Politics
JUST IN: MSNBC Pulls The Plug On Joy Reid’s Show
MSNBC is cancelling Joy Reid’s long-running show, “The ReidOut,” as part of a major network shakeup. The move comes as parent company Comcast clears the deck for a potential sale involving MSNBC and a number of additional cable channels.
Reid’s program, which airs on weeknights at 7 p.m. Eastern Time, will be replaced by a new show hosted by former Bernie Sanders campaign spokeswoman Symone Sanders, former RNC chairman Michael Steele and Alicia Menendez, the daughter of disgraced Senator Bob Menendez.
For Reid, the cancellation comes as her show has struggled to attract more than 1 million viewers over the last several months. The show’s overall ratings have declined by 28 percent when compared with this time last month.
The far-left host will host her final episode of “The ReidOut” this coming Tuesday.
Photo: MSNBC
MSNBC’s new president, Rebecca Kutler, is planning a number of additional cuts and restructuring across the network’s afternoon, weekend and primetime lineups, according to a report from Fox News. Former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, who currently hosts “Inside With Jen Psaki,” is expected to receive more airtime amidst the shakeup.
Psaki’s show, which was put together by Kutler, has become the network’s highest rated program over the past year.
Alex Wagner, who was previously bumped from primetime when Rachel Maddox pivoted from hosting her show once to a week to nightly over President Trump’s first 100 days, is expected to remain with the network but will not be hosting a primetime show going forward. MSNBC is also in talks to add Politico’s Eugene Daniels and New York University law professor Melissa Murray to potentially join the network, Fox News reported.
MSNBC is also looking to fill a number of key behind the scenes positions, including a head of talent, head of newsgathering, a Washington bureau chief and a head of content strategy.
The shakeup comes about three months after Comcast announced that it will be merging a number of cable assets, including news assets like MSNBC and CNBC, into a separate publicly traded company. The new company will include the USA Network, CNBC, MSNBC, Oxygen, E!, SYFY and the Golf Channel. Comcast will retain a number of NBCUniversal assets, including the Peacock streaming service, the NBC broadcast network, NBC News and the Bravo cable channel.
“The transaction will be structured as a tax-free spin to existing shareholders,” Comcast President Mike Cavanagh said in an internal memo. “While we don’t have a precise timetable for completing the transition, we are estimating that it will take approximately a year.”
