Andrea Mitchell to step down as MSNBC anchor on Friday after 17 years

Andrea Mitchell, who hosted MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports for 17 years, will be stepping down as a full-time anchor on the Comcast-owned news station.

She had announced in the fall that she would be stepping down from her daily show after the inauguration but will remain as an NBC News’ chief foreign affairs correspondent and chief Washington correspondent, the New York Post reported. MSNBC has yet to announce what will replace the program. 

Mitchell told viewers in October, "After 16 years of being in the anchor chair every day, I want time to do more of what I love the most: connecting, listening, and reporting in the field. Whoever is elected next week will face the monumental task of handling two foreign wars and the political divisions here at home." 

Andrea Mitchell Reports was launched by MSNBC in 2008, making the show the longest-running in MSNBC’s daytime lineup. Mitchell’s career has spanned over five decades at NBC News, covering every US presidential election since 1980 as well as major global events. 

In a memo, NBC executives praised Mitchell’s contributions, stating, "Andrea remains one of the country’s foremost and most trusted experts on foreign policy and domestic politics." The network said in a statement, "Her deep sourcing and ability to land the biggest-name news-making interviews are unmatched," adding that "we are so pleased that she will remain an essential part of the News Group for years to come."

This comes after MSNBC and CNN were spun off into their own company by Comcast, and MSNBC head Rashida Jones stepped down. Former Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd left the outlet on Friday, telling colleagues in a memo, "There’s never a perfect time to leave a place that’s been a professional home for so long, but I’m pretty excited about a few new projects that are on the cusp of going from ‘pie in the sky’ to ‘near reality.'"