MSNBC President Phil Griffin announced a major realignment of the network’s primetime programming lineup. Ed Schultz (pictured) moves to the lead-off position as Lawrence O’Donnell gets bumped back to his old time slot of 10:00 pm.
Starting Monday, October 24th, “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” will move back to its original time slot of 10:00 pm ET/PT, Monday-Thursday. “The Ed Show” with Ed Schultz will lead off MSNBC’s primetime lineup each weeknight at 8:00 pm ET/PT, rather than 10:00 pm. “The Rachel Maddow Show” will continue to air at 9:00 pm ET/PT.
“This move will strengthen the flow of our programming throughout the evening. As the name implies, The Last Word belongs at the conclusion of our programming day, thoughtfully wrapping-up the day’s political dialogue,” said Griffin. “Ed’s passionate voice is a perfect kick off to primetime at 8 pm.”
“The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” debuted in September 2010 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on MSNBC and moved to the 8 p.m. ET/PT time slot in January 2011. “The Ed Show” launched in April 2009 at 6 p.m. ET on MSNBC and replaced “The Last Word” at 10 pm ET/PT in January 2011.
Izzy Povich is the senior executive producer of “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” and Greg Kordick is executive producer. Rich Stockwell is the executive producer of “The Ed Show.”
RBR-TVBR observation: MSNBC continues to struggle to find a schedule that works after firing Keith Olberman in January. O’Donnell was clearly not up to competing head to head with Bill O’Reilly on Fox News Channel and Anderson Cooper on CNN. Does right-wing radio talk host turned left-wing radio talk host Ed Schultz have what it takes?
