Elon Musk shook up the world when he bought Twitter.
He’s not afraid to take a big risk.
And Elon Musk asked one question that left Rachel Maddow scared as hell.
Elon Musk floated the idea of buying MSNBC
Philadelphia-based media conglomerate Comcast announced that it was going to spin off most of the cable TV networks into a new corporation.
The NBCUniversal cable TV channels of MSNBC, CNBC, USA, Oxygen, E!, Syfy, and Golf Channel, along with other assets, would be spun off into a new company dubbed SpinCo in a deal that will take about a year.
Donald Trump Jr. joked on X about the social media platform’s owner Elon Musk buying MSNBC.
“Hey Elon Musk, I have the funniest idea ever!!!” Trump Jr. wrote.
He shared a picture of MSNBC with a for sale sign on it.
“How much does it cost?” Musk asked.
Hey @elonmusk I have the funniest idea ever!!! https://t.co/OEwz6S5ncs
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) November 22, 2024
“The most entertaining outcome, especially if ironic, is most likely,” Musk later added.
Musk asked the same question about Twitter in 2017 before he purchased the social media platform in 2022 for $44 billion.
How much is it?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 21, 2017
Comedian and podcaster Joe Rogan joined in and offered to replace MSNBC host Rachel Maddow.
“If you buy MSNBC I would like Rachael Maddow’s job. I will wear the same outfit and glasses, and I will tell the same lies,” Rogan wrote on X.
Comcast has made no mention of selling off MSNBC or cable channels but the company is eager to get rid of them.
MSNBC’s future is in jeopardy
MSNBC counted on another Trump Presidency driving viewership but the early returns suggest that’s not happening.
The ratings at MSNBC are down 40% from this time last year according to ratings company Nielsen.
Maddow reportedly took a $5 million per year pay cut with the left-wing cable news network on thin ice.
One insider at the network lamented that MSNBC left its viewers in the dark over the possibility that Trump could win.
“We were so Harris propaganda that when she lost, viewers were shocked,” an anonymous MSNBC pundit told the Daily Beast. “It turned into one giant circle j*** and echo chamber. If MSNBC wants to be of service to its viewers, they can’t keep them in fantasy land.”
MSNBC’s Morning Joe co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski angered their Democrat audience when the pair announced that they had met with President-elect Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate to restart communications after seven years.
The morning show’s ratings began to tank after the hosts announced that they had media with their mortal enemy.
But MSNBC and every other cable channel have a larger problem hanging over their heads.
Cable TV subscriptions peaked in 2012 and have been declining since then.
A growing number of cable customers are cutting the cord with the rise of streaming.
That’s why Comcast is eager to cut ties with its cable networks.
Cable TV’s audience is declining, which means that advertising is becoming less lucrative for Comcast.
MSNBC faces an uncertain future where the cable news network could be forced to change its name after it cut ties with NBC and shed expensive talent like Rachel Maddow to cut costs.
