One of MSNBC’s most important and lucrative time slots, 8 p.m., is about to get a new host. But MSNBC won’t name the person quite yet.
The existing 8 p.m. host, Ed Schultz, surprised his viewers on Wednesday night by saying that Thursday night’s edition of “The Ed Show” would be his last. In April he will take a new weekend shift from 5 to 7 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.
“MSNBC will be expanding its weekend programming, and this opens a big opportunity for ‘The Ed Show’ and my brand,” Mr. Schultz said at the end of his nightly news talk show, which is known for having a focus on labor issues and the working class in the United States.
He asserted that he had raised his hand for the assignment “for a number of personal and professional reasons.” Among them, he said: “I want to get out with the people and tell their stories.”
In the halls of MSNBC, the cable news channel owned by Comcast, Mr. Schultz’s move out of 8 p.m. has been expected at least since late last year, when The New York Times reported that the Washington Post columnist Ezra Klein was a candidate for the time slot.
Mr. Klein, who doubles as an MSNBC contributor, has filled in for the channel’s prime-time hosts dozens of times, and appeared on the channel as recently as Wednesday afternoon.
Other MSNBC figures mentioned for the 8 p.m. time slot included Christopher Hayes, the host of the weekend morning panel discussion “Up,” and Joy Reid, the managing editor of the Comcast-owned Web site TheGrio and, like Mr. Klein, an MSNBC contributor.
After Ms. Reid’s fans asked her questions on Twitter about Mr. Schultz’s announcement, she wrote, “I’m as shocked as anyone about Ed and have no idea who’s coming on at 8. Real talk.”
Several other MSNBC hosts and contributors echoed that sentiment on Wednesday night. A spokeswoman for the channel said the new 8 p.m. host (or hosts) would be named on Thursday morning, ahead of an annual presentation for advertisers to be held by NBC News, the network news division that MSNBC is aligned with.
Article source: http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/13/schultz-to-give-up-weekday-slot-on-msnbc/?partner=rss&emc=rss