MSNBC on Monday announced a major overhaul to its primetime lineup that will go into effect in April even as it shared that Joy Reid will part ways with the network.
The overhaul comes as the progressive news network looks to maintain a jump in viewership in the first few weeks of the Trump administration. As part of a sweeping effort to consolidate production operations and add big names to woo audiences, the network is making major changes to its weekday and weekend lineups and canceling two Miami-based shows as it ends broadcast operations in the city and expands in others.
The shakeup follows reports on Sunday that the network would cancel “The ReidOut,” which Reid has hosted since 2020.
“We now have one of the most engaged audiences in all of television and are seeing rapid growth across digital, audio, and more,” Rebecca Kutler, MSNBC’s newly minted president, said in a memo obtained by CNN. “In the years ahead, we must continue to show up for our audiences in this critical moment while simultaneously best positioning ourselves for the future.”
Under the changes, Jen Psaki will anchor the network’s primetime 9 p.m. hour Tuesday through Friday. “Inside with Jen Psaki” currently airs Mondays at 8 p.m. and has expanded the network’s Monday 8 p.m. audience since she began her weeknight hosting duties in late September.
Rachel Maddow will also revert to hosting the 9 p.m. slot once a week, Kutler announced in the memo. Maddow’s show only aired on Mondays prior to Trump’s return to the Oval Office but was expanded to include Tuesday through Friday in January for the first 100 days of Trump’s administration to buoy ratings.
As part of the January move, Alex Wagner, who anchored the 9 p.m. timeslot Tuesday through Friday, was deployed on special assignment to cover the impact of Trump’s policies. Wagner will not return to her previous slot, but will remain with MSNBC as a senior political analyst.
Following the cancelation of Reid’s 7 p.m. “The ReidOut,” Symone Sanders-Townsend, Michael Steele, and Alicia Menendez — the trio that currently co-hosts “The Weekend” — will take over Tuesday through Friday. They will also host a two-hour show from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Mondays.
The trio of Sanders-Townsend, Steele, and Menendez improved viewership in the Saturday and Sunday 8 a.m. slot by 35% in total viewers in its first year.
Reid will part ways with MSNBC with the cancellation of “The ReidOut,” Kutler noted. The longtime anchor will host the final edition of “The ReidOut” on Monday, per Reid’s Bluesky post on Sunday. Kutler’s memo emphasizes that rotating anchors will host the slot in the coming weeks.
As Sanders-Townsend, Steele and Menendez shift to the 7 p.m. slot, the network will introduce a new trio of co-hosts to anchor a 7 a.m. and a new 6 p.m. edition of “The Weekend” on Saturdays and Sundays. Jonathan Capehart, the MSNBC host and Washington Post editor, will co-anchor the morning edition, while a different group — including MSNBC host Ayman Mohyeldin — will anchor the evening edition.
As Mohyeldin takes on the evening edition of “The Weekend,” the MSNBC show will no longer host “Ayman,” which airs Saturdays and Sundays at 7 p.m.
Meanwhile, Ali Velshi, who hosts “Velshi” weekends from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., will expand the show by an additional hour.
CNN alumna Ana Cabrera, who hosts “Ana Cabrera Reports” at 10 a.m., will expand her show by an hour, to 12 p.m. Additionally, Chris Jansing will anchor “Chris Jansing Reports” from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. and Katy Tur will add an hour to “Katy Tur Reports,” from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Notably, the changeup will see the progressive news outlet close its broadcasting operations in Miami, impacting “José Díaz-Balart Reports” and “The Katie Phang Show.” Despite the change, Phang will remain with MSNBC as a legal correspondent and Díaz-Balart will continue to anchor “Weekend Nightly News” on NBC.
The sweeping changeup comes just three months after Comcast announced it would spin off most of its cable TV networks — including MSNBC and a half dozen others — into SpinCo, a separate, publicly traded company, a process Comcast has said will take about a year.
Amid the change, MSNBC will consolidate production operations to New York and Washington, DC. MSNBC will establish its own Washington Bureau amid SpinCo’s separation of the cable news outlet and NBC News. Per Kutler, the network will announce updates about the Washington bureau in the coming months.
Kutler on Sunday notified “ReidOut” staffers that their roles would be terminated, but encouraged employees to apply for jobs within the company. Additionally, Kutler shared the company would post over 100 new jobs this week, emphasizing that there would be more jobs at the network in six months than currently.
During the call, Kutler was asked if “The ReidOut” was being canceled so that SpinCo might curry favor with President Trump, who often openly derides the progressive outlet.
“No, it did not,” Kutler succinctly said in a recording obtained by CNN.
Brian Stelter and Auzinea Bacon contributed to this report.
