Is it me or has MSNBC really become to tedious to watch anymore?

[George II]

Seems like no matter when I turn it on (with very few exceptions) we see the same tired old "hosts" along with the same tired old guests, who wind up later in the day hosting their own shows? Just wondering if it's me suffering politics overload.

[Callmecrazy]

1. It's not just you...

MSNBC used to play in the background while I was online but it's just a network of about forty people bouncing around from show to show. So tired of the rhetoric on both sides that I just stopped watching.

[Atman]

10. You mean like CNN, Fox, NBC, CBS, ABC, etc?

There is a very small group of people who make a living off of these shows. They do little else. They're full-time "experts" who make the rounds from show to show.

That said, yes, I find them all to be a load of crap. Fortunately, Fox "News" viewers still think they're being told the truth. It makes it easier to point out the true idiots.

[reformist2]

2. When I dropped my cable package, I thought I'd miss MSNBC... I don't. Not at all.

[rickford66]

25. I stream it for free.

We can't get cable where we live even if we wanted it. There are ads, but you can still get the drift of the shows.

[drm604]

3. I still like Rachel Maddow

and some of the other weeknight hosts.

[Snotcicles]

4. It's not just you... me too. nt

[sufrommich]

5. I'm down to wathing Rachel Maddow and

Tweety,everyone else bores me.

[Galileo126]

6. I stopped watching about 3 yrs ago

Although I do indeed love Maddow, I catch her stuff on the internet now. I think I left for the same reasons Olbermann left. Just got sick of the corporate spin cycle.

I do not miss MSNBC at all.

[Bluenorthwest]

7. It's very repetitive so one hour is all I can bear, and frankly I've read it all on

the internet already . They are not going to show me anything, they are going to tell me, then tell me again, and again, then hand off to the next overpaid host to tell me again this time while seated. It's not really television, it's radio with a camera pointed at it. All of their budget goes to the 'hosts' and man does that show in the end product. The content is repeated, it is never visual, it is never from the field, it is almost never something I did not already here from DU.

[randr]

8. Agreed

I am now watching Al Jazeera more and more. Clear reporting of facts without the he said she said bullshit.
MSNBC has become the opposite side of the faux coin.
A progressive Democratic argument can not be made by responding to the shit slung at us each and every day.
It is clear the Republicans have no ideas to put forward; that is why all they do is sling mud. It is time to ignore their bullshit and constantly put forward progressive solutions to obvious problems.
Americans want jobs, a clean environment, an end to corporate greed, promotion of new sources of energy, an end to the culture wars with religious fanatics, and end to the war on women's rights, and a future for our children in a loving environment.
We are on the right side of all these issues and history.

[Samantha]

30. I am watching Al Jazeera as well

I really like it quite a bit, good stories about different locals and issues, pretty good reporters, and a wide variety of people participating. The reporting on things happening outside the country but of great interest to us is excellent. Once again, I am learning from the news.

So far, no Palin, no Cruz and no soap opera politics. I have gotten so tired of hearing the mindless comments of Tea Partiers and others. Sometimes MSNBC seemed like a mirror image of FOX which obviously showcases too much of the crazy....

I was criticized by a family member for watching Al Jazeera, who labeled it as propaganda. The person admonishing me watches Fox and listens to Limbaugh....

Sam

[randr]

38. The irony of the right wing hypocrisy is astounding

[adirondacker]

9. The spin cycle of MSM has become background noise over the last decade and a half.

Time to put a new load of dirty laundry in the machine and set it to agitate.

[Snotcicles]

11. They all just kind of blend together anymore since

the great journalistic castration. You know that bull-pucky (liberal bias) screed, Bernie Goldberg came up with.

[gordianot]

12. You are correct but the fascist State network Fox and the terrible journalism network CNN are similar

MSNBC looks for commentary that does not offend Republicans too much in the 5-10 PM time slot. Republicans of any stripe avoid MSNBC and if they do come on the hosts have to handle them with kid gloves not to insult them or return their vile tirades.

CNN is just plain offensive to everyone poor journalism without insight. ABC and CBS sold out years ago.

I think it is best to turn it all off if going to watch do it in small doses. Jon Stewart in his comedy show comes closest to real news and interviews.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

13. maybe we have just got to hard to thrill. For me, it was all downhill once the election

season ended....and will pick up later this year.

[liberal from boston]

40. MSNBC

This coming election is so important & I am grateful liberals have MSNBC. Remember MSNBC was a major factor in President Obama's re-election. Lawrence O'Donnell's program TLW is the one program I try to never miss. IMHO, his programs are different from the others-he was the lone voice about the original intent of the 501(c) tax exempt law that resulted in the fake "IRS Scandal".

