MS NOW Shake-Up: Ali Velshi Seizes ’11th Hour,’ ‘Morning Joe’ Cedes 9 A.M., Ana Cabrera Slides in Daytime Overhaul
Rebecca Kutler‘s second year as MS NOW chief won’t look a lot like her first.
Kutler, president of the Versant-owned cable-news outlet on Wednesday unveiled a large series of programming changes at the network that will put some familiar faces in new hours and overhaul MS NOW’s daytime schedule. The network’s new schedule will go into effect in June.
Veteran Ali Velshi, who has long hosted weekend hours, will move to “The 11th Hour,” the network’s last original show of the programming day. The current anchor, Stephanie Ruhle, will take up a two-hour mid-morning program that starts at 9 a.m. — the result of MS NOW mainstay “Morning Joe” ceding that time slot and returning to a three-hours-per-weekday schedule. Chris Hayes’ “All In” will return to Mondays, where it had been pre-empted by a two-hour block of “The Weeknight.”
MS NOW’s daytime hours will get a significant makeover. Ana Cabrera, who joined MS NOW in 2023 after a successful stint at CNN, will leave. Chris Jansing, a longtime NBC News and MSNBC anchor who has led two hours each weekday, will become MS NOW’s chief political reporter. Katy Tur will remain as a daytime anchor, but Alicia Melendez, who previously led a weekend show on her own and has been part of “The Weeknight,” will pick up her own solo program. which will air from noon to 2 p.m. weekdays. A new 11 am. anchor will be named in coming weeks.
“I am confident that these changes will make what is already a successful lineup even stronger in the future,” Kutler said in a memo to staffers. “We are fortunate to have so many exceptional journalists on our air, online, and behind the scenes.”
Kutler makes changes as MS NOW and other news outlets prepare themselves for coverage of the run-up to midterm elections. These events typically draw broader audiences to programming and can generate boosts in ratings. Like its rivals, MS NOW is trying to improve its economics as consumers cut their cable subscriptions and move more quickly to streaming video. MS NOW is expected to shed more subscribers in 2026, according to Kagan, a market-research unit of S&P Global Intelligence, and its base is projected to dip to 58.8 million in 2026 from 61.3 million in the previous year. Revenue from affiliates is estimated to fall to $279.8 million from $286 million, according to Kagan. But advertising is projected to increase to $717.3 million from $653.9 million.
In other changes, Luke Russert will join “The Weeknight,” replacing Melendez. And Jacob Soboroff will take over Velshi’s weekend duties.
The programming maneuvers appear to add anchors who have demonstrated verve and a lean-forward personality to hours across the schedule, placing a premium on analysis of events and not just reporting the facts tied to them. Even so, under Kutler, MS NOW has put new emphasis on newsgathering, breaking stories and landing early interviews with newsmakers in the middle of important events. Carol Leonning, a former reporter with The Washington Post, has broken several stories about the FBI and Department of Justice while at MS NOW.
The decision to cut back hours devoted to “Morning Joe” appears to recognize that its anchors — Joe Scarborough, Mika Brezinski, and Willie Geist — can only give so much time on air. Scarborough and Brzezinski have been vocal in the past about demands on their time, and Geist also has duties with NBC News, even though MS NOW has split off from that media property when Comcast separated Versant from NBCUniversal. Jonathan Lemire, who had served as a third host at 9 a.m., will take up similar duties at 8 a.m.
In a statement posted on social media, Cabrera said she had “decided to make a change,” and will ” look forward to sharing more about what’s next for me soon. Stay tuned.”