Reports: Maddow to Stay On with 'Multi-Year' Deal at MSNBC
Out MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow will stay at her post with a new multi-year deal after the end of her current contract in 2022, Variety reports.
As previously reported at EDGE, there had been speculation that Maddow might leave the network in order to pursue her own media projects.
If the openly lesbian anchor wanted to strike off on her own, she has already proven that she could make a success of it; Variety recalled that even with her anchoring duties at MSNBC, she has found time for a string of accomplishments, including " 'Bag Man," a seven-episode podcast series centered on the story of former U.S. Vice President Spiro Agnew", as well as a "documentary special, 'Betrayal,' which focused on the darker side of the 1968 election and how President Nixon seemed willing to collude with a foreign government to win it", and " 'Blowout,' a book that examines the effects of the oil and gas industries on the world."
"MSNBC has reason to keep Maddow at her post," Variety went on to add. " 'The Rachel Maddow Show,' which has aired at 9 p.m. since launching in 2008, snared nearly $66.2 million in advertising in pandemic-ridden 2020".
The Daily Beast first broke the news that Maddow might be considering a change at the end of her current contract. (Story is behind a paywall).
If Maddow were to leave her post at MSNBC, a previous Variety story said, "it's not clear " who might take her place — though, the article noted, MSNBC "has launched a bevy of new 'perspective' hosts in recent months," any of whom could potentially have been in the running.
One "salient point" in negotiations for a new contract, Variety noted, concerns the anchor's work/life balance. "People familiar with the negotiations had suggested the anchor might be interested in pulling back from the five days a week she devotes to the program," the article said.
"Maddow is known to invest significant time on reporting and researching the topics she discusses each weekday evening."