Comcast's corporate reorganization means that there will soon be two television networks with “NBC” in their name — CNBC and MSNBC — that will no longer have any corporate connection to NBC News.
How that affects viewers of those networks, along with the people who work there, still needs to shake out. Their new corporate leader, Mark Lazarus, visited the set of MSNBC's “Morning Joe” as the plan was being announced on Wednesday and spoke to network staff members during a morning conference call to address concerns.
Comcast is spinning off most of its cable networks, also including USA, Oxygen, E!, SYFY and the Golf Channel, into a separate company. That recognizes how streaming is considered the future and the cable networks are a drag on the bottom line.
In the space of a lifetime, the networks went from upstarts aside a legacy operation like NBC to profitable superstars to castoffs.
Questions range from the simple to complex
Lazarus, chairman of the NBC Universal Media Group, is becoming CEO of the newly-formed company of cable networks, temporarily dubbed “SpinCo.” Cesar Conde, who as NBC Universal News Group chairman had oversight of CNBC and MSNBC, will lose those networks from his portfolio, yet remain in charge of NBC News, NBC News Now streaming, Telemundo and the news operations of the NBC-owned local stations.
The presence of Lazarus and Anand Kini, who will be chief operating officer and chief financial officer of SpinCo, is a good sign for the new company, said Jessica Reif Ehrlich, research analyst for the Bank of America. “You can't dismiss it as getting rid of the crappy assets, because these are talented executives,” she said.
At MSNBC, questions about the future range from the simple — will it even keep its name? — to the complex.
MSNBC's staff and studios are based in the same Rockefeller Center offices as NBC News, and it was unclear on Wednesday whether they will remain or move elsewhere, Lazarus told MSNBC employees.
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MSNBC's relationship with NBC News has caused some awkwardness, particularly as the network has become known for its stable of liberal commentators while still attached to a news division that stresses impartiality. For much of MSNBC's broadcast day, NBC News journalists like Katy Tur, Jose Diaz-Balart, Chris Jansing and a host of reporters appear on the network.
It's unclear whether arrangements could be made for that cross-pollination to continue — where will Steve Kornacki land, for example? — or if MSNBC will bear the expense of building out its own newsgathering operation or lean more heavily into commentary.
It's a nervous time at MSNBC for other reasons. The network has seen a dramatic drop in viewership since Donald Trump's election victory, although it is common that news networks that appeal primarily to one side of a political divide lose viewers when their candidates are defeated. History shows most viewers return, and MSNBC executives anticipate that.
Less clear is whether a second Trump administration will make life difficult. Trump ally Steve Bannon, on his radio show last week, sent out a specific warning to the network's anchors and producers. “You better be worried,” he said. “You better lawyer up.”
‘A bittersweet thing’?
CNBC launched in 1989, while MSNBC started in 1996. They have seemed inextricably bound with the broadcast network since, and the sharing of legal, promotional, technical and other support is something else that needs to be worked out.
With its financial concentration, CNBC has been more independent of NBC News than its cable brethren. With offices in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., its operation is even physically separate. However, NBC News often taps CNBC reporters for their business expertise on broadcast and its streaming service.
“I completely empathize with people who think this would be a bittersweet thing,” Lazarus said, according to MSNBC. “I think it's exciting because very few times in life you get to have the opportunity to be part of what I'll call a ‘well-funded startup.’”
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Despite the old-school nature of a company of cable properties, Comcast executives are bullish on its prospects, noting that many of them produce profits individually. And there's the potential for buying other networks undervalued by big media companies.
Andrew Ross Sorkin, host of CNBC's “Squawk Box,” said on “Morning Joe” Wednesday that the two cable news networks produce ”extraordinary profits" for Comcast that are not being reinvested in cable properties.
"If you could take that money that's coming off of these channels and invest in the businesses as an independent entity, what will that ultimately look like"?" Sorkin asked. “Could you use that money to go make other acquisitions? Could you make investments in the business itself? That's the big question.”
One piece of advice from Bank of America's Ehrlich: Keep the names. “Those are pretty big brand names,” she said. “I would not advise them to change.”
