MSNBC Lures Veteran TV-News Producer Jonathan Wald

In TV-news circles, producer Jonathan Wald has seen pretty much everything, serving as a senior hand at programs ranging from NBC’s “Today” to CNN’s “Piers Morgan Tonight.” Now he will step up to a broader role at MSNBC.

The NBCUniversal-owned cable-news outlet said it had hired Wald as senior vice president of programming and development, a title that gives him some oversight of the network’s primetime programming along with a responsibility for developing long-form content and special events. He will start March 6 and report to MSNBC president Phil Griffin. Wald had most recently served as executive producer of “CNN Tonight” the Don Lemon-hosted primetime program in which the anchor often raises eyebrows with his discussion of the headlines.

Wald is returning to NBCU after a long first tenure there. He had served as executive producer of both “Today” and “NBC Nightly News,” as well as senior vice president of business news at CNBC in the midst of last decade’s financial crisis. Earlier in his career, he worked at Boston’s WBZ.

Wald will take his new role as MSNBC is seeing some new momentum due to both viewer interest in news during the Trump presidency and as the network focuses more intently on breaking news across the schedule, shedding some of the progressive-lens programming it once burnished in both daytime and primetime,

Related stories

White House Blocks CNN, NY Times, Politico, LA Times, Others From Press Briefing

Trump Calls News Media the 'Enemy of the American People'

Jeff Zucker: President Trump's Attacks Haven't Hurt CNN's Brand

Get more from Variety and Variety411: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter