Three years ago, before the collapse of CNN—before Jeff
Zucker’s trauma-inducing defenestration, David Zaslav’s ruthless debt-reduction exercises, and Chris Licht’s reign of terror; before the dumbfounding programming forfeitures and precipitous ratings declines; and before Mark Thompson set out to transform the business into a digital juggernaut (any day now, Mark)—the heir apparent to take over the once-formidable cable news network was a little-known,
then-42-year-old company veteran named Rebecca Kutler. At the time, the amiable and well-liked Kutler was overseeing programming for the network’s ill-fated streaming science experiment, CNN+.

Kutler’s eventual ascension may have been apparent only to Zucker and his inner circle, but as one member of that council told me, “Rebecca was the succession plan.” A young show producer in
the Jim Walton era, Kutler rose as an executive producer under Zucker and eventually took on oversight of content development and contributor recruitment, launching several new programs along the way. Most notably, Kutler exhibited the same programming creativity and competitive instincts that defined Zucker’s own golden age of TV news. Said another Zucker confidant, “Jeff had plans for her; he was setting her up to have a big role.”

Alas, life is prone to twists of fate. Shortly after Licht took over CNN, he traveled to Washington, D.C., and met with Kutler to discuss her future at the network. The two initially envisioned an elevated role for Kutler with a broad mandate that, among other things, would provide direction for the network at a time when it felt rudderless. Several days later, however, Licht called Kutler and, instead, offered her a significantly smaller role
than the one they’d discussed. Whether Licht reneged out of insecurity, suspicion of her Zucker proximity, or a simple change of heart is anyone’s guess. In any event, Kutler tendered her resignation. 

Two months later, Kutler took her talents across town to MSNBC, where she was named S.V.P. of content strategy. The title belied Kutler’s true and almost immediate influence at the network, which began
with oversight of streaming and Jen Psaki’s burgeoning fiefdom, and expanded to include digital, audio, films, dayside programming, and the network’s live events business. To the extent that innovation could still happen at a declining linear network freighted with key man risk, it occurred on Kutler’s watch. Meanwhile, her boss, Rashida Jones, kept the key man (Joe) and women (Rachel, Mika,
Nicolle) happy, capitalized on CNN’s retreat in primetime, notched some ratings wins, weathered some P.R. storms (the Ronna mutiny), and hit the speaker circuit.

Finally, this week—as had long been anticipated—Mark Lazarus, the
NBCUniversal Media Group chairman and prospective C.E.O. of Comcast’s soon-to-be-spun-off cable portfolio, a.k.a. SpinCo, announced that Jones was stepping down as MSNBC president and that Kutler would take over as interim leader. There were genuine tears at the meeting—from Rashida, Chris Jansing, Stephanie Ruhle, etcetera—and a little too much emphasis on the idea that this had been Rashida’s decision alone, and one she’d only arrived at last week.
(As I reported in December, this was a conscious uncoupling. There’s no indication yet where Rashida will end up, though she could probably secure a soft landing as an advisor to a Theo Kyriakou type.) Meanwhile, Kutler very judiciously sought to keep the attention on her predecessor: “Today is really about honoring Rashida,” she said.