August 17, 2015

MSNBC’s New Lean Forward-Less Graphics Package

If you haven’t yet noticed, MSNBC made a major change to their graphics package starting this past weekend. I first noticed it on Up with Steve Kornacki on Saturday 8/15. The revamped graphics package appears to be in use across all live programming on MSNBC. Gone is the show and network branding at the top of the screen. “Lean Forward” is not to be found anywhere. Did they officially retire that slogan? It appears there are no graphics at the top of the screen during shows with the exception of split-screen segments. Also notable, is that show branding is kept to a minimum, only seen for about a second in the lower right corner of the screen at the start of a show and when returning from commercials. That area then morphs into the new MSNBC logo which has returned to all capital letters (the logo had been all lowercase since 2009).

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June 3, 2013

The Place For Politics: MSNBC Ratings Slip When Breaking News Is Not Political

How about this for breaking news — the news network with the tagline “The Place For Politics” doesn’t shine in the ratings department when the biggest news stories are not political. Is this really a shock to anyone? In May, MSNBC slipped to 4th place behind Fox News, CNN and HLN. This was a time of breaking news like tornadoes, and a murder trial (no, I won’t even mention the name). Usually MSNBC is a distant second to the near worship-like dominance of Fox News. Of course, ratings don’t prove that you are delivering a factually sound product, it just means you are delivering what a fervent audience wants to hear. And when it comes to faux scandals during a democratic administration, the faux news network known as Fox News is definitely your source. When it comes to coverage of non-political breaking news, CNN’s longstanding name recognition wins out. “We’re not the place for that [breaking news],” said MSNBC president Phil Griffin. “Our brand is not that.” Indeed.

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April 9, 2013

Melissa Harris-Perry Responds To ‘Hateful’ And ‘Vitriolic’ Conservatives

Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin and other conservatives just couldn’t believe their ears when they heard Melissa Harris-Perry say, “kids belong to whole communities,” in a recent MSNBC “Lean Forward” advertisement. The fake outrage by these prominent conservatives caused the predictable: their minions sent Harris-Perry countless “hateful, personal attacks” to her inbox.

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