Steve Capus Now Officially Out As NBC News President

NBC News president Steve Capus is leaving the network. Mediate has reported repeatedly that Capus' tenure at NBC News was under threat even before Patricia Fili-Krushel was appointed over him. Some of the most significant hints came when former Today Show boss Jim Bell regularly made major decisions instead of, and over, the NBC News president. Capus made the news official today in a memo to NBC News employees.

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'Of course, it is an extremely difficult decision to walk away from a place that has been the backdrop for everything in my life since 1993,' Capus wrote in a memo to NBC News staff published in its entirety on POLITICO.

'Twenty years ago this month, I was handed my first NBC News ID card by Sharon Houston and Cheryl Gould. What a thrill for this NASCAR-loving kid from suburban Philadelphia who aspired from a young age to be a DJ at a rock 'n' roll radio station.'

He notes that NBC News has expanded its reach under his leadership and its cable news property, MSNBC, has dramatically expanded its influence.

MSNBC has gone from a start-up to an extremely powerful property on the cable landscape with substantial growth for seven years running. None of us who were there for the launch in 1996, when Brian was forced to hold up an atlas just to display a map, could have envisioned what MSNBC has become ' but my 'buddy' Phil Griffin and I view it now with tremendous pride.

'NBC News will continue to rest in your capable hands with the support and leadership of Steve Burke, Pat Fili-Krushel and, of course, Brian Roberts who has described NBC News as the 'crown jewel' of the company,' Capus concludes.

h/t POLITICO

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