MSNBC to add San Francisco Studio? I doubt it.
415 Media’s Rich Lieberman says he’s hearing that MSNBC is looking to build a state of the art studio in San Francisco…
A source close to the network,(now under the umbrella of NBC News) tells me that the upper brass is looking into building a state-of-art studio in SF.
Why?
Well, for one, they have a ton of cash. And they have an audience here too. I’m sure there’s other reasons.
This, as it’s written, doesn’t make any sense to me. Why on earth would MSNBC want a studio in San Francisco. More to the point, why would NBC want to give MSNBC a studio in San Francisco. It just doesn’t pass the plausibility test for me. All of MSNBC’s major primetime talent except Lawrence O’Donnell is NYC based and O’Donnell lives in LA not San Francisco. The news anchors all live in NYC. I can’t believe MSNBC would set up a new show based in San Francisco. They’d get the talent to move to NYC. And besides, setting up a state of the art studio for one show is a ridiculously expensive proposition that can’t be justified…no matter how many tons of cash they have.
But let’s say for the moment that elements of NBC are mulling setting up a San Francisco studio. I don’t think it would ever be for MSNBC for reasons I’ve outlined above. But it could mean that NBC is thinking of dropping its troubled since launch affiliation with KNTV in San Jose. Ever since NBC split from KRON there have been persistent rumors that NBC wanted back in to San Francisco because it’s never been happy with the way things have gone with KNTV. It’s well known that KRON is looking to leave its ancient San Francisco studios. If NBC built new San Francisco studios and dumped KNTV and re-bought KRON (you can buy KRON easy these days), then this rumor of new San Francisco studios starts taking on a more likely reality.
October 11, 2012 at 10:35 pm
Are there any super-dooper tax incentives offered for setting-up shop in San Francisco? Or maybe MSNBC could be the piggy bank they break open to pay for a new studio so that another company doesn’t show the expense.
October 11, 2012 at 10:36 pm
I would love to see KRON as the NBC affiliate again. The “San Jose let’s pretend it’s SF” thing has always been a joke.
October 12, 2012 at 2:34 am
Maybe a new show is going to debut that they NEED to air in San Francisco.
October 12, 2012 at 5:37 am
Maybe Ed Schultz just can’t get his fill of Ricearoni.
October 12, 2012 at 5:53 am
Maybe a new show is going to debut that they NEED to air in San Francisco.
And that would be what exactly? I can’t think of a single instance where MSNBC, given its format, absolutely has no choice but to open up a studio in San Francisco. Not one.
October 12, 2012 at 11:22 am
Maybe MSNBC really WILL debut a 11pm (live) show in the near future, and airing it from the west coast would make the most sense. Who knows? If they share the SF space with CNBC and their other news channels, they could perhaps justify the cost as well.