Maddow Money

Rachel Maddow
Maddow’s once-a-week deal belies her true value to the network: In addition to anchoring election coverage and other big news nights, her aura and imprimatur elevates the network’s primetime hours even when she’s not on the air. Photo: Craig Barritt/Getty Images for The New Yorker
Dylan Byers
November 23, 2024

This week, while MSNBC and CNBC employees were anxiously trying to make sense of Comcast boss Brian Roberts’ decision to cast them out into the wilderness as part of a stand-alone cable channel company, Rachel Maddow’s agents were busy finalizing her deal to stay with the liberal news network for as long as five more years. Mark Shapiro, the Endeavor president and power agent who negotiated Maddow’s previous three-year, $30 million-plus per annum deal, is now putting the finishing touches on her new five-year deal with NBC operations chairman Jimmy Horowitz and NBC News Group president Cesar Conde. On Thursday, The Ankler reported that it will net out at $25 million a year, which is at least in the ballpark—less per year, in line with the industry’s broader comp depression, but a guaranteed nine-figure haul over the full term. And, yes, she’ll still host just one night a week.