Longtime NBC News veteran Ann Curry is leaving the network to found a media startup that will be seeded by NBCUniversal, the network announced Tuesday.
The formal announcement comes after an NBC News senior executive confirmed Curry’s departure to B&C.
The startup will focus on incubating and producing content of national and global importance with a multi-platform distribution approach.
"I am sincerely grateful to NBC News for allowing me to offer viewers a vast and diverse body of work, including a depth of humanitarian reporting I understand still resonates. It has been a privilege to work with so many good and talented people at the network and I look forward to what we will do ahead. At the same time, I can't wait to expand my reach and work with people I admire in other places," said Curry.
“We’re proud to support Ann in her new venture, and we look forward to more of her exceptional storytelling,” added Pat Fili-Krushel, chairman, NBCUniversal News Group. “She is committed to uncovering critical issues, humanizing them, and ultimately helping viewers understand and connect.”
Curry will now have the freedom to report on any platform or network, including NBC News.
The news comes roughly two and a half years after Curry’s messy departure from the anchor chair on NBC’s morning show Today, which was heavily scrutinized for the way it was handled. Curry was since replaced with Savannah Guthrie. Though the show’s audience had been eroding ever since Meredith Vieria left program, rival Good Morning America overtook it in the ratings — remaining on top ever since — shortly after Curry’s exit.
After leaving Today, Curry had a wide-ranging role with NBC News as a correspondent, though her screen time has dwindled heavily in recent months. Her departure from NBC News had been widely expected in some circles, considering the nature of her Today exit.
Curry first joined NBC News in 1990 as a Chicago-based correspondent and then as anchor of NBC News at Sunrise. After serving as a substitute news anchor from 1994-1997, Curry formally joined Today in 1997 as its news anchor, becoming the second-longest to serve in that role (through 2011).
