It didn't work.
In the beginning, 1996, Brian Williams was the face of the network as it tried to report the news in a somewhat straight fashion. The culture of NBC, like its counterparts at ABC and CBS, was socially liberal but not radical.
But few tuned in, and the executives watched in horror as the conservative Fox News Channel streaked in the ratings, crushing MSNBC and, soon, CNN.
I was up against Chris Matthews in the late 1990s at 8 pm. The Factor prevailed by a wide margin. That's when NBC executives decided to forsake journalism completely on its cable arm.
Today, MSNBC is steeped in left-wing propaganda and allows rank hatred to be displayed. In primetime, the average audience is 1.8 million, infinitesimal in a country where 125 million homes have television.
There is no question that MSNBC has damaged the brand of NBC News, giving a relatively fair guy like Lester Holt a major obstacle to overcome.
Microsoft didn't even want to try. It bailed out of the deal years ago.
Dissent is good for this country. Hating the opposition and, indeed, the nation itself is pernicious.
MSNBC and NBC have received what it deserves: scorn.
