NPR's Brooke Gladstone reports on MSNBC -- the new 24-hour cable news channel that offers CNN its first-ever direct competition. Despite 16-years of bad press, low ratings and slow profits, CNN is thriving in its niche market -- upscale, middle-aged, news junkies. MSNBC hopes to lure chunks of that audience away with round-the-clock timeliness and 24-hour linkage to an expansive internet website. The other networks will be watching closely to see how much slicing the 24-hour news market can bear.
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