MSNBC ties together ‘-ings’ in promo

MSNBC ties together a series of “-ings” in a promo for its “MSNBC Reports” blocks of rolling news coverage.

“When news is troubling,” reads the first on-screen graphic, which is displayed in the bright blue, yellow and white motif that “Reports” blocks use for opens and fullscreens.

The word “troubling” is underlined in yellow — as are other key words throughout the spot.

The on-screen text is interspersed with clips taken from both anchor shots and field reporting and features José Díaz-Balart, Andrea Mitchell, Katy Tur, Alex Witt, Hallie Jackson and Yasmin Vossoughian. These faces all make up the current roster of “MSNBC Reports” anchors and each have their own shows with an official title of “(Name) Reports.” 

Meanwhile, the promo continues with “When news is promising” along with “When news is breaking,” before the on-screen text proclaims “We’ll be reporting,” the latter of which is a nice tie-in to the “Reports” part of the newscasts’ name.

That’s followed by “To give you a better understanding.” 

MSNBC rebranding ‘Live’ blocks to emphasize journalists, hard news focus

MSNBC rebranded its “MSNBC Live” programming under the “MSNBC Reports” name in March 2021, borrowing the name schema from longtime midday offering “Andrea Mitchell Reports.”

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The goal was to help distinguish these blocks as news-focused, as opposed to morning, afternoon and evening programming that features more perspective and analysis content. Shows outside of “MSNBC Reports” hours all have unique names and looks. 

After a rollout delayed by news cycle, here’s a look at the new ‘MSNBC Reports’ graphics

At the same time, the network also redesigned its insert graphics across all programming.

All of the blocks use similar opens and logo, though anchor imagery is swapped out for each version.

The shows typically use similar virtual set extensions behind anchors with subtle changes for the ones used for Díaz-Balart, who anchors from Telemundo Center in Miami, and Washington, D.C.-based shows as opposed to ones that originate from NBC News world headquarters in New York.

Previously, Stephanie Ruhle anchored a morning hour before being moved to “The 11th Hour” at 11 p.m. eastern. Her hour was taken over by a third hour of “Morning Joe.”

“Today” co-anchor Craig Melvin also previously anchored at 11 a.m. eastern and his hour is currently branded as “MSNBC Reports” only and features a rotating set of hosts. 

MSNBC also continues to the use the tagline “This is who we are” in a series of both extended promos as well as a shorter version that’s popped up on air recently.

The use of parallel structure or shared prefixes or suffixes is a common tactic in promos, since it’s a natural way to create a catchy series of lines.

Another promo for “The Beat” uses the prefix “un-” to emphasizes “unexpected revelations,” “unexpected consequences” and “uncommon knowledge.”