Rashida Jones, the president of MSNBC, announced Tuesday that she is stepping down after four years of steering the cable news network.
Jones, who made history as the first Black executive to lead a major U.S. television news network, made the announcement to top MSNBC anchors, leaders and network staff on Tuesday morning. (MSNBC and NBC News are both units of NBCUniversal.)
Rebecca Kutler, the network’s senior vice president of content strategy, was named interim MSNBC president. Jones, who recruited Kutler to the network in 2022, plans to stay on in an advisory role until March.
“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,” Jones said in a memo to staff.
The announcement comes nearly two months after Comcast announced a plan to spin off most of its cable TV networks into a separate publicly traded company, currently known as SpinCo. The new company will include MSNBC, CNBC, the USA Network, Oxygen, E!, SYFY and the Golf Channel.
Jones took charge of MSNBC in February 2021 after the inauguration of President Joe Biden and the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol. She drove MSNBC to ratings triumphs on major political nights.
She retained and signed new long-term deals with the network’s top talent, including Rachel Maddow. She also created a live event series; relaunched a new mobile app and premium subscription series; and made investments in other network digital offerings.
MSNBC has seen a post-election ratings dip. The network still ended last year as the No. 2 network across cable, with 807,000 average viewers daily and 1.3 million viewers in the prime-time hours.
The cable television business writ large is at a crossroads as consumers move toward streaming alternatives such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. In this business environment, some cable channels remain profitable with healthy cash flows, but other brands have rapidly declined.
In a memo to staff, Mark Lazarus, the incoming chief executive of SpinCo, praised Jones for her years helming MSNBC.
“Rashida 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,” Lazarus said in a memo to staff.
Lazarus told staff members on a network call that MSNBC will retain its name after the spin-off transaction is complete.
Jones previously served as senior vice president of NBC News and MSNBC, overseeing and leading the production of cross-network special events, including election night coverage and presidential debates.
Kutler came to MSNBC from CNN, where she spent two decades, most recently as a senior vice president.