The Scoop
The highest-rated star on MSNBC is not pleased with the network’s recent programming moves.
On Monday, MSNBC and NBC News announced sweeping changes to the cable network’s primetime lineup, as well as that of its broadcast sibling.
During a hastily arranged meeting with staff on Sunday, Semafor has learned, host Rachel Maddow said she had privately fought the network’s recent decisions, which included the cancellation of shows hosted by Joy Reid and Alex Wagner, as well as the decision to ask those shows’ employees reapply for new jobs.
She made some of her complaints public during her Monday evening broadcast, saying it was a “mistake” to let Reid leave, and making staff reapply “kind of drops the bottom out of whether people think this is a good place to work.”
MSNBC is one of a package of networks that parent company Comcast decided last year to spin off from its telecom and network broadcast business.
The network’s show cancelations come amid broader cost cutting in the linear television business as more consumers opt out of their cable subscriptions. Formerly well-paid television anchors have renewed their contracts at lower rates, while networks like CNN have undergone steep staff reductions.