Sorenson soars at MSNBC
New prexy-G.M. of news net eyes primetime challenge
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Sorenson, who joined the cable news net in 1998 as vice president and G.M., oversees the development, programming, staffing and operation of MSNBC Cable. He'll continue to report to NBC News prexy Neal Shapiro.
Sorenson will also become a member of NBC's Presidents Council, where he will play more of a role in discussions about the company's overall structure. As a member of the council, he'll continue to report to NBC prexy and chief operating officer Andrew Lack.
While he was president of NBC News, Lack played an instrumental role in the creation of MSNBC and he will continue to be involved with the network's development.
When the net's high-tech Secaucus, N.J., headquarters were unveiled to much fanfare in 1996, insiders wondered how the company would merge two very different corporate cultures, that of NBC News and its partner in the venture, Microsoft.
"A lot of people didn't think MSNBC would survive, much less thrive. Obviously we're here and we're here to stay," Sorenson said.
While MSNBC attracts the youngest and most affluent audience of any 24-hour news net, the news cabler ranked a distant third in primetime during second quarter 2001, averaging 247,000 households. In contrast, CNN averaged 483,000 households and Fox News Channel averaged 436,000 households for second quarter, according to Nielsen Media Research.
"Our big challenge is to compete better in primetime," Sorenson said. "In addition to the cable news networks, we also compete with Discovery and other niche cable networks as well as the Internet."
Prior to joining MSNBC, Sorenson served as executive VP of Court TV programming. Previously, he held various positions at CBS News, including executive producer of "The CBS Evening News," executive producer of "CBS This Morning" and the "CBS Morning News." Before joining CBS News in 1989, Sorenson was vice president and station manager at KCBS, CBS' Los Angeles-based O&O.
