Comcast’s reorganization means that there will soon be two television networks with “NBC” in their name – CNBC and MSNBC – that will no longer have a corporate relationship with NBC News.
How that affects the viewers of the network, as well as the people who work there, still have to shake. Their new CEO, Mark Lazarus, visited the set of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” as the program was announced Wednesday and spoke with network employees during a morning conference call to address concerns.
Comcast is spinning off many of its networks, including USA, Oxygen, E!, SYFY and the Golf Channel, into a separate company. It knows how the circulation is seen in the future and the cable network pulls below.
Over the course of a lifetime, networks have gone from high-end legacy acts like NBC to for-profit superstars to castoffs.
Questions range from easy to difficult
Lazarus, chairman of NBC Universal Media Group, is acting CEO of a newly formed cable network company, named “SpinCo.” Cesar Conde, the chairman of NBC Universal News Group who oversaw CNBC and MSNBC, will lose the networks from his office, but will continue to lead NBC News, NBC News Now streaming, Telemundo and the news operations of local NBC stations. .
The presence of Lazaro and Anand Kini, who are the chief operating officer and chief financial officer of SpinCo, is a good sign for the new company, said Jessica Reif Ehrlich, a research analyst for Bank of America. “You can’t dismiss it as getting rid of bad things, because these are talented leaders,” he said.
At MSNBC, questions for the future range from the simple – will it even keep its name? – to the dry.
MSNBC staff and studios are in the same Rockefeller Center offices as NBC News, and it was unclear Wednesday whether they will stay or move elsewhere, Lazaro told MSNBC staff.
MSNBC’s relationship with NBC News has been tense, especially since the network has become known for its stable of liberal commentators while still being associated with a news division that emphasizes neutrality. For most of the MSNBC broadcast day, NBC News reporters such as Katy Tur, Jose Diaz-Balart, Chris Jansing and many other reporters appear on the network.
It’s not clear if plans can be made to continue this transfer – where will Steve Kornacki land, for example? — or whether MSNBC will pay to build out its newsgathering operations or lean more heavily on reporting.