MSNBC to go HD June 29th…
MSNBC announced when it will go HD…
MSNBC will begin telecasting in 1080i High Definition on Monday, June 29. The announcement was made today at the Cable Show in Washington, D.C., by MSNBC President Phil Griffin.
“MSNBC is in the best competitive place its ever been, beating CNN in primetime last month and continuing incredible growth,” said Griffin. “Broadcasting in HD is only going to help us build on the great success we’ve had so far this year, and will give viewers what they’ve been asking for, a full high definition broadcast of MSNBC.”
For the first time ever, MSNBC beat CNN in weekday primetime for the month of March in both total viewers and Adults 25-54. MSNBC was also the number one cable news network among younger viewers, Adults 18-34, in primetime in March, and in the morning. In March, MSNBC also beat CNN at 8 p.m. among both total viewers and A25-54 with “Countdown with Keith Olbermann,” at 9 p.m. in A25-54 with “The Rachel Maddow Show,” and 6-9 a.m. in A25-54 with “Morning Joe” for the first time since August 2001.
Building on the NBC News HD infrastructure already in place, MSNBC launches 1080i High Definition utilizing two full HD capable control rooms, integrated HD graphics, and new HD commercial integration master control and distribution systems. Since October of 2007, MSNBC has been telecasting from two HD-ready studios.
April 2, 2009 at 11:23 am
Unlike Phil Griffin, I don’t think the switch to HD will affect their ratings.
And here comes a barrage of people that disagree with me. Go ahead.
April 2, 2009 at 12:09 pm
I don’t think it will affect their ratings much. But not being HD could and has hurt them at certain points in time.
April 2, 2009 at 12:15 pm
I don’t think it will help ratings much either. I’m going to watch it regardless of whether or not I can see it in HD. Although HD is nice for the big events.
April 2, 2009 at 1:06 pm
Will all there programs go HD right away? (unlike CNN and FNC).
April 2, 2009 at 2:57 pm
Seeing as most of their shows come out of 30 Rock, you’d think a very high percentage will be all HD. Possibly just stuff out of DC might not be HD?
April 2, 2009 at 3:20 pm
That’s a good question. I don’t know if the DC studios are HD camera equipped. I know the D.C. newsroom desk camera is because I’ve seen it in HD on Nightly. The LA bureau newsroom desk is. Not sure about Chicago and the other bureaus. Probably but I can’t say for sure.
If the DC studios aren’t HD ready yet then the answer is whenever Andrea or Norah are on for their times, you’ll get pillar boxes with the MSNBC logo on the sides of the screen probably.
April 2, 2009 at 3:22 pm
Either that or a HD wing.
April 2, 2009 at 3:22 pm
Many live remotes probably won’t be in HD. At least in the near furture. For big events, sure. But for unplanned in advance stories like reporting on some story out in the sticks, probably not.
April 2, 2009 at 3:23 pm
If by HD Wing you mean like CNBC does, God I hope not…
April 2, 2009 at 8:01 pm
Jazz man,
As much as you wail about ‘Patrick’, it seems like that you miss him when he isn’t here to respond to you.
MSNBC in HD ? Excellent.
April 2, 2009 at 8:29 pm
It’s about time.
Until the networks go HD full-time, I don’t think this will help their ratings. However, I can’t imagine people tuning into MSNBC for the inauguration when they could have watched it on a number of other channels in HD. Same goes for events like space shuttle launches and the like.
April 2, 2009 at 9:12 pm
Yup. Though shuttle launches wouldn’t count since the majority of the feeds come from the NASA channel and the NASA channel isn’t HD.
April 3, 2009 at 3:59 am
Looking forward to seeing MSNBC in HD. Although I seriously doubt that my cable provider (Comcast) will add it right away. I’m hoping for a lot of the programming to be in HD and oh, no “HD Wing”.
May 14, 2009 at 7:18 pm
[...] internet but really ancient systems) but a check of my blog revealed the answer. June 29th is the HD launch date for [...]
November 8, 2009 at 5:55 pm
MSNBC is not HD in Tucson AZ via Comcast. They said they are working on it for the future and forsee it to be in 2010 sometime. They also welcomed me contacting MSNBC about it. Anyone know more? Does Direct tv have MSNBC HD?