MSNBC begins rolling out new, revamped shows’ key art, promos

MSNBC is readying the finishing touches on the schedule shakeup it announced earlier this year, with more details emerging about a trio of panel shows built around “The Weekend” brand and former White House press secretary Jen Psaki’s new show slated to take over the high-profile 9 p.m. slot four nights a week.

‘The Weeknight’ debut date

“The Weeknight,” which will feature Symone Sanders-Townsend, Michael Steele and Alicia Menendez, will debut May 5, 2025, at 7 p.m. eastern. The show will run for an hour Tuesday through Friday, but expands to two hours on Mondays, running until 9 p.m.

“All In with Chris Hayes” will continue to air Tuesday through Friday in the 8 to 9 p.m. slot, but “Inside with Jen Psaki” is ending its weeknight run so host Psaki can move to 9 p.m. four nights a week at 9 p.m.

It appears “The Weeknight” will use a modified version of the eclectic look “The Weekend” debuted in early 2024, albeit with a bit less color.

Instead of using a wide spectrum of shades, “The Weeknight” palette appears set to be more focused on blues, violets and magenta, according to initial key art and the promo released by the network.

The distinct “n” in the name, with the negative space filled with a dotted halftone pattern, continues to appear in the new show’s logo, though it obviously moves a few doors down.

That “n,” in turn, was channeled into the archway-like shapes used to house talent photos in the show’s title cards and key art — but it appears “The Weeknight” may be prepping a look based more on a combination of lines and circles, at least according to elements seen in the promo.

Psaki to start ‘briefing’

Psaki, meanwhile, will move to 9 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays after “The Rachel Maddow Show” reverts to its one-night-per-week airings in May. 

Advertisement

Her show is retaining much of the same look “Inside” uses but is titled “The Briefing with Jen Psaki” and slated for a May 6, 2025, debut. Initial preview graphics in the promo retain the beige outlines of the distinct Washington, D.C. street grid along with the sans serif typeface. 

Both “Inside” and “The Briefing” are apropos names, given Psaki’s former role as press secretary for President Joe Biden from 2021 to 2022, where she was both on the inside of many of the White House’s inner workings as well as responsible for handling most of the daily press briefings. 

Key art, promos hint at graphics

Although the final graphics have yet to debut, it appears, at least from the key art and promos that have been publicly released, the morning installment of the show will be largely retaining the look it had under its former co-hosts. 

Key art released by the network showcases the new trio of hosts, Jonathan Capeheart, Eugene Daniels and Jackie Alemany. 

For the all new “The Weekend: Primetime,” the off-white background has been shifted to a dark gray and it appears likely that the color palette will be scaled back a bit to focus more on reds, greens and blues alongside the aforementioned backdrop color and what appears to be a deep blue-violet. 

This palette has the advantage of conveying that the show is in the evening while still remaining colorful.

However, it is notable that any hints of orange-yellows, which are often commonly associated with mornings, are gone. It’s also interesting to note that the evening version’s color palette appears to be centered around the mix of red, green and blue, also known as RGB, that traditionally is used in many modern displays ranging from TVs to smartphones to video walls.

Because the primetime version of the show will have four hosts instead of three, the key art also features an additional “frame” in order to accommodate photos of Ayman Mohyeldin, Catherine Rampell, Antonia Hylton and Elise Jordan.

This show will also use the original “The Weekend” logo lockup with the word “Primetime” spaced out below in all caps. 

Advertisement

Both versions of “The Weekend” will debut May 3, 2025, the weekend before the weekday schedule changes.

Studios and sets

It was not immediately clear what studio spaces each show would use.

A wide view of one side of Studio N5.

“The Weekend” has been using Studio N5 in NBC’s Washington, D.C., bureau. There is another full studio on that floor, Studio N4, but it has not been used with much regularity since NBC opened the expanded facility. “The Weekend: Primetime” could use N5 as well, especially given that the two shows’ air times are so far apart that turning around the space between each program wouldn’t need to be done quickly. 

It’s also possible the show could use another space, though there are also likely some branding advantages to keep both shows in the same space and, thanks to the plethora of LED video walls installed at NBC’s bureau, it’s easy to change out the backgrounds. These studios also have real windows overlooking the Capitol dome and thanks to their bookend spots on the schedule, that view is likely to change from light to dark during much of the year.

“The Weeknight” could conceivably originate from any number of spaces inside of 30 Rockefeller Center, including Studio 3A, which serves as MSNBC’s primary home, or nearby Studio 3AW, which is used for “NBC News Daily” on NBC proper and NBC News Now. It has also been used in the past by a handful of MSNBC programs.

Jen Psaki anchoring ‘Inside’ from Studio N1 in Washington, D.C.

“The Briefing” could also end up in one of the spaces on the upper floors of the building, though given that its initial look is based on the “Inside” design, it seems likely the show will continue to use Studio N1 on the ground floor of the building, which is also used by “Meet the Press” on NBC and “Hallie Jackson Now” on NBC News Now.

No matter where these shows end up, any or all of them could end up having to move before the end of 2025 due to Comcast’s efforts to spin off most of its cable properties, including MSNBC, into a separate entity, tentatively dubbed SpinCo. NBCUniversal News Group has already announced plans to create a separate Washington, D.C., bureau for MSNBC as well as plans for its own offices and studios somewhere in Manhattan. 

Plans call for MSNBC’s D.C. bureau to be in the same building as NBC’s, which also houses space for various other networks, but it is not clear how exactly that will be laid out.

As with any promos and key art previews, there are always subject to be changes to how the actual show looks before or even after it debuts.

Advertisement