Yesterday MSNBC officially announced what had been speculated for weeks. Joy Reid will fill Chris Matthews’s 7 p.m. slot on MSNBC. When her show The ReidOut premieres on July 20, Reid will become cable’s first Black female primetime anchor.
According to a statement by MSNBC, the Washington, D.C.-based show, “will feature one-on-one conversations with politicians and newsmakers while addressing provocative political issues both inside and outside of the beltway.”
“I’m thrilled to have Joy on five nights a week,” said MSNBC President Phil Griffin. “She’s thoughtful and brings so much depth to her reporting. She’s made for this moment.”
The political pundit has hosted the weekend program AM Joy on the network since 2016. She previously served as a correspondent and hosted the MSNBC afternoon show the Reid Report.
“I’m honored and thankful for this opportunity,” said Reid. “I’ll always be proud of the work we did on AM Joy by pushing the envelope and tackling pragmatic conversations. I’m eager to carry that same energy into the 7 p.m. hour where we can continue to build on bringing in diverse, smart, and accomplished voices to the table on topics that are important to our viewers.”
The Wall Street Journal broke the news on June 24 that Reid was in talks for the anchor spot – at the time they reported that a start date and title is still to be determined.
Chris Matthews, the longtime anchor of Hardball, abruptly resigned in March following allegations that he had previously made inappropriate remarks to women.
Information from Yahoo.com and MSNBC.com contributed to this report.
