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[[Image:April 2nd MSNBC.png|right|frame]]

[[Image:April 2nd MSNBC.png|right|frame]]

'''MSNBC''' is a [[liberal]] 24-hour cable news channel. It is the lowest rated of the three major cable news channels.

'''MSNBC''' is a [[liberal]] 24-hour cable news channel. It is the most liberal of all the NBC universal divisions (NBC, CNBC, The Weather Channel, Telemundo, etc.) MSNBC is considered by many to be one of the most liberal cable news channels of all the liberal mainstream media. MSNBC is the lowest rated of the other 2 major cable news channels, Fox News and CNN.

The channel was started in 1996 as a joint venture between [[Microsoft]] and [[NBC]]. On December 23, 2005, ending a partnership that soured long before, Microsoft and NBC announced that they would dissolve their joint ownership of the cable news channel, with NBC taking control. NBC completed a deal to assume majority control of the channel, with an 82 percent stake.<ref>http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30610F93E540C778EDDAB0994DD404482</ref>

The MSNBC channel was started in 1996 as a joint venture between [[Microsoft]] and [[NBC]]. On December 23, 2005, ending a partnership that soured long before, Microsoft and NBC announced that they would dissolve their joint ownership of the cable news channel, with NBC taking control. NBC completed a deal to assume majority control of the channel, with an 82 percent stake.<ref>http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30610F93E540C778EDDAB0994DD404482</ref>

The MSNBC network has perenially had very low ratings. In 2002, the network was regularly beaten in the ratings by [[CNN Headline News]]. The CEO of Microsoft once even admitted that he wouldn't have started MSNBC knowing what he knew now.<ref>http://news.com.com/2100-1023-268073.html</ref> In June of 2006, [[CNN]] co-founder Reese Schoenfeld told journalist Don Kaplan that "Everybody compares MSNBC to Fox and CNN - when its real competition is Headline News". Schoenfeld pointed out that the ratings for MSNBC and Headline News are roughly the same, about 300,000 viewers on average and that "by comparison, Fox and CNN regularly average three or four times as many viewers." Kaplan even joked that "the running joke in TV news is Fox and CNN are news channels with websites, but MSNBC is a website with a cable channel".<ref>http://newsbusters.org/node/5891</ref>

The MSNBC network has perenially had very low ratings. In 2002, the network was regularly beaten in the ratings by [[CNN Headline News]]. The CEO of Microsoft once even admitted that he wouldn't have started MSNBC knowing what he knew now.<ref>http://news.com.com/2100-1023-268073.html</ref> In June of 2006, [[CNN]] co-founder Reese Schoenfeld told journalist Don Kaplan that "Everybody compares MSNBC to Fox and CNN - when its real competition is Headline News". Schoenfeld pointed out that the ratings for MSNBC and Headline News are roughly the same, about 300,000 viewers on average and that "by comparison, Fox and CNN regularly average three or four times as many viewers." Kaplan even joked that "the running joke in TV news is Fox and CNN are news channels with websites, but MSNBC is a website with a cable channel".<ref>http://newsbusters.org/node/5891</ref>