Editing MSNBC (section)

{{Short description|American cable television news channel}}
{{pp-semi-indef}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox television channel
| name = MSNBC
| logo = MSNBC 2023.svg
| logo_size = 250px
| launch_date = {{start date|1996|7|15}}
| picture_format = {{ubl|[[1080i]] [[HDTV]]|(downscaled to [[letterboxed]] [[480i]] for the [[SDTV]] feed)}}
| owner = [[NBCUniversal]] ([[Comcast]])
| parent = [[NBCUniversal News Group]]
| country = United States
| language = English
| headquarters = {{ubl|[[30 Rockefeller Plaza]]|[[Manhattan]], New York City}}
| area = United States and Canada
| sister_channels = {{ubl|[[CNBC]]|[[CNBC World]]|[[NBC]]}}
| replaced = {{ubl|[[America's Talking]]|(1994–1996)|[[MSNBC Canada]]|(in Canada)}}
| replaced_by =
| website = {{URL|https://www.msnbc.com/}}
| terr_serv_1 = [[Digital terrestrial television]]
| terr_chan_1 = Channel 20.4 ([[K33DB-D|Alexandria, Minnesota]])
| online_serv_1 = Service(s)
| online_chan_1 = [[Hulu + Live TV]], [[Sling TV]], [[FuboTV]], [[YouTube TV]]
}}
'''MSNBC''' is an American [[cable news]] channel owned by the [[NBCUniversal News Group]] division of [[NBCUniversal]], a subsidiary of [[Comcast]]. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at [[30 Rockefeller Plaza]] in [[Manhattan]], the channel primarily broadcasts rolling news coverage and [[Modern liberalism in the United States|liberal]]-leaning [[Opinion journalism|political commentary]].

MSNBC was originally established as part of a joint venture between [[NBC News]] and [[Microsoft]] (with its name being a [[portmanteau]] of [[MSN]] and [[NBC]]), encompassing the channel and the news website [[NBCNews.com|MSNBC.com]]. Microsoft would divest its stake in the channel in 2005, followed by the website in 2012; the website was then rebranded as NBCNews.com to associate it more closely with the NBC News division, leaving MSNBC.com to become a website for the channel and its opinion content.

MSNBC initially focused on [[rolling news]] coverage, including long-form reports, [[interactive television|interactive]] programs, and stories contributed by the [[local news]] departments of NBC's affiliates. By the late-2000s, MSNBC shifted to primarily airing opinion-based programming featuring liberal commentators such as  [[Keith Olbermann]], [[Chris Matthews]], [[David Gregory (journalist)|David Gregory]], [[Ed Schultz]], and [[Rachel Maddow]]; in 2010, MSNBC would beat [[CNN]] in primetime and overall viewership for the first time since 2001. In the mid-2010s, amid a decline in viewership, MSNBC increased its focus on hard news coverage, and added programs incorporating NBC News personalities. Under new leadership in the 2020s, MSNBC began to gradually decrease its reliance on NBC News personalities and resources (especially amid the upcoming spin-off of NBCUniversal's cable networks as a new company), and gradually expanded its opinion programming in dayparts such as the morning and weekends.

In the first quarter of 2025, MSNBC was the second most-watched cable news network, averaging 593,000 total day viewers, behind rival [[Fox News]], which averaged 1.919 million viewers, and ahead of [[CNN]], which averaged 428,000 viewers. In the key A24-54 demo, MSNBC averaged 57,000 total day demo viewers, behind rival networks Fox News, which averaged 247,000 demo viewers, and CNN, which averaged 79,000 demo viewers. In that same quarter, MSNBC's ''[[The Rachel Maddow Show]]'' was the only non-Fox News show to appear in the quarter's top 15 cable news programs, both by total viewers and by the A24-54 demo.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mwachiro |first=Mark |date=2025-04-03 |title=Here's the 1st Quarter of 2025 Cable News Ratings |url=https://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/first-quarter-2025-cable-news-ratings/ |access-date=2025-05-21 |language=en-US}}</ref>

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