MSNBC president Phil Griffin has renewed his contract amid surging ratings, TheWrap has learned.
Griffin, who has been with the cable news network since its inception in 1996, has signed a multi-year deal. He landed the role of president in July 2008.
This comes at a time when the NBCUniversal-backed outlet’s ratings are on the rise. For the week ending on May 19, MSNBC beat Fox News and CNN in weekday primetime among both total viewers and the key news demo for the first time ever.
MSNBC averaged 2.44 million primetime viewers for the period, compared to 2.4 million for Fox News and 1.6 million for CNN. This made MSNBC the No. 2 most-watched network in all of basic cable for primetime, behind only TNT’s NBA-playoff heavy schedule.
Key on-air personalities for MSNBC include Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O’Donnell, Brian Williams, Greta Van Susteren and Nicolle Wallace.
Griffin has previously served as a producer on such shows as “Hardball With Chris Matthews” and “The Big Show With Keith Olbermann.”