jrogo

Big shake up underway at MSNBC - Joy Reid out at 7pm. - “The Weekend” hosts to take over 7pm week nights, (Symone Sanders-Townsend, Alicia Menendez and Michael Steele). - Alex Wagner potentially out at 9pm. - Jen Psaki to gain 1 night at 9pm in addition to Sunday at noon and Monday night at 8pm. - Rachel will return to just Monday nights meaning the Tuesday - Friday will be open again, could be a different show every night. https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/msnbc-evening-shake-up-joy-reid-alex-wagner-1236316524/ Edit: TheRolyPolly beat me to it. I think this is very surprising, I would’ve thought they’d make changes to other time slots first, the weekend primetime is weak, they have an open MSNBC Reports hour Monday - Friday, 4pm - 7pm on weekend needs a big overhaul, and then you wonder about what Lawrence’s plans are. I disagree with the decision to bump Alex Wagner, she has a good show, but struggled to bring Rachel’s viewers along, which was never going to happen the way MSNBC thought it would. I hope they can keep Joy around, perhaps a return to AM Joy on the weekends would be good for her.

Thanks for the additional information! I rarely see dayside, looks like a great space for MSNBC Reports.

MSNBC & NBC News unveiled an updated studio 4E last night, it appears Ari Melber was the first to use it. The former set had 2 video walls meeting at a 90 degree corner and a moveable show/network vertical branding banner. Now the space has been updated with a curved video wall that runs along the entire space, a new dark wood geometrical design piece that incorporates the NBC peacock and a color changing peacock motif display near the glass doors, they also replicated the desk MSNBC uses in studio 3A just with different finishes. Overall a huge improvement, it’s been really interesting how that small space has evolved since its introduction in 2016. Only caps I have as of now.

Personally I’m not a fan of Tony Dokouoil and didn’t think he fit well when he has filled in for Norah. John Dickerson should focus on his streaming show which airs at the same time and Vald should focus on streaming & his morning segments and continue to be groomed for the next open seat on Mornings. Just my opinion. Jeff Glor has done it before and is really liked on Saturdays so he’d be a recognizable face who has led big coverage. Lisa Ling would be great for special coverage too due to her experience and name recognition.

I’m really looking forward to see how CBS does this, it works really well for the BBC and allows the focus to be on the news, not the anchor. This seems like a great opportunity for CBS to really think about what they want out of the evening news and potentially refocus things. I’d like to see the following people in the rotation: Lindsey Reiser (24/7 streaming) Cecilia Vega (60 minuets) Lilia Luciano (24/7 streaming) Sharyn Alfonsi (60 minuets) Jericka Duncan (CBS weekend news) Elaine Quijano (network & WCBS anchor) The following could be brought in as needed for bigger stories such as politics and event coverage: Lisa Ling (yes that one, joined CBS last year) Margaret Brennan (face the nation) Jeff Glor (Saturday morning) Maurice DuBois (WCBS and filled in for Pelley) No Tony, no Major Garrett, no James Brown. I think going for established talent from 24/7 streaming and 60 minuets is the way to go, viewers across the board know them and have seen them, anchors from streaming could appeal to younger audiences and anchors from 60 minuets would provide maturity & stability to a rotating anchor format. I really hope CBS gets this right and it ends up working out well for them, they should continue to use both Washington and New York for broadcasting as it doesn’t really matter where it comes from as long it’s got substance.

Last night it was used at around the 11 minute mark of the broadcast. I actually like the look, this should be the main graphics IMO, I really like the deconstructed CBS eye on the right side, gives it a unique look.

It kinda looks like Jake’s sitting in front of a flash cam, they’ve got The Lead background behind him on a screen and the lighting is just way easier to control in a smaller space. I could be wrong since I haven’t seen any other clips of the actual studio being shown. CNN’s flash cams always seem to have great lighting.

Well I stand corrected. The other site has confirmed it’s Telemundo 47’s new studio after all, which I have to say looks great for a Telemundo set, and in my opinion it looks better than WNBC’s. Good for them, too bad it isn’t a set for NBC News/MSNBC, it’d work great for either.

I guess it could be, but this studio looks to have a higher quality of finishes and more tech than WNBC’s, if you look at pictures of 3B this one seems to be bigger too. I guess we’ll have to wait and see who’s it is!

Great catch @Jman7885! I went and checked the tv news archive from archive.org and sure enough it looks like a new studio. It’s not WNBC’s studio 3B, and MSNBC used 3A, 3C & 4E today alone, I’m wondering if this is the new Studio 3K, which I’m assuming is for NBC Nightly News and NBC News Now. MSNBC daytime and primetime is temporarily not using 3A as they prepare the studio for primary/caucus coverage so that’s why we aren’t seeing that in full use currently. Let’s be honest, studio 1A is not a great flagship, NBC needs a versatile studio for anything from special reports to space launches and elections. Nightly News deserves a real home and News Now might need more space as they expand programing. MSNBC and WNBC/Telemundo have all the space they could ever need. Here’s some screen grabs I took from the archive, the star desk is the one MSNBC has had for years, the new studio is already set up for the primaries/caucuses/election branding. Very NBC, very Clickspring (I’m assuming). Alex seems to use LA a lot more than anyone else at NBC, she said she’ll back in NYC next weekend for the new line up launch, must be in LA to see family regularly enough they let her use the facilities there.

A better look at the updated logo/typeface. MSNBC seems to be using the opportunity to do very small graphics updates, they have a new breaking news stinger that is similar to the old one but again just slightly different. They also updated all the virtual elements used in studios. Worth noting that “Reports” is now in the NBC font, maybe a sign of things to come.

