Recently, MSNBC announced significant changes to its program schedule, removing Joy Reid’s “The ReidOut” and instead featuring “The Weekend,” hosted by Michael Steele, Symone Sanders-Townsend, and Alicia Menendez. Initially, MSNBC personality Rachel Maddow spoke out against Reid’s exit due to concerns about potential bias; however, she faced criticism online for not recognizing that Steele, Sanders-Townsend, and Menendez represent minority talent. Maddow plans to maintain her current arrangement of anchoring only one episode each week.
Despite facing challenges, MSNBC has seen a downturn as Fox News Channel reached unprecedented levels of viewership at the beginning of 2025. In January and February, the channel typically attracted close to two million daily watchers, significantly outpacing rival networks.
The evening programming on Fox News, which includes shows like “Jesse Watters Primetime,” “Hannity,” and “Gutfeld!,” drew an average of 3.1 million viewers, surpassing the total audience for both MSNBC and CNN.
MSNBC’s reshaping plan focuses on bolstering its presence in the Washington bureau and increasing its roster of domestic and international correspondents. These modifications occur as MSNBC gets ready for a separate entity from NBC News following the Comcast takeover.
In the crucial 25-54 age group, Fox News was at the forefront, drawing more than 250,000 average daily viewers. The program “Jesse Watters Primetime” stood out with an impressive audience of 518,000 viewers. Additionally, weekend shows such as “The Big Weekend Show” and “Sunday Morning Futures” showed strong performance.
The changes have faced backlash from certain employees. Critics within the organization point to the cancelation of programs led by the network’s inaugural Black female host and their first Asian-American prime-time presenter as reasons for dissent.
Emily Prescott reports on U.S. politics and current events for the content partner Modern Newsstand LLC.
