MSNBC announced today that it will change it's weeknight schedule beginning Monday, October 24. "The Ed Show", hosted by Ed Schultz, will swap schedule spots with "The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell."
"The Ed Show" will now air at 8 p.m. Eastern time. "The Last Word" will air at 10 p.m. Eastern time.
Ed Schultz mentioned the schedule change on his radio program today after it was announced by MSNBC. Schultz says he has no problem with the change and joked that he is happy to have a job. He also noted that his show will now be competing directly with "The O'Reilly Factor" which airs on the Fox News Channel and is hosted by Bill O'Reilly.
"The Ed Show" will also compete directly with "Countdown" with former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann. "Countdown" now airs at 8 p.m. on the Current network but once occupied the prime 8 p.m. spot on MSNBC that will now belong to Ed Schultz.
The DVR is a wonderful piece of technology, isn't it?
It does make sense to move a show titled "The Last Word" back to the slot which inspired its name. The 10 to 11 p.m. hour is the last hour of live political/news programming aired on MSNBC on weeknights.
MSNBC announced no plans to begin airing original, live news programming on weekends. Their weekend schedule is filled largely with repeats of prison-themed or "real crime" documentaries and has often drawn complaints from MSNBC's weeknight viewers who crave original news programming on the weekends.