Report: Rachel Maddow May Exit MSNBC

Rachel Maddow, one of the most prominent and respected fixtures in cable news, is considering leaving her eponymous nighttime program on MSNBC when her contract expires early next year, The Daily Beast reports.

Speaking to six individuals in the know, the report says the out journalist and author is expressing a desire to lighten her considerable load; she's been hosting her show, airing weeknights live at 9 Eastern, since 2008. Unlike fixtures on other cable programs who simply air talking heads discussing the day's headlines or, in the case of Fox News, feature an incendiary host whipping up viewer anger and xenophobia, Maddow's shows are highly researched and offer broad context on the news.

The former Rhodes Scholar got her start in radio before transitioning to television. When her MSNBC show launched 13 years ago, it was a hit out of the gate, and her deft coverage of the chaotic and frightening Trump years helped MSNBC regularly beat CNN and, occasionally, Fox News in the ratings. Even as all the news networks' ratings have slumped post-Trump, Maddow continues to prop up her network.

But Maddow has always been vocal about her desire away from the grind and to spend more time with her wife, Susan Mikula, at their home in rural Massachusetts. Because of her hectic schedule, the Beast posits that Maddow will likely not jump to another network if she leaves MSNBC, but will instead pivot to a podcast or streaming special or show that doesn't require the workload she's committed to currently. In addition to her MSNBC program, Maddow wrote two well-received nonfiction books since 2019, including last year's Bag Man: The Wild Crimes, Audacious Cover-up, and Spectacular Downfall of a Brazen Crook in the White House, about former vice president Spiro Agnew.

Maddow recently changed agents and is now represented by kingmaking talent agency Endeavor.

"Nothing has been decided [about her next career move]. We are deep into it with NBCUniversal and Rachel has an excellent relationship with them," Mark Shapiro, one of her new agents, told The Beast.

MSNBC is reportedly very interested in keeping Maddow in its ranks and, according to the report, executives acknowledge there is no heir apparent there to fill her shoes.