Layoffs At NBC News, And The Painful Math Behind The Versant Spinoff
Key Takeaways
- NBC News laid off approximately 150 staffers as part of preparations for a corporate spinoff.
- MSNBC and CNBC will be transferred into a new, publicly traded company called Versant Media Group.
- The layoffs are driven by the elimination of shared infrastructure and newsgathering between NBC News and the soon-to-be-separate cable networks.
- The company is mitigating job losses by offering 140 open roles and repurposing some eliminated positions.
- NBC News plans to launch a subscription service and a major marketing campaign to reinforce its brand following the structural changes.
Layoffs impacting approximately 150 NBC News staffers commenced at Rockefeller Center as the company moves toward spinning off MSNBC and CNBC into a new entity named Versant Media Group, which is expected to launch with $7 billion in annual revenue. These job cuts, representing about 2% of the NBCU News Group workforce, are directly linked to the dissolution of shared resources like infrastructure and newsgathering following the separation from the cable networks. Despite the layoffs, the company is actively hiring for 140 open roles, and about a dozen eliminated positions are being repurposed, meaning not all affected employees will depart. Furthermore, NBCU News Group Chair Cesar Conde detailed upcoming strategic moves, including a significant marketing campaign to reinforce NBC News's fact-based reporting ahead of a new subscription service launch and expansion of its Sports Hub. This structural change also involves MSNBC rebranding to MS Now, and the separation is anticipated to be complete by year's end, allowing Comcast to focus on its remaining businesses like Peacock and Universal Studios.
