MSNBC Adds Jen Psaki to Primetime Lineup, Shifts ‘All In’ to Four Days a Week
MSNBC host and former White House press secretary Jen Psaki is going to primetime.
Inside With Jen Psaki will now run on the cable news channel on Monday nights at 8 p.m. beginning Sep. 25, replacing an hour of All In With Chris Hayes.
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Hayes will continue to host his show on Tuesday through Friday nights. Psaki will also continue to host Inside on Sundays at noon, and write her MSNBC political column.
MSNBC noted that, for the past year, All In has had a rotating slate of guest hosts on Monday nights as Hayes has worked on his podcast, an upcoming book, and live events. He will continue to expand his portfolio of content for the company. Psaki, it should be noted, was a frequent guest host for Hayes on Monday nights.
While hosts like Hayes and The Last Word’s Lawrence O’Donnell have been stalwarts of MSNBC’s primetime lineup (for 10 and 13 years, respectively), the channel has also tweaked its slate of hosts over the past year or so.
Stephanie Ruhle took over The 11th Hour last year, and in a landmark deal (that appears to have set the template for Psaki’s move), Alex Wagner took over the 9 p.m. hour on Tuesdays-Fridays, with MSNBC’s biggest star Rachel Maddow continuing to host her program on Monday nights and when there are major news events.
The new lineup creates a Monday night slate of Joy Reid, Jen Psaki, Rachel Maddow, and Lawrence O’Donnell, with Reid, Chris Hayes, Alex Wagner and O’Donnell leading the lineup the rest of the week.
Psaki joined MSNBC last year, with the initial plans being a new show meant to be exclusive to Peacock, NBCUniversal’s streaming service. Inside ended up debuting earlier this year as a weekend program, joining a lineup of opinion and analysis shows.
The debut of Inside drew 1.1 million viewers, quickly drawing the attention of cable news watchers. In August, Inside averaged 931,000 viewers (beating both Fox News and CNN in the noon Sunday hour). It’s worth noting that MSNBC’s ratings surged last month as it covered the indictments of Donald Trump.
And MSNBC has been far from alone in tweaking its primetime slate ahead of the 2024 election.
Last month CNN overhauled its primetime lineup, with Abby Phillip taking over 10 p.m. and Laura Coates 11 p.m., joining Kaitlan Collins at 9 (having only joined the hour earlier in the summer), and 8 p.m. stalwart Anderson Cooper.
And in June Fox News rejiggered its lineup, moving Laura Ingraham to 7 p.m., Jesse Watters to 8 p.m., and Greg Gutfeld to 10 p.m., leaving Sean Hannity in place at 9.
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