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An MSNBC-NBC Custody Battle

Among the knock-on effects of Comcast spinning out its lesser cable darlings are a series of impending beefs, conflicts, and tough choices for MSNBC and NBC News. Some talent and executives will move up, while others will realize there’s not room for everyone at the cool kids’ table.

NBC News announced that its charmingly dorky, hypercaffeinated, khaki-clad data analytics expert Steve Kornacki had signed a new deal with the network’s news and sports divisions—a re-up that was most notable for the role it omitted. Photo: William B. Plowman/NBC
Dylan Byers
April 3, 2025

This week, NBC News announced that its charmingly dorky, hypercaffeinated, khaki-clad data analytics expert Steve Kornacki had signed a new deal with the network’s news and sports divisions—a re-up that was most notable for the role it omitted. While Kornacki will continue to crunch election night polling data, NFL spreads, and Kentucky Derby odds for the broadcast network and the Peacock streaming service, he will no longer be offering his talents to MSNBC, which Comcast is spinning out into the wilderness along with almost all of its other cable channels under the working title SpinCo. It was especially notable since Kornacki had come into the NBCU empire via MSNBC, in 2012, and only added NBC News to his C.V. five years later.