Rashida Jones, the president of MSNBC, has left her position at the network after four years, marking the latest shift in a troubled industry impacted by new mediums and technology.
Jones remarked in a memo to staff last week that she “came to this decision over the holidays while reflecting on our remarkable journey and the many successes we’ve achieved together.” She will be replaced by Rebecca Kutler, the senior vice president of content strategy at MSNBC.
“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.
The announcement comes after MSNBC watched ratings decline when President Donald Trump emerged victorious over Vice President Kamala Harris. The network nevertheless outpaced CNN and became the second most watched network across cable. Comcast plans to combine most of their cable television networks into a publicly traded company called SpinCo.
Mark Lazarus, the incoming chief executive of SpinCo, lauded Jones for her leadership of MSNBC, contending that the executive “expertly navigated MSNBC through a years-long, unrelenting and unprecedented news cycle, all while driving the network to record viewership.”
The cable news business has been challenged by streaming services like Netflix and a trend toward receiving news from social media. Overall broadcast viewership on election day declined relative to the last presidential election as more Americans pivot away from traditional news.
That dynamic was observed throughout the election cycle as well, since both Trump and Harris increasingly relied on podcasts and social media to motivate their bases and reach more voters.