MSNBC Launches MSNBC HD & New Shows: My Impressions
MSNBC this week launched MSNBC HD, the High Definition version of the NBC cable news network, with a new on-air look and a new programming lineup, mostly consisting of additional specialty opinion shows. MSNBC in HD will launch at different times on different cable systems. It launched on Cablevision on June 29 and will be a part of Time Warner Cable’s lineup this month. By the end of August, MSNBC HD will be available in 11 million homes.
The “new on air look” has not been particularly pretty, especially the horizontal bar across the top of the screen, left there throughout the broadcasts and containing little more than the network logo and occasional time checks and slogans. It needs to go.
A new news-ticker at the bottom is busier than the old news crawler, but occupies less screen real estate. I’m not sure who is going to read this, considering the text size is quite small. It’s simply more distraction, all thanks to a trend in cable news post-9/11 that has never gone away.
The new shows:
At 9:00ET, the news roundup is gone, replaced with “Morning Meeting” with Dylan Ratigan from 9-11am. The first week of shows has not been terribly impressive — more of the same kind of talking head banter we just watched from Morning Joe for the three hours preceding. The set is also austere. Outside of Chris Matthews and Joe Scarborough, Dylan Ratigan is the third person on MSNBC who likes to hear himself talk. When he talks, time stops. When someone else talks, it’s ‘hurry up so I can get our other guests in.’ A gracious host learns to hush up and listen.
At 11am, Carlos Watson anchors an hour of straight news, but I’m typically long gone by 11. It’s a shame Dylan couldn’t run from 10-12 and leave an hour at 9am for actual news and less opinion.
At 12pm, Dr. Nancy (Snyderman) is on for an hour of medical-related news (which this week was an excuse to talk about how many pills Michael Jackson was popping.) I am not sure how interested people are going to be in a medical news show at 12 noon. I expect a lot of viewers interested in news are watching the lunchtime local news on broadcast stations.
Andrea Mitchell continues at 1-2pm, doing straight-up news. David Shuster, who always seems to be yelling, joins Tamron Hall (who doesn’t) from 3-5pm for more news.
MSNBC seems to be essentially creating a talk radio format for television, with personality-driven current affairs and opinion programming blocks. It gives viewers a reason to tune in on slow news days to see their favorite personalities, but is still flexible enough to wipe all of that out for breaking news.
