Rashida Jones, President of MSNBC, announced that she will be leaving the network after four years.
“After four incredible years at the helm of MSNBC and 11 years at NBCU, I have made the decision to pursue new opportunities,” Jones wrote in a memo to staff. “I came to this decision over the holidays while reflecting on our remarkable journey and the many successes we’ve achieved together as a team. This has been the most rewarding chapter of my professional career and I am immensely proud of what we have accomplished, which has been made possible only by you. I am more confident than ever that MSNBC is well-positioned for the future.”
Jones is believed to be staying with the network until March.
The network’s senior vice president of content strategy, Rebecca Kutler, will be interim MSNBC President upon Jones’ departure.
The announcement comes months after Comcast said it would launch a spinoff of many of its networks into a separate company called “SpinCo.”
Mark Lazarus, SpinCo lead, told staff that Jones “has expertly navigated MSNBC through a years-long, unrelenting and unprecedented news cycle, all while driving the network to record viewership and making investments in nonlinear businesses. MSNBC is well-positioned for the future.”
Amid MSNBC’s declining viewership, the network has reportedly offered pay cuts to anchors Joy Reid and Stephanie Ruhle as part of its cost-cutting measures. Rachel Maddow, a leading voice at MSNBC, also reportedly agreed to a pay cut in a new five-year contract with the network.
