“Tune in. It's gonna be a lot of fun, and hopefully you'll learn something too.”
That’s the message the hosts of MSNBC’s new weekend primetime show want to send ahead of the program’s debut Saturday night.
Months after the left-leaning cable news network announced sweeping programming changes, The Weekend: Primetime is finally ready to make its maiden voyage. The three-hour panel show, which will air Saturdays and Sundays from 6 to 9 p.m. ET, is an expansion of The Weekend franchise that launched early last year and has since seen its initial trio of hosts move to weeknights.
As has been the case with much of the lineup overhaul across MSNBC, network president Rebecca Kutler is looking to implement the panel format she has successfully developed in the past. With the current morning edition of The Weekend seeing a 35 percent increase in viewership since its debut, Kutler is hoping to replicate that success with the new nighttime version.
In recent weeks, the network has filled out the on-air roster of The Weekend: Primetime. After initially announcing that longtime MSNBC anchor Ayman Mohyeldin and Washington Post columnist Catherine Rampell would be hosts of the show, MSNBC added Antonia Hylton and Elise Jordan to the mix earlier this month. On top of that, Joy Fowlin will be the show’s executive producer.
With parent company Comcast spinning off most of its cable assets from NBC Universal into the separate SpinCo business, MSNBC will soon no longer be associated with the NBC News brand, resulting in both Jordan and Hylton transitioning to MSNBC-specific roles. Previously, Hylton was a correspondent for both MSNBC and NBC News, while Jordan served as a political analyst for both MSNBC and NBC News.
Ahead of the premiere broadcast of The Weekend: Primetime, all four hosts sat down with The Independent to discuss their expectations for the show and what MSNBC viewers should be prepared for, and also their feelings about the network’s upcoming split from NBC and the current political climate following Donald Trump’s White House return.
“I think it's going to be a mix of topics, an array of guests, people from all different backgrounds,” Mohyeldin said when asked about the format of the show. “And suffice it to say, it'll be a mix of serious conversations, dinner conversations, and lighthearted conversations, and hopefully, along the way, a lot of fun.”
Adding that she hopes the program will “offer a home and an environment that allows people to get past their talking points and to really be themselves,” Hylton stated that the last hour of each broadcast “is going to have a particularly Saturday and Sunday night feel to it.”
Letting us know that they’ve been in rehearsals all week, the “quad” explained that while it may seem a bit daunting on the surface to take on a three-hour show on both nights of the weekend, they also feel that the diverse viewpoints and experiences they each bring to the table will be the show’s strong suit.
“Personally, I'm used to Morning Joe, which is four hours and it's very, very early. I'm pretty excited about an evening format, and it'll be more relaxed,” Jordan pointed out. “I think that there's so much to talk about, and with four people with such different backgrounds and different expertise, I'm really not worried about filling that time at all.”
Admitting that she has “some healthy nerves” ahead of the debut, Hylton – who has spent much of the past few years as a field reporter and correspondent – said that she’s “just going to be the same person that I've actually always been for our viewers, and bring that into a newer environment.”
Mohyeldin, who had already been anchoring four hours of programming on the weekend, explained that “it's more about just taking it one hour at a time and living in the moment and enjoying the conversation as it happens,” something he feels will be “super easy with this amazing group of hosts.”
As for how well they’ll mesh together night in and night out, Rampell made the case that it is the fact that they each bring “different spheres of expertise” that will allow them to “lean on each other” when discussing distinct topics.
“I have historically covered the economy and domestic policy, things like that,” she noted. “So when there's tariff stuff in the news, or a big budget debate which is coming up, or the tax overhaul that's coming this year, I'm sure I will have a ton to say about that, but I don't know as much about foreign policy, and that's that's Ayman’s wheelhouse.”
Rampell continued: “I don't know as much about the inner workings of the Republican Party and the libertarian movement, and that's where Elise will really bring a lot of insights to bear. Likewise, Antonia does this reporting in the field, investigative reporting on culture wars, things like that. And I think we're all curious about each other's fields of expertise, but we don't have the same depth of knowledge as some of our colleagues do.”
With three of the hosts having spent years with both NBC News and MSNBC – Mohyeldin first joined NBC News as a foreign correspondent in 2011 – they spoke about the split with the NBC brand.
“I'm still working for both at the moment, because the divorce isn’t finalized,” Hylton quipped. “Mom and Dad still live in the same house right now. And I think that the most important thing for me to say is that I love Mom and Dad.”
All jokes aside, though, the three expressed excitement about the “very robust newsgathering operation” that MSNBC is building as it prepares to separate itself from NBC News. The network recently installed Scott Matthews as the network’s Senior Vice President of Newsgathering, Madeleine Haeringer as Senior Vice President of Digital, Audio, and Longform and Erin Zimmerman as its Vice President of Newsgathering.
Matthews has been tasked with hiring more than 100 journalists as the network builds out its newsroom, which will include a team of correspondents. Additionally, the channel is in the process of establishing an independent Washington operation and is expected to soon hire a Washington bureau chief.
The network recently hired Eugene Daniels from Politico and Jackie Alemany from The Washington Post. Besides serving as co-hosts of the morning edition of The Weekend, they will also be MSNBC correspondents out of the Washington bureau.
Asked what MSNBC viewers should expect from her, Rampell – who is joining the network after serving as CNN’s Economics and Politics Commentator – pointed to her extensive reporting on economic and political issues.
“For better or for worse, there's a lot for me to talk about right now,” she said. “And I hope that I can contribute constructively to people's understanding of what's going on in the economy when there's a lot of really scary, intimidating, technical stuff happening in the economy that can be hard to follow.”
After MSNBC suffered declining ratings following Trump’s election, which was comparable to the post-election dip in 2016, much of the network’s audience has come roaring back during the president’s chaotic first 100 days. In their minds, these hosts feel that people are tuning back in because of the “urgency” of the moment the nation is in politically.
“It's really a luxury to be able to disengage from politics, and that really is kind of the peak of a stable democracy that you don't have to pay attention to every nuance of what's happening in the world and in your local community, but right now is a time where there's so much going on,” Jordan sighed.
“I think that to some extent, we're seeing viewers re-engaging after a very dispiriting political season,” Mohyeldin weighed in. “And I think across the board, regardless of whether they felt they won or lost, people in this country were just so exhausted by what is increasingly becoming a never-ending election cycle in this country.”
Rampell, for her part, maintained that “everything feels very high stakes” right now, adding the “challenge for journalists,” but also for them as hosts, “is how do you help people feel more informed and feel more empowered rather than just overwhelmed.”
Trump live: Mike Waltz in fresh Signal controversy after ousting
NBC's coverage of Kentucky Derby has grown and evolved as it gears up for its 25th Run for the Roses
Jobs report defies expectations and hiring steady despite fears over Trump’s tariffs
Trump is planning ‘purge’ of White House staff after Waltz, report says
Teenage DOGE staffer ‘Big Balls’ speaks about role in Musk’s cost-cutting agency
