A new week brought new drama on TV cable news.
Jesse Watters will host a new show on a weeknight, primetime evening timeslot on Fox News. And on MSNBC, Symone D. Sanders — former chief spokesperson for Vice President Kamala Harris — will host two new shows.
Last year, Fox News host Martha McCallum left her 7 p.m. timeslot and moved to 3 p.m. Since then, Watters has hosted a broadcast in McCallum’s old timeslot as part of a rotating cast of anchors.
Now Watters will occupy that timeslot permanently with a new program called Jesse Watters Primetime set to start on Jan. 24, according to a Monday announcement by CEO of Fox News Media.
Currently, Watters co-hosts The Five, a roundtable talk show. He also hosts his own weekend program, Watters’ World. After Jan. 24, he will continue co-hosting The Five, but Fox will cancel Watters’ World.
Watters has become known for asking persistent, pointed questions to “men on the street.” For this reason, he has been characterized as an “ambush journalist,” a term he has rejected.
There is no word yet on what will replace Watters’ World. Fox plans to announce a replacement “later this year,” according to its website.
Meanwhile, MSNBC has found a new anchor: Biden-Harris alum Symone Sanders.
According to a Monday report by Politico, Sanders will host one weekend broadcast on TV and one webcast available only on Peacock, an internet streaming service.
MSNBC has remained vague on other details. The network has not yet revealed the time slot, the launch date, or the name of the two shows. It plans to announce more details “in the coming months,” Politico reported.
Some conservatives worry that the far-left Sanders will only make the liberal bias at MSNBC worse. They expect her to ask softball questions.
“It is comparably absurd to expect Symone Sanders to ever open her show by declaring, ‘Wow, my old bosses are doing a terrible job, and here’s why.’ You might as well title the shows, Here’s Why My Old Boss Is Still Awesome,” one conservative wrote in the National Review.
“Kayleigh McEnany is now co-hosting Fox News’ Outnumbered — but at least she started hosting a show after Trump left office.”
Sanders left the vice president’s office at the end of last year, amid embarrassing reports of disorganization within her office.
That’s fitting. MSNBC, like Harris’ office, has also found itself in disarray lately.
Within the last six months, the network the departure of longtime anchor Brian Williams and the partial retirement of Rachel Maddow, its highest-rated host. Additionally, 7:00 p.m. host Joy Reid is expected to lose her job in the spring.
Behind the scenes, longtime MSNBC President Phil Griffin announced his retirement in December. Senior Vice President Rashida Jones will take Griffin’s place in February.
What’s more, the network has been losing viewers. MSNBC’s primetime ratings have declined to levels not seen since 2016, according to an analysis by Adweek.
Sanders, on the other hand, has attracted viewers throughout her career.
In 2020, she went viral for tackling a protestor during President Joe Biden’s speech. In 2017, she went viral for telling Virginia’s former attorney general, “No, you shut up.”
Watch the videos here —
Symone Sanders has an update after this tackle. Also, all NFL scouting people might be calling her https://t.co/WHr7SXL3I2 pic.twitter.com/vG9W2eAzOG
— Annie Andersen (@Annie_Andersen) March 4, 2020
Former Virginia Attorney General to Symone Sanders during discussion about Charlottesville: "Will you just shut up" https://t.co/3Dx9pIqTst pic.twitter.com/uc4os0JHAj
— CNN (@CNN) August 14, 2017
The Horn editorial team