TV golden boy who two networks are fighting over
Bosses at Comcast are in the midst of splitting NBC News and its sister broadcaster MSNBC - but there's one anchor both are desperate to hold on to.
Morning Joe and weekend-edition Today anchor Willie Geist has been deemed 'too talent[ed] for either network to pass up, staffers told Politico.
MSNBC is mere months away from fully parting from parent Comcast after being pegged to spearhead a new company called SpinCo.
Other Comcast assets making the jump along with MSNBC include USA, CNBC, and E!, while NBC News will remain with NBCU.
The Peacock Network will retain its usual programming - sans some familiar faces.
The Politico report revealed how NBC News and MSNBC are in the process of divvying up on-air talent to fill out both networks.
For the most part, negotiations have been straightforward, with almost all on-screen talent told they'll need to pick one network or another.
Many have had the choice made for them by bosses.
But Geist is such an asset to both that they've agreed to share, Politico reported.
Meanwhile, MSNBC election expert Steve Kornacki and veteran political journalist Andrea Mitchell are both making there way to NBC News - news reported weeks ago.
Also leaving MSNBC is longtime anchor Jose Diaz-Balart, whose show was based at the network's soon-to-be shuttered studio in Miami.
Stephanie Ruhle, who doubles as an MSNBC host and NBC News senior business analyst, is also staying with MSNBC. Politico reported she may soon lose that second title - one 'she adores' - as well as her occasional guest spots on Today.
Today Show stalwart Jacob Soboroff, meanwhile, is expected to head over to MSNBC, due to being well-liked by his prospective boss.
Meanwhile, as the schism continues, staffers interviewed - more than three dozen overall - said that most of the stars MSNBC desire are also the ones NBC is happy to let go.
Geist, so far, appears to be the sole exception.
Neither network wants to lose him to the spinoff, staffers said - describing a secret standoff within 30 Rock.
Wherever the 49-year-old goes, he won't have to go very far - with MSNBC merely moving to another part of the Rockefeller Center which has long been the home of NBC.
The Politico report painted him as one of 'the lucky few whom both networks would love to keep,' while revealing other facets of the ongoing transition.
Just last month, Geist served a surprise substitute for NBC News' Kelly Clarkson while reporting live from the red carpet at SNL's 50th - an appearance Politico pointed out.
Meanwhile, longtime NBC exec Mark Lazarus - the soon-to-be CEO of the new spinoff 'SpinCo,' is working relentlessly to safeguard the future of MSNBC, and losing Geist is likely not on his list of plans.
He and the former CNN exec he's tapped to lead the news station, Rebecca Kutler, were the ones to cut ties with Joy Reid, the Politico report confirmed.
The decision came more than a year of pushback from Comcast executives against Reid's tirades both on- and off-air, staffers said.
'Her social media also gave the Standards Department heartburn,' the Friday report states. Kutler did the honors with Lazarus's seal of approval
Both NBC News boss Cesar Conde and then-President Rashida Jones reportedly struggled to find a solution - before it was announced MSNBC was breaking ranks as the flagship of a coalition of old Comcast channels.
The result was a one-year contract an MSNBC exec previously told DailyMail.com was essentially a severance package - one that expired as Kutler took the reigns.
A salary cut also wasn't enough to see Reid quit, paving the way for Kutler to do the deed.
More importantly, she made the move even though MSNBC is set to soon be freed from Comcast, leaving Kutler and Lazarus to make all creative decisions.
Geist, meanwhile, has been Morning Joe since 2007. He started appearing on the Sunday edition of Today - which now bears his name - in 2012. He has yet to announce any future plans.
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