Comcast Spinoff Of Cable Networks Leaves Questions Of How A Split Between MSNBC And NBC News Will Work

Comcast‘s announcement that it will spinoff almost all of its cable networks has left a host of questions as to the path forward, particularly given the intertwined nature of NBC News with MSNBC and, to a lesser extent, CNBC.

“I could be completely wrong. We could all be fired a year from now. You never know what’s going to happen tomorrow,” Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough said on air this morning, before putting a more hopeful gloss on the pending change.

“What they are doing is what other media firms are doing — you spin off the cable channels which, seven years ago, were making a ton of money. Now they’re trying to figure out how to make them profitable.”

MSNBC and CNBC will be spun off along with other channels like USA Network and The Golf Channel into a separate company led by Mark Lazarus, the current chairman of NBCUniversal Media Group. Comcast said that the new company, dubbed SpinCo for the time being, “will be better positioned to achieve long-term growth and create value for stakeholders.”

Cable channels in general have grappled with audience erosion, and while MSNBC achieved some ratings successes in the most recent election cycle, including beating CNN on some key breaking news moments, the worry is over long-term decline as viewers cut the cord, migrate to streaming, or turn to YouTube and social media alternatives.

More immediate is the question of how and whether MSNBC will be linked to NBC News, which has given the cable network journalistic heft yet will no longer be under the same corporate umbrella. Such MSNBC anchors as José Díaz-Balart and Katy Tur hold dual roles as journalists for NBC News as well, and the cable network relies on its correspondents for breaking news updates. Andrea Mitchell, the chief foreign affairs correspondent and chief Washington correspondent for NBC News, has anchored a daily MSNBC show since 2008, although that will end after the inauguration. She will continue to serve as a correspondent for NBCU platforms.

Insiders suggest that the structure is still being worked out. Meanwhile, talent and staffers are anxious, as can be expected, as well as about whether the changes will mean downsizing given that has happened across the industry as a whole.

Some kind of arrangement between MSNBC and NBC News wouldn’t be entirely unusual. CBS News and the BBC, for instance, have had a content sharing relationship for some time.

As much as the networks have been intertwined, in recent years MSNBC has been leaning in to its own primetime hosts, including Joy Reid, Rachel Maddow and Nicolle Wallace, as the key anchors for major breaking news events like election night. Led by Rashida Jones, the network has also tried to capitalize on its progressive fan base, starting a live event series that included the all-day MSNBC Live: Democracy 2024 in Brooklyn in September.

Over the years, there also has been some tension between the broadcast network and MSNBC, with its slate of hosts — or who the network calls “perspective” programming. Earlier this year, a succession of MSNBC hosts spoke out publicly against the NBC News decision to hire Ronna McDaniel, the former Republican National Committee chair, as a commentator. After the outcry, the hiring decision was reversed.

CNBC has been a separate entity within the Comcast universe until only in recent years, when Cesar Conde, chairman of NBCUniversal News Group, gained oversight of the network when he took the top role in 2020. One of the efforts to inject more general news reporting into the CNBC lineup, a nightly newscast with Shepard Smith, was canceled in 2022 due to low viewership.

Conde will stay at Comcast and oversee entities including NBC News, the streaming channel NBC News Now and Telemundo.

KC Sullivan, the president of CNBC, wrote in a memo to employees that they will immediately begin reporting to Lazarus, with plans for him to address staffers on Thursday.

In the memo, Sullivan wrote, “As we think about how today’s news impacts CNBC, I first think of our unique position in the industry and within the minds of our audiences: We are essential to our audience – not only as a cable network but as an essential business brand.  We have an audience that is capable and willing to pay for our news content and insights. And we have built a diversified, growing and profitable business.”