A mystery billionaire with established “liberal bonafides” is interested in buying MSNBC, CNN’s Brian Stelter reported Monday.
The report comes as X owner Elon Musk has floated the idea of buying the struggling news network and installing Joe Rogan in place of veteran host Rachel Maddow.
Stelter, in his Monday report, didn’t offer many clues on who the billionaire bidder could be. He did say it was “reassuring” for Comcast, MSNBC’s owner, to know that Musk wouldn’t be the only deep-pocketed entrepreneur bidding on the network, if it were to go up for sale. That isn’t the case right now, though, with Comcast saying MSNBC is not available.
Last week, Comcast announced a spinoff plan that would create a separate company, dubbed SpinCo, that would house CNBC, MSNBC, E!, Golf Channel, Oxygen and Syfy. Combined, those channels generated $7 billion in sales between September 2023 and September 2024. Comcast will retain its Peacock streaming service, Bravo and NBC.
Since then, the future of MSNBC has been a hot topic in media circles. One real possibility is that the channel could revamp its on-air lineup as part of the spinoff plan. The cable channel enjoyed a strong Election Night, beating CNN in the ratings for the first time ever, but its viewership has since cratered by 51% following the election.
Musk has joked several times about buying MSNBC since the spinoff news hit last week. The X owner, in response to Donald Trump Jr. saying it would be the “funniest thing ever” if Musk bought MSNBC, said, “The most entertaining outcome, especially if ironic, is most likely.”
He also shared a racy meme about buying the network, in addition to posting a photoshopped picture of him, Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. eating McDonalds while on an MSNBC set.
Musk’s pal Rogan said he didn’t want to miss out on the fun, either, if Musk bought MSNBC. Rogan posted on X that he wanted to take Maddow’s job and that he would “wear the same outfit and glasses” and “tell the same lies” — a response that led to a bunch of memes of Rogan wearing Maddow’s trademark glasses.
Musk seemed to like it, saying “deal” in response to Rogan’s post on Friday.
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