What will happen to CNBC and MSNBC when they lose their corporate affiliation with NBC News?

Comcast corporate reorganization means there will soon be two television networks with “NBC” in their name – CNBC and MSNBC – that will no longer have any corporate connection to NBC News.

How this will affect the viewers of these networks, as well as the people who work there, remains to be seen. Their new corporate chief, Mark Lazarus, visited the set of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” when the plan was announced Wednesday and spoke with network employees on a morning conference call to allay concerns.

Comcast is spinning off most of its cable networks, including USA, Oxygen, E!, SYFY and Golf Channel, into a separate company. It recognizes that streaming is seen as the future and cable networks are a drag on profits.

Over the course of their lives, TV networks have gone from upstarts to legacy operations like NBC to bankable superstars to castoffs.

Questions range from easy to difficult

Lazarus, chairman of NBC Universal Media Group, becomes CEO of the newly created cable network company, temporarily dubbed “SpinCo.” Cesar Conde, who as chairman of NBC Universal News Group oversaw CNBC and MSNBC, will lose those networks from his portfolio but will remain in charge of NBC News, streaming service NBC News Now, Telemundo and the news operations of local NBC-owned stations. .

The presence of Lazarus and Anand Kini, who will serve as SpinCo’s chief operating officer and chief financial officer, is a good sign for the new company, said Jessica Reif Ehrlich, an analyst at Bank of America. “You can’t think of it as getting rid of lousy assets because these are talented executives,” she said.

At MSNBC, questions about the future range from simple: Will it even keep its name? – to the complex.

MSNBC staff and studios are based in the same Rockefeller Center offices as NBC News, and it was unclear Wednesday whether they would remain or move elsewhere, Lazarus told MSNBC staff.

MSNBC’s relationship with NBC News has caused some awkwardness, especially as the network has become known for its stable of liberal commentators, although it remains affiliated with a news division that emphasizes impartiality. For most of MSNBC’s broadcast day, NBC News writers like Katy Tur, Jose Diaz-Balart, Chris Jansing and a host of reporters appear online.

It’s unclear whether steps can be taken to continue this cross-pollination—for example, where will Steve Kornacki land? — or if MSNBC incurs the costs of building its own news-gathering operation or puts more emphasis on commentary.

It’s a nerve-wracking time for MSNBC for other reasons. The network has seen a sharp drop in viewership since Donald Trump won the election, although typically news networks that appeal primarily to one side of the political divide lose viewers when their candidates are defeated. History shows that most viewers return, and MSNBC executives expect it.

It is less clear whether second Trump administration will complicate life. Trump ally Steve Bannon sent a specific warning to the network’s hosts and producers on his radio show last week. “You better worry,” he said. “You better become a lawyer.”

“Bittersweet thing”?

CNBC launched in 1989 and MSNBC in 1996. Since then they have seemed to be inextricably linked to the broadcast network, and the separation of legal, advertising, technical and other support is another thing that needs to be worked out.

Thanks to its financial concentration, CNBC has found itself more independent from NBC News than its cable brethren. The company’s offices are located in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, and its operations are even physically separate. However, NBC News often uses CNBC reporters for their business expertise in broadcasting and streaming services.

Both MSNBC and CNBC will need to work out the ongoing separation of legal, advertising, technical and other support services from NBC News.

“I totally sympathize with the people who think this is going to be bittersweet,” Lazarus said, according to MSNBC. “I think it’s interesting because it’s very rare in life that you get the opportunity to be part of what I call a ‘well-funded startup.’

Despite the old-school nature of the cable TV company, Comcast executives are optimistic about its prospects, noting that many of them are individually profitable. And there is potential to buy other networks that are undervalued by large media companies.

Andrew Ross Sorkin, host of CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” said Wednesday on “Morning Joe” that the two cable news networks generate “extraordinary profits” for Comcast that are not reinvested in cable properties.

“If you could take the money coming through these channels and invest in the business as an independent entity, what would that ultimately look like?” asked Sorkin. “Could you use this money for other acquisitions? investment in the business itself is a big question.”

One piece of advice from Bank of America’s Ehrlich: Save the names. “These are pretty big brands,” she said. “I wouldn’t advise them to change.”

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David Bauder covers media for the AP. Follow him in http://x.com/dbauder.