MSNBC President Rashida Jones steps down after four-year tenure

Rashida Jones, the president of MSNBC, introduced Tuesday that she is stepping down after 4 years of steering the cable information community.

Jones, who made historical past as the primary Black government to guide a significant U.S. tv information community, made the announcement to high MSNBC anchors, leaders and community employees on Tuesday morning. (MSNBC and NBC News are each items of NBCUniversal.)

Rebecca Kutler, the community’s senior vp of content material technique, was named interim MSNBC president. Jones recruited Kutler to the community in 2022. 

“I got here to this resolution over the vacations whereas reflecting on our outstanding journey and the various successes we’ve achieved collectively as a crew. This has been probably the most rewarding chapter of my skilled profession and I’m immensely happy with what we’ve got achieved, which has been made attainable solely by you,” Jones stated in a memo to employees.

The announcement comes practically two months after Comcast announced a plan to spin off most of its cable TV networks right into a separate publicly traded firm, at the moment generally known as SpinCo. The new firm will embrace MSNBC, CNBC, the USA Network, Oxygen, E!, SYFY and the Golf Channel.

Jones took cost of MSNBC in February 2021 after the inauguration of President Joe Biden and the Jan. 6 riots on the U.S. Capitol. She drove MSNBC to rankings triumphs on main political nights.

She retained and signed new long-term offers with the community’s high expertise, together with Rachel Maddow. She additionally created a reside occasion collection; relaunched a brand new cell app and premium subscription collection; and made investments in different community digital choices.

MSNBC has seen a post-election rankings dip. The community nonetheless ended final yr because the No. 2 community throughout cable, with 807,000 common viewers each day and 1.3 million viewers within the prime-time hours.

The cable tv enterprise writ massive is at a crossroads as shoppers transfer towards streaming alternate options similar to Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. In this enterprise atmosphere, some cable channels stay worthwhile with wholesome money flows, however different manufacturers have quickly declined.

In a memo to employees, Mark Lazarus, the incoming chief government of SpinCo, praised Jones for her years helming MSNBC.

“Rashida has expertly navigated MSNBC by way of a years-long, unrelenting and unprecedented information cycle, all whereas driving the community to file viewership and making investments in nonlinear companies. MSNBC is well-positioned for the longer term,” Lazarus stated in a memo to employees.

Lazarus advised employees members on a community name that MSNBC will retain its title after the spin-off transaction is full.

Jones beforehand served as senior vp of NBC News and MSNBC, overseeing and main the manufacturing of cross-network particular occasions, together with election night time protection and presidential debates.

Kutler got here to MSNBC from CNN, the place she spent twenty years, most not too long ago as a senior vp.