The Inquisitr » msnbc

With MSNBC entering the hyperlocal space, could TV networks be Newspaper killers?

Duncan Riley — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 18:35:21 +0000

Yesterday MSNBC acquired hyperlocal startup Everyblock for an undisclosed sum, but believed to be in the low millions.

Everyblock aggregates publicly available information by locality, for example police reports, restaurant inspection data, community service releases and more. It’s not a hugely innovative service, but it does offer a low cost, hyperlocal model that actively competes with local newspapers.

The entry by a television network into the hyperlocal space through acquisition isn’t terribly surprising, but it could be the start of an interesting trend: TV networks owning local news online in place of local newspapers.

Television isn’t immune to the downturn, and advertising has declined in the sector. Compared to the newspaper industry though, they are mostly worlds apart. Smarter, newer television networks (although MSNBC is a division of NBC, they are newer) are more nimble in production and management, vs the newspaper industry that is still heavily burdened by archaic management and oversight structures that unfortunately for the sector end up burdening acquisitions and in house hyperlocal plays.

Whether television networks can make a go of hyperlocal is another matter: the notoriously difficult space is paved with the bodies of startups that have failed. Likewise though the leverage opportunities may give the networks a strong base from which to become successful hyperlocal players. Either way, the days of local newspapers will continue to be numbered, and someone or something will fill the void.

(Video) Blogger, please… don’t say BJ on the news

Kim LaCapria — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 21:47:59 +0000

Kind of scary looking blogger Marcy Wheeler raised a few eyebrows by using a common euphemism for oral sex on a MSNBC segment.

Marcy’s expressing frustration at lack of investigation into the recent news that Dick Cheney supressed a whole frickload of information from the POTUS and Congress, and she invokes the whole “Clinton got impeached for a BJ” argument. The anchors quickly begin tripping over themselves to apologize on Marcy’s behalf but the damage has already been done. Won’t someone please think of the children?!?

Girl, you’re making us all look like we don’t have home-training or manners!

No related posts.

You Might Be Rich and not even know it, Says Dateline MSNBC

Paul Short — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 04:37:59 +0000

You might be rich, a segment that airs Sundays on MSNBC in the U.S, says there could be money sitting around in State coffers that’s yours and you don’t even know it.

On Sunday night Dateline MSNBC aired an episode of You might be rich where they discovered a man was owed $1,046,000 when he only expected to recover about $50,000 doing his own research. In fact, the show has put up a website where you can go and enter your details and find out for yourself if the government owes you money.

Here’s the link to the “You might be rich” website.

Here’s more info about the show You might be rich from the Dateline MSNBC site:

In state treasuries across America, billions of dollars in unclaimed property sits, waiting to be returned to millions of people. Yet many state officials don’t have the resources to find everyone. Last August, Dateline NBC helped states crack some of their toughest, unsolved cases with the result of nearly $2 million being returned to average Americans. Now NBC News’ Tiki Barber and his team, including NBC News’ Peter Alexander and MSNBC’s Tamron Hall, are back at again, finding ordinary people who are unaware they have money coming to them in “You Might Be Rich!”

And here’s a video clip of the show You might be rich that airs Sunday’s on MSNBC:

MSNBC’s “Oh God” Moment: Whoops, Was That Mic Still On? [VIDEO]

JR — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 16:45:32 +0000

An MSNBC open mic slip is creating some Web-wide buzz today. Someone was heard quietly saying “oh God” on MSNBC as Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal approached a podium to deliver the GOP’s response to President Obama’s congressional address Tuesday night.

MSNBC “Oh God” Video

The hushed remark, followed by laughter in the background, aired immediately after MSNBC anchor Keith Olbermann introduced the Republican governor. Internet speculation has placed the voice as being either Olbermann’s or fellow MSNBC host Chris Matthews’. MSNBC has yet to deliver any response of its own.

Here’s the MSNBC “oh God” video. Watch and make your own conclusions.

Mika Brzezinski, MSNBC Anchor, Mugged En Route to Studio

JR — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:26:11 +0000

Mika Brzezinski, one of MSNBC’s morning news anchors, was mugged on her way to the studio this morning.

Brzezinski says a man approached her while she was standing outside a well-known Washington hotel early in the morning and waiting for a driver to pick her up. Brzezinski co-hosts the “Morning Joe” program, which is normally based in New York City but was broadcasting from D.C. this week.

Mika Brzezinski discussed the incident on the MSNBC morning show when her co-host, Joe Scarborough, brought it up to Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty — who just happened to be that day’s guest. He questioned how safe the city really was as America prepares for the Barack Obama inauguration, which is expected to draw record crowds to the D.C. area.

Brzezinski said the man walked across the street toward her and asked for $20, telling her if she handed over the money, nothing would happen. Brzezinski handed the man the $6 in cash she had, she said.

“Mayor it was six dollars, it’s okay,” Brzezinski said on the program. “I love that hotel. I’ll need six dollars before I leave the bureau is all.”

The mayor promised the incident would be fully investigated.

Keith Olbermann in a Minute

Duncan Riley — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 03:34:45 +0000

The Huffington Post JV 23/6 has been a bit hit and miss with its content, but lately it starting to get better. Their latest: Keith Olbermann in a Minute captures the spirit of MSNBC’s nightly show host.

One both those on the right and left will probably enjoy.

Get the latest news satire and funny videos at 236.com.

Hulu’s georetardation policies now officially beyond a joke

Duncan Riley — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 05:26:28 +0000

Hulu is to enter the live streaming space for the first time, offering the remaining two Presidential debates live as part of its new Hulu Election ‘08 portal.

The new portal features clips and full replays of major political stories (such as previous debates) and topical clips, such as last weekends Saturday Night Live send up of the Vice Presidential debate. It sounds like a good service, and I would have tested it before writing this post, but like everything else on Hulu it’s georetarded, so nothing on the page can be viewed outside of the United States.

Hulu has long blamed its content partners for its georetarding policies, and until now, as much as many of us outside of the United States hate it, the argument has had some level of validity. For example, I’m unable to stream shows directly off of most rights holders websites, so it’s a uniform decision that drives the rest of the world to Chinese hosted streams, YouTube or bittorrent.

But the election material is very, very different. There’s absolutely nothing I could find on the Hulu Election site I can’t already watch outside of the United States legally from content providers. Among the key providers of footage for Hulu are NBC/ MSNBC and Fox, and guess what: videos from both can be watched on demand outside of the United States (at least they played for me in Australia), and that’s direct on the site, and through embeds popular on other sites. And it’s not just the strictly political news content either: I can play the Saturday Night Live clip on an NBC embed as featured here on The Huffington Post.

So what exactly is Hulu’s excuse now? That it’s too hard perhaps to drop georetardation for some videos and not all of them perhaps? hardly seems a challenge when you consider that NBC can block full shows, but display clips. One can only presume that simply Hulu doesn’t care. If Hulu’s georetardation policies were a joke before, they are now officially beyond a joke. EPIC FAIL.