MSNBC Brings Back Luke Russert to Spearhead New Live Events Business (Exclusive)

Alex Weprin
·4 min read
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MSNBC wants a piece of the live events business, and it is bringing back a familiar face to lead its effort in the space.

MSNBC is launching a live events brand called “MSNBC Live” next year, combining live interviews and panel discussions, as well as forums and other events featuring MSNBC anchors and talent.

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The cable news channel is bringing back Luke Russert, who served as a correspondent and anchor for NBC News and MSNBC from 2008-2016, to serve as the host and creative director of the event brand.

“At these events MSNBC regulars will be talking with some of America’s leading thinkers. It is our hope we can advance important dialogue and reach a measure of understanding as well as remember what makes America great– its unity in diversity and commitment to democratic ideals,” says Russert. “I want people to leave better informed and inspired to promote positive action.”

Russert is also the son of the late Tim Russert, who moderated NBC’s Meet the Press from 1991 until his death in 2008. Luke Russert wrote a book earlier this year called Look For Me There: Grieving My Father, Finding Myself.

“We see him as the person who’s going to help us curate the audiences, curate the panels, the experiences, lead some of the discussions and interviews on stage, really help create the whole dynamic experience for the audience,” says Rebecca Kutler, senior VP of content strategy at MSNBC. “And, you know, he has spoken so eloquently around what he heard and saw on his book tour, as he traveled the country over the last year and I think that experience inspired him to kind of continue to be out in the country. Learning from and talking to, you know, audiences and interacting with them.”

MSNBC Live will include both intimate experiences and large-scale events, held in Washington D.C. and in other markets across the country.

Kutler says that the D.C. events will tend to be smaller, bringing “thought leaders, newsmakers … that bring together a lot of the people that you see as guests on MSNBC to come together in real life, and talk about those issues to really inform our audiences in smaller more intimate settings.”

The company is also exploring “larger scale events where audiences can buy tickets can come interact with our hosts, come to maybe a live podcast taping, a documentary screening, learn how to Steve Kornacki runs the board,” Kutler says. “All the things that we know our audience comes to MSNBC for, giving them an opportunity to feel and experience and learn from that in real life.”

“MSNBC is a trusted source of news and perspective for millions of viewers and readers, and we’re looking to deepen that relationship even further,” MSNBC President Rashida Jones says. “Thoughtful, in-person conversations on topics at the forefront of our audience’s minds are a tremendous opportunity to engage in a new way.”

Live events have become a growing business for media companies, including at NBCUniversal, which has turned BravoCon into an annual event that draws thousands of attendees, and dozens of high-profile sponsors.

As with BravoCon, MSNBC says that it expects the channel’s “most engaged viewers” to be the core audience for MSNBC Live With the 2024 election top of mind, it is a topic that is ripe with possibilities for events and conversations that would be of interest to the MSNBC audience.

And MSNBC Live can trace its origins in part to the success that Chris Hayes had when he hosted live tapings of his podcast earlier this fall.

“We did a four city tour with Chris Hayes with his podcast this fall,” Kutler notes. “The culminating event was Chris on stage with Rachel Maddow in front of 1300 people in New York City, and it was just an electric experience. And it really showed us again, how the fans want to come they want to be and learn from be with and learn from our talent in real life.”

She adds that just as the Hayes and Maddow podcast taping found its way onto MSNBC’s linear channel, so could elements of the live events in the works.

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