Phil Griffin

Philip T. Griffin (born November 27, 1956) is an American television executive, who from 2008 to 2021 served as president of MSNBC, a United States cable news channel.

Early life

The youngest of four children, Griffin grew up in Chappaqua, New York

NBCUniversal/MSNBC

Griffin was with MSNBC from its start in 1996. and MSNBC's The Big Show with Keith Olbermann. He was the head of prime-time programming for the network. and Chris Hayes.

In 2005, former NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Zucker appointed Griffin senior vice president of NBC News and in 2008, president of MSNBC. Griffin has asserted that MSNBC is an independent voice that does not favor Democrats. He has rejected claims that partisanship is equivalent at MSNBC and Fox News.

In 2016, after MSNBC started covering more hard news during the day, Griffin likened its evening shows to an op-ed page in a newspaper. The network had its highest ever ratings in 2016 and in the first quarter of 2017 averaged 1.46 million views in prime time, beating CNN. Griffin said that he thought the surge in audience was attributable to scoops and new information, rather than partisan leanings.

In May 2017, Griffin signed a multi-year renewal contract to remain as president of MSNBC in the midst of a ratings surge during and following the 2016 presidential election. In June 2017, he said that the network was making an effort to include diverse political voices. Earlier in the year, Griffin signed former George W. Bush communications director Nicolle Wallace to host an afternoon program for the network.

On December 7, 2020, MSNBC announced that at the end of January, Griffin would be replaced with journalist and television executive Rashida Jones.

Personal life In 1997, Griffin married Kory Kim Apton in a civil ceremony in New York. They have two children, daughter Riley and son Jackson.

He has said his idols are former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes and former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw. "I am one of the few people in television who never wanted to be on-air," he told The New Republic in 2013.