Meghan Rafferty, the executive producer of NBC Nightly News, is making a significant career move as she joins Versant, the upcoming Comcast spinoff. This transition marks a new chapter in her impressive journalism career, where she will play a vital role in shaping news standards for major networks.
Meghan Rafferty Joins Versant as VP of News Standards
NBC Nightly News executive producer Meghan Rafferty is set to leave the evening newscast to join Versant, the upcoming Comcast spinoff that will encompass most of the company’s cable TV brands.
New Role and Responsibilities
Rafferty will assume the position of vice president of news standards at Versant, where she will be responsible for establishing and upholding the company’s journalistic standards at both MSNBC and CNBC, while also guiding both newsrooms. Her appointment was announced internally by Brian Carovillano, who oversees standards and editorial partnerships for the company.
“She will help lead our News Standards Team and guide newsrooms at MSNBC and CNBC to ensure the work is fair, accurate, and transparent,” Carovillano stated in a memo. “She’ll collaborate with colleagues across our news platforms, as well as legal and other departments, and she will report to me.”
Background and Achievements
Rafferty has been at the helm of Nightly News since 2021, collaborating with both Lester Holt and Tom Llamas. The broadcast is expected to announce a new executive producer in the coming weeks, with Rafferty transitioning to Versant in September. Prior to her tenure at NBC News, she spent a decade at CNN, producing interviews and stories for notable journalists such as Wolf Blitzer and Christiane Amanpour.
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Versant has been actively recruiting ahead of the impending split, which will see MSNBC and CNBC operate independently from NBC News. This transition necessitates the establishment of a new news organization at MSNBC, focusing heavily on political news and hiring executives to develop the company’s digital strategy.
Carovillano’s Memo
You can read Carovillano’s memo below:
Team,
I’m thrilled to share some exciting news as we continue to build out our leadership team supporting the growing newsrooms across both MSNBC and CNBC.
Meghan Rafferty is joining VERSANT as Vice President of News Standards, beginning in early September. In this role, Meghan will be a key voice within both networks’ news leadership, helping to set and maintain the highest standards for our journalism.
She will help lead our News Standards Team and guide newsrooms at MSNBC and CNBC to ensure the work is fair, accurate, and transparent. She’ll collaborate with colleagues across our news platforms, as well as legal and other departments, and she will report to me.
No stranger to many of us here, Meghan joins us from NBC News, where she has been the executive producer of NBC Nightly News, anchored by Tom Llamas and Lester Holt, a position she has held since September 2021.
Under her leadership, NBC Nightly News was recognized with a News and Documentary Emmy for Holt’s exclusive interview with President Biden, just days before he ended his reelection bid. Driving Nightly’s in-depth investigative and foreign reports, Meghan was among those honored with a 2025 George Polk award for the investigative series ‘Dealing the Dead’ and a Murrow Award for Best Newscast in 2022. She joined NBC Nightly News as a senior producer in 2017.
Prior to joining NBC News, Meghan was with CNN for 10 years where she produced Wolf Blitzer’s newsmaking interviews with presidents and world leaders. In 2009, she launched Christiane Amanpour’s program, working as the lead editorial producer, and she was later nominated for an Emmy for producing Amanpour’s interview with Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe. Meghan received a News and Documentary Emmy award for her role in CNN’s 2012 election coverage and a Peabody for her work in the field during the 2011 Gulf Oil Spill.
Please join me in welcoming Meghan to VERSANT and the news standards team.
Brian Carovillano
SVP of Standards & Editorial Partnerships for News
