Progressive billionaire offers to match Elon Musk's offer to buy MSNBC from Comcast

[mzmolly]

Despite its recent ratings woes, a number of billionaires are reportedly interested in acquiring progressive news network MSNBC from Comcast, should the company decide to list it for sale at some point in the future.

Responding to an errant social media post last week, technology mogul Elon Musk wondered out loud how much MSNBC might cost should be decide to bid for the network — but, according to a new report from rival cable news outlet CNN, he's apparently not the only billionaire interested in buying the channel.

According to CNN's Brian Stelter, "more than one benevolent billionaire with liberal bona fides" has reached out to Comcast's NBC Universal with an interest in buying MSNBC, which he characterized as "reassuring" to Comcast executives, since it indicated to them that "Musk...would not be the only potential suitor" for the network.

Last week, Comcast said it intends to spin off MSNBC and many of its other cable networks into a standalone business, one that will be separate from the cable services company. The separation could take a year to complete, they said, at which point the standalone cable networks company — currently called "SpinCo" — will be led by a handful of current NBC Universal executives. Comcast will retain NBC, cable network Bravo and the streaming platform Peacock.

More at MSN

[themaguffin]

1. Wait, did Musk make a serious offer? I thought it was just a trolling comment?

[JohnSJ]

8. no he didn't. He was just trolling.

[City Lights]

18. His purchase of Twitter started out as trolling. nt

[KPN]

23. Yes. Musk fancies himself and aims to be Emperor.

He was self-indulgently purposeful in buying Twitter. He should never be taken lightly, no matter how lightly we’d love to take him.

[City Lights]

26. Agreed! nt

[soandso]

29. TV news is a dying medium

Social media is not. Maybe Comcast is going to take those "spin offs" and make them an online only thing.

[soandso]

28. I took it as a joke

All he said was, "How much is it?".

I'm not sure any of these channels are even for sale.

[spooky3]

2. We need good news! Nt

[Tadpole Raisin]

3. Offers to match? Did Musk really make an offer for msnbc?

If so I’m afraid that Musk will do something underhanded and Comcast doesn’t care, they will get whatever they can.

Plus this will go into 2025 so I could see them try to use their powers to swing it to musk or at least deny the liberal billionaire’s efforts.

Clearly I have trust issues, at least with republicans!!

[Dawson Leery]

4. kick

Any idea who?

[mopinko]

6. i'm guessing

marc cuban and bill gates. maybe warren buffet? he’s pledged to give his fortune away, so…

[ToxMarz]

13. Didn't the MS in MSNBC come from some association with Microsoft

I think it originally was, don't know it it is still has anything to do with it.

[Fla Dem]

22. Micro Soft has not had an interest in msnbc since 2012.

MSNBC and its website were founded in 1996, under a partnership between Microsoft and General Electric's NBC unit, hence the network's name. Microsoft divested itself of MSNBC in 2005, and its stake in msnbc.com in 2012. The general news site was rebranded as NBCNews.com, and a new msnbc.com was created.

https://www.google.com/search?q=does+microsoft+still+own+msnbc&sca_esv=ea7a65d4a06fc667&sxsrf=ADLYWIKOBw0kvGtX1sJbZ74FulfXShktEQ%3A1732566188433&source=hp&ei=rNxEZ_zzFtncwN4P6r7MkQk&iflsig=AL9hbdgAAAAAZ0TqvNgvMpNDbBen46rgBfxVSk5E2jVh&oq=does+Micro+soft+still+&gs_lp=Egdnd3Mtd2l6IhZkb2VzIE1pY3JvIHNvZnQgc3RpbGwgKgIIAjIHEAAYgAQYDTIHEAAYgAQYDTIHEAAYgAQYDTIHEAAYgAQYDTIHEAAYgAQYDTIHEAAYgAQYDTIHEAAYgAQYDTIHEAAYgAQYDTIHEAAYgAQYDTIHEAAYgAQYDUj1cFAAWMpZcAF4AJABAJgBrAKgAcARqgEIMTguNC4wLjG4AQHIAQD4AQGYAhigArASwgIIEAAYgAQYsQPCAg4QLhiABBixAxjRAxjHAcICCxAuGIAEGLEDGIMBwgIREC4YgAQYsQMY0QMYgwEYxwHCAg4QABiABBixAxiDARiKBcICCBAuGIAEGLEDwgIFEAAYgATCAgsQABiABBixAxiDAcICBxAAGIAEGArCAgYQABgWGB7CAggQABgWGAoYHsICDRAAGIAEGLEDGIMBGA2YAwCSBwgxNi43LjAuMaAH2rAB&sclient=gws-wiz

[soandso]

30. First they would have to be for sale

and nothing has been said about that. If they were put up for sale, my guess would be someone like Reid Hoffman and whatever investor group he would put together.

