Alex Wagner Tonight

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.{{cite web |last=Atkinson |first=Claire |date=January 31, 2022 |title=Rachel Maddow to take temporary break from her MSNBC show to work on movie and podcast projects |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/rachel-maddow-takes-break-msnbc-primetime-movie-podcast-2022-1 |access-date=January 31, 2022 |publisher=Business Insider}}{{cite web |author=Bauder, David |date=April 11, 2022 |title=Rachel Maddow returns to MSNBC, will switch to once a week |url=https://apnews.com/article/business-rachel-maddow-ali-velshi-arts-and-entertainment-094cda977c40fc1d236625760220fd24 |work=Associated Press}}

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.{{Cite web |title='MSNBC Prime' becomes 'Rachel Maddow' replacement four days a week |url=https://www.newscaststudio.com/2022/05/04/msnbc-prime-maddow-replacement/?og=1 |access-date=2022-05-06 |website=NewscastStudio | date=4 May 2022 |language=en-US}} 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){{Cite web |last=Stelter |first=Brian |title=With Chris Cuomo gone from CNN, another cable news time slot is up for grabs |url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/05/media/chris-cuomo-cnn-time-slot/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211206031856/https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/05/media/chris-cuomo-cnn-time-slot/index.html |archive-date=2021-12-06 |access-date=2021-12-10 |website=CNN|date=6 December 2021 }} and behind Fox News Channel's Hannity.{{Cite web |last=Hipes |first=Patrick |date=2022-06-27 |title=Alex Wagner To Take Over Rachel Maddow's Time Slot At MSNBC |url=https://deadline.com/2022/06/alex-wagner-rachel-maddow-show-new-anchor-msnbc-1235052712/ |access-date=2022-06-27 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}}

In June 2022, MSNBC announced that MSNBC Prime would be replaced by a new show hosted by Alex Wagner beginning on August 16. On August 3, MSNBC announced that the program would be titled Alex Wagner Tonight.{{Cite web |title=Alex Wagner's New MSNBC Show Will Be Titled Alex Wagner Tonight |url=https://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/alex-wagners-new-msnbc-show-will-be-titled-alex-wagner-tonight/511762/ |access-date=2022-08-05 |website=Adweek.com |date=2 August 2022 |language=en-US}}

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.{{Cite web |last=Johnson |first=Ted |date=2022-08-14 |title=Alex Wagner Talks About Her Debut As Permanent MSNBC Primetime Host: "This Is Going To Be A Different Show" |url=https://deadline.com/2022/08/alex-wagner-msnbc-new-show-rachel-maddow-time-slot-1235089339/ |access-date=2022-08-18 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}}{{Cite news |last=Betts |first=Anna |date=2025-02-25 |title=Rachel Maddow staff to be let go as part of MSNBC overhaul |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/25/msnbc-layoffs-rachel-maddow |access-date=2025-03-24 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} 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.{{Cite web |last=Johnson |first=Ted |date=2022-08-17 |title=Alex Wagner Draws Solid 2 Million Viewers To Debut Of MSNBC Primetime Show; 'Hannity' Tops Timeslot |url=https://deadline.com/2022/08/alex-wagner-ratings-1235094752/ |access-date=2022-08-18 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}}

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 100 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.{{Cite web |last=Steinberg |first=Brian |date=2025-01-13 |title=MSNBC Ups Rachel Maddow to Five Nights, Sends Alex Wagner Into Field for Trump’s First 100 Days |url=https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/msnbc-shuffle-primetime-rachel-maddow-alex-wagner-trump-first-100-days-1236272693/ |access-date=2025-01-13 |website=Variety |language=en-US}} In February 2025, amid changes in leadership at MSNBC, it was reported that Alex Wagner Tonight had instead been cancelled, with Wagner expected to remain with the network as a contributor.{{Cite web |last=Steinberg |first=Brian |date=2025-02-23 |title=Joy Reid and Alex Wagner Axed From MSNBC Lineup in Major Network Shakeup |url=https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/msnbc-evening-shake-up-joy-reid-alex-wagner-1236316524/ |access-date=2025-02-23 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}

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Category:2022 American television series debuts

Category:2020s American television news shows

Category:American English-language television shows

Category:MSNBC original programming