MSNBC's New Chief Plots First Moves, Poised to Expand Screen Time for Jen Psaki, 'Weekend' Trio (Variety) [View all]

By Brian Steinberg

MSNBC‘s new chief isn’t wasting any time in figuring out where she wants to take the progressive-leaning network as it prepares to be spun off from NBCUniversal and its corporate parent, Comcast.

Rebecca Kutler, who was named president of MSNBC earlier in February, is considering expanding the on-screen presence of Jen Psaki, who currently anchors hours on Sunday afternoons and Monday evenings, as well as the trio of personalities who lead “The Weekend,” the roundtable show that airs Saturday and Sunday mornings and is led by Symone Sanders-Townsend, Alicia Menendez and Michael Steele, according to two people familiar with the discussions.

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The changes, none of which have not been formally announced, show Kutler moving quickly to steer MSNBC in a tricky moment. With Comcast splitting off the bulk of its cable assets into a separate, publicly-traded company, MSNBC is likely to have to navigate a future cut off from the newsgathering resources of NBC News. At present, a group of traditional news anchors, including Katy Tur and Chris Jansing, fill MSNBC’s weekday hours, offering reporting and journalism that isn’t as dipped in blue as the outlet’s primetime opinion programs. Veteran Andrea Mitchell recently signed off from the noon hour she anchored for decades, and an official replacement has not been unveiled.

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Both Psaki and “The Weekend” are close to Kutler’s heart. She developed both the trio and “Inside With Jen Psaki.” “The Weekend” has enjoyed a spike in viewership in its time slot since it launched in January of 2024. Executives at MSNBC have clearly been taken with Psaki, a former Biden White House press secretary, since she launched a Sunday hour in March of 2003.

Read more: https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/msnbc-expansion-jen-psaki-weekend-symone-sanders-rebecca-kutler-1236316128/

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Comment: Like Jen Psaki, not so much "The Weekend." But we'll see where that goes. And the writer's "dipped in blue" comment shows a real lack of knowledge of what mainstream news programming, which MSNBC has always tried to do, should be. MSNBC (or CNN, for that matter) has never been Free Speech TV, which can be described correctly as "dipped in blue." Both channels have tried to keep news as the key to their programming, with opinion taking a back end. Which is the way it should be.