NBC News correspondent Jacob Soboroff will join MSNBC full time once the progressive cable channel is spun off into a new company, which will be called Versant.

Later this year, MSNBC is heading to Versant, which will be the new stand-alone home for current parent company Comcast’s cable networks.

As a result, MSNBC will no longer have the resources of NBC News and is putting together its own editorial operation. The stylized NBC peacock will also disappear from the MSNBC logo.

NBC News correspondents who moved seamlessly between NBC’s broadcast programs and MSNBC will no longer appear on both platforms once the spin-off is complete. (The one exception is expected to be Willie Geist, who has anchor roles on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” and NBC’s “Sunday Today.”)

Soboroff, a Los Angeles native who earlier this year reported on how his childhood home was lost in the Palisades fire, is the highest profile talent so far to leave NBC News in the split. He will remain based on the West Coast.

Soboroff, 42, was hired as an MSNBC correspondent in 2015. He was later named an NBC News correspondent and in recent years has frequently appeared as a fill-in co-host on the network’s morning franchise “Today.”

NBC News employees who worked both on the broadcast and cable sides have been asked to choose which entity they will join. Most NBC News staffers are choosing to stick with the network. Steve Kornacki, the number-crunching star of MSNBC’s election nights, chose the broadcast network over cable as he also works for NBC Sports.

But a number of NBC News correspondents, producers and executives are choosing to go to the cable side. The migration to MSNBC is surprising, considering the business environment.

Comcast is spinning off the cable networks because it believes the mature outlets face a bleak future due to pay TV cord-cutting and are an albatross weighing down its stock price. MSNBC, the second most watched cable news channel behind leader Fox News, is seen its reach into pay TV homes decline by 33% over the last 10 years.

That has not kept some significant names from giving the start-up a shot. Earlier this week, Versant announced that “NBC Nightly News” executive producer Meghan Rafferty is joining the company as vice president of news standards.

NBC News correspondents moving to the cable side include Ken Dilanian, who covers the Justice Department. Vaughn Hillyard is moving over to become senior White House correspondent, and David Noriega will be a national correspondent based in Los Angeles.

The new company has also attracted talent and executives from CNN, Politico and the New York Times.

TV news agents say privately that many NBC News staffers are expecting layoffs in the division over the next year as ratings and advertising revenue for broadcast TV decline. (The division has not announced any such plans).

While the channels going to Versant, which include CNBC, Golf Channel and USA Network, face similar challenges, the spinoff group is aggressively hiring and promises substantial investment in the channels that still turn a profit.

Correspondents are also attracted to the platform that a 24-hour cable network provides.

Soboroff, the son of Los Angeles civic leader Steve Soboroff, has focused on issues that appeal to the MSNBC audience.

He aggressively covered the family separation crisis at the southern border in 2018, which earned a Cronkite Award. He wrote a book on the topic and executive produced an Emmy-nominated documentary in 2024.

Most recently in June 2025, Soboroff led MSNBC’s coverage of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in Los Angeles and the resulting protests. His upcoming book, “Firestorm: The Great Los Angeles Fires and America’s New Age of Disaster,” will be released in January.

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