Alex Wagner Tonight

Last updated

Alex Wagner Tonight
Alex Wagner Tonight logo.jpg
GenrePolitical news/opinion program
Directed byRob Katko
Presented by Alex Wagner
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producerMatthew Alexander
Production locationNew York City
Camera setup Multi-camera
Running time60 minutes
Original release
Network MSNBC
ReleaseAugust 16, 2022 (2022-08-16) –
January 17, 2025 (2025-01-17)
Related
The Rachel Maddow Show

Alex Wagner Tonight is an American liberal news and opinion television program that was televised by MSNBC. Hosted by Alex Wagner, it premiered on August 16, 2022, and aired on Tuesdays through Fridays as a substitute for The Rachel Maddow Show (which, since May 2022, has only aired on Monday nights).

In February 2025, after having been placed on a hiatus since January 17, 2025, in favor of Maddow to cover the first hundred days of the second Trump administration, Alex Wagner Tonight was cancelled by MSNBC and replaced by The Briefing with Jen Psaki.

History

From February to April 2022, as part of her new contract with NBCUniversal, Rachel Maddow took an extended hiatus from her MSNBC program The Rachel Maddow Show in order to focus on other film and podcast projects, with rotating guest hosts filling in for her. Upon Maddow's return, she announced that she would only host the show on Monday nights beginning in May, and continue to feature guest hosts throughout the rest of the week. [1] [2]

At this point, The Rachel Maddow Show was retitled MSNBC Prime on Tuesday through Friday nights, but retained the same staff and overall format, and with the guest hosts usually being MSNBC personalities with a similar style to Maddow. [3] Average viewership of the hour as MSNBC Prime was lower than that of The Rachel Maddow Show, but still ahead of timeslot competitor CNN Tonight (a replacement of Cuomo Prime Time with rotating hosts after Chris Cuomo was fired from the network) [4] and behind Fox News Channel's Hannity . [5]

In June 2022, MSNBC announced that MSNBC Prime would be replaced by a new show hosted by Alex Wagner beginning on August 16. [5] On August 3, MSNBC announced that the program would be titled Alex Wagner Tonight. [6]

Wagner stated that the show would aim to combine Maddow's "intellectual rigor and informative analysis" with aspects that are representative of her own personal experiences, including more segments in the field and segments on climate change, immigration, and race. The program shared most of its staff with The Rachel Maddow Show. [7] [8] The series premiere of Alex Wagner Tonight—which featured guests Mark Leibovich, Adam Kinzinger, and Joyce Vance, as well as coverage of Wyoming's Republican primary—was seen by around 2 million viewers. [9]

On January 13, 2025, it was announced that Alex Wagner Tonight would go on hiatus from January 20 to April 30, 2025, with The Rachel Maddow Show temporarily returning to a weeknight scheduling to cover the first hundred days of the second presidency of Donald Trump. During this hiatus, Wagner would be placed on special assignment to report on the repercussions of Trump's policy decisions across the country and internationally. [10] In February 2025, amid changes in leadership at the network, MSNBC announced that Alex Wagner Tonight had been cancelled, and would be replaced by The Briefing with Jen Psaki as part of a revamp of its weeknight schedule. Wagner will remain with the network as a contributor. [11] [12]

References

  1. ↑ Atkinson, Claire (January 31, 2022). "Rachel Maddow to take temporary break from her MSNBC show to work on movie and podcast projects". Business Insider. Retrieved January 31, 2022.
  2. ↑ Bauder, David (April 11, 2022). "Rachel Maddow returns to MSNBC, will switch to once a week". Associated Press.
  3. ↑ "'MSNBC Prime' becomes 'Rachel Maddow' replacement four days a week". NewscastStudio. May 4, 2022. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  4. ↑ Stelter, Brian (December 6, 2021). "With Chris Cuomo gone from CNN, another cable news time slot is up for grabs". CNN. Archived from the original on December 6, 2021. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
  5. 1 2 Hipes, Patrick (June 27, 2022). "Alex Wagner To Take Over Rachel Maddow's Time Slot At MSNBC". Deadline. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
  6. ↑ "Alex Wagner's New MSNBC Show Will Be Titled Alex Wagner Tonight". Adweek.com. August 2, 2022. Retrieved August 5, 2022.
  7. ↑ Johnson, Ted (August 14, 2022). "Alex Wagner Talks About Her Debut As Permanent MSNBC Primetime Host: "This Is Going To Be A Different Show"". Deadline. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
  8. ↑ Betts, Anna (February 25, 2025). "Rachel Maddow staff to be let go as part of MSNBC overhaul". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved March 24, 2025.
  9. ↑ Johnson, Ted (August 17, 2022). "Alex Wagner Draws Solid 2 Million Viewers To Debut Of MSNBC Primetime Show; 'Hannity' Tops Timeslot". Deadline. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
  10. ↑ Steinberg, Brian (January 13, 2025). "MSNBC Ups Rachel Maddow to Five Nights, Sends Alex Wagner Into Field for Trump's First 100 Days". Variety. Retrieved January 13, 2025.
  11. ↑ Steinberg, Brian (February 23, 2025). "Joy Reid and Alex Wagner Axed From MSNBC Lineup in Major Network Shakeup". Variety. Retrieved February 23, 2025.
  12. ↑ Alvord, Kyler. "Rachel Maddow Explains Why MSNBC Prime Time Will Be 'Better' with Jen Psaki as She Steps Back as Nightly Host (Exclusive)". People.com. Retrieved May 6, 2025.
Preceded by MSNBC Weekday Lineup (Tuesdays-Fridays)
  • 9:00–10:00 p.m. (ET)
  • midnight – 1:00 a.m. (ET) (replay)
  • 4:00–5:00 a.m. (ET) (replay)
Succeeded by
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