Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
MSNBC hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski caused quite the ruckus this week when they announced they met with President-elect Donald Trump. For a medium like cable news, which has been viewed as dying on the vine for years, it sure seemed to showcase its importance.
The revelation by the MSNBC morning hosts dominated the news cycle on Monday and into Tuesday.
Which I found insanely interesting, because, for much of the 2024 election cycle, the prominence of cable news hosts was non-existent, many news/talk radio hosts argued. The preeminent thought was that hosts like Scarborough, Brzezinski, Jen Psaki, Chris Hayes, Rachel Maddow, Abby Phillip, Anderson Cooper, or — to be more succinct — anyone that wasn’t on Fox News or Newsmax were simply inconsequential. Their thoughts, feelings, opinions, or role in the great media ecosystem couldn’t have been more diminished, according to many news/talk radio hosts.
And yet, when they announced that they had essentially bent the knee to Donald Trump, and seemingly apologized for their past transgressions in an effort to return to his good graces, it was the lead story on shows around the nation. Why?
It doesn’t feel as if both “Audiences at CNN and MSNBC are plummeting because no one cares about what these hosts think” and “Let me spend an entire hour of my show talking about what the hosts on MSNBC and CNN” can be true.
Furthermore, we’re coming off what was dubbed the “podcast election.” Both Trump and Kamala Harris appeared on numerous podcasts in an effort to reach voters. Stories about podcast interviews — or in the Harris/Joe Rogan case, potential interviews — dominated the headlines.
But on election night, which network featured the most viewers? If you didn’t know, would you guess it was Fox News? Millions tuned into the network’s coverage. Fox News didn’t just lead cable news. It led television on election night.
So excuse me if I find it difficult to believe that cable news is a hollowed-out version of what it once was. Has it seen its audience dwindle little by little in recent years? Certainly. Is cable TV as a whole in a precarious position? Absolutely. However, if what happens on cable news still dominates headlines, how can I think anything other than things are still going well for the medium as a whole?
Put all of that on top of the fact that cable news hosts — mostly with Fox ties — are being tabbed for the Trump administration. Obviously, hosts like Pete Hegseth and Sean Duffy have qualifications well outside of the Fox News sphere, but it is clear that being featured in such prominent roles in recent years has elevated the status of the pair.
I don’t know how bright the future is for cable news. In an increasingly digital and personalized world, I don’t know what the outlook is or whether or not it’s an insanely viable business for decades to come.
I also don’t know if the medium is having a renaissance. Salaries are being slashed, jobs are being cut, profits are down, and NBCUniversal might be exploring a deal to unload all of its cable assets.
But what I do know is, despite what many might think, it’s still a strong place to reach millions of viewers, especially as big stories break. It sure as hell isn’t dead just quite yet. The most likely reality is that is vital signs are much stronger than the average person might realize. The prognosis might not be great, but cable news is still alive and kicking.
So, if you could, try to treat it with the same respect you treat news/talk radio, podcasts, digital outlets, YouTube channels, or virtually every other news medium. It only seems fair.
Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing bi-weekly industry features and a weekly column. He has previously served as Program Director and Afternoon Co-Host on 93.1 The Fan in Lima, OH, and is the radio play-by-play voice of Northern Michigan University hockey. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
