Things Not Going Great For Ed Schultz

The rise of Ed Schultz’s media career has always been surprising to me. From a regional talk radio host here in North Dakota to a nationally syndicated liberal talker to an evening weekday show on a major cable news channel, he went pretty far. It was surprising to me because Ed Schultz isn’t that bright. When your schtick is red-faced bluster and name-calling, there’s really only so far you can go.

So it doesn’t surprise me at all that, after a relatively short tenure in prime time, MSNBC is pushing Schultz to the wasteland that is weekend cable news programming.

You’ve got to love the brave face Schultz is putting on it:

“And in the big finish tonight, a big personal and professional announcement. MSNBC will be expanding its weekend programming and this opens a big opportunity for ‘The Ed Show’ and my brand,” he said. “I will be leaving this time slot at 8 PM ET and moving to Saturday and Sunday from 5 to 7 PM.”

In a statement, MSNBC president Phil Griffin said he was “thrilled for Ed and happy to be expanding our weekend programming,” adding that he was “looking forward to having Ed’s powerful voice on our network for a long time.”

In related news that’s also unfortunate for Schultz, his national radio show seems to be slipping too. He fell several spots in the Talker’s Magazine national ranking of talk radio hosts.