MS NOW Will Expand Video Podcasts on Weekends, While Veteran Alex Witt Plans Exit

The divide between so-called “creator media” and mainstream TV news continues to narrow — and quickly.

Starting on Sunday, June 28, MS NOW will move away from featuring live, hosted hours after 6 p.m. on weekends and instead fill its schedule largely with taped video podcasts, expanding its use of a popular Saturday-night program from Crooked Media as well as podcasts hosted by MS NOW mainstays Nicolle Wallace and Chris Hayes. MS NOW expects to expand its content partnerships tied to the strategy in coming weeks, according to a memo from Rebecca Kutler, MS NOW’s president, that was reviewed by Variety.

The moves will have a significant effect on the network’s weekend schedule. MS NOW will cancel the new series “The Weekend: Primetime” after June 27, and one of its hosts, Antonia Hylton, will take up anchoring Saturdays and Sundays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Alex Witt, the veteran anchor who has kept a news presence at the network since 1999 largely on weekend afternoons, will depart later in the year. Ayman Mohyeldin, Catherine Rampell, and Elise Jordan, the other hosts of the primetime weekend program, are expected to stay with MS NOW.

The network will continue to be staffed for breaking news during its evening hours on the weekend. Richard Lui has for many years been on standby as an anchor during these time slots. MS NOW also has a deal with Sky News that allows it to simulcast international coverage. MS NOW has offered taped programming on the weekends at different times in the past, including reruns of hours from its weekday primetime lineup, and, in earlier times, hours of “Dateline” or the prison documentary series, “Lockup.” Executives at the Versant Media-backed outlet expect that the weekend schedule will still have hours of live weekend programing that are comparable to the number or live hours on CNN and Fox News Channel.

Many news and entertainment outlets are turning to podcasts as a programming strategy, and enlisting popular creators and subject-matter experts. Even Netflix, a specialist in premium video entertainment, has moved into the format, going so far as to tap former MS NOW mainstay Brian Williams in a conversational format. Younger audiences, in particular, find podcast hosts and digital influencers to be more authentic than traditional TV personnel, and help them understand issues with more depth, according to data from Pew Research. The organization found in 2025 that about 21% of U.S. adults get news from news influencers on social media, with 38% of those between the ages of 18 to 29 doing so regularly — compared with just 8% of adults 65 or older. Licensing podcasts from a third party or making use of podcasts already being created by current staff can also serve to keep costs down.

One well-known TV-industry consultant, Magid, has counseled some clients to start giving viewers programs that tout context, depth and emotional reassurance, rather than relying on breaking news and dozens of star anchors and correspondents. The advice follows audience habits; more people get first word on important news stories from digital and social media.

Executives at MS NOW have been particularly encouraged by viewer behavior tied to the “Crooked on MS NOW” show, which curates clips from a series of podcasts hosted by people such as Jon Lovett, Alex Wagner and Stacey Abrams, among others. Half of the viewers of the show have been new to MS NOW on Saturday nights, with nearly two-thirds of viewers under age 55 also new to the network.

Many traditional media companies are striking alliances with independent journalists and creators. Fox News has a licensing agreement with the principals of “Ruthless,” a popular conservative podcast, and its afternoon host Will Cain holds forth in a presentation that offers some of the traditional podcast trappings. CBS News earlier this week unveiled the launch of a new podcast led by Jill Schlesinger focused on personal finance. NBC News is working with Joanna Stern, a former Wall Street Journal technology journalist, who has launched her own venture. CNN, meanwhile, has been seen experimenting openly on screen, putting anchors including Anderson Cooper and Jake Tapper in less formal settings that don’t always mandate suit-and-tie wardrobes or behind-the-news-desk presentations.

MS NOW could delve further into other non-traditional formats later this year, when it is scheduled to launch a new direct-to-consumer streaming service that aims to burnish a sense of community among its viewers. The company is expected to hire new personnel for that service, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The weekend shift will result in some staffing reductions, which could involve less than 2% of the organization, according to one of the people familiar with the situation. Employees who are affected have been encouraged to explore nearly 40 positions that are open. MS NOW is likely to post more than a dozen new roles in weeks to come. Joy Fowlin, executive producer of “The Weekend: Primetime,” will serve as the executive producer for Hylton’s new weekend hours starting later this summer.

When Witt departs, she will take with her one of MS NOW’s last ties to its early history, when it was known as MSNBC and was a joint venture of NBC News and Microsoft. Witt’s long tenure on weekends, according to one person familiar with the network, comes from a simple achievement: Nothing else MSNBC or MS NOW put on the schedule drew bigger or more reliable numbers than her. After her departure, only Chris Jansing, the veteran anchor who continues to work for MS NOW as a correspondent, will offer similar connections to the past.

Witt “has been a continued, trusted, and steady presence for our audiences,” Kutler said in her memo, noting coverage of the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disaster and Ground Zero reportage following the terrorist attacks of 9/11, among other events. “We thank Alex for her endless contributions to the network and will have more opportunities to celebrate her in the coming months.”