[marions ghost]

14. Rachel and Chris Hayes

and Kornacki have done a great job with the Christie story. I don't know how they could do it better.

Politics in this country is depressing. You need to know whats going on but you need breaks.

At the same time that I'm happy that Christie is exposed, it's upsetting to see what a corrupt country this really is. Maybe that's the hard part? Counter it by doing something that's positive re politics.

[stopbush]

15. They're like all the other cable news networks in the way the have "experts" on the payroll

and rotate them from show to show. In a pinch, they have a host from one show appear on another show.

I've pretty much stopped watching Rachel Maddow - can't stand the way she prattles on and on and on when she's doing a set-up for a story, repeating herself over and over again. Get to the fucking point and move on.

Other than that, the daily line-up of shows tends to go with the same lead story. MSNBC has recently added a bunch of morning shows with super-young hosts who tend to bring on super-young experts in an obvious strategy to go after a younger audience. We'll see how that works out.

There are some bright spots on MSNBC. Ari Melber is excellent - he should have his own show. He has an air of objectivity about him that gives his left-wing leanings credence. Steve Kornacki and Joy Reid have good things to say. Ronan Farrow so far is off to an unimpressive start.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

26. "Unimpressive", re: Farrow, is an understatement. Just horrible. nt

[Jamaal510]

42. Thank you!

"I've pretty much stopped watching Rachel Maddow - can't stand the way she prattles on and on and on when she's doing a set-up for a story, repeating herself over and over again. Get to the fucking point and move on."

Her show is alright, but I'm with you on this one. At least with the other hosts like Ed and Rev. Al (those are my faves), they are more straightforward and they talk about more stuff that is relevant in my life. They know how to bring passion. Rachel just gets boring sometimes IMO, plus I think she tries too hard to pimp up Andrea Mitchell's show. And out of all the hosts, Rachel seems to hog all the credit here when there are plenty of others on that channel who also do a decent job. Rarely do I hear anyone here really mention Tamron Hall or Alex Wagner, for example.

[Vashta Nerada]

16. It's not just you.

I haven't been able to stomach that channel in months.

[TheCowsCameHome]

17. PBS, and occasionally a local news broadcast, and

that's it for me.

BET's airing of "Roots" finally pushed me over the edge a year or so ago - 5 minutes of programmimg, 10 minutes of commercials, repeat, repeat, repeat.

I signed on as a sustainer/subscriber with my local PBS station and never looked back.

[bemildred]

18. And they are the pick of the litter. nt

[NRaleighLiberal]

19. we've not watched TV regularly since 2007. Our quality of life has soared. n/t

[amandabeech]

20. The range of topics seems to be limited, too,

and as a result, it seems to be one show day after day after day.

I swear Ari Melber is on every show every day, and I don't care much for his intense personality. If I'm going to see that much of someone, I prefer someone who is more relaxed.

They're better during the hot political season, so I expect to watch them more later this year and in 2016

[DirkGently]

21. I like Kornacki, Hayes, & Maddow. A lot.

They're speaking at a higher informational level than most of the talking heads, with varying levels of ideological discussion mixed in. I keep learning things -- real information -- watching them, which is incredibly refreshing compared to talking heads that just paddle around in the shallow water.

And they're also doing real journalism. Rachel brought the Virginia governor's corruption problems to the fore. Kornacki broke important chunks of Christie's bridge & Sandy shenanigans. I don't see anything from either the right, or from pure journalism, doing what they're doing in terms of informing, debunking, and to varying levels, arguing progressive viewpoints. Moyers, probably, but he's not on enough.

I think Matthews and O'Donnell bring too pure a political vibe, which can be tiresome, although they're good for to get an insider's view of politics.

But those other three are something special in my opinion, and they're a good mix. Kornacki's a real reporter, Hayes is a magazine-style writer / thinker with a relentlessly rational point of view, and Maddow is a brilliant broadcaster and polemicist who's great at pinning down and annihilating rightwing nonsense in a really satisfying way.

I worry that MSNBC doesn't know what they've got or isn't satisfied with the way ratings are building, dumbing down Kornacki with that silly gameshow and having Hayes beg for Facebook likes.

They've got a real halo building around the network with these three. No one else is pulling off this level of work. I hope MSNBC doesn't screw it up chasing people afraid of big words and bored by complicated "facts."

[grasswire]

31. Do you ever watch Alex Wagner or Ari Melber?

I believe they are both outstanding.