[GoCubsGo]

5. Better late than never, I guess...

Here's hoping it's not too late. And, since their are multiples interested in the network, those who don't get to buy it need to seriously consider starting or buying another network. We need more than just MSNBC.

[hadEnuf]

25. You fricken' bet.

We need a network or networks that won't play the "both sides" game with bonafide fascists and lunatics.

It's way, way past time to beat the right wing at its own game.

[Upthevibe]

7. mzmolly............

Thank you for the post.

I KNOW many of us have been wondering for years:

WHERE THE F ARE OUR BILLIONAIRES?!?!?!?

Tom Steyer? Sheryl Sandberg? Vinod Khosla? And others who I don't even know about

Melinda French Gates and MacKenzie Scott (Bezos' ex) have given a lot of money to various organizations.

It's way past time to buy a significant number of radio and television stations....Maybe it's not too late moving forward to 2026 and 2028....

[mzmolly]

12. You're welcome.

I too am glad to see some interest from billionaires on the sane side of things.

[The Madcap]

9. SpinCo???

Well, that sounds like a real success story there...

More like a bad TV product for Billy Mays (RIP) to hawk.

[CousinIT]

27. Yea "SpinCo" is hilarious. In a funny/not funny way. The mainstream media is 90% ...

... bullshit, infotainment, opinion and spin plus normalizing and sanewashing Shitler and the fascists. It's a large part of why that prick and his billionaire friends will now own and control the entire US gov't - the fucking media.

[Macrophylla]

10. Bid it up

And walk away.
It's not worth anything they are destroying their viewership. Cable news is ultimately a dying media unless your viewership is comprised of the ignoratti and white supremacists.....but fux has that demographic locked down anyway.

[mzmolly]

11. I'm a regular viewer.

I want the station to continue as do many others.

[BonnieJW]

24. Except for morning joe

What a mistake they made. Their viewers sank to 53k last week. Can you believe that?? I hope the network boots them.

[ancianita]

20. MSNBC beat Fox & CNN viewer numbers a lot in the last few years, especially during Jan 6 hearings & the DNC.

NBC Universal executives must think that only the Democratic base is its viewership, when millions more viewers have tuned in to get better fact based information over national breaking news, and especially from 5-10 pm.

I'm pretty sure if they keep their current night programming their viewership won't be destroyed,
just the stupid RW lite daytime programming.

I don't think cable news is dying; it's another medium, is all.

[Magoo48]

14. So what?

Unless he turns it into listener sponsored programming, it’s still corporate news subject to suppression.

[mzmolly]

15. Cable news isn't regulated

by the FCC, but ok.

[0rganism]

16. "benevolent billionaire" -- a nutritious part of the neoliberal myth breakfast, most important meal of the day

40 years ago it probably could have made a difference. Now it's about closing the barn door after the horses are gone. Even if some halfway-responsible news network arises from these ashes, it should be abundantly clear by now that the national narratives will be established elsewhere.

[Ziggysmom]

17. Benevolent Billionaire! What an oxymoron!!

[mzmolly]

19. It's not too late to fight back

in every way possible.

[ancianita]

21. 2020, Biden got 230 donors with a total of $691.8 million, whereas Trump had 133 donors, totaling $495.7 million.

2020, Bloomberg donated $18 million to Biden.

2024 Biden's biggest donor was Mike Bloomberg, again, with $20 million which later got turned over to Harris.

By Nov 5 Harris had 83 billionaires backing her; Trump, 52. Maybe it's not the number but the amount. I get that.

Still, the numbers distinguish the pro-democracy party from the fascist party.

[pstokely]

31. why doesn't the donor class of the left fund something else?

cable news is graying

[mzmolly]

32. I disagree.

We need a solid foot print in cable news.

[pstokely]

33. Legacy media is a bad long term investment

Considering the average ages of cable news viewers and talk radio listeners

[mzmolly]

34. It's an investment in democracy.