Philip T. Griffin (born November 27, 1956) is an American television executive, who from 2008 to 2021 served as president of
MSNBC
MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...
, a
United States cable news
Cable news channels are television networks devoted to television news broadcasts, with the name deriving from the proliferation of such networks during the 1980s with the advent of cable television.
In the United States, the first nationwide ca ...
channel.
Early life
The youngest of four children, Griffin grew up in
Chappaqua, New York
Chappaqua ( ) is a hamlet and census-designated place in the town of New Castle, in northern Westchester County, New York, United States. It is approximately north of New York City. The hamlet is served by the Chappaqua station of the Metro-N ...
and
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Ohio, Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnat ...
.
His father was an executive at
Macy's
Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...
. Griffin's family were
Democrats and politically-minded. As a child, his mother took him to rallies for the hungry. His brother was a conscientious objector.
In 1979, Griffin graduated with a degree in English from
Vassar College
Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely foll ...
.
He wrote his thesis on
Milton's ''
Paradise Lost
''Paradise Lost'' is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The first version, published in 1667, consists of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse. A second edition followed in 16 ...
''.
Early career
Following graduation, Griffin moved to Atlanta to take a minimum wage job at the fledgling
CNN.
Griffin was working a camera at CNN when it aired for the first time, on June 1, 1980.
At CNN, he befriended future MSNBC host
Keith Olbermann
Keith Theodore Olbermann (; born January 27, 1959) is an American sports and political commentator and writer.
Olbermann spent the first 20 years of his career in sports journalism. He was a sports correspondent for CNN and for local TV and ...
, who worked there as a sportscaster.
After several years with CNN, working primarily as a writer-producer-editor in their sports department, Griffin began work at NBC in 1983,
working as a relief producer for vacationing producers at
''The Today Show''.
Six months later Griffin convinced ''The Today Show''s executive producer to hire him on staff.
In 1987, he became a producer at ''
USA Today: The Television Show''. After it was canceled, he returned to ''The Today Show''.
At NBC, Griffin had several jobs, including as a senior broadcast producer for ''
NBC Nightly News
''NBC Nightly News'' (titled as ''NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt'' for its weeknight broadcasts since June 22, 2015) is the flagship daily evening News broadcasting#Television, television news program for NBC News, the news division of the NB ...
'' with
Tom Brokaw
Thomas John Brokaw (; born February 6, 1940) is an American retired network television journalist and author. He first served as the co-anchor of ''The Today Show'' from 1976 to 1981 with Jane Pauley, then as the anchor and managing editor of '' ...
. He led the
NBC News
NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's v ...
coverage of the
O. J. Simpson trial.
NBCUniversal/MSNBC
Griffin was with MSNBC from its start in 1996.
He has been executive producer for shows such as ''
Hardball with Chris Matthews
''Hardball with Chris Matthews'' was an American television talk show that was hosted by Chris Matthews. The program premiered on the now-defunct America's Talking network in 1994 (as ''Politics with Chris Matthews'') before moving on CNBC, and t ...
''
and MSNBC's ''The Big Show with
Keith Olbermann
Keith Theodore Olbermann (; born January 27, 1959) is an American sports and political commentator and writer.
Olbermann spent the first 20 years of his career in sports journalism. He was a sports correspondent for CNN and for local TV and ...
''. He was the head of prime-time programming for the network.
Griffin approved the launch of many shows, including ''
The Rachel Maddow Show'' and ''
Morning Joe
''Morning Joe'' is an American morning news and liberal talk show, airing weekdays from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time on the cable news channel MSNBC. It features former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough reporting and discu ...
''.
He also hired
Lawrence O'Donnell,
Ed Schultz,
and
Chris Hayes
Christopher Loffredo Hayes (; born February 28, 1979) is an American political commentator, television news anchor, activist, and author. Hayes hosts '' All In with Chris Hayes'', a weekday news and opinion television show on MSNBC. Hayes also ...
.
In 2005, former NBCUniversal CEO
Jeff Zucker
Jeffrey Adam Zucker (born April 9, 1965) is an American former media executive. Between January 2013 and February 2022, Zucker was the president of CNN Worldwide. Zucker oversaw CNN, CNN International, HLN, and CNN Digital. He was previously ...
appointed Griffin senior vice president of NBC News and in 2008, president of MSNBC.
In 2013, Griffin said he wanted MSNBC to be more of a lifestyle brand than a political hub.
In 2014, Griffin said the network would take steps to widen its demographic to include a more ethnically diverse audience, to increase its coverage outside of
the Washington, D.C. beltway and to appeal to younger viewers, including with online initiatives. 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
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is o ...
.
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
Nicolle Wallace (née Devenish; born February 4, 1972) is an American television host and author. She is known for her work as the anchor of the MSNBC news and politics program '' Deadline: White House'' and a former co-host of the ABC daytime ...
to host an
afternoon program for the network.
In October 2019,
Ronan Farrow
Satchel Ronan O'Sullivan Farrow (born December 19, 1987) is an American journalist. The son of actress Mia Farrow and filmmaker Woody Allen, he is best known for his investigative reporting of allegations of sexual abuse against film producer H ...
reported that in a staff meeting, Griffin showed a picture of television reporter Maria Menounos having a "wardrobe malfunction" with her bathing suit. "Would you look at that?" Griffin reportedly said while exhaling hard. "Not bad, not bad."
On December 7, 2020, MSNBC announced that at the end of January, Griffin would be replaced with journalist and television executive
Rashida Jones
Rashida Leah Jones (; born February 25, 1976) is an American actress.
Jones appeared as Louisa Fenn on the Fox drama series '' Boston Public'' (2000–2002), as Karen Filippelli on the NBC comedy series ''The Office'' (2006–2009; 2011), and ...
.
Personal life
In 1997, Griffin married Kory Kim Apton in a civil ceremony in
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
. They have two children, daughter Riley and son Jackson.
He has said his idols are former Fox News CEO
Roger Ailes, former NBC News anchor
Tom Brokaw
Thomas John Brokaw (; born February 6, 1940) is an American retired network television journalist and author. He first served as the co-anchor of ''The Today Show'' from 1976 to 1981 with Jane Pauley, then as the anchor and managing editor of '' ...
, and television news executive
Andrew Lack.
"I am one of the few people in television who never wanted to be on-air," he told ''
The New Republic
''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hu ...
'' in 2013.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffin, Phil
1955 births
Living people
American television executives
MSNBC people
Vassar College alumni
NBC News people
Maumee Valley Country Day School alumni