Rebecca Kutler was named president of MSNBC Wednesday, dropping an “interim” designation from her title and taking on the mantle of moving the progressive network forward as it grapples not only with coverage of President Trump but splitting off from NBC in a spin-off being orchestrated by corporate parent Comcast.
In her short tenure at the helm, MSNBC’s ratings have begun to moderate after a significant post-election dip, largely on the strength of Rachel Maddow retuning to regular primetime appearances during Trump’s first 100 days in office. It will be up to Kutler to lead the network if, as previously announced, Maddow returns to her current once-a-week routine. She will also have to determine how to fill Andrea Mitchell’s noon spot — and, potentially, much of the daytime schedule, if MSNBC is separated from the newsgathering assets of NBC News in the spin-off.
Kutler “has the big-picture strategic view and the right leadership skills to ensure MSNBC delivers on its brand promise and is positioned for growth during a time of industry change,” said Mark Lazarus, the NBCU executive who is slated to lead the new spin-off as CEO. Comcast is expected to finalize the transaction in 2025.
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In remarks made to staffers Wednesday, Kutler suggested that MSNBC would have to build its own newsgathering operation. “I think it’s important that we all share in the exciting parts of what the year ahead is going to mean in terms of getting to build a new news organization — one that is built for us, for our needs first, to be part of a new company that is standing itself up, and that we have a seat at the table at the ground floor of that, and what that’s going to look like and we get to help determine that,” she said. “It’s going to be hard, but it’s also going to be exciting and interesting and a really important time to do what all of us do.”
Kutler joined MSNBC as senior vice president of content strategy in 2022, after a long run at CNN. During her time at the Warner Bros. Discovery-backed outlet, she not only worked as an executive producer for Don Lemon and John King, among others, but played a role in establishing personalities such as Abby Phillip, Van Jones, Chris Wallace, Audie Cornish and Kasie Hunt at the network. She was poised to have a senior role at CNN+, the streaming outlet that was scuttled after launch by CNN’s corporate parent.
She succeeds Rashida Jones, who has led MSNBC since 2021.
More to come…