Rebecca Kutler

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Rebecca Kutler is the president of the cable news network MSNBC. [1] [2] [3] [4] Kutler has previously worked as the senior vice president of CNN. [2] [3] She has received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Live Coverage. [3]

Contents

Early Life

Rebecca Kutler was born to a Jewish family on July 30, 1979, in Pennsylvania, United States. She grew up in Philadelphia's Center City neighborhood before her family moved to Montgomery County. [5] [6]

Education

Kutler has a bachelor of arts from The George Washington University and a master of arts from Columbia University. [3]

Career

Kutler was the executive producer of John King, USA , a television news show hosted by John King that aired on CNN from 2010 to 2012. In 2024, she was an executive producer of The Sing Sing Chronicles, an American documentary series. Kutler was the senior vice president for content strategy at MSNBC and became the interim president in January 2025 when Rashida Jones resigned from the post of president. [5]

Under Kutler's tenure as president, MSNBC expanded its newsgathering operations ahead of its spin-off from NBCUniversal into Versant and cancelled multiple shows, including The ReidOut , Alex Wagner Tonight , Inside with Jen Psaki, Ayman, The Katie Phang Show, and The Saturday/Sunday Show. The resulting show cancellations produced lay-offs and invitations to reapply for new jobs internally, leading MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow to comment on-air with respect to the cancellations of shows anchored by predominantly people of color and the personnel reorganization. Kutler also launched an expanded version of The Weekend on weekend mornings, The Weekend Primetime on weekend evenings, The Weeknight on weeknight slots, and The Briefing with Jen Psaki. [5] [7]

On August 18, 2025, MSNBC announced a rebrand to "MS NOW" (a backronym of "My Source [for] News, Opinion, [and the] World"). Kutler wrote in a memo, "During this time of transition, NBCUniversal decided that our brand requires a new, separate identity. This decision now allows us to set our own course and assert our independence as we continue to build our own modern newsgathering operation." [8] [9] Since her appointment and as of August 2025, MSNBC remained the second most-watched cable news network, behind Fox News and ahead of CNN, while viewership has decreased by -57% in total viewers and -71% in the key A24-54 demographic relative to the same month last year, August 2024. However, August 2024 saw significant developments in the 2024 United States presidential election. [10]

On September 10, 2025, MSNBC political analyst Matthew Dowd was fired for appraising Charlie Kirk on the day of his death as "one of the most divisive, especially divisive younger figures in this, who is constantly sort of pushing this sort of hate speech or sort of aimed at certain groups. And I always go back to, hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions." Kutler issued an apology on behalf of MSNBC. [11]

Personal life

Kutler has three children. [3]

References

  1. Johnson, Ted (12 February 2025). "Rebecca Kutler Named President Of MSNBC After Serving In Interim Role". deadline.com. Deadline . Retrieved 16 May 2025.
  2. 1 2 Steinberg, Brian (12 February 2025). "Rebecca Kutler Will Lead MSNBC as President". variety.com. Variety . Retrieved 16 May 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Rebecca Kutler". nbcuniversal.com. NBCUniversal . Retrieved 16 May 2025.
  4. Battaglio, Stephen (2 February 2025). "Rebecca Kutler named president of MSNBC". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 16 May 2025.
  5. 1 2 3 Mullin, Benjamin; Koblin, John (14 January 2025). "Rashida Jones, MSNBC President, Steps Down" . The New York Times . Retrieved 16 May 2025.
  6. "Philly native Rebecca Kutler to replace Rashida Jones as MSNBC president". The Philadelphia Inquirer. 2025-09-16. Retrieved 2025-09-16.
  7. "Joy Reid's show canceled in programming shakeup at MSNBC". Los Angeles Times. 2025-02-23. Retrieved 2025-09-13.
  8. Steinberg, Brian (2025-08-18). "MSNBC Will Change Name to MS NOW After NBCUniversal Split". Variety. Retrieved 2025-09-13.
  9. "A message to our community". MSNBC.com. 2025-08-18. Retrieved 2025-09-13.
  10. "Here Are the Cable News Ratings for August 2025". 2025-09-04. Retrieved 2025-09-13.
  11. "Matthew Dowd Fired From MSNBC for Charlie Kirk Comments". Variety . September 10, 2025. Retrieved September 11, 2025.