Blogs

Across the Media Universe: MSNBC-a-Palooza Edition

By Matthew Felling

May 31, 2007 / 5:04 PM EDT / CBS News

(AP)

Pac-Man Fever Gives Way to Newsbreaker Nausea: It's not quite the natural combination of peanut butter and jelly, but MSNBC has a new online game called NewsBreaker that's worth, well, considering. Imagine if an Atari 2600 and a news ticker had a baby and you'll have an idea what you're in for. When we played we learned that Wisconsin is having trouble with sex toys and that Omega-3 oils may help the brains of the elderly, so we've got that going for us. Which is nice.

May Madness: We've had Dan versus Dave. Ecks Versus Sever. And now: David versus Joe. (That would be Gregory and Scarborough, of course.) MSNBC is trying to figure out how to fill their 6am-9am slot, which was previously held by Don Imus. Not sure what happened to that guy: Didn't he get into hairdressing or something? Anyway, you can tell them what you think. Yes, you! Will it be David Gregory – you may remember him as a backup dancer for MC Rove? Or could it be former congressman and nighttime talker Joe Scarborough – who seamlessly worked Public Enemy lyrics into his show yesterday morning? MSNBC has retained an "online opinion panel" called newsVIPs to collect votes from the audience.

From the Department of Nowhere to Go But Up: Ever since they made the decision to feed the rats-on-crack audience of political junkies, MSNBC has seen their fortunes rise – Olbermann's viewership is up 72 percent over last May and Joe Scarborough's ratings have improved 50 percent. Former MSNBC host Alan Keyes must be beside himself.