MSNBC has appointed CNN Worldwide Senior Vice President of Digital Editorial and Programming Marcus Mabry to lead its digital content strategy, signaling a major step in the network’s separation from NBC News and its integration into Comcast’s new cable portfolio, Versant.
Mabry, now MSNBC Senior Vice President of Content Strategy, will help chart the network’s independent digital course, overseeing the development of new online products and revenue-generating platforms. The hire comes as MSNBC’s new president, former CNN executive Rebecca Kutler, begins to reshape the network with a digital-first vision.
Before joining MSNBC, Mabry spent eight years at CNN, culminating in his role as Senior Vice President of Digital Editorial and Programming. In this capacity, he oversaw CNN’s digital editorial teams, including the management of CNN.com, audio content, features, and commerce initiatives.
Mabry’s extensive journalism background includes tenures at The New York Times, where he launched the Watching section and held positions such as video anchor, business editor, and national editor, and Twitter, managing the Moments product for North America. Earlier in his career, Mabry served as a correspondent and editor at Newsweek, reporting from Washington, Paris, and Johannesburg, and eventually becoming the magazine’s chief of correspondents
His addition follows MSNBC’s recent hire of former Politico editor Sudeep Reddy to lead the network’s Washington bureau, and the elevation of Madeleine Haeringer to oversee digital operations. He is also a past president of the Overseas Press Club of America and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
The moves reflect a broader digital reinvention at MSNBC as it transitions into Versant, the standalone cable network group being spun off from NBCUniversal. While Comcast has framed the reorganization as a structural pivot to isolate declining linear assets, company executives say the effort also unlocks new digital potential.
