those Star Trek worms crawled into his skull and bam, instead socalist. I too can be bought off to go along with the alien invasion, where do I get my pocket of money.
folic acid
Fidoohki

The trouble is that now it would seem that they are poaching from FNC. You know what it would
truly need to succeed? A name like say… Rush Limbaugh? At least for the first few years.

However this would last until they fouled up their first major story then it would crash and burn I think.
TinaFromTampa

ImNotBlue says:
December 15, 2009 at 10:44 pm

Interesting. Interesting observations. Interesting.