MSNBC recently announced that Jen Psaki, who joined the network in May 2022 after her tenure as Biden's White House Press Secretary, will be expanding her hosting duties. Instead of just Sundays, she will now also appear in the prime Monday 8 p.m. ET slot, taking over the "All In with Chris Hayes" segment for that day. Hayes' show has seen a rotation of hosts on Mondays over the past year as he has been involved in other projects.
This decision echoes MSNBC's move last year when they limited their top presenter, Rachel Maddow, to only Mondays, while Alex Wagner took over her 9 p.m. ET slot for the rest of the week. It's worth noting that Maddow renewed her contract with the channel in 2021, securing a deal reportedly worth $30 million annually.
Joe Concha, a Fox News contributor, shared with Fox News Digital his views on MSNBC's decision. He opined that changing only the Monday primetime slot for Psaki was "profoundly stupid." Concha believes that Psaki should either be featured every weeknight in primetime or not at all.
"Viewers want consistency," Concha said. "And for MSNBC to offer these half-baked lineups doesn't allow for that."
Watch the latest video at foxnews.comIn the last phase of Psaki's role as the press secretary, it was revealed that both MSNBC and CNN were competing to bring her on board, especially since she had previously been a commentator on CNN before the 2020 elections. After much speculation and rumors, MSNBC confirmed that Psaki would be joining them as a political analyst and a host on their Peacock streaming platform. However, the network seems to be pivoting towards featuring her on a more conventional cable news show.
The show "Inside with Jen Psaki," which debuted in March, has swiftly climbed the ranks to become MSNBC's top-performing Sunday show, attracting an average audience of around 840,000 in recent times. Yet, her new role on Mondays might pose challenges for Hayes.
"Chris Hayes should be nervous," NewsBusters managing editor Curtis Houck said to Fox News. "MSNBC can insist Chris Hayes remains a valuable part of the network and will be going forward, but if that’s the case, why then was Jen Psaki given a night at his expense?"
Concha echoed a similar perspective, suggesting that Hayes, a long-time MSNBC figure, should feel "insulted" that the management is reassigning one of his slots to someone who only became a part of the network's shows "a few months ago."
Despite not always being a ratings powerhouse, Hayes, who has been anchoring "All In" since 2013, remains a prominent figure in MSNBC's progressive political reporting.
Hayes has experienced a decline in his audience numbers, witnessing almost 10% fewer total viewers since 2021. On average, he pulls in 1.4 million viewers but has lost over 25% from the desirable 25-54 age group, which is a key demographic for advertisers.
McCall highlighted that while Hayes has a dedicated following from his extensive time with MSNBC, Psaki stands out as a "darling of the Democratic Party" due to her service in both the Obama and Biden presidencies.
Should Psaki attract a more substantial viewership, it might pose a dilemma for the network regarding Hayes' position.
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