In November, José Diaz-Balart was named to a rotating cast of anchors of the NBC Nightly News Saturday edition. Today, he was given the job permanently.
In a trade-off, Díaz-Balart will give up his 10 a.m. MSNBC show, though MSNBC president Phil Griffin says he “will contribute regularly to special reports and major events for both NBC News and MSNBC,” including at the political conventions over the next two weeks. There will be no layoffs, as most of the New York staff will move to other programs while two Miami-based staffers, including a senior producer, will stay on.
Díaz-Balart already has major committments on another NBCU network. He is the co-anchor of the nightly newscast Noticiero Telemundo as well as the Sunday public affairs show Enfoque con José Díaz-Balart.
“He will now hold the historic distinction of occupying preeminent anchor positions on two major broadcast networks in two languages,” said Janelle Rodriguez, svp of NBC News. Díaz-Balart has anchored nearly half of the Saturday broadcasts since joining the rotation in November. The new gig is effective Aug. 9.
Díaz-Balart had anchored his MSNBC show, often from Miami, for the last two years. MSNBC continues to reshape its dayside anchor rotation, mostly recently bringing on Stephanie Ruhle from Bloomberg in April.