The future of the relationship between NBC News and MSNBC, following Comcast’s decision to spinoff its cable networks on Wednesday, is now a mystery — even to those working at 30 Rock.
Editorial staffers are “in the dark” on what the spinoff means for the NBC News-MSNBC connection moving forward, one NBC News producer told TheWrap.
The expectation, though, is that the two news teams will no longer work together, once the spinoff takes place in 2025.
“We’re waiting to hear the plan,” the producer said, “but I think we’ll be cut off from [MSNBC].”
Comcast’s spinoff plan will create a separate company, aptly dubbed SpinCo, that houses CNBC, MSNBC, E!, Golf Channel, Oxygen, and Syfy. Combined, those channels generated $7 billion in sales between September 2023 and September 2024. Comcast will retain its Peacock streaming service, Bravo and NBC — which includes its news division.
The deal, which is expected to take about a year to complete, will likely sever ties between MSNBC and NBC News, one of its major news gathering arteries. How MSNBC will adjust will be worth monitoring — whether it’s beefing up its own news gathering team or leaning more into commentary from talking heads.
Another real possibility is that MSNBC will revamp its on-air lineup. The cable channel enjoyed a strong Election Night, beating CNN in the ratings for the first time ever, but its viewership has since cratered by 51% following the election. The corporate changes, combined with the ratings drop off, has MSNBC talent like “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough questioning their longterm future at the channel.
“I could be completely wrong. We could all be fired a year from now. You never know what’s going to happen tomorrow,” Scarborough said on Wednesday morning.
The man tasked with leading MSNBC going forward is Mark Lazarus, the current chairman of NBCUniversal’s media group who was named CEO of SpinCo on Wednesday.
Lazarus joined MSNBC president Rashida Jones on a 10:00 a.m. call this morning to answer questions. He then spent the morning at MSNBC, walking through newsrooms, meeting teams, and answering questions, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. There have been no decisions on the news gathering operation, which is expected to be worked out within the year, or the MNSBC name, according to this individual.
When it comes to MSNBC, Lazarus’ job won’t be easy. Each year, more people are turning away from cable and towards YouTube for their political news, and for millions of young viewers, influencers have become the new newsmen. Add in the fact that the American public’s trust in mainstream media is at an all-time low, and Lazarus has his work cut out for him.
But does that mean Lazarus has to completely reinvent the wheel? Not necessarily, according to Brian Frons, the former head of ABC Daytime and current UCLA professor. Frons said the network’s ratings are down because its audience is bummed Kamala Harris lost the election to Donald Trump. Adjusting how it presents the news — and possibly changing some of its pundits — could foster a ratings rebound, he said.
“Right now, MSNBC’s messaging and programming as of last night is all sort of ‘what went wrong.’ Well, That’s depressing,” Frons said. “If you’re looking for hope, you’re not watching MSNBC. They have no hope for you.”
He continued: “And frankly, I’m feared out. I’ve been given enough reasons to be afraid — ‘the end of democracy as we know it,’ blah, blah, blah. So until somebody gives me something hopeful to watch, I don’t really need to watch MSNBC at the moment.”
Instead, MSNBC could, with a few tweaks to its lineup and presentation, find a way to thrive during Trump’s second term.
“Did Fox News die when Obama was elected? No. Did Fox News die when Biden was elected? No,” Frons said. “Looking for ‘the sky is falling’ [content] is not strategic.”
But if MSNBC is going to find stories that help it win back viewers, it will likely have to do it without the backing of NBC News.
