MSNBC unveiled its new lineup on Monday, with former Biden Press Secretary Jen Psaki seeing her show expand to several nights during the week and outgoing anchor Joy Reid being replaced by a new program.
The changes are being spearheaded by recently-appointed MSNBC President Rebecca Kutler, who is betting on names that are well-liked in Democratic and left-leaning circles to help the cable channel continue its rebound from a post-election viewer exodus.
The big change is that Psaki’s show, “Inside with Jen Psaki,” will now air Tuesday-Friday at 9 p.m. ET. Veteran host Rachel Maddow will return following President Trump’s first 100 days in office to host the 9 p.m. hour on Mondays.
Psaki is replacing Alex Wagner, who has anchored Tuesday-Friday at 9 p.m. since 2022; Wagner will be staying with MSNBC as a senior political analyst.
And MSNBC confirmed it is replacing “The ReidOut” with a new show hosted by “The Weekend” anchors Symone Sanders-Townsend, Michael Steele and Alicia Menendez. That program will air at 7 p.m. ET Monday-Friday.
President Trump mocked Reid for losing her job late on Sunday, saying the “mentally obnoxious racist” should have been “canned” years ago. MSNBC on Monday did not mention when Reid’s official last show will air this week, and it did not share a name for the new show being hosted by Sanders-Townsend, Steele and Menendez.
A few other notable changes being made by MSNBC include the expansion of Ali Velshi’s weekend show from two hours to three hours, and the sunsetting of its Miami broadcasting operation. That change will lead to two shows, “José Díaz-Balart Reports” and “The Katie Phang Show,” going off the air. Díaz-Balart will still anchor NBC’s “Weekend Nightly News” and Phang will be staying with MSNBC as a legal correspondent. MSNBC said it will be consolidating its production operations in New York and Washington, D.C. moving forward.
When it comes to the daytime block, “Ana Cabrera Reports” will expand to 10 a.m. to noon ET; “Chris Jansing Reports” is shifting to noon to 2 p.m., and “Katy Tur Reports” will add another hour and air from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
The changes come after MSNBC’s ratings took a big hit following the 2024 election, but have enjoyed a recent increase, following the president’s inauguration. MSNBC on Monday noted its primetime viewership has increased 77% since the inauguration, with the cable channel averaging 1.4 million primetime viewers between Jan. 20 and Feb. 14. Fox News, for comparison, averaged 3 million primetime viewers the week of Feb. 10., and CNN averaged a little less than half a million viewers during that same time.
Kutler, who recently took over the top job at MSNBC after Rashida Jones exited, addressed MSNBC leadership earlier this month. The media industry veteran told MSNBC brass “our jobs are hard on a normal day, and these are not normal times.”
“We have a new company, we have new leadership, we will have new offices and we have a non-stop news cycle,” Kutler said. “I think it’s important that we all share in the exciting parts of what the year ahead is going to mean in terms of getting to build a new news organization – one that is built for us, for our needs first, to be part of a new company that is standing itself up and that we have a seat at the table at the ground floor of that, and what that’s going to look like and we get to help determine that.”
She added: “It’s going to be hard, but it’s also going to be exciting and interesting and a really important time to do what all of us do.”
Here’s a full look at MSNBC’s weekday schedule:
– 5 a.m. “Way Too Early with Ali Vitali”
– 6 a.m. “Morning Joe with Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski and Willie Geist”
– 10 a.m. “Ana Cabrera Reports”
– 12 p.m. “Chris Jansing Reports”
– 2 p.m. “Katy Tur Reports”
– 4 p.m. “Deadline: White House with Nicolle Wallace”
– 6 p.m. “The Beat with Ari Melber”
– 7 p.m. “Symone Sanders-Townsend, Michael Steele, Alicia Menedez”
–8 p.m. “All In With Chris Hayes” Tuesday-Friday; “Townsend, Steele, Menedez” on Mondays
– 9 p.m. “The Rachel Maddow Show” on Mondays; Jen Psaki on Tuesdays-Fridays
