David Barrington, MSNBC’s vice president for advertising sales, is bullish about his network’s financial picture, telling Broadcasting & Cable magazine that MSNBC’s revenue for advanced “upfront” ad revenue was up fifty percent. But the way the MSNBC VP characterized the election stood out.
“To grow revenue by 50% will give you an indication as to the recognition among clients, planners and buyers that this is going to be the second most historic election in our country’s history,” Barrington says. “There are a lot of interesting debates to be had, and this is the content you want to be around.” Is it "most historic" because it will the first re-election of a black president? Or the first defeat of a black president? It sounds like MSNBC is hyping (A).
Or does Barrington believe it could be a Cain vs. Obama race? I highly doubt they think dumping Obama deserves the positive-sounding word "historic." Obviously, dumping Obama would be "historic." Horrors like 9/11 are "historic," but the adjective isn't used much in a negative context.
B&C’s Jon Lafayette boasted “The voting is still 13 months away [?], but one winner has already emerged from the 2012 election season – cable news. With loosened campaign laws allowing candidates and political action committees to raise more money than ever before, the rising tide of money is already being felt on TV, especially at channels where politics is a big part of the programming.”
