MSNBC has canceled Joy Reid’s evening show amid the network’s plummeting ratings, according to a report.
Her final episode of The ReidOut is set for sometime this week, sources told The New York Times.
The 7 p.m. ET time slot will be replaced by a panel show co-hosted by Symone Sanders Townsend, Alicia Menendez and Michael Steele.
The shakeup comes from newly tapped MSNBC president Rebecca Kutler, who is looking to save the network from dismal ratings, according to Variety.
Other programming changes are expected as the network looks to fill out its primetime roster.
Amid a looming landscape of languishing cable and legacy news stations, MSNBC had their lowest-rated Januarys in history in the highly sought 25-54 demographic.
The statistic holds importance to advertisers due to the group’s spending power and the fact that it pertains to both daytime and primetime.
During the hours of 8-11 p.m. ET, MSNBC barely managed an audience of 734,000, with CNN securing just 522,000.
The final episode of The ReidOut is set for sometime this week
This all occurred during a hectic news cycle that featured coverage of Justin Trudeau’s resignation, Trump’s inauguration and the controversy surrounding the president’s parade of appointments and pardons.
Talking heads ranging from Jake Tapper to Joy Reid failed to stop the bleeding – as did a move from MSNBC that brought back Rachel Maddow to TV sets five times a week, at least for the first 100 days of the new administration.
MSNBC lagged to just 45,000 viewers during the day and just 63,000 during the peak hours of night – with the Maddow experiment seemingly failing.
In terms of percentages, though, the figures were even more alarming; MSNBC essentially lost nearly half of its 25-54 audience since this time last year, continuing a 65 percent slide seen since the election.
In primetime, the network’s numbers are down 41 percent from 2024. When it came to programming delivered during the day, the percentage dip was the same.
Given the timing and recent events surrounding, the new Nielsen numbers appear to show that relationship continuing in spades, with Fox seemingly set to widen that gap even more.
Such a fate appears to already be on the mind of MSNBC and CNN’s C-suite, with MSNBC President Rashida Jones abruptly leaving the company in January.
‘I shared this decision with Mark (Lazarus), who has been incredibly supportive and has asked me to stay on for the next few months to help guide the network during this transitional period,’ she said at the time.Â
Meanwhile, NBCUniversal has agreed to settle a $30 million defamation suit filed by a Georgia gynecologist after on-air talents – including Rachel Maddow – falsely labeled him a ‘uterus collector.’
Dr. Mahendra Amin sued in September 2021 after NBCU hosts like MSNBC’s Maddow reported claims he performed ‘mass hysterectomies’ on ICE center detainees with impunity – allegations that later turned out to be false.
Amid the programming shakeup, Maddow, who had previously reduced her hosting duties to one night per week, is set to now resume her five-nightly schedule at 9 p.m. for the first 100 days of Trump’s presidency in hopes of drawing in lost viewers.
The move comes months after the CEO is said to have slashed Maddow’s pay by some $5million, after she agreed to stay with the network for another five years.
She had reportedly been earning a $30million salary for her weekly show – the second highest paid anchor in television news after Sean Hannity at Fox News who pulls in $45million.
MSNBC decline to comment.Â
