Greta Van Susteren’s time as an anchor at MSNBC has come to a close after less than seven months. An MSNBC executive told Politico that the decision for the network and Van Susteren to part ways was based solely on economics: Van Susteren’s program, “For The Record”, did not deliver the ratings MSNBC had hoped for.
MSNBC President Phil Griffin circulated a memo to network staff about the change on Thursday afternoon. It reads:
“MSNBC and Greta Van Susteren have decided to part ways. Greta is a well-regarded television veteran and one of only a few broadcasters who can say they’ve hosted shows at all three major cable news networks. We are grateful to her and wish her the best. Please join me in wishing Greta well as she departs. We have enjoyed having her on our air and we’re thankful to her and the show team.”
The former Fox News anchor will be replaced by Ari Melber, currently MSNBC’s chief legal correspondent and host of the weekend program “The Point.”
Van Susteren confirmed the PR-friendly firing with a succinct tweet:
Van Susteren left Fox News in September of last year, soon after Roger Ailes’ departure over sexual harassment allegations (she defended Ailes at the time, as did many anchors at Fox) and came on board at MSNBC presumably as part of the somewhat left-leaning network’s bid for “the center.” This sort of ploy does not, in general, appear to be working.
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