Disastrous Tech Problems Hit MSNBC, 'Morning Joe' Viewers Get 10 Minutes of Pure Confusion

By Lorri Wickenhauser December 13, 2023 at 11:31am

MSNBC viewers were being urged to stick with the cable news outlet as tech problems distorted screens and caused programs to be delayed Tuesday.

Instead of “Morning Joe,” viewers were greeted with about 10 minutes of ads, promos and reruns until tech crews were able to get the show on the air, Variety reported.

“Viewers tuning in at 6 a.m. were greeted with a shot of the Capitol building and The Who’s ‘Teenage Wasteland’ playing,” Mediaite reported.

“This lasted for roughly a minute until internal promotions and commercials were aired on repeat until 6:07 — when a re-airing of Monday night’s ‘Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell’ suddenly popped up without explanation.”

Finally, around 6:11 a.m., cohost Mika Brzezinski appeared on the screen, according to AdWeek.

“Thanks for bearing with us, everybody,” Brzezinski said.

She apologized for the delay, “and normalcy resumed,” Mediaite reported.

An earlier show, “Way Too Early with Jonathan Lemire,” also experienced glitches, with the screen becoming distorted, according to AdWeek.

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That prompted the outlet to cut to a rerun of “The Rachel Maddow Show.”

In a social media post, Lemire apologized and explained that MSNBC was “experiencing technical difficulties.”

To those looking for @WayTooEarly this morning – we are experiencing technical difficulties

Our apologies. Keep watching @MSNBC and we hope to have @WayTooEarly and @Morning_Joe back up soon pic.twitter.com/YrbkPCl64y

— Jonathan Lemire (@JonLemire) December 12, 2023

“Our apologies. Keep watching @MSNBC and we hope to have @WayTooEarly and @Morning_Joe back up soon,” Lemire wrote in the post.

MSNBC had not yet responded to requests for comment, Variety reported.

“Such extended technical problems are rare, but they do happen,” Deadline reported.

Mediaite observed that 45 minutes “is a long time for tech problems that require re-runs to go unresolved.”

The outlet admitted that “live television is difficult,” but called the incident “a bit of a disaster for MSNBC.”

“Morning Joe” is a long-running, hard-left leaning show featuring Joe Scarborough and his wife, Brzezinski, as well as Willie Geist.

The show has been on the air since 2007.

Scarborough and Brzezinski have been married since 2018.

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