“There are two ways to maximize profitability. One is to go the CNBC route and hire Mark Hoffman and give him the latitude and the budget to invest in coverage and make the network really shine with news. This method will eventually lead to higher profits as the network brand is enriched. The other way is the path NBC chose for MSNBC; to slash the budget - to give up the idea of going toe to toe with resources against CNN and FNC and instead just try to be good enough so that viewers wouldn’t flee the network in droves. Nobody at NBC will publicly own up to this, but I have heard privately from several sources that this is the understood policy of NBC News regarding MSNBC. [...] The day MSNBC moved to 30 Rock was not the beginning of a new era as much as it was the completion of a process started nearly two years earlier with the departures of Neal Shapiro from NBC News and Rick Kaplan from MSNBC and the drive to get MSNBC under the direct physical, creative, and budgetary control of NBC News and maintain the new order of doing things the most cost-efficient way possible.” [ICN]