The transcription and processing of long intervening noncoding RNAs (lincRNAs), which are a class of lncRNAs expressed independently of protein-coding genes, are poorly understood. Schlackow et al. studied 285 lincRNAs that are highly expressed in HeLa cells using mNET-seq, which enables monitoring of the kinetics of transcription and co-transcriptional processes. The levels of co-transcriptional splicing in lincRNAs were considerably lower than in mRNAs, and transcription termination occurred at multiple positions along the transcripts. lincRNAs were weakly polyadenylated, and transcription termination and transcript stability were almost entirely independent of 3′ cleavage and polyadenylation. Although lincRNAs and mRNAs are often similarly abundant at the chromatin, lincRNAs were less abundant in the nucleoplasm, as they were cleaved at multiple positions and then degraded by the nuclear exosome complex. The exosome was recruited to lincRNAs by DGCR8, independently of the microRNA-processing function of DGCR8.