MSNBC Punishes Cable Providers Who Didn’t Pay For Olympics Feed (Update)

by Steve Krakauer | 9:40 am, February 17th, 2010

» 3 comments

Because of Olympics coverage, NBCU’s cable news outlets like MSNBC and CNBC air some of the competitions at set times during the day and evening.

But Spud at Inside Cable News got the answer to why some markets in the United States haven’t been getting Morning Joe or Daily Rundown – and seeing prison documentaries instead.

An NBCU spokesperson gave this comment:

There are a small handful of systems that chose not to carry NBC Universal’s Enhanced coverage of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games. These systems receive a separate MSNBC feed, which does not include Olympic programming.

So for whatever reason, the markets that chose not to take the enhanced coverage feed, in Sacramento and Detroit, for example, also get shows like Lock Up instead of Morning Joe and Daily Rundown (and Way Too Early).

> Update: An MSNBC spokesperson tells us less than 1% of all homes with MSNBC are on the cable providers that do not subscribe to the feed.

Willie Geist tweeted about this last night:

My big apologies to those of you who are getting horrible prison shows instead of Way Too Early and MJ during the Olympics. Out of my hands.
Nothing like a little “Lockup Wabash: Conjugal Visits” to start your morning. Certain cable providers didn’t pay for our Olympic coverage

Ouch.

Way Too Early originates from Vancouver and does have an Olympics focus, but Morning Joe and Daily Rundown do not, beyond short reports during the show.

So again, because some cable providers didn’t shell out the extra cash MSNBC charged for Olympics coverage, the viewers of those cable providers are essentially punished by losing programs that are not normally preempted for Olympics coverage. And their punishment? Jail! Or, jail documentaries.

(photo graphic by Inside Cable News)

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CNBC, Inside Cable News, Lock Up, morning joe, msnbc, NBC, Olympics

apparently

MSNBC viewers who try to find live news on weekends are very familiar with hour after hour of prison or predator shows. Unless there is a live news event which is good for the whole weekend, I don’t think any one even goes to the MSNBC studio on Saturday afternoon. I suggested to Willie that maybe MSNBC could run a weekly back to back repeat of his WTE show. It would be nice for those of us who are fed up with prison shows and don’t wake up early enough to regularly see WTE!
germ

So, what is NBCU’s excuse for not providing LIVE feed to the west coast (ya know, the time zone the Olympics are in)?

I am boycotting all NBC coverage of the Olympics this year because it isn’t LIVE. It is easier to find coverage online and I don’t have to go out of my way to avoid all news coverage so I can hope to see it in primetime spliced between ice skating.
jennielynsan

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