MSNBC ‘Kill List’ accidentally leaked

Over the last few weeks, there have been some bombshell announcements regarding cuts being made at multiple mainstream media outlets.

It turns out, at one outlet, MSNBC, the “kill list” had been accidentally leaked.

It’s Out

The massive cuts at MSNBC were announced to staffers on February 24, but the news was out before the official announcement came.

Some major players had their salaries cut, while other mainstays at MSNBC had their contracts canceled or not renewed.

The list had been printed by someone and left out for a random staffer to see. A source told the New York Post, “On the Monday, management accidentally printed the list of people and teams getting fired or being made to reapply for their roles. Entire teams in primetime learned that they were getting fired from a printout that a PA found sitting on a printer.”

In all, about 100 people were let go by the network, including controversial anchor Joe Reid.

Not Alone

MSNBC was not the only network dealing with ratings issues and declining advertising dollars.

In addition to MSNBC, NBC News and CNN had announced that big cuts and changes were coming.

CNN boss Mark Thompson significantly cut his roster, including longtime anchor Jim Acosta, who declined a move to a new time slot. It was also reported that Thompson told mainstay anchors Anderson Cooper and Jake Tapper to stop pre-judging Trump on air. Most of these network heads seem to get the message that completely biased reporting was no longer working. It's about survival at this point, and they clearly not raking in enough advertising right now to keep the lights on unless they make some major changes.

TV media was not alone in this, as the Washington Post announced a 4% cut in staffing, and the Associated Press announced that it was going to cut about 8% of its staff.

Fox Keeps Humming Along

While these other networks are getting crushed, Fox News just keeps humming along atop the ratings, and it is not even close.

During the week of March 3, Fox News averaged 4.8 million viewers, beating CBS by 600,000, NBC by 1.4 million, and ABC by 2.2 million.

Jesse Watters’ show has the top spot in cable news prime time, averaging 4.4 million viewers, making his show the most-watched TV news show in prime time.

Fox also holds the top spot at 9 p.m. with “Hannity,” the top 10 p.m. slot with “Gutfeld,” and “The Five” continues to be the most-watched show in all of cable news, averaging a massive 4.7 million viewers in the 5 p.m. slot.