That article by Ben Grossman in Broadcasting & Cable is causing big ripples.
Here's Chickaboomer quoting an NBC insider:
Here is an interesting take on that article emailed to FTVLive from an NBC insider: "Want to know the buzz today at NBC News about the B & C opinion piece? First, if MSNBC had remained under Roger Ailes and the 'America's Talking' banner the success we are now just experiencing 12 years later would have come in 1998, and the threat of NBC News being tarnished by opinion/talk TV would be ZERO. NBC News saw the success of 'America's Talking', which remember included a Chris Matthews show, and decided to add the 'credentials' of NBC News with a since failed relationship with Microsoft. When they saw the clearance that Ailes had achieved for AT, they strong armed him to give it up, and changed it to MSNBC. Ailes left disgruntled to start FNC and within 2 years cleaned their clock. Finally NBC begins to copy FNC (going left instead of right) and experiences some level of success BUT at the risk of tarnishing and undermining NBC News, the crown jewel of the news division. Bottom line - We work for a bunch of idiots who make it up as they go along, and realize only when it's too late that they have created major hazards. As for the notion that the two could NOW be separated - it's a crock. Ben Grossman suggests that MSNBC could go under the umbrella of Universal while NBC News continues to program big news events and correspondents continue to appear on the network. As far as the viewing public goes, that is not separation at all. There can be NO crossover of any kind if NBC News wants to avoid confusion with its audience, and at this point it will take years and years for the viewing public to separate the two. After all NBC is in the name!"
It's an interesting question.
