Brian Williams is set to make a regular return to MSNBC to cover daily campaign news.
The former host of “NBC Nightly News” has been given his own special 11 p.m. timeslot between Labor Day and Election Day in the run-up to the presidential showdown, TheWrap has learned.
The show will be a wrap up of the political news of the day with MSNBC’s usual replays of primetime programming picking up at 11:30 p.m., according to an MSNBC executive.
The media veteran’s career had come full circle at MSNBC, where Williams began anchoring a primetime in 1996. Williams made his return to the airwaves last September after a six-month suspension over fabrications he perpetuated about his reporting experience during the Iraq War.
Since returning to MSNBC as a breaking news anchor, Williams has been all over the place. In 2016 year to date, Williams has anchored roughly 245 hours of coverage for a total of 316 hours since returning last September.
In the month of July alone, Williams anchored over 86 hours of coverage, including breaking news of the Dallas police shooting, the Nice attack, and the attempted military coup in Turkey, as well as over 20 hours a week during each convention.
Last week, MSNBC started testing live programming at 11 p.m. and it was a success. MSNBC beat CNN among total viewers at 11 p.m. for seven of the 10 nights of August, including all five nights last week.
Starting in September, Williams will occupy that spot on a regular basis. Well, at least for two months.