MSNBC Cans Top Host Amid Falling Ratings, Network Shake-Up

MSNBC Cans Top Host Amid Falling Ratings, Network Shake-Up
MSNBC liberal mainstay Joy Reid’s show has been canceled as part of a major shake-up under the network’s new president, Rebecca Kutler, according to a report.
Reid’s 7 p.m. program, long known for its sharp criticism of Trump, will be replaced by a new panel show featuring co-hosts Alicia Menendez, Michael Steele, and Symone Sanders Townsend, The New York Times reported, citing network insiders.
The final episode of The ReidOut is set to air this week, marking the end of its five-year run as a staple of MSNBC’s primetime lineup, according to the report.

Additionally, Alex Wagner, who has hosted the 9 p.m. weeknight slot—except for Monday nights led by Rachel Maddow—is expected to be named a contributor, according to three sources familiar with ongoing discussions, Variety reported.

Wagner, who has been reporting from across the U.S. during the first 100 days of Trump’s new presidency while Maddow anchors

The final episode of The ReidOut is set to air this week, marking the end of its five-year run as a staple of MSNBC’s primetime lineup, according to the report.

Additionally, Alex Wagner, who has hosted the 9 p.m. weeknight slot—except for Monday nights led by Rachel Maddow—is expected to be named a contributor, according to three sources familiar with ongoing discussions, Variety reported.
Wagner, who has been reporting from across the U.S. during the first 100 days of Trump’s new presidency while Maddow anchors the 9 p.m. hour, is unlikely to return to her weeknight hosting role, the sources indicated.
The changes represent the first significant overhaul by MSNBC’s new president since taking charge of the liberal network earlier this month, the New York Post reported.

Reid, a prominent critic of Trump in mainstream media, has been a long-serving anchor at the network. She has hosted the weekend talk show “AM Joy” since 2016 and was named anchor of the 7 p.m. slot in 2020.
She has made several viral and cruel rants in recent months, including telling Trump supporters to “make your own dinner” at Thanksgiving, saying they should “suffer the consequences of your votes.”

Kutler is implementing major changes at MSNBC in an effort to revamp the network, which has consistently lagged behind Fox News in ratings.

In December, Nielsen Media Research reported that Reid had lost nearly half of her audience since Donald Trump’s election, with MSNBC experiencing a staggering 53% drop in primetime viewership following the Nov. 5 results.

That same month, MSNBC reportedly offered significant pay cuts to some of its most high-profile anchors, including Joy Reid and Stephanie Ruhle, if they wished to remain in their roles.
Kutler, a former senior executive at CNN, has made it clear that MSNBC faces unique challenges as it navigates a Trump White House and prepares for its planned spinoff into a new publicly traded company alongside other NBCU cable networks, The Post added.

“Our jobs are hard on a normal day, and these are not normal times,” Kutler told MSNBC employees on her first day after her new position was announced by Mark Lazarus, the NBCU executive who is leading the spin-off, according to The Post.
A report by The Ankler, which is a Substack publication produced by media writer Lachlan Cartwright, noted the pay cuts to top MSNBC talent in a column published last month.

Cartwright added that the situation for all of cable news — with the notable exception of Fox News — is “bleak”:

The overwhelming sentiment from my conversations with 20 network journalists and executives for this story is that they are exhausted and
ready for 2024 to be over — even if they are scared by what next year will bring. “It’s pretty bleak,” one long-serving cable network producer told me. “It’s past the point of hard alcohol.”

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Meanwhile, fellow MSNBC host Rachel Maddow has seen a significant drop in her viewership following President-elect Donald Trump’s Election Day victory, according to recent data.

Since Trump’s landslide win over Vice President Kamala Harris, “The Rachel Maddow Show” has lost 43% of its audience in 2024, now averaging just 1.4
Analysts identified the decline by comparing the show’s average viewership from January 1, 2024, through Election Day to its performance since November 6.

In 2022, Rachel Maddow reduced the show to a once-a-week format to “pursue other projects” despite her substantial salary. She recently signed a new contract to remain a prominent figure at MSNBC.

The network’s top star has experienced an even sharper decline among adults aged 25-54. Since the election, she has lost 56% of her audience in this key
The network’s top star has experienced an even sharper decline among adults aged 25-54. Since the election, she has lost 56% of her audience in this key
demographic, now averaging just 103,000 viewers—a critical blow given the importance of this age group to advertisers, OAN reported