MSNBC star Rachel Maddow is taking a $5 million payday amid uncertainty about the station’s future, The Ankler reported Thursday.
Maddow, who currently makes $30 million a year at the network, renegotiated for $25 million a year for the next five years.
“This is a difficult time and they had to take care of him. No one else can do what he does. You can’t build a brand like that overnight,” an executive said The Ankler.
Comcast, owner of NBCUniversal, plans to spin off several NBC channels—such as MSNBC and CNBC—into its company. NBCUniversal chairman Mark Lazarus is currently leading the project, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2025, called SpinCo.
The station is currently at a crossroads following Donald Trump’s victory. According to Nielsen data, ratings are down 40% from this time last year – although regulators are expecting viewers to return to what they did in 2016 once the Trump administration begins.
Producers are struggling with how to put conservative voices “in the only safe place for TV audiences,” as an MSNBC insider put it.
“We were so fake about Harris that when he lost it, viewers were shocked,” one online reviewer said. “It turned into a big j–k circle and an echo chamber. If MSNBC wants to help its viewers, they can’t keep them in a fantasy world. “
During Trump’s first administration, MSNBC promoted “Democrats talking Republican,” he said The Anklersuch as Hugh Hewitt and Nicole Wallace. Now, the network isn’t sure what to do with “Star Wars freak show” of new Trumps, one producer said.
“I don’t know if having these people put in any useful information,” added the producer.
However, viewers can expect to see more of Maddow, with one official calling her “ratings Viagra.” Under her new deal, Maddow will continue to anchor her Monday night show, and also produce podcasts and documentaries. The network is also planning to put him as a “secret weapon” on other shows if any news comes out.
Along with Maddow, MSNBC relies on three other people to keep viewers in: Wallace, the anchor. Deadline: White Houseand Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski Morning Joewhich recently caught fire when the military went to Mar-a-Lago to break bread with Trump.