MSNBC’s Weekend Shake Up is A Shrewd Move Away from the Far Left — And Unwanted Criticism

MSNBC did not explain the major shakeup of its weekend lineup announced on Thursday. The network has repeatedly revamped its weekend schedule in an unsuccessful attempt to compete with CNN and Fox News, but true ratings success remains elusive. But reading between the lines of the changes provides some indication of what MSNBC is trying to do: reduce its hours of left-wing opinionating.

The biggest news to emerge is the cancellation of The Mehdi Hasan Show, hosted by British-American journalist and commentator — and vocal progressive — Mehdi Hasan. Just in the short-term, there is no denying that canceling the show of one of cable news’s most vocal critics of Israel, and a rare voice in defending Palestine, will lower the temperature of criticism hurled toward MSNBC since October 7.

Some other voices diminished in this programming move are also progressive, including Symone Sanders-Townsend and Alicia Menendez, who were moved off their own shows to share a new morning program, and Jonathan Capehart and Katie Phang, who lost hours. Alex Witt, a news reader, saw her real estate expand. As former Media Matters honcho Parker Molloy, a vocal progressive voice herself, pointed out on social media, the centrists are rising on MSNBC’s weekend programming:

People will be like, “MSNBC is far left!” but their daytime weekday lineup consists of shows hosted by 1.) a former Republican Congressman 2.) Alan Greenspan’s wife 3.) George W. Bush’s Communications Director

— Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) November 30, 2023

It’s also worth noting that MSNBC ratings dropped in the days following October 7, which critics said was the result of commentary that criticized Israel in the immediate aftermath of the attack on its people by Hamas. And while the ratings have stabilized in the weeks since, the weekend remains a weak spot on the network. Distancing from voices further left on the political spectrum — as the network did when it dumped Tiffany Cross a few years back — looks like a shrewd move to try and bring viewers back.

The changes won’t come without headaches for MSNBC. Removing Hasan from the hosting chair — which the network vigorously denied it was doing when Semafor’s Max Tani reported that he and Ayman Mohyeldin had been sidelined shortly after October 7 — begs as many questions as it seemed to try to answer. Progressives are already expressing anger at the decision.

When Hasan joined MSNBC, it seemed an inspired, if not brilliant, programming play. While serving as an anchor for Al Jazeera, Hasan drew international praise for his remarkably compelling interviews that held the powerful to account with aggressive questions. His grilling of Trump defender Stephen Moore stood out in a sea of softball interviews enjoyed by former Trump officials — and almost certainly caught the eye of NBC News executives.

Controversy followed him at MSNBC, however. An old video in which he made offensive comments about non-Muslims resurfaced. Hasan apologized, but the video was brought back to the surface on social media following Oct. 7 and added to the heat MSNBC was facing for his commentary.

The irony here is that although MSNBC’s ratings dipped in the days after Oct. 7, The Mehdi Hasan Show was regularly the top-rated show on MSNBC on Sunday, often beating Jen Psaki and others. That suggests that unlike some of the changes to the weekend lineup, this was less of a programming and ratings decision and more of a public relations one. (Fear not, Mehdi Hasan fans; he will remain an analyst on MSNBC.)

As for the rest of the lineup, time will tell if MSNBC’s experiment in centrism will work on weekends. Whatever happens, network leadership clearly understood the status quo, with its stagnant ratings, was not sustainable.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.