Peter Alexander, the veteran NBC News chief White House Correspondent, is making the jump to MS NOW to anchor a daytime slot for the cable network, people familiar with the plan told the Los Angeles Times on Saturday.
Alexander signed off from the Saturday edition of “Today,” which he co-hosts with Laura Jarrett, by announcing that he was moving on from NBC News – but did not mention where he was headed next. A rep for MS NOW declined to comment.
The 49-year-old journalist, who has been with NBC for 22 years, will also serve as chief national reporter for MS NOW, people familiar with the matter told the Times. He will anchor the 11 a.m. hour on MS NOW, the Times reported, taking over for Ana Cabrera, who is leaving the network.
MS NOW changed its name from MSNBC after it was spun off from Comcast last year. Now part of a new company called Versant, the cable network ended its once-close relationship with NBC News, and journalists who once worked for both were made to choose which they would go with; Alexander is the first to jump from NBC to MS NOW post-split.
Alexander, one of the most recognizable figures in the White House press corps, is a recipient of the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Political Journalism and has also received Edward R. Murrow Awards and Emmy Awards. The versatile anchor can handle lifestyle programming, hard news and sports, having spent a month producing short- and long-form Olympics content for “Today.”
Several NBC News journalists have already moved to MS NOW, including Jacob Soboroff, who joined as senior national and political reporter and anchors midday weekend coverage; Vaughn Hillyard, who serves as senior White House reporter; Brandy Zadrozny as senior enterprise reporter; Ali Vitali as senior Capitol Hill reporter in addition to anchoring “Way Too Early,” and more.
