{"id":531150,"date":"2026-03-18T16:40:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T16:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/531150\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T16:40:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T16:40:09","slug":"ms-now-cuts-an-hour-from-morning-joe-in-drastic-overhaul-of-beleaguered-network","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/531150\/","title":{"rendered":"MS NOW cuts an hour from ‘Morning Joe’ in drastic overhaul of beleaguered network"},"content":{"rendered":"

MS NOW announced Wednesday it is cutting an hour from Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski\u2019s show \u201cMorning Joe\u201d as part of a drastic overhaul of the beleaguered network\u2019s programming under chief Rebecca Kutler.<\/p>\n

Starting in June, viewers will notice a slew of changes across MS NOW\u2019s morning, daytime, primetime and weekend coverage, Kutler told staffers during a daily editorial call Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n

Despite notching its most-watched month in February since the 2024 presidential election, the network \u2013 previously MSNBC \u2013 announced it is returning \u201cMorning Joe\u201d to a three-hour format, from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. ET, down from its current four-hour time slot.<\/p>\n

MS NOW is cutting an hour from \u201cMorning Joe.\u201d MS NOW<\/p>\n

MS NOW nodded to success in the 9 a.m. hour, saying its viewership increased 24% over the past 12 months and jumped 64% in the key advertising demo \u2013 but Scarborough and Brzezinski, who frequently bash the Trump administration, have previously signaled their desire to cut back.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be honest, I think before the election, there was a lot of discussion that we were having about maybe slowing down or figuring out when \u2018Morning Joe\u2019 comes to an end,\u201d Brzezinski said during an MSLIVE event last October.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause the hours \u2013 we are live from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. It\u2019s four hours every day and it\u2019s very heavy news,\u201d said Brzezinski, who faced heated backlash from lefty viewers along with her husband and co-anchor Scarborough for visiting President Trump at Mar-a-Lago last year.<\/p>\n

Kutler also announced major role changes for anchors and reporters including Ali Velshi, Stephanie Ruhle, Jacob Soboroff, Luke Russert, Alicia Menendez and Chris Jansing in the first programming overhaul since MS NOW moved under Versant after a Comcast spin-off.<\/p>\n

Last month, the network averaged 1.4 million primetime viewers, and it has seen improvement in its weekly coverage under Kutler \u2013 including a 30% jump in total viewers for \u201cThe Weeknight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ali Velshi will take over as the new anchor of \u201cThe 11th Hour\u201d weeknights at 11 p.m. ET. MSNBC<\/p>\n

But daytime weekday coverage at MS NOW remains weak, and the lefty cable network is far behind rival Fox News in the ratings race \u2013 after the conservative channel averaged 35% more total day viewers<\/a> in February than CNN and MS NOW combined, according to Nielsen data.<\/p>\n

In a memo to employees Wednesday, Kutler said the upcoming newsroom changes will not include widespread layoffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs part of these programming changes, team members will have the opportunity to shift into new roles to support new priorities,\u201d Kutler wrote. \u201cIn most cases, comparable opportunities will be available to employees as these changes take shape.\u201d<\/p>\n

The company \u2013 which has hired hundreds of new roles since losing the ability to lean on NBC News\u2019 newsgathering services \u2013 said it plans to hire hundreds more and have more people working at MS NOW by the end of the year than it does today.<\/p>\n

After axing the 9 a.m. hour of \u201cMorning Joe,\u201d MS NOW said Stephanie Ruhle will be leading a new morning show from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. ET during the week.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ruhle has anchored various time slots across the network, and will also maintain her role as MS NOW\u2019s senior business analyst, the network said.<\/p>\n

MS NOW said it will announce the anchor for the 11 a.m. hour in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

Alicia Menendez \u2013 who currently serves as a co-anchor on \u201cThe Weeknight\u201d \u2013 is booting out Chris Jansing in the 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. ET time slot with a new solo show.<\/p>\n

Luke Russert will join \u201cThe Weeknight\u201d weeknights at 7 p.m. ET as the show\u2019s newest co-anchor. William B. Plowman\/NBC via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Menendez \u2013 who was the network\u2019s first Latina anchor on a primetime show \u2013 will be able to work out of the New York City office and remain close to her two children, as she has been commuting from New Jersey to Washington to host \u201cThe Weeknight,\u201d the company said.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Jansing will lose her weekday show and return to a full-time reporter role as chief political reporter, MS NOW said.<\/p>\n

Luke Russert will join \u201cThe Weeknight\u201d weeknights at 7 p.m. ET as the show\u2019s newest co-anchor alongside Symone Sanders Townsend and Michael Steele, after frequently serving as a fill-in anchor on the show.<\/p>\n

After Ruhle exits \u201cThe 11th Hour,\u201d Ali Velshi will take over as the show\u2019s new anchor weeknights at 11 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n

Velshi, who has been with the network since 2016, will also continue to serve as MS NOW\u2019s chief data reporter and contribute to election coverage.<\/p>\n

Jacob Soboroff will take over Velshi\u2019s former time slot on the weekends, leading a new show from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET and remaining a senior political reporter, as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll In with Chris Hayes\u201d will return to Mondays at 8 p.m. ET, as \u201cThe Weeknight\u201d will air for just one hour instead of two on those nights.<\/p>\n

The network also announced the departure of Ana Cabrera, who currently hosts a weekday show from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET. Cabrera has not yet announced her next role.<\/p>\n

Jonathan Lemire, who previously hosted the 9 a.m. hour of \u201cMorning Joe,\u201d will remain as a co-anchor on the show, moving up to the 8 a.m. slot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MS NOW announced Wednesday it is cutting an hour from Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski\u2019s show \u201cMorning Joe\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":531151,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[23843,88,208172,10815,238783,170015,35966,92],"class_list":["post-531150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-cable","tag-entertainment","tag-joe-scarborough","tag-media","tag-mika-brzezinski","tag-morning-joe","tag-msnbc","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=531150"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531150\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/531151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=531150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=531150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=531150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}