The 30 Rock Divorce

Last week, as Status first reported, NBCUniversal veteran Jessica Kurdali was named senior vice president of talent strategy for Versant—the soon-to-launch cable spin-off that will house CNBC, MSNBC, and other former NBCU cable properties. Kurdali’s jump, which will see her portfolio beyond news and into entertainment and sports, was more than a routine executive reshuffle. It was the latest development in the awkward slow-motion divorce between NBCU News Group and Versant—a split that has given way to substantial friction inside the organization and fueled an environment rife with internal jockeying.

Inside 30 Rock, the tension is palpable. Officially, everyone is still part of one big happy corporate family—Comcast’s NBCU. But the imminent spin-off of Versant, and with it, CNBC and MSNBC, has ruptured what had long been a single news ecosystem. NBC News, Telemundo, CNBC, and MSNBC once made up a unified news group. Now, as the separation unfolds, those entities are dividing into rival factions.

“It does feel like a divorce where everyone knows mom and dad are splitting up, but everyone has to continue living in the same house until it’s done,” one person familiar with the dynamics told me. “You’re seeing a house divided.”