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After moderating CNN’s town hall with Donald Trump, Kaitlan Collins is expected to be tapped as the new host of the network’s 9 p.m. hour, which has lacked a permanent occupant for more than a year.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Kaitlan Collins spent Wednesday night going toe to toe on live TV with a former President who refused to acknowledge her fact-checking of his many conspiracy theories and untruths. And that just may be a warm up. Collins, the CNN up-and-comer who has gone from White House correspondent to morning anchor all before turning 35, is widely expected to be given new anchoring duties at 9 p.m., according to two people familiar with the matter. The hour is one of the most competitive on the cable-news schedule and has served as a home to some of the most popular hosts in the format, including Rachel Maddow, Sean Hannity and Chris Cuomo. CNN declined to make executives available for comment. Puck previously reported the looming deal, which could be unveiled in days to come — barring unforeseen changes, or a pivot in the strategic thinking of CNN CEO Chris Licht, one of these people cautioned.

MSNBC anchor Chris Hayes explained on Wednesday night why he disagrees with rival network CNN hosting a town hall for former President Donald Trump. Trump, Hayes said in part, is “the guy who tried to kill American democracy.”Trump will participate in a CNN presidential town hall on May 10, moderated by “CNN This Morning” anchor Kaitlan Collins.

UPDATE: CNN cut away from Donald Trump’s post-arraignment at Mar-a-Lago shortly before it ended, with anchor Anderson Cooper calling it a “reprise of every grievance” by the former president.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor You can’t tie these anchors down. MSNBC’s Symone Sanders and CNN’s Kaitlan Collins have both moved to WME for representation after previously being signed to UTA, according to three people familiar with the matter. Sanders launched a new Sunday program in May of last year, and her contract with MSNBC ends in early 2024, according to two of these people. Collins is one of three co-anchors at “CNN This Morning,” which executives at the Warner Bros. Discovery-owned outlet are trying to improve after a rocky start, and where the three hostshave had to work through on-set tensions.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor CNN hopes it’s finally hit upon a way to solve a long-vexing puzzle: What should it be airing at 9 p.m.? The solution requires the network to fit together many pieces. Starting this week, the Warner Bros. Discovery-backed news outlet will fill the hour with a range of different special reports, all under the rubric of “CNN Primetime.” Future 9 p.m. hours could include one-on-one interviews with newsmakers; town halls that put government officials in direct contact with the people affected by policy decisions; and other programs that feature surprising “gets” and scoops. The programming gambit backs away from the tried-and-true practice of relying on a single anchor or opinion host in the time slot, home to Sean Hannity, Alex Wagner and Rachel Maddow, and banks instead on creative ways of analyzing the news cycle.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Rachel Maddow isn’t on MSNBC’s schedule Monday through Friday any longer, spurring the need for some of her top behind-the-scenes allies to find other things to do. Cory Gnazzo, who has served as the executive producer of “The Rachel Maddow Show” since 2014 and who has been with the show since its launch in 2008, is taking on a new role as senior executive producer at the network. He will continue to shepherd Maddow’s Monday broadcast on MSNBC and represent her various projects to NBCUniversal. Maddow struck a deal with the media conglomerate in 2021 that calls for the creation of various podcasts, documentaries and more, while keeping her tethered to MSNBC once a week and for special reports.

Rachel Maddow is having a hard time wrapping her head around the concept of election deniers who are running in political races this year. On Monday night, the MSNBC host sincerely questioned how those people who deny the 2020 election results expect to be, well, fairly elected.Appearing on “The Tonight Show” and sitting with host Jimmy Fallon, Maddow noted that in new findings from The Washington Post, “a numerical majority of the Republican candidates don’t believe in the last election results.” In fact, many are campaigning on the lie that the election was “stolen” thanks to voter fraud (which has been disproven multiple times since the election ended).“So that’s hard, ’cause if you don’t believe elections are the way we decide who’s in power, how exactly would you like us to choose you?” Maddow said.

Rachel Maddow is launching another new podcast series with MSNBC, this time examining the history of an 80-year-old plot to undermine democracy.

Independent.“They took down one of our videos for misinformation, but why are big media organisations not censored for misinformation in the same way? Is it because YouTube are part of the mainstream media now?”Brand went on to say YouTube had told him the video in question “cited information on official government websites, which we misinterpreted”.He added that he had since apologised for the “error” in a video, which he has deleted to avoid being called out for the claim again.“YouTube took down our original video, we’ve taken down the apology video because in case we reiterate the claim while apologising for it,” Brand said.“We made an error, in my opinion a relatively small error, and we are being penalised, and for me that looks like censorship.”Brand pointed out that another YouTube video spreading COVID misinformation is still available to view, as MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow said in a clip in March 2021: “Now we know that the vaccines work well enough that the virus stops with every vaccinated person.”Brand argued that everyone knows “that the truth is the vaccine does not prevent you from spreading it.

