Since the United Stated Presidential Election, a lot of the fallout is echoing throughout the mainstream media. We have the announcement that MSNBC and CNBC are going to be spun out of NBC. They are evidently on the market, being offered for sale.
This is where rumors are starting with Elon Musk being mentioned as buying MSNBC.
While there is a lot of activity online surrounding this topic, the question is why would Elon do that?
Honestly, I have no idea what the price would be. However, if it were a couple billions, Elon could swing that fairly easily.
If he is making a statement, okay. Outside of that, why would anyone want that bloodbath?
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The Legacy Media Is Dead
We have seen this story playing out over the past few years. The golden age of television news is gone. We are also likely seeing Hollywood as the epicenter of the movie industry also ending.
Unfortunately, many of these assets are owned by the same parent companies. It is why the movie studios are struggling so much. Everyone should have awakened when they had to write down billions of dollars on their traditional broadcast properties.
The election really solidified the decline.
We are no longer looking at something of influence. There is the challenge of demographics to start. These properties are not getting the younger audience. Most do not have traditional cable packages. Much of their viewing comes from the online world. This is why applications such as YouTube and TikTok are so influencial...it is where the eyeballs are goin.
Then we have Elon's X. This is approach 600 million monthly active users. We see the impact this has when certain items are posted and get tens of millions of "views". These are numbers that far outpace what happens with the traditional media, albeit the views are not 100% accurate.
Why Would Elon Buy MSNBC?
Why would anyone buy one of these networks? Of course, the answer comes to price. If it is low enough, then it might be a good deal. I am sure there is some advertising revenues that have it operating in the black.
However, how long will that last?
To me, the key for Elon would be to integrate the two entities, MSNBC and X, together. Personally I have no idea how that would work. Of course, he has access to industry experts who might be able establish that relationship.
If Elon doesn't buy it, then who?
There will be bidders especially if it is profitable. People are always willing to pick up something and suck every last dollar out of it. We are going to see this with some of the other properties of the movie studios.
The blending of online (social media) and traditional has yet to be successful pulled off. X is already touted as the primary source of news that people online turn to. Is there a way to incorporate that into a network such as MCNBC?
We will have to see.