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The recent departure of a top NBC News correspondent has some of his new colleagues at MS NOW scratching their heads.
Peter Alexander, NBC’s chief White House correspondent and weekend “Today” co-host, revealed to viewers late last month he was leaving the Peacock network after 22 years. Days later, MS NOW announced it had tapped Alexander to be its chief national reporter and anchor its 11 a.m. ET time slot, which will be vacated by Ana Cabrera, who is leaving in June.
“Many of us are puzzled by the Peter Alexander thing,” one MS NOW insider told Fox News Digital.
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Longtime NBC News correspondent Peter Alexander is joining MS NOW as a correspondent and anchor. ( William B. Plowman/NBC via Getty Images)
MS NOW, formerly known as MSNBC, was previously a sister network to NBC News until their parent company Comcast spun off its cable networks into the new company Versant. Before the corporate divorce, NBC News and MSNBC shared newsgathering resources, studio space and equipment. And much of the talent, mainly NBC correspondents, made appearances on both networks. Alexander was among those who had frequently appeared on MSNBC and additionally served as a fill-in anchor.
While MSNBC was always known for its liberal leanings, the network has further leaned into its progressive identity under MS NOW.
“It doesn’t make a ton of sense; he’s a solid reporter, it’s just he’s never leaned into the whole perspective thing,” the MS NOW insider said. “If you had one empty slot on the revitalized MS NOW, I don’t think anybody would have bet their money on Peter Alexander.”
However, an MS NOW spokesperson said that Alexander “doesn’t need to lean into perspective” and is “not hosting an opinion show.”
“Him coming here is a sign of what MS NOW is building and creating,” the MS NOW spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
MS NOW chief Rebecca Kutler similarly touted Alexander’s journalism bona fides, telling staff in a memo, “Whether behind the anchor desk or reporting from the field, Peter is also the rare journalist who can straddle lifestyle, politics, and breaking news with ease.”
Peter Alexander asks a question at a White House press briefing. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Alexander chalked his NBC News exit up to wanting to spend more time with his family.
“I’ve been away from home more than 80 nights in the last seven months. More than 200 Friday nights away from my family in the last seven years,” Alexander told viewers on his final NBC broadcast late last month before his MS NOW gig was announced. “So, in this limited window before my daughters lose interest in hanging out with me, I’m eager to carve out a better balance between my personal and professional lives.”
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Alexander’s new colleagues are perplexed by the timing of the announcement, the insider said. The corporate split from NBC occurred last fall when MSNBC rebranded itself as MS NOW and many NBC reporters at the time — including Jacob Soboroff, Ken Dilanian, Ali Vitali, Ryan Reilly and Brandy Zadrozny — joined the liberal network, which has also hired journalists from other outlets as part of its launch.
“If he wanted to host a show on MSNBC, I suspect that could have happened five years ago,” the MS NOW staffer told Fox News Digital, suggesting he previously resisted joining the cable network in order to maintain an image as a straight-news reporter.
MS NOW, after opening the day with the more partisan “Morning Joe,” has a mix of center-left dayside broadcasts before veering into explicitly left-wing opinion programming in the late afternoon and into primetime with such hosts as Nicolle Wallace, Jen Psaki, Rachel Maddow and Chris Hayes.
Peter Alexander told NBC viewers he was leaving the network to “carve out a better balance between my personal and professional lives.” (Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images)
Another factor current NBC News correspondents are grappling with is the lack of airtime they now receive. After losing the opportunity to appear on various programs on MS NOW, they are now only relegated to NBC News properties like “Today,” “NBC Nightly News” as well as their streaming service, confronting the reality that there isn’t enough linear TV airtime to go around.
“There’s always this endless fight with network reporters about how you get on TV when there’s so little actual TV to get on,” the MS NOW insider said. “MSNBC was a real place for them to put their stuff; there was a home for NBC reporters.”
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A former NBC News producer told Fox News Digital “nobody” would have willingly jumped from NBC News to its progressive cable arm only a few years ago, but things have changed dramatically.
“NBC News is now a tomb with feckless leadership and nothing but budget cuts, pay cuts, and boring, cheaply produced shows. Its soul is gone,” the former NBC staffer said.
The ex-NBC producer added, “They are never going to recover from losing MSNBC and CNBC. It says a lot that employees are ditching the place for a cable network whose days are believed to be numbered.”
Neither Alexander nor NBC News responded to requests for comment.