Friday, January 25, 2013

MSNBC Makes Serious Gains Among Black Audiences

I remember a few years ago watching a news program with a college buddy of mine who was from Ethiopia. After a few moments, he remarked: "Warin, not to be offensive, but all of the news anchors I ever see on these programs are all white. Why is that?" Interesting question, indeed.


Now a few years later, it seems networks such as MSNBC are beginning to turn the tide. MSNBC just recently indicated that it has seen a 60% growth in its black audience viewership within the last year, making it the number one channel in that demographic. Rival CNN saw over a 20% increase in its black viewers. Why is this significant you may ask?

                                                  MSNBC anchor Tamron Hall



Simply put, MSNBC has arguably the most diverse set of anchors of any cable news network today. There's the Rev. Al Sharpton, Tamron Hall, Toure', and Melissa Harris-Perry. Not to mention frequent guests like Goldie Taylor and notable scholar, Micheal Eric Dyson. Not only do these hosts bring diversity, they also being a different perspective to the national discussion. And considering the United States is becoming more diverse with each passing year, MSNBC is quickly reaping the benefits of a more reflective newscast.

MSNBC president, Phil Griffin, talks more about the gains here.

1 comment:

  1. Fox has a couple of Black anchors; Harris Faulkner, Judge Janeane, and another woman that fills in on one of the afternoon shows. Both Harris and the Judge have their own shows. The reason there are no Black guys, is because very few Black males are conservative....There are several Black male pundits that are on shows once in a while.....just like some of the White pundits are on the show once in a white. I mentioned the White pundits, so you won't say - "see, they don't have Blacks on as much"

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