NBCUniversal appears to be doing everything in its power to keep the most popular personalities on its cable news network. The company recently extended Rachel Maddow, reworking her contract to include more creative opportunities across the company, while winding down her nightly duties. Now, according to Insider, Morning Joe co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski are next.
The duo are under contract for another year, but they’re reportedly eyeing Maddow’s recent reported $30 million deal (she was making roughly $8 million per year), and according to Insider, they met with NBC News Group chairman Cesar Conde last week to discuss next steps.
Scarborough and Brzezinski have been represented by Endeavor founder and chief Ari Emanuel for many years. Emanuel, along with Mark Shapiro, who represents Maddow and Lawrence O’Donnell (who was also recently re-signed with the network), give the talent agency significant power when it comes to the MSNBC schedule.
Brian Williams, who hosts MSNBC’s 11 p.m. hour, is in active discussions about his future with the network, Atkinson adds.
Insider’s Claire Atkinson reports: “Two of the three sources familiar with conversations say that Conde is working to button up his primetime lineup ahead of a harder push into streaming.”
NBC News is moving heavily into streaming, as we made clear in our conversation with Conde earlier this month. It remains to be seen how much work in the streaming space Scarborough and Brzezinski will be asked to do as part of that new contract. The duo already host special political coverage on The Choice, the MSNBC-branded streaming channel on Peacock.