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MSNBC’s primetime lineup has been struggling. Not even the return of Rachel Maddow to doing a nightly show for a few months has completely restored their ratings. Maddow has averaged 1.7-1.8 million viewers, which is much lower than the 2-3 million+ viewers she averaged before the 2024 election. A substantial amount of the ratings decline is due to viewers souring on cable news and the Trump presidency, but the poor numbers meant that a shakeup was coming, and it has arrived.
Joy Reid, who has been hosting programs since 2016 on the network, is out.
Joy Reid’s evening news show on MSNBC is being canceled, part of a far-reaching programming overhaul orchestrated by Rebecca Kutler, the network’s new president, two people familiar with the changes said.
The final episode of Ms. Reid’s 7 p.m. show, “The ReidOut,” is planned for sometime this week, according to the people, who were not authorized to speak publicly. The show, which features in-depth interviews with politicians and other newsmakers, has been a fixture of MSNBC’s lineup for the past five years.
Also out is Alex Wagner, whose show never caught on with audiences and harmed the viewership for Lawrence O’Donnell’s The Last Word.
The Times reports that the likely replacement for Wagner is Jen Psaki.
It has always been the network’s plan to get Psaki into 9 PM. Psaki has been viewed by many since her hiring as Maddow’s eventual 9 PM replacement.
Rachel Maddow has made it clear that she doesn’t like doing the TV show, and she doesn’t like the daily grind of five nights a week in primetime cable news after doing it for more than a decade.
Part of the plan has always appeared to be for Rachel Maddow to phase out her show and for a nightly Jen Paski program to replace it.
I am skeptical that any lineup changes MSNBC makes will significantly impact the ratings. Many Americans don’t want to hear about Trump or his administration.
The cable news audience has been declining for years due to cord-cutting. The return of Trump has been a boon for Fox News, but the overall cable news audience remains in decline.
Ending Joy Reid’s show is a significant shakeup, but she has been replaced by a nightly version of The Weekend.
MSNBC is trying to figure out how to get their audience back. Joy Reid and Alex Wagner are the first two casualties in what could be a series of major moves.
What do you think about MSNBC canceling The Reid Out? Share your thoughts in the comments below.