Rashida Jones, who has served as president of MSNBC since early 2021, announced internally on Tuesday morning that she will be leaving her role “to pursue new opportunities.”
Another MSNBC executive, Rebecca Kutler, will serve as interim president.
When she was first appointed president of the network, Jones became the first Black woman to run a major television news network.
She told MSNBC employees in a memo Tuesday that she came to the decision over the holiday break. “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,” she wrote.
The leadership transition is occurring at a critical time for MSNBC, which has seen a significant decline in viewership in the months after the Nov. 5 presidential election. A person with knowledge of the situation, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment, said Jones’ departure is not tied to the ratings drop and that it was her decision.
The network is also preparing to cover the beginning of Donald Trump’s second administration. MSNBC insiders have maintained that the network’s audience will return once Trump gets into the White House again. And the network is soon to be spun off as part of a new corporate entity called SpinCo, along with several other television channels that are owned by Comcast.
Nevertheless, Jones wrote, “I am more confident than ever that MSNBC is well-positioned for the future.”
While still tracking below previous norms, MSNBC’s prime-time audience last week averaged 950,000 total viewers, an increase of 36% from the network’s performance in December. MSNBC averaged 1.22 million prime-time viewers in 2023. The network also attracted more 6 million viewers on election night, beating CNN for the first time.
The network could get a boost from the added presence of Rachel Maddow, who will serve as the full-time host of MSNBC’s 9 p.m. hour from Inauguration Day until the end of April, according to an announcement Monday. Alex Wagner, who has been hosting her show in that hour on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights, will report from the field.
Jones will stay on for the next few months to help guide the transition, something that is standard when television industry leaders leave their posts.
After serving as an executive for CNN, Kutler joined MSNBC in 2022 after the failure of the CNN Plus streaming service she helped oversee.
“Rebecca is the ideal leader to guide us through this moment, and I look forward to collaborating with her as we shape our collective future together,” wrote Mark Lazarus, who will oversee MSNBC’s new parent company.
First Published: January 14, 2025, 5:10 p.m.