We reported last week that MSNBC has a job posting up on its careers site for an executive producer to launch a new weekend morning show. Perhaps the new show will air Saturdays at 8 a.m. because MSNBC has canceled Hugh Hewitt‘s show after a yearlong run in that Saturday time slot.
An MSNBC spokesperson tells TVNewser: “MSNBC and Hugh Hewitt have decided to end Hewitt’s Saturday show. Hewitt will continue as a contributor across our platforms.” Hewitt joined the network in a contributor role in 2016.
“It has been great fun to bring interviews with high-profile newsmakers to you. I will do more of it and this brings me to an important programming note,” Hewitt said to viewers during Saturday’s broadcast. “This has been the last Hugh Hewitt show on MSNBC on Saturday mornings. I am remaining on the network as a contributor. I will appear as a guest on MSNBC shows and I will continue as a guest on Meet the Press and I will conduct more of these one-on-one interviews. It has been great fun to host this show. I will see you on MSNBC again soon. Thank you for watching.”
For the time being, MSNBC Live with Alex Witt will continue throughout the 8 a.m. hour.
Ratings for the conservative Hewitt on a network known to draw a left-leaning audience were poor, as one might have guessed. Giving Hewitt a show was considered a bold move by NBC News chairman Andy Lack, who decided to expand the network’s live weekend programming at around this time last year, and has brought in more Republican party-affiliated voices since the Trump presidency began, including Nicolle Wallace, Charlie Sykes, George Will, Bret Stephens and Steve Schmidt.
Hewitt also came under fire back in May for not disclosing his business connections to embattled EPA chief Scott Pruitt.
The network provided us with the following statement at the time: “Hugh Hewitt disclosed several times to MSNBC viewers that he has a friendship with EPA administrator Scott Pruitt and also that Hewitt’s son works for the agency. As a result of those relationships, Hewitt stopped discussing EPA-related matters on MSNBC. However, after the network learned Tuesday that Hewitt set up an EPA meeting in the fall, he was given a verbal warning as such activity is a violation of our standards.”