MSNBC Anxiously Enters a New Trump Era

“We could all be fired a year from now,” Morning Joe cohost Joe Scarborough quipped Wednesday morning while addressing some big news on the home front, which is that Comcast plans to spin off its NBCUniversal cable TV networks, including MSNBC. “Or tomorrow,” cohost Mika Brzezinski chimed in.

The cohosts were, presumably, joking about the implications of Comcast’s plan, though the on-air conversation about the volatile nature of the cable news business spoke to the underlying anxiety inside 30 Rock about what the future holds for MSNBC. The network’s ratings have plummeted since Donald Trump’s victory earlier this month, and Scarborough and Brzezinski already set off alarms earlier this week in revealing they trekked to Mar-a-Lago to “restart communications” with the president-elect, whom they have called out over his authoritarian, even “fascist,” rhetoric. Some loyal Morning Joe viewers were appalled by the apparent détente with Trump.

It’s under that somewhat ominous backdrop that MSNBC president Rashida Jones and NBCUniversal Media Group chairman Mark Lazarus, who will helm the new spin-off company, addressed senior leaders, producers, anchors, and hosts, including Rachel Maddow, Katy Tur, and Chris Jansing, according to sources present. During the Wednesday morning meeting, Lazarus assured staff the plan was to “unlock the value” of the cable assets, according to one source present.

While the source says that the meeting was more positive than anticipated, there is expected to be a lot of complicated logistical work to come in separating MSNBC from NBC News, given the shared resources between two entities, from correspondents and field producers to nearby control rooms. Lazarus didn’t provide all the specifics for the spin-off, which, according to the Comcast press release, is expected to take around a year to complete. It’s uncertain if the cable news channel would keep NBC in its name, the source says, use its iconic Peacock logo, or remain in 30 Rock.

“There are no ornaments on this tree at the moment. We have to wait to see what this actually means,” the source says, adding that MSNBC is “no worse off” than yesterday. Still, the source notes that some of their “colleagues think we’re on the way to the dumpster,” which could stem from the “normal uncertainty that comes with all change.”

An MSNBC spokesperson declined to comment.

There were some signs of optimism. Maddow, according to a second source, said that it was great to have Lazarus “here on day one.” Lazarus separately met with others inside MSNBC, taking questions from staffers and, perhaps, helping reassure the rank-and-file.

The Mar-a-Lago sit-down has prompted mixed reactions inside the network, according to CNN media analyst and Vanity Fair contributor Brian Stelter, who writes that some staffers pointed out the value of access to the president-elect, as others “said the meeting was a troubling early sign of capitulation” to Trump. “Normalizing Trump is a bad idea,” Katie Phang, an NBC News and MSNBC legal correspondent, wrote in a post on X that was perceived as a jab at the hosts’ trip.

Stelter reported that Scarborough and Brzezinski were “credibly concerned” about facing retribution from the Trump administration. A second source tells me that Brzezinski and Scarborough have the “support of network leadership.”

The president-elect has regularly singled out individual journalists, disparaging their credibility on social media, barring them from briefings in his first term and even calling for major broadcast organizations to have their licenses stripped. His pick to oversee the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, seems to be prepared to carry out his priorities, having already taken aim at TV organizations over their supposed political bias. Additionally, last week, Trump ally Steve Bannon said on his podcast that MSNBC staffers should be prepared for legal retribution, with former Representative Matt Gaetz in control of the Department of Justice if approved, warning them to “lawyer up.”

While MSNBC’s opinion hosts were central to what was often dubbed “resistance” media during Trump’s first term, it’s unclear if viewers will stay glued to what will surely be a tumultuous news environment. It’s been a disappointing month for the network as a whole, which has seen ratings hemorrhage. Last week, according to Nielsen figures, prime-time ratings dropped 48% in total viewership and 54% in the 25-54 demographic, compared to the network’s yearly average to date.