When Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th President of the United States next Tuesday, you won’t have to travel far to watch. In addition to coverage on the network and streaming online, MSNBC is planning to stream its inauguration coverage in 650 Starbucks locations and 27 movie theaters across the country.
From 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Inauguration day, Starbucks in New York, Seattle and San Francisco will carry MSNBC’s coverage, with audio. This is the first time that Starbucks will be carrying a live broadcast of this sort.
The deal with Screenvision will see 27 theaters in 21 cities host MSNBC’s live coverage from11 a.m. to 3 p.m.. The screenings are free, though the concession stand lines will likely more than make up for any lost ticket sales during the four hour event.
For MSNBC, the deal has benefits both in terms of viewer sampling and network branding.
"This is fantastic opportunity for MSNBC to reach viewers we've never reached before, and to increase our brand awareness around an event that has tremendous excitement and enthusiasm surrounding it,” MSNBC president Phil Griffin said in a statement.
