Bush presser kept off NBC to benefit MSNBC

If it wasn’t obvious before, NBC signaled that everything after 7:25am on the Today show is no-news zone. President Bush held a news conference in the 10 a.m. ET hour – which was carried on ABC, CBS and all the cable news nets. But not NBC – which is the only of the broadcast networks airing a “news” program at that time. “We’re trying to make MSNBC the place to go for NBC News, and the strategy is working,” NBC News VP in charge of Today and MSNBC told the AP. Even on the West Coast – where the speech aired during Today’s first hour, the speech and Q&A didn’t appear.