MS NOW's Major Shake-Up: 'Morning Joe' Cut by an Hour as Left-Leaning Network's Drastic Rebrand Continues
'Morning Joe' hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski will cede an hour of their morning show.
March 18 2026, Published 1:58 p.m. ET
MS NOW's daily cup of Morning Joe is about to get a little lighter, RadarOnline.com can report.
The beleaguered news network has announced the morning show, hosted by spouses Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, is losing an hour as part of a drastic overhaul of the entire outlet.
Network Overhaul
The show will revert from four hours to three.
The channel formerly known as MSNBC announced on Wednesday its first major programming changes since being spun off as part of a new media company.
MS NOW president Rebecca Kutler announced the changes would take effect in June. Among them, Morning Joe will revert from four hours each morning to three.
Stephanie Ruhle, who currently hosts The 11th Hour at night, will take over the 9 a.m. hour, along with 10 a.m., for a two-hour mid-morning program.
That leaves weekend host Ali Velshi as the new host of Ruhle's old show.
Ana Cabrera Departs
Ana Cabrera announced she is leaving the network.
Meanwhile, Ana Cabrera, who anchored the 10 a.m. news, will leave the network entirely. In a video message to followers on X, Cabrera said she had "decided to make a change."
"Throughout my career, I've always sought the best opportunities to do this work and have the greatest impact, while staying true to myself and my mission as a journalist," she said, her voice cracking with emotion at times.
"My goal has always been to educate and inform and shine light. To hold people in power accountable, people on all sides of the political aisle, and non-politicians as well. To be a government watchdog. To bring you compelling stories from across a broad range of news. And to always seek the truth, following the facts wherever they lead.
"That’s what I’ve always done, and what I will continue to do."
Political Season on the Way
The liberal-leaning network has been hemorrhaging viewers to conservative sources like Fox News.
Kutler tied the broad network changes to the upcoming midterm elections and the 2028 presidential race.
"I am confident that these changes will make what is already a successful lineup even stronger in the future," she wrote in a memo to employees. "We are fortunate to have so many exceptional journalists on our air, online, and behind the scenes."
She also teased the possibility of adding more staffers as the political season kicks into high gear.
"As part of these programming changes, team members will have the opportunity to shift into new roles to support new priorities," Kutler wrote. "In most cases, comparable opportunities will be available to employees as these changes take shape.
"Overall, we expect to have more people working at MS NOW by the end of 2026 than we do today."
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MS (Not Right) NOW
The rebrand has not led to an increase in viewership.
As Radar previously reported, the MS NOW rebrand seems to be backfiring, as the cable news network has been suffering some of its lowest ratings in over 25 years.
MS Now’s new parent company, Versant, which also includes networks like CNBC and the Golf Channel, reported earnings for the first time earlier this month, announcing that its total revenue for 2025 would have come in 5.3% lower than the previous year.
"A name change and the problems remain the same – MS NOW has zero vision, even less leadership, and stale content," one source told Radar. "There’s nothing exciting or interesting going on outside of a bunch of angry people on television shouting at the camera."
