In the midst of a ratings slide that has seen MSNBC fall further behind competitors CNN and Fox News in recent months, the left-leaning network has canceled its 2 p.m. weekday program, The Reid Report—hosted by veteran journalist Joy Reid—and its 1 p.m. weekday show, Ronan Farrow Daily, hosted by relative newcomer Ronan Farrow, reports Mediaite.
According to Mediaite, “Earlier this month, Farrow’s show hit a new low in the 25-54 demo ratings with just 11,000 viewers. During the same hour, Fox led with 202K and CNN had 154K. Even Al Jazeera America topped MSNBC with 22K.”
The move cuts the number of black MSNBC hosts from four to three, with Reid leaving a group that includes the Rev. Al Sharpton and Tamron Hall—hosts, respectively, of the weekday shows PoliticsNation and NewsNation—along with Melissa Harris-Perry, host of a two-hour weekend show. Last June MSNBC confirmed the cancellation of another weekend show with an African-American host, Disrupt With Karen Finney, also because of low ratings, according to TVNewser.
Reid—honored in 2013 and 2014 by The Root as a member of The Root 100, a ranking of the most influential African Americans under age 45; a Miami Herald columnist; and former managing editor of The Grio, an online outlet for black news that was spun off from MSNBC late last year—will remain with MSNBC, according to Politico, as its “national correspondent across platforms” and become “a regular contributor for MSNBC’s primetime shows, and the first dedicated reporter for NowThisNews, an MSNBC online partner.”
Thomas Roberts, currently the host of MSNBC’s 5:30 a.m. offering, Way Too Early, will now host the 1-3 p.m. weekday bloc as part of a stated adjustment toward “news focused” coverage rather than news analysis.