MSNBC has officially switched its logo over to the new NBC typeface, which kind of looks like the old one, and of course certain feathers of the peacock disappear depending on the background color. I hate to post a picture taken from a tv but that’s a good as it’s gonna get for now.

Another weekend shake up, literally too much to list, so find it all here: https://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/msnbc-makes-significant-changes-to-weekend-lineup-launches-ensemble-show/542518/ Im still not sure why they can’t begin live programing before 8AM? Would’ve been easy to make the new morning show start at 7. We’re also losing an hour of programming as Ayman will end at 9PM now. Good to see Alex getting 3 hours again, but sad to see Yasmin leaving weekends. The “best of” seems like a cheap filler until they find something permanent for the 4PM hour.

Some awkward days lie ahead for MSNBC, Senator Bob Menendez has been indicted by the U.S Department of Justice on serious charges, the senators daughter is MSNBC Host Alicia Menendez, her show, American Vocies airs weekends at 6PM ET. The big question is how will MSNBC handle this story while employing his daughter, will she comment on it or not, we all remember the Cuomo nightmare at CNN less than 2 years ago. The following article makes a few good points regarding the media landscape and how these types of things have been handled in the past; https://www.mediaite.com/opinion/how-will-msnbc-handle-its-menendez-family-conflict-of-interest/amp/ IMO, Alicia should be off this weekend, I would not allow her to host her show, either someone can fill in or it can be a special edition of MSNBC Reports. The network has not done a good job of disclosing the conflict they find themselves in, every single anchor/host should be saying something along the lines of; “in the interest of transparency we need to tell you that Senator Menendez is the father of our colleague, MSNBC host Alicia Menendez.” MSNBC & NBCU talk a big game about being better than orgs like CNN & FOX, so they should prove it and take this seriously. It doesn’t matter that she’s (as far as we know) innocent and un-indicted, she needs to be put on a short leash or they will have the Cuomo situation on their hands. also if you want an insight into the work politics at MSNBC just look at the different statements from the hosts/anchors, some ranging from demanding the senators resignation and others supporting him, always fun to see it in the open.

My exact thought was “oh sh*t they actually wanna do News?” If he can lead CNN in the direction of the BBC in terms of straight forward, hard hitting reporting, no opinion, unmatched global resources and stories viewers won’t find elsewhere, CNN will survive and thrive. I hope it ends up being the best decision they’ve ever made.

I’m wondering the same thing following this article, he’s still listed as a NBC News Corespondent, so I’m assuming he’s moving to a new role, hopefully something on streaming or news on MSNBC. https://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/zinhle-essamuah-joins-kate-snow-as-co-anchor-of-nbc-news-nows-afternoon-block/534464/

Let’s hope that doesn’t happen. But the more intresting part of that article is: “One possible deal recently floated in media circles involves a merger between NBCUniversal parent Comcast and Paramount. The two companies reportedly had been in talks in 2021. If that merger happens sooner or later, (the newly acquired company under the ownership of) Comcast would likely be forced to get rid of the CBS network due to antitrust violations. Warner Bros Discovery, in turn, might then swoop in and combine CNN with CBS News, seeking to reap efficiencies between the two networks under its umbrella, some insiders have speculated.” That would honestly make a lot of sense and be a huge benefit for CBS which just can’t seems to stand up straight and address the problems at CNN.

I’m assuming Nightly News will move into a renovated studio 3K sometime next year (well before the election) since WNBC is moving to studio 3B. NBC could get a flagship studio for elections and specialty coverage out of the deal and Nightly News will finally have a real home. Studio 3C stays with MSNBC & NBC News Now and studio 1A can get a full, and needed, renovation.

That would actually make sense, it wouldn’t do any worse in the ratings and it would bring a certain level of comfort to the executives, knowing she and her team are more than capable and they wouldn’t have to worry about any unfavorable press with them. Im also wondering if MSNBC is smart enough to take advantage of CNN’s down position and make any changes to primetime or weekends ahead of the election year, seems like a great time for MSNBC to tidy up the network while CNN is a mess.

Long overdue but hopefully this will be a good change. I would’ve preferred someone who is actually independent and a true moderator, since Chuck has blurred that line, but those days seem to be long gone. It will be interesting to see who they chose to replace Kristen on Saturday Today.

Overall a underwhelming and interesting mix of textures, but it looks nice and clean. The desk is a bit wonky, if they used better insert graphics on the front (better logo placement, movement and added info like the date or something) it would look really good. Desk in question so you don’t have open the link:

That was downright gross, if any of us spoke that way to someone in our workplace we’d be fired, it’s becoming increasingly obvious and will only get more obvious that this was a long overdue decision. I feel bad for what Poppy & Kaitlan have had to endure for the last 6 months. This is the “why the f**k did I take this job” face, my favorite part was her unlocking her phone, completely checked out from what was going on.

I can’t echo this enough. I know people weren’t always a fan of her style but Robin and MXP had two things CNN will never have in the morning, consistency and friendship, which brought in a core group of viewers everyday and when the show was properly promoted they had expanded viewership. I expect CNN to find an out of network replacement for Don. Maybe someone from CBS since Chris Litch knows everyone there?

Update on Laura Coates, CNN reportedly told Laura they wouldn’t staff the 11PM hour from D.C. due to higher costs, as a result Laura would have to chose between moving to NYC or the hosting gig. I don’t blame her for not wanting to move, sounds like both parties could’ve been more transparent about what was going on/intentions. Instead “CNN is concentrating its efforts on setting permanent plans for the 9 and 10 p.m. hours”. Sounds to me like a great opportunity for CNN International broadcasts of Newsroom at 11PM, and if they were smart they’d extent that to 1AM to compete with Trace Gallagher’s midnight show on Fox. More here: https://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/laura-coates-planned-11-pm-show-unlikely-to-go-forward-at-cnn/528547/