Rachel Maddow is cutting back.
The longtime MSNBC host announced Monday night that beginning next month, she will be moving “The Rachel Maddow Show” from nightly to weekly, airing only on Mondays, while she works on other projects.
The announcement, which had been expected for months, came on her first night back in the seat after returning from a hiatus she announced in late January.
“One of the things I realized to my surprise is that I actually don’t need another hiatus,” Maddow told her viewers. “This one was great. But I think I only needed the one. I still have these other irons in the fire, all these other things I am working on that I want to bring to fruition.”
The bespectacled host didn’t go into many details, but said she was looking forward to more time on “stuff that I’ve got cooking for MSNBC and NBC.”
Among the projects is the Ben Stiller-directed movie adaptation of her book and podcast, “Bag Man,” about Richard Nixon’s vice president, Spiro Agnew, which Stiller recently told Deadline is expected to begin shooting this summer.
“This might change,” Maddow teased Monday. “We will see how things go, but that is the plan as of now.”
During her two-month hiatus, Al Velshi filled in most nights, but a spokesperson for MSNBC told the Daily News Tuesday that her 9 p.m. hour will be filled by a “a rotating group of hosts.” On nights when Maddow’s not there, it will be called “MSNBC Prime.”
Maddow is still expected back for special events like Election Night.
MSNBC recently shuffled its lineup, sending morning anchor Stephanie Ruhle to 11 p.m. to slot into Brian Williams’ old spot and expanding “Morning Joe” into a fourth hour. Craig Melvin gave up his 11 a.m. show last month to focus on the “Today” show and “Dateline.”
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