cable-stained wretches

Ed Schultz Loses Weeknight Slot, As Predicted; Chris Hayes Moves Up [Updated]

After MSNBC host Ed Schultz vehemently denied the report that he was going to leave his 8 p.m. weeknight time slot, he announced on his show Wednesday night that he would, in fact, be leaving the slot and moving to Saturday and Sunday evenings. Back in November, the New York Times’ Brian Stelter mentioned Schultz’s possible replacement by Ezra Klein. A furious Schultz denied the rumor at the time, saying, “if somebody is telling Stelter that I’m going to be replaced, we know that his nose as a reporter doesn’t sniff very well because he never called me.” 

Schultz said on Wednesday he “raised my hand for this assignment for a number of personal and professional reasons.” But Politico’s Dylan Byers cited MSNBC Sources in reporting that “Schultz was pushed out to make way for new talent.”

Update: The New York Times reports that MSNBC is set to announce lovable liberal egghead Chris Hayes as the new 8 p.m. host, leading into Rachel Maddow. Hayes, who is currently relegated to the weekends, is just 34-years-old, and “will be the youngest host of a prime-time show on any of the country’s major cable news channels, all of which seek out youthful viewers but tend to have middle-aged hosts and a core audience made up of senior citizens.”

Ed Schultz Loses Weeknight Slot, As Predicted