Phil Griffin was named President, msnbc in July 2008. Griffin, who has had executive oversight for MSNBC since 2006, manages all day-to-day decisions at msnbc. In addition to his responsibilities at the 24-hour cable news channel, Griffin also supervises NBC News’ Specials coverage.
Under Griffin’s management, msnbc has overtaken CNN in both the primetime and morning time periods. Griffin has orchestrated the launch of many successful programs including "Morning Joe," "The Rachel Maddow Show," "The Ed Show" and "The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell." Additionally, the network launched a new branding campaign, “Lean Forward,” which embodies MSNBC’s mission to help move America into the future.
Griffin was named Senior Vice President at NBC News in April 2005, where he was responsible for America’s number-one morning program, “Today.” Prior to that, he was Vice President of Primetime Programming for msnbc, managing all primetime programming for the network.
Griffin has been with msnbc since its launch in July 1996. He has produced several programs for the cable network including "Hardball with Chris Matthews" from 1999-2004. At msnbc's launch, Griffin produced “Internight,” hosted by Tom Brokaw, Katie Couric, Bryant Gumbel, Bob Costas and Bill Moyers featuring newsmakers, artists and authors. Griffin also produced “The Big Show with Keith Olbermann” from 1997-98.
Prior to becoming an executive producer at msnbc, Griffin was the senior broadcast producer of “NBC Nightly News,” where he oversaw domestic stories on a daily basis. Griffin traveled extensively with anchor Tom Brokaw on major breaking news events to Somalia, Moscow and the Middle East.
In 1995, Griffin went to Los Angeles to head up NBC News’ coverage of the O.J. Simpson Trial. Prior to that, he was the American Close-Up segment producer for “Nightly News” beginning in 1991. From 1988-1991, Griffin was a writer/producer for “Today,” where he covered stories including the Persian Gulf War, the San Francisco earthquake and the invasion of Panama. This marked Griffin’s return to “Today,” where he worked from 1983-1987 as a writer/producer.
Griffin left “Today” in 1987 to join “USA Today: The Television Show” as senior producer until 1988. He began his career at CNN in 1980, where he was a producer for three years.
Griffin is a graduate of Vassar College, with a B.A. in English. He and his wife Kory Apton reside in Manhattan with their two children.