The new year is kicking off with some notable changes at NBC’s newsgathering operations, including daytime and streaming programming shifts as well as layoffs impacting the division.
Over at the digital platform NBC News NOW, Hallie Jackson is getting a vote of confidence with an additional hour of the senior Washington correspondent’s show, which will now air from 5 to 7 p.m. ET.
“On NOW, she’s covered everything from the midterms, to mental health, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and climate change, making sense of the news of the day for our viewers in her signature conversational style, and now, going even deeper with the new hour,” stated Janelle Rodriguez, who was just promoted to executive vp NBC News Now to oversee the service in addition to NBC Nightly News.
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On the cable news side, MSNBC is retooling its daytime programming schedule, with changes including José Díaz-Balart taking over the 11 a.m. hour and Chris Jansing landing the 1 to 3 p.m. hours, beginning Feb. 13. Notably, the 10 a.m. hour “will have a rotating lineup of hosts until a new anchor is named,” wrote Rashida Jones, president of MSNBC, in a memo to staff.
For the weekends, Katie Phang will take over the 8 a.m. hour, Jonathan Capehart will be on at 9 a.m. and Ali Velshi — who regularly fills in for evening primetime hosts — will now be on 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on weekend mornings, beginning Feb. 18.
The reworking of daytime was messaged around the same time as an estimated 75 employees from NBC and MSNBC were set to be impacted by layoffs, a source confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter. NBC’s news division counts 3,500 employees in total.
A day earlier, MSNBC rival CNN unveiled its own lineup changes to daytime, with president Chris Licht saying the moves will showcase its newsgathering efforts and allow “anchors the room to be more authentic.” To that end, CNN’s John Berman, Kate Bolduan and Sara Sidner will take over the 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET block, while Brianna Keilar, Boris Sanchez and Jim Sciutto will take over the 1 to 4 p.m. slot as the cable news outlet restructures in its Warner Bros. Discovery ownership era.
The MSNBC daytime lineup shift is the first change made since NBC News president Noah Oppenheim — who has led the news organization since 2017 — unveiled plans Jan. 11 to step down and ink a film and TV deal with NBCUniversal, as well as develop longform projects. (Oppenheim also sold a Robert De Niro political thriller pitch to Netflix last November.)
That executive shake-up will see New York Times veteran Rebecca Blumenstein become president of editorial for NBC News, with Libby Leist, executive vp of the Today franchise, Rodriguez and Blumenstein all directly reporting to NBC News Group chief Cesar Conde.
Jones added of the daytime moves: “We are working diligently to create a smooth transition. I want to thank all of you for your effort and dedication as we embark on a new chapter.”
