If you want to know the future look of MSNBC, take a look at its past.
The network's selling points when it launched in 1996 was the power of NBC News on cable and an up-and-coming anchor named Brian Williams.
Nearly 20 years later, Williams will be at the forefront of an effort to make the channel a destination when news happens in daytime. NBC News on-air correspondents, a less frequent presence on MSNBC in recent years as the channel added more politically progressive talking heads, will play a larger role again.
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NBC News and MSNBC Chairman Andy Lack cleared a path for the strategic shift this week with the cancellation of three daytime programs: "The Cycle," "Now With Alex Wagner" and "The Ed Show.