Chris Licht announced Thursday.Lemon will join Kaitlan Collins and Poppy Harlow to replace current “New Day” hosts John Berman and Brianna Keilar.Lemon’s long-anticipated demotion comes after Licht was tasked by new corporate overlord Warner Bros. Discovery to shift CNN away from opinion-based shows to more centrist reporting of the news.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor MSNBC’s Alex Wagner continues to pick up some of the most interesting jobs held by news anchors. First she took over the MSNBC time slot previously held by Rachel Maddow. Now she’s set to lead a reality show that was once the province of a young Anderson Cooper. When Netflix launches a reboot of “The Mole,” the reality competition that was first broadcast in the U.S. by ABC in 2001, the program will be led by Wagner, according to a person familiar with the matter. Representatives for Netflix and MSNBC were not able to respond immediately to queries about the matter on Wednesday. Wagner’s role in the show was previously reported by Reality Blurred.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Zerlina Maxwell is leaving MSNBC. Maxwell, one of the first anchors to launch an all-streaming program for the NBCUniversal-backed news outlet, announced her departure on social media Tuesday. MSNBC decided to cancel her program last month, marking some of the first cutbacks to its streaming ambitions. A program led by Ayman Mohyeldin was also canceled, but he is expected to remain as a weekend host on MSNBC’s cable network. Executives had hoped Maxwell, a Democratic activist and former campaign aide to Hillary Clinton would stay on in an analyst role. But she appears to have declined. “My last episode of @zerlinashow on 9/15 next week will also be my last day at @msnbc,” she posted Tuesday. The anchor thanked her production team for the ability to use our show and my voice to put the spotlight on black and brown communities that are not often considered in mainstream conversations.”

Fox News again topped the monthly ratings, as The Five topped in total viewers and Tucker Carlson Tonight won the 25-54 demo.

Alex Wagner’s debut as MSNBC’s Tuesday to Friday successor to Rachel Maddow drew an estimated 2 million viewers.

said about the House Minority Leader on Tuesday’s “Alex Wagner Tonight” show premiere. “He is a failed leader who has absolutely nothing more than his own power in his mind, and he resurrected Donald Trump.”Kinzinger, who Wagner recalled was one of McCarthy’s “protégé’s,” noted that McCarthy is a “good politician” but now views him as “too cowardice” to stand up against the former president.“I knew he was a very good politician and he is, he goes with the wind, he goes where it’s gonna take him to higher power, he knows everybody’s name, he knows something about you,” Kinzinger said, noting that their relationship began before Trump entered the political arena.When he did, though, the tides changed as Kinzinger observed McCarthy work on Trump’s agenda.“It’s not just about differences of opinion — we need differences of opinion in this country — but it’s about swallowing authoritarian moves, destroying the constitution and changing how we respect government,” the congressman said, “and I saw him working on behalf of Trump for that, and not lead.”While Kinzinger noted that he and Liz Cheney would continue speaking out against Trump, he said that “Kevin McCarthy is the one that people would listen to.” “He’s a leader and he’s too cowardice to do it, and people need to recognize that” he continued.“If he’s ever around a mirror, I can’t imagine that’s easy to look unless he’s just that cold and calculated,” the Illinois congressman concluded.

When Alex Wagner debuts her new MSNBC show on Tuesday, she will be taking on an unusual arrangement that came about following Rachel Maddow’s contract renewal with NBCUniversal.

announced to be taking over Rachel Maddow’s 9 p.m. slot starting Aug.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorMSNBC is canceling two of its streaming programs on Peacock as the NBCUniversal-backed news outlet monitors the performance of programing amid a new battle for broadband consumers.Zerlina Maxwell and Ayman Mohyeldin will both lose their Peacock programs, according to a spokesperson for the network. Maxwell, who has worked with MSNBC since 2018 as an analyst and whose Peacock program was among MSNBC’s first streaming offerings, will do her last Peacock program on September 15.

Zack Sharf Rachel Maddow’s political beliefs stand in direct contrast to her longtime Fox News rival Tucker Carlson, but the MSNBC stalwart refused to outright bash her competitor in a recent Vanity Fair profile. After all, it was Carlson who first gave Maddow a paid TV position when she worked on his MSNBC series “Tucker” nearly 17 years ago.“Tucker’s doing great right now,” Maddow said.

Kurtz tweeted on Monday. “My apologies to Alex and to my followers for not being more careful, given dangers of quick-response tweeting.”Kurtz’s tweets follow the news that Alex Wagner will take over Rachel Maddow’s 9:00 p.m.

