Rachel Maddow signs multiyear deal to expand her role to "studio boss"

• Much of the output will be nonfiction. But her empire includes anything where she's "a purveyor of great storytelling," the source said.

The big picture: Maddow's renewal marks a major win for new NBCUniversal News Group Chairman Cesar Conde, Axios' Sara Fischer reports.

Suitors included WarnerMedia (including Warner Bros. and CNN), Disney (including ABC and ESPN), Netflix and Spotify, the source said.

• Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel and President Mark Shapiro were her new reps for the deal.

Between the lines: Maddow loves her day job and her staff, but wanted a bigger role and to stretch her brand.

• She's MSNBC's top-rated host, and there's no succession plan. So the channel needed to keep her for the 2024 election.
• Now she'll hire staff to unearth projects and find source material in the vein of "Bag Man," her podcast and N.Y. Times bestseller about Spiro Agnew, who resigned as Richard Nixon's vice president.

The bottom line: As the definitions of media, content, distributions and platforms all change, the Maddow brand now has more outlets than ever.

• Read a "Bag Man" excerpt (Click "Read an excerpt" — pops up).