MSNBC has announced major programming moves affecting its weekday and weekend schedules starting in April. The biggest casualty from these changes is The ReidOut’s Joy Reid, who saw her 7 p.m. ET show canceled after a five-year run.
As a result of these moves, Reid will no longer be part of the network, with rotating anchors filling in the interim. She had been with the network since 2011, starting as a contributor, moving to weekend anchor in 2016, and landing on the primetime schedule in 2020.
In addition, Alex Wagner will no longer anchor the 9 p.m. slot on Tuesdays through Fridays, instead assuming a senior political analyst role within the network. The Alex Wagner Tonight host has been traveling the country for the first 100 days of President Donald Trump‘s administration. Wagner had occupied that timeslot since the summer of 2022.
Reid and Wagner were frequently paired during the 2024 election cycle. In addition to co-hosting a live election special in October, they also appeared together at an MSNBC Live event in September as well as the Democratic National Convention in August.
Alex Wagner and Reid at the DNC in August (Courtesy MSNBC)
Rebecca Kutler, MSNBC’s newly appointed president, confirmed the moves to staff on Monday. She thanked Reid “for her countless contributions over the years” and noted that Wagner will “continue to bring her journalistic and production expertise to MSNBC audiences across all day parts.”
Puck News, The New York Times, and Variety previously reported on the network’s programming changes.
Kutler, who replaced Rashida Jones, is quickly making her mark at the network as she moves two performing weekend programs that she developed to the weeknight rotation.
Taking over from The ReidOut will be the Saturday and Sunday morning crew from The Weekend, which consists of Symone Sanders-Townsend, Michael Steele, and Alicia Menendez. They will anchor the 7 p.m. hour on Tuesday through Friday, plus a 7-9 p.m. two hour block on Mondays. (All times Eastern.) Menendez becomes the first Latina woman to host a primetime cable news program on MSNBC.
Meanwhile, Jen Psaki will inherit Wagner’s 9 p.m. slot once Rachel Maddow shifts back to a Monday night schedule following the conclusion of Trump’s first 100 days in May. The Inside with Jen Psaki host currently anchors Sunday and Monday newscasts.
Other changes include morning MSNBC anchor José Díaz-Balart departing the cable news outlet while remaining the anchor of Weekend Nightly News on NBC News. Additionally, Katie Phang will lose her weekend show, but remain with MSNBC as the network sunsets its Miami broadcast base and consolidates operations between New York and Washington, D.C.
Additional weekday programming moves at MSNBC include expanding the MSNBC Reports brand to two hours for Ana Cabrera (10 a.m. to 12 p.m.), Chris Jansing (12-2 p.m.), and Katy Tur (2-4 p.m.).
The Weekend franchise will have two airings on Saturdays and Sundays. Morning airings will be co-hosted by Jonathan Capeheart along with two new additional hosts. The evening edition will air in Capeheart’s former 6 p.m. timeslot hosted by Ayman Mohyeldin and a group of yet-to-be-named hosts.
Finally, Ali Velshi will also expand his namesake weekend program to three hours, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
These programming changes not only signify Kutler’s imprint on the network but also reflect the changes in store for MSNBC later this year. Both MSNBC and CNBC will split from the NBCUniversal News Group and join the newly-created SpinCo, which will house many of NBCUniversal’s cable assets.
That split requires the network to rebuild its news operations, a process that includes appointing new leaders of talent, newsgathering, and content strategy, as well as building a Washington D.C. bureau and naming a bureau chief.
MSNBC’s weeknight schedule has shown signs of life since the start of Trump’s second term. Maddow’s return to a five-day-a-week schedule has lifted the network out of its post-election doldrums. The Rachel Maddow Show notably broke the 2 million total viewer mark on Thursday, Feb. 13
