MSNBC President Rashida Jones is leaving the network
Rashida Jones is ending her run as president of MSNBC after four years.
Jones is leaving two months after the progressive news channel’s parent company, Comcast, announced it will spin MSNBC off into a new company with most of its other cable networks. She informed staff of her decision Tuesday morning.
Mark Lazarus, the Comcast executive overseeing the spinoff venture, named Rebecca Kutler, senior vice president of content strategy and Jones’ second-in-command, as interim president.
Jones, 43, made the decision to leave, according to people briefed on the matter who were not authorized to comment publicly. Those people said she wanted to control her career path going forward rather than adapt to whatever plans the spinoff company has for MSNBC. She does not have another position lined up yet.
Viewers have fled left-leaning MSNBC since Vice President Kamala Harris lost the general election to former President Trump on Nov. 5. The audience for the Comcast-owned channel is down 46% compared to the first 10 months of 2024.
The network has lost viewers since President-elect Donald Trump won a second term to the White House. The network announced Monday that its most popular host, Rachel Maddow, will return to a five-day-a-week schedule during the first 100 days of the new Trump administration in the hope of recapturing viewers.
Despite the postelection dip, MSNBC was the second most-watched cable network in 2024, behind Fox News, according to Nielsen data. The network had a 65% advantage over CNN, its largest gap ever. MSNBC’s audience has been stable over eight years despite a 28% decline in pay TV households due to cord-cutting.
The shrinking pay TV universe is a key reason Comcast is spinning off MSNBC. While still profitable, MSNBC and other cable networks dependent on pay TV subscriptions fees face a murky future as that revenue source declines.
Jones, who took over for Phil Griffin in 2021, was known for being protective of MSNBC’s strong-willed on-air hosts. The political slant of the network’s talent has made Comcast executives uncomfortable at times in a highly partisan environment.
Jones joined MSNBC as a producer in 2013. As the network’s president, she had a reputation for understanding the loyalty that politically engaged MSNBC viewers have for its hosts. She oversaw the expansion of “Morning Joe,” the influential Beltway-focused morning program with Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, and “Deadline: White House” with Nicolle Wallace.
Jones also added Jen Psaki, former press secretary for the Biden White House, as a host in 2023. Psaki’s Sunday program became the most-watched weekend hour on the network.
Kutler joined MSNBC in 2022 after a stint at CNN, where she oversaw the network’s short-lived streaming service CNN+. The service was shut down shortly after launch once Warner Bros. Discovery took ownership of the network.
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