MSNBC President Rashida Jones says she is stepping down after four years leading the liberal news network. Her move comes on the eve of a second Trump administration and after changes in corporate ownership.
Jones said in a memo to staff on Tuesday that she is leaving to “pursue new opportunities.” She will be replaced on an interim basis by Rebecca Kutler, a former CNN executive who joined MSNBC in 2022.
During Jones’ tenure, MSNBC has generally supplanted CNN as the second-tier cable news-oriented network behind Fox News Channel.
The reviews are sharply downwards since the election of Donald Trump.
MSNBC’s lineup has remained fairly consistent since Jones, the first Black executive to lead a cable news network, moved from NBC News to take over there in 2021. Jen Psaki, former press secretary for the Biden administration, is her most striking addition.
In November, Comcast announced it would split MSNBC and CNBC into NBC News own companyled by director Mark Lazarus, which meant Jones responded to new business leadership.
During a morning meeting on Tuesday, Jones said she was “excited about what we did. I’m excited about what comes next.” She shed little light on the timing, although changes in business and political transitions often trigger changes in the news business.
“When Rashida shared this with me late last week, I was surprised,” Lazarus said during the meeting, according to MSNBC. “I was a little sad for the company, but very happy for her that she was able to come to grips with a difficult decision – a very personal decision.”
Lazarus also told employees Tuesday that MSNBC will keep its name. There was talk of this changing under new corporate leadership; the name was the result of a partnership with Microsoft when the network started in 1996. There are few other indications of visible change for viewers as a result of the disconnect from NBC News.
Jones generally kept a low public profile as MSNBC leader. She made significant changes to the network’s weekend lineup and extended the length of two of MSNBC’s most popular shows during the weekday: “Morning Joe” and Nicolle Wallace in the afternoon.
She was dealing with the internal fallout from NBC News’ decision last year to hire Ronna McDaniel, former head of the Republican National Committee, as a paid staffer. open mutiny among many MSNBC personalities.
MSNBC’s viewership has fallen 57% since Trump’s election.
The network notes that audiences typically decline after elections for cable networks closely tied to a losing candidate, and there are already signs that business is picking up.
Whether that will be the case as happened for MSNBC in 2017 is an open question, especially as more and more people drop their cable service.
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MSNBC announced this on Monday his most popular personalityRachel Maddow returns to host her show for five nights during the first few months of the new administration. Since 2022, she usually does her show one evening a week.