NBC News correspondent and MSNBC anchor Kasie Hunt announced she would be leaving the platform after eight years and head over to CNN.
According to Variety, Hunt was offered an annual salary of between $1 million and $1.5 million that NBCUniversal could not match. The 36-year-old host announced the departure on her “Way Too Early” morning show and said she would reveal her new adventure in the next few weeks. Hunt has been with MSNBC since 2013 and is long viewed as a “rising star” within the NBC ranks.
Hunt had grabbed the early-morning slot on weekdays to host “Way Too Early” back in September and was the lead-in for MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” with hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski. Before hosting her “Way Too Early” morning show, Hunt appeared on a number of shows across the two networks including Morning Joe, Meet The Press, Hardball with Chris Matthews, and With All Due Respect.
Hunt thanked her team and viewers, adding that she’d enjoyed spending time with them over the last year. She said she wanted to thank everyone at NBC News and MSNBC, especially anchor Mika Brzezinski for always insisting she should “know her value.” This also references her co-host’s motivational book “Know Your Value: Women, Money, and Getting What You’re Worth.”
Hunt also tweeted that she will miss working with the “Way Too Early” team and that after a few days of sleeping in, “count me among your loyal viewers in the future.”
NBC colleagues announced that they are shocked by the news of Hunt’s departure. While leaving MSNBC for CNN, Hunt is reportedly going to spend the bulk of her time working on digital streaming content and expanding CNN’s streaming footprint. CNN President Jeff Zucker has been hiring dozens of people to help WarnerMedia outlets win the streaming war. An insider revealed that Hunt could help cover “pivotal moments” in a variety of online content.
Other news outlets have also been working on developing streaming services and making moves to draw in younger audiences. MSNBC recently announced that anchors Mika Brzezinski and Nicolle Wallace will be developing content for the Peacock streaming service operated by NBCUniversal and ABC has also moved to linear programming and online efforts.
Even Fox News is rolling out with streaming outlets, including primetime host Tucker Carlson. And while outlets are discussing potential subscription services, they are also looking at newsletters and other formats.
Critics, however, pointed out that Hunt is just going from one fake news to another and got “poached” by CNN’s million dollar deal. Many users said they were hoping that the platform would’ve gotten rid of anchor Chuck Todd instead of Kasie Hunt. They said anyone that stands in for him was an “improvement.” One user said if MSNBC had been smart, they would’ve moved Hunt to the 7 PM slot when they had the chance instead of keeping her in the 5 AM slot.
But it’s no surprise that CNN is grabbing everyone they can get and offering what money they can. Their ratings are in the basement and nothing they do is making it any better. While CNN’s streaming subscription service CNN+ will debut in 2022, it’ll be more of the same old gimmick on a new device. If anything, they’re going to make you pay extra to hear the same things repeated over and over again. That’s CNN’s biggest problem. After years of biased news coverage, they sound like a broken record.
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