MSNBC announces major weekend schedule changes

MSNBC is rolling out a series of weekend schedule changes.

The core of the change is the launch of a panel show called “The Weekend.”

Simultaneously, the network is ending “Symone” and “American Voices,” hosted by Symone Sanders-Townsend and Alicia Menendez, respectively, but both of them will move over to “The Weekend.”

Michael Steele, who is a political analyst for the network, will join the duo at the desk from 8 to 10 a.m. eastern from NBC’s Washington, D.C. studios. 

The changes are also triggering other updates, including moving Ayman Mohyeldin to 7 p.m. 

Alex Witt will anchor “Alex Witt Reports” from 1 to 4 p.m. and Jonathan Capehart will move to 6 p.m. with “The Saturday Show” and “The Sunday Show.” Katie Phang will appear from noon to 1 p.m. on Saturday only.

Ali Velshi will continue to anchor “Velshi” from 10 a.m. to noon. 

“PoliticsNation” with Al Sharpton will remain at 5 p.m. 

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“Inside with Jen Psaki” will continue to air at noon on Sundays as well as its new Monday edition leading into “The Rachel Maddow Show,” replacing “All In,” which previously announced it would switch to a four-day-a-week schedule.

Mehdi Hasan, who was originally to going to become a political analyst and fill-in anchor, will leave the network altogether, the network announced Jan. 8, 2024. “Yasmin Vossoughian Reports” will also end and become a national reporter and fill-in anchor. 

Many of the changes appear to be targeted at trying to better compete with Fox and CNN, both of who tend to outperform MSNBC on these days.