Alex Wagner has been picked to succeed Rachel Maddow in Maddow’s lynchpin 9 p.m. time slot at MSNBC. Wagner, a political veteran who recently returned to MSNBC as a senior political analyst and guest anchor in February, will host a show Tuesday-Fridays, with Maddow to continue on Mondays.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorFor years, Lawrence O’Donnell had the tricky job of following Rachel Maddow on MSNBC. Now that task falls to Alex Wagner.Wagner, an MSNBC veteran who left the NBCUniversal-backed cable-news outlet in 2015 to try her hand at other pursuits, will seize the reins of the network’s all-important 9 p.m. hour four days a week — the first person given the job on a permanent basis since Maddow ceded most of the slot earlier this year.The new program, which will be named at a later date, will debut on August 16 and air Tuesdays through Fridays.

Symone hosted by political strategist Symone D. Sanders and The Katie Phang Show hosted by MSNBC and NBC News legal analyst Katie Phang.

Meghan McCain is looking back at her time on The View.

While Meghan McCain has said she’ll “never return” to “The View”, there is one co-host from the ABC daytime talk show whom she still keeps in touch with. During an appearance on the “Reality With the King” podcast, McCain opened up about her time on the show and the bond she still shares with her former co-worker, Sunny Hostin.

Meghan McCain has said she'll «never return» to , there is one co-host from the ABC daytime talk show whom she still keeps in touch with. During an appearance on the  podcast, McCain opened up about her time on the show and the bond she still shares with her former co-worker, Sunny Hostin.«Sunny is one of the greatest TV presences in all of television. I keep telling her she should have her own show,» McCain said of Hostin.

Fox News again topped the cable news ratings for April, as its total day audience and primetime audience grew while other news networks saw erosion.

book. Reports of Maddow scaling back her schedule have been made ever since she signed a new multi-year deal with MSNBC and NBCUniversal, allowing her a broader range of projects.The new contract keeps her at the company through 2024.”I do still have all these other irons in the fire, all these other things I’m working on that I want to bring to fruition, none of them are fast, all of them take a long time, and I’m still working on all of them,” Maddow said on her program Monday.She clarified that for bigger news events, such as the lead-up to the election, she plans to be in the anchor spot more than once a week. “This might change….We will see how things go, but that is the plan as of now,” Maddow said. Rotating hosts will fill in the 9 p.m. slot the rest of the week, and there are no immediate plans for a permanent replacement host, according to a network spokesperson.

election, I will of course be here more than that, but that is the general plan,” Maddow said on her show Monday.The cable news network's most popular personality had been on hiatus for the past two months, working on a new podcast and a movie adaptation of her book “Bag Man.” She said the weekly schedule will give her “more time to work on some of this other stuff I've got cooking for MSNBC and NBC.”She heaped praise on Ali Velshi, who had filled in frequently for her while she was away, calling him a “prince among men.”Yet MSNBC's ratings in her time slot tumbled in her absence, even with coverage of a gripping news event, the Ukraine war. MSNBC is not alone in questions about its 9 p.m.

Rachel Maddow announced that she will go to a weekly schedule, hosting MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show solely on Monday nights starting in May.

Rachel Maddow plans to return from her MSNBC hiatus on April 11.

Jen Psaki may be taking on a new role soon.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorCraig Melvin will leave his 11 a.m. weekday morning slot at MSNBC at the end of March, marking the latest shift of personnel at the NBCUniversal-owned cable-news outlet.Melvin will focus more heavily on his duties at NBC News and NBC’s “Today” program, where he is as regular a presence as Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb, according to a spokesperson for MSNBC.

MSNBC is planning to offer on-demand episodes of shows like Morning Joe and The ReidOut to new hub for Peacock’s premium subscribers.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorMSNBC intends to make some of its best-known opinion programs available to premium tier customers of the NBCU Peacock streaming service, allowing the shows to be seen by consumers who might not subscribe to the cable network.Starting in early spring, an MSNBC “hub” of episodes of “Morning Joe,” “Deadline: White House,” “The Beat with Ari Melber,” “The ReidOut,” “All In with Chris Hayes” and MSNBC’s opinion programs will stream on-demand the day after they air on cable. Specials with top hosts including Rachel Maddow, Nicolle Wallace, Chris Hayes, Trymaine Lee and others will premiere later this year, streaming exclusively on Peacock.“We are reimagining the MSNBC experience by adding the core of our perspective programming to Peacock and reaching audiences wherever they are and however they choose to consume content,” said Rashida Jones, president of MSNBC, in a prepared statement.