MSNBC President Rashida Jones has announced her resignation after four years of leading the network. This decision comes just as a potential second Trump administration looms and following shifts in corporate ownership.
In a memo distributed to her staff on Tuesday, Jones stated she was leaving to “pursue new opportunities.” Rebecca Kutler, a former executive from CNN, will step in as interim president following Jones’s departure.
During Jones’s time at MSNBC, the network has generally outperformed CNN in viewership, but ratings have declined significantly since Donald Trump’s election to the presidency. Under her leadership, MSNBC maintained a steady lineup, including high-profile personalities like Jen Psaki, who formerly served as the White House press secretary.
In November, Comcast announced it would separate MSNBC and CNBC from NBC News, placing them under new corporate management led by Mark Lazarus. This restructuring means that Jones was now under different leadership, which likely influenced her decision to step down.
In a morning meeting, Lazarus expressed his surprise and disappointment about Jones’s resignation. He noted that her choice was a personal one and respected her decision.
In other news, there will be no name change for MSNBC despite talks of rebranding under new management. The name, established in partnership with Microsoft back in 1996, will remain the same.
Jones kept a relatively low profile while managing MSNBC, making some strategic changes to weekend programming and extending time slots for popular shows like “Morning Joe” and Nicolle Wallace’s afternoon show. She also faced internal challenges, notably the backlash resulting from NBC’s decision to hire Ronna McDaniel, the former head of the Republican National Committee, as a contributor.
Since Trump’s election, MSNBC’s ratings have dropped 57%. Historically, networks associated with a losing candidate see a decline in viewership, but there are signs this trend might change. However, it’s uncertain if MSNBC will recover to its previous levels of viewership, especially as more people are opting to cut their cable subscriptions.
In a positive development, MSNBC announced that Rachel Maddow, its most notable on-air personality, will return to hosting her show five nights a week for the beginning of the new administration, after previously scaling back to just one night per week in 2022.
