(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
 . . . . . . . . . .



Apparently Elon Musk May Be Considering Buying MSNBC [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2024-11-22  

A lot of folks have been hammering MSNBC pretty hard here on Kos, as well as on numerous other progressive sites over the past couple of weeks. But something more serious than voicing displeasure at the network’s editorial choices may be afoot.

The right wing Xosphere is suddenly ablaze with speculation about Elon Musk buying MSNBC (and CNBC). The background is this: Their parent entity Comcast has recently indicated it is interested in selling the assets from its NBC Universal division which operates those entities. Here’s the short and quick summary:

Someone on X posted an article indicated that NBC Universal is up for sale.

Another person the reposted that and added: “Hey @ElonMusk, I have the funniest idea ever.”

Elon replied directly, writing “How much does it cost?”

Many may take this as idle speculation. I don’t recommend that, however. Keep in mind that this is exactly how the Twitter situation played out. Elon posted “I like Twitter.” Someone replied saying “You should buy it then”. Elon responded “How much is it?” You know the rest of the story.

Musk can certainly afford it. In fact, his net worth has risen over $100B in the last couple of years. In other words, his net worth has increased by an amount close to Warren Buffet’s total net worth.

It’s not clear whether he would be buying just MSNBC or the entire NBC Universal division, which includes Universal Studios (and theme parks), the NBC network, CNBC, and a whole bunch of other stuff. I imagine he would try to peel MSNBC off from the rest, but who knows if Comcast would be game for breaking up the set.

I know what everyone is thinking. But we cannot ignore things just because we may not like them. If Musk does go ahead and buy, it would certainly usher in a sea change in cable news. His first challenge would be the fact that nearly all MSNBC’s current viewers would flee an Elon-owned network. He may not be worried about that considering that the network is already struggling using its current business model. I imagine he would try to create a new international news network which is somewhere between Fox and CNN politically and deeply tied to X so as to leverage the obvious synergies. I also imagine a great number of folks on the left may have serious concerns. It will be interesting to the various takes in the comments section.

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/11/22/2288103/-Apparently-Elon-Musk-May-Be-Considering-Buying-MSNBC?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web

Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/