MSNBC host Brian Williams announced this week that he will step away from his show by the end of the year, severing a 28-year relationship with NBC.
After announcing his departure on Tuesday, MSNBC President Rashida Jones in an internal memo told staffers that Williams was departing the network in order to “spend time with his family.” But a report published Wednesday by the New York Post suggests the 62-year-old anchor isn’t ready to retire his on-camera role just yet, and has already begun informal discussions with rival networks.
BRIAN WILLIAMS ANNOUNCES PLAN TO DEPART NBC BY YEAR’S END
According to the Post report, which quotes multiple TV insiders, the former “Nightly News” anchor may even be considering getting back into entertainment and comedy.
“People forget that Brian is really funny, he’s always wanted to do an interview show that gives him room to have fun,” an unnamed source told the outlet. “He likes to do profiles and interviews — even though that is what got him into trouble.”
Williams’ contract is set to expire next month. His farewell comes amid significant ratings woes for the liberal network after his show “The 11th Hour with Brian Williams” and several others reported their lowest-rated weeks ever last month.
MSNBC had a rough time attracting viewers last mobth as multiple shows set recent lows across key measurables.
(Getty Images)
Williams on Tuesday said that while he plans to take a few months off, “There are many things I want to do, and I’ll pop up again somewhere.”
“This is the end of a chapter and the beginning of another,” he wrote in a memo obtained by the New York Times.
The 62-year-old former NBC anchor faced a credibility crisis when he ran with a series of misleading stories, most notably a 2015 broadcast where he admitted to lying about coming under sniper fire while reporting in Iraq in 2003. Williams was suspended for six months and demoted before returning as a late-night news anchor in his current role for MSNBC.
A source told the Post however that Williams felt underappreciated at the liberal network, and that his decision to leave was partly because of a pay cut, and mostly, “Because he wasn’t being looked after at MSNBC. You’ve got to take care of the talent. He’ll probably go to a streaming service next, he wants to do his own thing.”
Brian Williams from "NBC Nightly News" answers a question during the panel for NBC News at the NBC Universal sessions of the Television Critics Association winter press tour in Pasadena, California January 10, 2010. REUTERS/Phil McCarten (UNITED STATES – Tags: ENTERTAINMENT) – RTR28QDN
(Reuters)
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A second source confirmed that Williams feels he can get a better gig elsewhere. “He thinks he put MSNBC back on the map. In his eyes, he has one more shot. He still views himself as a world-class, primetime anchor,” the insider told the Post.
The source added that several networks have already initiated informal discussions with Williams, “including ABC.”
“Whatever his new job is, it is not going to be at 11 o’clock,” the source said of Williams. “This is his last swing at-bat. He’s going to do this right.”
