Is Rachel Maddow going weekly as part of her new MSNBC deal?

The Washington Post

MSNBC has yet to officially announce that Maddow has signed a new deal with the cable news network, leading to speculation on the future of The Rachel Maddow Show. While The Wall Street Journal reported that Maddow “will continue to host her show on weekdays," CNN's Brian Stelter reports that "the five-day-a-week show will come to an end sometime next year as Maddow shifts gears to more of a weekly format." Meanwhile, an MSNBC source tells The Washington Post's Erik Wemple that Maddow's schedule "isn't changing" and that "details are still being finalized." Wemple adds: "Let’s just say that a weekly Rachel Maddow Show is not The Rachel Maddow Show that fans have come to embrace. Frequency matters. One of Maddow’s gifts is to follow the tiks and toks of big news stories as they mature." Wemple says Maddow declined to comment when Wemple asked her for comment. Wemple adds: "The possibility that Maddow would walk away from her nightly show marks a moment for cable news historians, if only because people tend not to just walk away from these perches. Among the big three cable news outlets there are just nine coveted prime-time slots, a few more if you adopt a looser definition of 'prime time.' These positions often come with salaries in the eight-figure range, opportunities to cover — or even host — presidential debates and election night coverage, a long tail on social media platforms, and relevance that’s yours to lose. It’s no wonder, then, that these hosts tend to quit their shows under pressure or amid controversy. Think Chris Matthews of MSNBC (inappropriate comments to women); Bill O’Reilly of Fox News (sexual harassment, advertiser boycott); Greta Van Susteren of Fox News (behind-the-scenes 'chaos'); Piers Morgan of CNN (ratings); Keith Olbermann of MSNBC ('stormy' relationship with bosses); and Larry King of CNN ('personal mess' and ratings)."