The president of MSNBC, Rashida Jones, is stepping down from that position, the company said on Tuesday, a major change at the news network just days before President-elect Donald J. Trump takes office.
Rebecca Kutler, senior vice president of content strategy at MSNBC, will succeed Ms. Jones as interim president, effective immediately. Ms. Jones will stay on in an advisory role through March.
“Rebecca is the ideal leader to guide us through this moment, and I look forward to collaborating with her as we shape our collective future together,” Mark Lazarus, the chairman of NBCUniversal Media Group, said in a note to staffers.
Ms. Jones’s exit comes amid industrywide pressure for the cable news industry, which has seen declining ratings after the U.S. presidential election. MSNBC has been the second most-watched cable network during that period, ahead of CNN but behind longtime ratings leader Fox News.
Executives at the network are hopeful that audiences will return as Mr. Trump takes office and viewers seek to dissect his early policy moves. On Monday, the company announced that Rachel Maddow, its most popular host, would temporarily return to broadcasting her one-hour show every weeknight at 9 p.m. Eastern for Mr. Trump’s first 100 days in office.
MSNBC is among a bundle of cable channels that its parent company, Comcast, is planning to spin out later this year into a new company. CNBC, another news channel in Comcast’s cable portfolio, is also being spun out, along with entertainment networks like USA and Syfy.
Ms. Kutler is a cable news executive with experience in the streaming business. Before joining MSNBC in 2022, Ms. Kutler was a key architect of CNN+, the ambitious streaming news service that was shut down by Warner Bros. Discovery that year.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
