MSNBC’s new president, Rebecca Kutler, has announced the cancellation of Joy Reid’s primetime show, “The ReidOut,” as part of a significant programming overhaul at the network.
Reports indicate that a new ensemble news program will replace the show, which occupied the 7 p.m. slot for five years. The new show will feature Symone Sanders Townsend, Michael Steele, and Alicia Menendez.
Kutler, a former senior executive at CNN, confirmed the cancellation of Reid’s show in an internal memo. This marks the first significant programming shift since Kutler assumed the role of president at MSNBC in early February 2025. As reported by the Associated Press, until the new program begins, rotating anchors will fill the slot previously held by Reid.
When Kutler’s appointment was announced, she acknowledged the challenges ahead, telling MSNBC employees, “Our jobs are hard on a normal day, and these are not normal times. It’s going to be hard, but it’s also going to be exciting and interesting and a really important time to do what all of us do.”
Reid, a 56-year-old progressive commentator and critic of President Donald Trump, has been a key figure at MSNBC since she joined the network. Before hosting “The ReidOut,” she fronted the weekend talk show “AM Joy.”
Rachel Maddow, another MSNBC host, expressed concern about Reid’s exit, questioning if there was potential racial bias involved in the decision. “I am concerned about what this means for diversity at our network,” Maddow reportedly stated, noting that Reid and Alex Wagner, another host leaving a primetime role, are women of color.
Reid’s exit is not the only change at MSNBC. The network is preparing for a spin-off from parent company Comcast, which will lead to a broader restructuring. This will sever MSNBC’s corporate ties to NBC News, necessitating an independent news-gathering infrastructure.
Kutler plans to consolidate MSNBC’s production in New York and Washington, D.C., resulting in the closure of its Miami operations. This will impact shows such as “José Díaz-Balart Reports” and “The Katie Phang Show,” both produced at the Telemundo Center in Miami. Díaz-Balart is set to remain with NBC News as the anchor of “Weekend Nightly News,” while Phang will continue at MSNBC as a legal correspondent.
Further changes in the primetime lineup include moving Jen Psaki, former White House press secretary for President Biden, to the 9 p.m. hour Tuesday through Friday. Rachel Maddow, who temporarily returned to hosting five nights a week to cover the first 100 days of the Trump administration, will now only host on Mondays at 9 p.m.
The network’s ratings have fluctuated considerably since the 2024 election. Initially, MSNBC experienced a significant drop in viewership, with a decline of approximately 46% compared to the first 10 months of 2024. However, recent data shows a recovery, with an 86% increase in primetime ratings since Trump’s inauguration in January.
The cancellation of Reid’s show has garnered attention from supporters and critics. President Trump celebrated Reid’s exit on his Truth Social platform, while some media observers have expressed concerns about the apparent decrease in diversity among the network’s primetime hosts.
Reid, born in Brooklyn to a Congolese father and a Guyanese mother, earned a degree in film studies from Harvard University in 1991. Her career has spanned multiple roles in media, including stints as a local news reporter in South Florida, radio talk show host, managing editor of the Grio, and a politics columnist for the Miami Herald.
As part of the restructuring, MSNBC plans to establish a separate Washington, D.C. bureau and is hiring for several key roles, including a bureau chief and heads of talent, news-gathering, and content strategy. These changes underscore MSNBC’s need to develop independent operations as it separates from NBC News.
The changes at MSNBC occurred during a challenging period for cable news networks, which continue to face the pressure of cord-cutting consumers. Despite leading CNN in viewership, MSNBC still lags behind Fox News, which has experienced a surge in ratings since the election.
