MSNBC President Rashida Jones is stepping down from that role, the company said Tuesday, a major change at the news network just days before President-elect Donald J. Trump takes office.
Rebecca Kutler, senior vice president of content strategy at MSNBC, will succeed Ms. Jones as interim president, effective immediately. Ms. Jones will continue in an advisory role through March.
“Rebecca is the ideal leader to guide us through this moment, and I look forward to working with her as we shape our collective future together,” Mark Lazarus, chairman of NBCUniversal Media Group, said in a letter to the staff members.
Ms. Jones' departure comes amid industry-wide pressure on the cable news industry, which has seen ratings declines following the U.S. presidential election. MSNBC was the second-most-watched cable network during that period, ahead of CNN but behind longtime ratings leader Fox News.
Executives at the network are hopeful that audiences will return as Trump takes office and viewers try to parse his first policy moves. On Monday, the company announced that Rachel Maddow, its most popular host, would temporarily air her one-hour show every weeknight at 9 p.m. Eastern for the first 100 days of Trump in office.
MSNBC is part of a bundle of cable channels that parent company Comcast plans to expand into a new company later this year. CNBC, another news channel in Comcast's cable portfolio, is also being built out, along with entertainment networks like USA and Syfy.
Ms. Kutler is a cable news executive with experience in the streaming industry. Before joining MSNBC in 2022, Ms. Kutler was a key architect of CNN+, the ambitious streaming news service that was shut down by Warner Bros. that year. Discovery.
This is a development story. Check back for updates.
