Variety: MSNBC Wants to Meet More Fans Without Using Its Cable Network

Story from Variety:

Some of MSNBC’s most dynamic moments in 2025 may not take place on a TV screen.

Indeed, that may already be the case. When Rashida Jones, the president of the NBCUniversal-backed cable network wandered around the lobby of the Brooklyn Academy of Music this past Saturday, she was struck by how many of the people she met hailed from outside the area. People had come from places like London and Hawaii to grab a glimpse of MSNBC hosts and anchors like Rachel Maddow, Katy Tur, Joy Reid, Jen Psaki and Chris Hayes, all part of a day-long summit held with approximately 4000 paying attendees to discuss the coming election and national politics.

The time has come, says Jones, to acknowledge that MSNBC’s fans might want more than just the cable network itself to get a full fix. The Brooklyn audience “told us what they wanted,” says Jones, who took the reins of MSNBC in 2021. “The idea of bringing the brand to the people is something I want to double down on – in a lot of different places.”

MSNBC has already been experimenting with an array of live models. In March, the media outlet held an invite-only event in Washington that featured Psaki, Steve Kornacki and Stephanie Ruhle. In Chicago, during the Democratic National Convention, Luke Russert and Symone Sanders Townsend interviewed Eric Holder and Stacey Abrams in an event sponsored by Lyft (Russert, previously an NBC News editorial staffer and the son of former “Meet the Press” moderator Tim Russert, was hired late last year as a host for MSNBC’s live events).

There are good reasons to test the consumer appetite for MSNBC conferences, dinners and discussions. All three major cable news outlets — MSNBC, Fox News and CNN — are expected to shed subscribers and affiliate revenue in 2024, according to projections from Kagan, a market-research firm that is part of S&P Global Intelligence. MSNBC’s subscriber base is seen eroding by nearly 6% this year, to 64.5 million, compared with 68.5 million in 2023. Affiliate revenue is predicted to fall by nearly 4% in 2024, to $295.1 million, compared with $307 million in the year-earlier period. 6-Event revenue isn’t likely to dominate the financial calculus behind MSNBC, but it could certainly help to offset some shortfalls.

Saturday’s event represented “a starting point that spoke to the potential of where we can bring the live business in the year ahead,” says Rebecca Kutler, MSNBC’s senior vice president of content strategy.

She envisions launching both small, private events that might have a sponsor, and larger concepts that also generate revenue. Some could be based on giving attendees a peek at various projects launched by MSNBC staffers. Others could tap MSNBC’s growing slate of audio content.

Kutler says she was inspired by talking to an attendee this weekend from Florida – not known in recent years as a state that would naturally have an MSNBC base – who wondered if the network might consider hosting a dinner for its Florida-based backers. Within 24 hours, the fan followed up with venue suggestions and ideas for spurring attendance.

And she says participants came from places significantly further away than executives anticipated. “When we first started planning this a few months ago, we thought people would come from New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey.”

Others have experimented with similar concepts. CNN mounted a series of live “Citizen” events in recent years that convened newsmakers and CNN anchors to discuss major issues of the day. Among those who took part were Jimmy Kimmel, Dr. Anthony Fauci and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. Fox News Channel has organized its “Patriot Awards” for the past few years; the event has even included a meet-and-greet and a whiskey tasting.

Live events will help foster “a two-way conversation” between MSNBC personalities and the people who watch them, says Jones. The journalist and analysts talk “every night in front of a huge audience, but they don’t get to hear them and aren’t seeing what they react to,” she says. “You’re not looking into the whites of their eyes.”