Still more MS/NBC….
The New York Times’ Bill Carter writes about yesterday’s news and devotes a significant portion of his article to the timing on the announcement (something I also noted)…
The less-than-celebratory nature of the breakup seemed to be underscored by the timing of the announcement. NBC and Microsoft released the news at 8 a.m. yesterday, the Friday before Christmas, when the offices of both companies were already closed for the holiday weekend.
Of the two contacts listed on the release, one, from NBC, had a message on her office phone number saying she would be gone until Tuesday, and the other, from Microsoft, was at an airport with two toddlers ready to fly home for the holiday.
That spokeswoman, Kristen Batch, from a public relations firm, Waggener, Edstrom, said Microsoft executives would have no comment anyway, beyond what was said in the official news release.In the release, a Microsoft executive, Bruce Jaffe, mentioned only the continuing partnership on the Web site and said nothing about the decision to walk away from the cable channel.
Microsoft has made no secret of its lack of enthusiasm for the cable channel. In 2002, Steven A. Ballmer, the company’s chief executive, said publicly that if Microsoft had an opportunity to turn back time, it would never have gone through with the deal for MSNBC. Microsoft agreed to a 99-year partnership, put up a reported $500 million, and then committed to paying NBC about $30 million a year in license fees.
Reached at home yesterday, Julie Summersgill, a corporate spokeswoman for NBC, said that despite the timing, the companies were not trying to bury the news on the slowest news weekend of the year. It simply worked out that way, she said.
Why should the press people be around to talk to the press? Nothing that happens to MSNBC matters.
Comment by Craig — December 25, 2005 @ 4:20 pm
LOL… when MSNBC shuts down, no one will notice or miss it(except for the 7 of us who watch).
Comment by Brent — December 25, 2005 @ 9:51 pm
I beg to differ. I’ll miss at least one show on it. The network as a whole, I wouldn’t miss, but that’s because it’s never had the cojones to get out there and define itself as an alternative to what is already out there, rather than as a Frankenstein from which parts and pieces can be stolen to bolster NBC…
Sure, they tried to bury this news–because it involves one of their investors pulling out of much of its commitment. That’s by definition not good news. But overall it’s not necessarily bad news for MSNBC’s future. It’s kind of like when two parents have joint custody of a child but one of them doesn’t really want to do any parenting anymore. The poor kid just might be better off if that parent would allow the other to have sole custody and just get out of the picture. Assuming NBC Uni still believes in MSNBC enough to support it to this extent, it just may be a good thing that “the parent who no longer cares” is pulling out and leaving its future to “the parent who does.”
Comment by tanne — December 26, 2005 @ 11:58 am
This story is a classic “much ado about nothing.” Microsoft had little to do with content or personalities on the TV network. Besides a possible new name, I doubt whether there will be any discernable changes on MSNBC.
Comment by Ira — December 27, 2005 @ 8:31 pm