Andrea Mitchell will step down as full-time anchor on MSNBC on Friday — ending a 17-year stint as host of “Andrea Mitchell Reports” on the Comcast-owned cable news outfit.
Mitchell announced last fall that she would step down from her daily MSNBC show after the presidential inauguration but will continue her work as a correspondent for NBC News.
The veteran journalist will remain NBC News’ chief foreign affairs correspondent and chief Washington correspondent.
“After 16 years of being in the anchor chair every day, I want time to do more of what I love the most: connecting, listening, and reporting in the field,” Mitchell, 78, told viewers on Oct. 29.
“Whoever is elected next week will face the monumental task of handling two foreign wars and the political divisions here at home.”
Mitchell’s departure is the end of an era at MSNBC, which launched “Andrea Mitchell Reports” in 2008 — making it the longest-running show in MSNBC’s daytime lineup.
The network has yet to announce what will replace the program.
Mitchell’s career spans over five decades at NBC News, where she has covered every US presidential campaign since 1980 and has reported on major global events.
NBC executives praised Mitchell’s contributions in a memo, stating: “Andrea remains one of the country’s foremost and most trusted experts on foreign policy and domestic politics.”
“Her deep sourcing and ability to land the biggest-name news-making interviews are unmatched,” the network said in a statement, adding that “we are so pleased that she will remain an essential part of the News Group for years to come.”
Her departure comes at a time of flux at the Peacock Network and its sister channel MSNBC.
Chuck Todd, the former “Meet the Press” moderator, left NBC News last week after nearly two decades. His last day was Friday.
“There’s never a perfect time to leave a place that’s been a professional home for so long, but I’m pretty excited about a few new projects that are on the cusp of going from ‘pie in the sky’ to ‘near reality,’” Todd wrote in a memo to employees.
Another high-profile personality at MSNBC, network boss Rashida Jones, stepped down on the eve of Trump’s inauguration — ending a four-year stint as president. Jones is the first black woman to lead a major television network.
In November, Comcast announced it was breaking MSNBC and CNBC away from NBC News into its own company, led by executive Mark Lazarus, meaning Jones was answering to new corporate leadership.
Legacy media outlets including MSNBC and CNN are in the midst of belt-tightening amid financial uncertainty in the industry, which has been fueled by viewers cutting the cord and abandoning linear television in favor of streaming and digital.
Two of MSNBC’s headline stars — Joy Reid and Stephanie Ruhle — were reportedly told they needed to take a pay cut to remain in their anchor chairs.
The left-leaning news channel recently gave star anchor Rachel Maddow a $5 million-a-year haircut from her annual $30 million salary — though MSNBC disputed these figures.
A third prominent host, Jonathan Lemire — who was elevated this month to co-host “Morning Joe” from anchoring “Way Too Early” — has also been offered a new contract at a reduced salary, according to the subscription newsletter the Ankler.