[DirkGently]

34. Not enough to form an opinion yet.

I get my news / politics fix mostly at night. I know I've seen Alex Wagner subbing for Chris or Rachel, and I had a little trouble getting into her broadcast style, which felt a little Entertainment-Tonighty, but I did notice she had a lot more substance going on than some of the very infotainment-style presenters MSNBC has used. I started to change the channel, but stuck with her because I suddenly realized she wasn't another fluffy bunny and was actually laying down her own thoughts.

Caught Ari Melber subbing for one of them the other night too, but didn't see enough to get an impression.

I will be sure to check them both out when I get a chance.

I hope MSNBC gets that smarter is better, and that normal / liberal people are looking for substance and reliable reporting over "entertaining" invective or purely partisan squalling.

[grasswire]

37. what I appreciate about Ari and Alex...

....is that they are true progressives. No third way. As is Chris Hayes, of course, but Hayes' nervous style puts some people off. Alex's strength is her broad choice of guests -- not just the same old regulars -- and her fearlessness in presenting tough issues, not just the shiny object of the day. Ari's strength is that he comes from The Nation magazine with its long history of true progressive power, and is a lawyer in the best sense of the word: requires logic and evidence and strong argument.

[DirkGently]

39. I like what Chris does with his panel discussions.

He'll have a partisan or two from different perspectives, a policy wonk, a politician. When he was doing "Up" they really used the time to dig down into the carpet fibers. I think Kornacki goes more for straight information, where Chris got into socio-political philosophies and so forth.

Rachel's fun when she gets someone she completely disagrees with on and politely zeroes in on exactly the point they're trying to sidestep, like getting Rand Paul to stare at his shoes rather than admit he would have opposed the Civil Rights Act.

The Nation really seems like a source of strong thinkers. I've been impressed with everyone I've seen coming out of there.

[KoKo]

33. Interesting post...

[quinnox]

22. I never liked watching it

When I would watch cable news, it was CNN for me. I don't watch tv anymore though. When I want to watch news these days, I tune into RT's streaming on the internet. I really like Abby Martin and her show, "Breaking the set".

[KoKo]

35. Diversified Format...

Business, Tech, Politics, Documentaries. Taking issues that get little coverage here and expanding them.

PLUS...no annoying Advertising Commercial Breaks interrupting every five minutes.

[hlthe2b]

23. I thought I would be miserable when I downgraded my cable package & no longer get MSNBC

I can still listen to it on Sirius/XM (but don't too much) or perhaps stream, now and then when I find a working link. But to be honest with you, I think I get the gist of what is reported just by reading DU and watching any highly recommended videos linked therein.

And, though I do not wish to let Christie off the hook, I do sort of agree with Bill Maher and others who thought the amount of coverage on that GWB issue alone tended to let the other horrific RETHUG Governor's (and Congress) off the hook, far too much.

I absolutley don't want MSNBC to go away, mind you, but it so sucks to have to pay $$$ extra for it, when every damned cable and satellite package throws Faux news in the basic package--almost pay you to watch it. that said, I needed a break

[trocar]

24. Farrow

This guy's show is ridiculous. I gave it a chance and now turn it off and don't waste my time. Unfortunately, since he's a lead in for Joy Reid who I like, her ratings are suffering.

[Boom Sound 416]

27. Andrea is beating him in demo

[tritsofme]

28. I cut out cable news ten years ago, roughly around the time I came to DU.

I get all my news from the internet. I only watch cable news on election/debate night or on nights of major presidential addresses.

I use to have cable news on almost all day, but I haven't missed it a bit. When you see in a waiting room or something during the day, it only seems to have gotten worse.

[Jesus Malverde]

29. It's just you...

Finally waking up from your slumber.

Step 2 TURN OFF THE TV.

Stop the one way information flow it's unhealthy.

[Zorra]

32. +1 nt

[femmocrat]

36. Kornacki has done a great job on the Christie scandal.

I can watch him even if he gets repetitious. I watch Rachel most of the time and think she is a great investigative reporter.

Alex Witt puts me right to sleep. I have heard her ask the same question over and over about whether the "ping" on the airplane was automatic or manual.
I wish they would liven up Saturday afternoons.

[bigwillq]

41. Haven't watched M$NBC

or any cable news, for that matter, in quite awhile.

I'm not missing much.

[Paladin]

43. Let's have no whining from you MSNBC critics in the future.....

....about what a God-awful effect that Fox "News" has had on the country. MSNBC is imperfect, as all networks are. But what else do we liberals have in the way of a nation-wide broadcast voice?

[Iggo]

44. Nah, it's just you.