MSNBC’s future is a ‘big deal’ for employees as Comcast moves to split the liberal network from NBCUniversal

Comcast officially announced Wednesday that it will take over most of NBCUniversal’s cable network, including MSNBC, in a move that will shake up the legacy media world as the liberal cable outlet will no longer partner with NBC News.

Cesar Conde will continue to lead the NBCUniversal News Group, but that group now includes only NBC News, the NBC News Now streaming service, Telemundo and local owned and operated stations. Conde is losing oversight of MSNBC and CNBC over the process and the fate of shared resources — even the cable network’s name and programming guidelines — is being discussed.

A current MSNBC employee was “surprised at how much thought seemed to have gone into” the decision from a business perspective, but said there are “significant concerns” about what this means going forward for MSNBC.

“What is MSNBC going to be in terms of programming? I would say some people are probably comfortable with the fact that Comcast and NBC are probably not going to meet that, because if you look at the kerfuffles last year with Mika and Joe and Ronna McDaniel, it didn’t agree with our viewers, didn’t our hosts and reporters disagree with our management, ” a current MSNBC employee told Fox News Digital.

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“There was no discussion of what that planning direction would look like this time,” they continued. “But, I don’t know that [will be] different than two days ago.”

The progressive network has had its share of public relations pains this year, most notably the temporary hiring of former Republican chairman Ronna McDaniel as an NBC anchor in March, and last week’s meeting between President-elect Donald Trump and “Morning Joe” hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski.

The employee added that they are still in the dark about whether MSNBC will operate out of NBC’s famed Rockefeller Center headquarters where the network is currently located.

The employee believes that Comcast “identified things that don’t allow MSNBC and CNBC, which earn a lot of money, to enjoy the fruits of their success” because the profits “are being diverted to pay for other people’s pet projects.”

“It is possible that we are still a declining business, but this is a method that may reduce the value of these businesses,” said the employee.

“Everybody at MSNBC saw the worst coming between some of the cuts we’ve taken and the shifting political winds and our migration of viewers,” adding that they hope this will be “a growth project rather than a growth project.”

“I think a lot of people have come to accept that our relationship with NBC is not good,” said an MSNBC employee.

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“Morning Joe” aka Joe Scarborough joked on air that he might be “fired” once the spin off ends. (Screenshot/MSNBC)

The decision comes as the rise in popularity of streaming services and cord-cutting have hit the cable industry. MSNBC remains profitable, but the announcement coincides with viewers fleeing the network after President-elect Donald Trump’s victory.

Scarborough has already joked on air that he might be “fired” once the spin-off is completed, which is expected to take about a year. “If this happens, you don’t know what will happen,” he said.

A current MSNBC employee said services have already been cut, so the idea of ​​further cuts wouldn’t surprise anyone at the liberal cable network. The longtime, former high-ranking NBC News employee doesn’t believe the move will benefit his former colleagues who rely on MSNBC’s programming services.

“Even though NBC News says it’s separate from MSNBC, they share a lot of resources,” said the former NBC News official.

“It would be a tragic collapse of NBC News and leave it weak and fragmented and useless,” they continued. “It’s like ABC news and CBS news.”

Comcast, NBC News and MSNBC did not immediately respond when asked what would happen to the shared resources, including on-air figures that contribute to both NBC News and MSNBC.

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MSNBC staff are unsure whether the network will keep its name after Comcast completes its split with NBCUniversal. (Getty Images)

NBC News’ own online report on the move noted that it would “separate MSNBC and CNBC from the central newsgathering functions of NBC News.”

“It was not immediately clear whether the cable news channels and the network’s main news division would continue to share programming resources,” wrote NBC News reporter Daniel Arkin.

Many prominent figures appear on both networks. MSNBC’s daytime newscasts often feature NBC News reporters, while their commentary program begins with Nicole Wallace at 4 pm ET and in primetime is a continuous commentary.

While a former NBC News employee thinks NBC News may be in trouble, a current MSNBC employee doesn’t think anyone will miss his soon-to-be colleagues.

“I think a lot of people at NBC won’t have to share those resources with MSNBC because they don’t think we have the same goals. It feels the same way from the other side,” said an MSNBC employee.

The move isn’t a surprise, as Comcast president Mike Cavanagh suggested last month during the company’s third-quarter earnings call for investors that it was looking to build “a new company, one that’s good for our shareholders and that includes our strong portfolio of cable networks.”

After a few weeks, the plan came to fruition. NBCUniversal’s cable television networks will fall under a new company currently called “SpinCo” led by Mark Lazarus, current Chairman of NBCUniversal Media Group, and Anand Kini, NBCUniversal’s Chief Financial Officer and EVP of Corporate Strategy at Comcast.

USA Network, CNBC, Oxygen, E!, SYFY and Golf Channel and associated digital assets including Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow and Sports Engine join MSNBC as part of the company the new one.

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Stephanie Ruhle hosts “The 11th Hour” on MSNBC but is also a senior business analyst for NBC News.

With NBCUniversal’s current management at the helm of the new company, MSNBC viewers probably don’t have to worry about new ownership disrupting the network’s free programming. However, the situation is so dire that Lazarus doesn’t even know that MSNBC will have to change its identity, including the name and logo that have long been associated with NBC.

A current MSNBC employee who spoke to Fox News Digital attended the 10 a.m. ET meeting with Lazarus, who was tasked with answering questions about the announcement.

“It wasn’t weird. It wasn’t hate. People don’t really know him and they don’t have a special reason to hate him… I mean, he’s not the strongest guy in the world, but I think he presented it very well,” they said.

An MSNBC employee said it was “interesting” that Lazarus said a name change was possible. MSNBC was founded in 1996 as Microsoft’s partnership with NBC, hence the name, but Microsoft has not been involved for years, and its relationship with NBC is ending.

“There’s a lot of brand equity involved in being MSNBC or CNBC,” the employee said.

The MSNBC employee also believes that a “technical separation” from NBC News may be more difficult than an editorial separation.

“Everybody has been moved out of our facilities in Long Island City where we share portable cameras and camera people and sound engineers, all of that has to change. And it sounds like all of that will go to NBC and MSNBC will need to rebuild the infrastructure. , which is huge, ” they said.

Small toy figures with laptops and smartphones are seen in front of the displayed Comcast logo, in this photo taken on Dec. 5, 2021. (REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo)

“That’s a big expense during layoffs,” the employee continued. “So, I was surprised to hear Mark Lazarus talk about that, or even suggest that it was because if he hadn’t said anything about it, most of us would have thought we were done that way.”

Assets slated to form SpinCo have raised about $7 billion in the past 12 months and Comcast hopes to complete the spinoff project within a year. The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that Comcast predicts that NBCUniversal’s other assets in broadcast TV, sports, movies and theme parks could have higher growth potential going forward.

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Fox News Digital’s Hanna Panreck and David Rutz contributed to this report.