| Alex Wagner Tonight | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Political news/opinion program |
| Directed by | Rob Katko |
| Presented by | Alex Wagner |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Matthew Alexander |
| Production location | New York City |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | MSNBC |
| Release | August 16, 2022 (2022-08-16) – January 17, 2025 (2025-01-17) |
| Related | |
| The Rachel Maddow Show | |
Alex Wagner Tonight is an Americanliberal news and opinion television program that was televised byMSNBC. Hosted byAlex Wagner, it premiered on August 16, 2022, and aired on Tuesdays through Fridays as a substitute forThe Rachel Maddow Show (which, since May 2022, has only aired on Monday nights).
In February 2025, after having been placed on ahiatus since January 17, 2025, in favor of Maddow to cover thefirst hundred days of thesecond Trump administration,Alex Wagner Tonight was cancelled by MSNBC and replaced byThe Briefing with Jen Psaki.
From February to April 2022, as part of her new contract withNBCUniversal,Rachel Maddow took an extended hiatus from herMSNBC programThe Rachel Maddow Show in order to focus on other film andpodcast projects, with rotating guest hosts filling in for her. Upon Maddow's return, she announced that she would only host the show on Monday nights beginning in May, and continue to feature guest hosts throughout the rest of the week.[1][2]
At this point,The Rachel Maddow Show was retitledMSNBC Prime on Tuesday through Friday nights, but retained the same staff and overall format, and with the guest hosts usually being MSNBC personalities with a similar style to Maddow.[3] Average viewership of the hour asMSNBC Prime was lower than that ofThe Rachel Maddow Show, but still ahead of timeslot competitorCNN Tonight (a replacement ofCuomo Prime Time with rotating hosts afterChris Cuomo was fired from the network)[4] and behindFox News Channel'sHannity.[5]
In June 2022, MSNBC announced thatMSNBC Prime would be replaced by a new show hosted byAlex Wagner beginning on August 16.[5] On August 3, MSNBC announced that the program would be titledAlex Wagner Tonight.[6]
Wagner stated that the show would aim to combine Maddow's "intellectual rigor and informative analysis" with aspects that are representative of her own personal experiences, including more segments in the field and segments on climate change, immigration, and race. The program shared most of its staff withThe Rachel Maddow Show.[7][8] The series premiere ofAlex Wagner Tonight—which featured guestsMark Leibovich,Adam Kinzinger, andJoyce Vance, as well as coverage ofWyoming's Republican primary—was seen by around 2 million viewers.[9]
On January 13, 2025, it was announced thatAlex Wagner Tonight would go on hiatus from January 20 to April 30, 2025, withThe Rachel Maddow Show temporarily returning to a weeknight schedule to cover thefirst hundred days of thesecond presidency of Donald Trump. During this hiatus, Wagner would be placed on special assignment to report on the repercussions of Trump's policy decisions across the country and internationally.[10]
In February 2025, new MSNBC presidentRebecca Kutler announced a revamp of the network's schedule and the cancellation ofAlex Wagner Tonight. She will remain with the network as a contributor, while her show was replaced byThe Briefing with Jen Psaki.[11][12]
| Preceded by | MSNBC Weekday Lineup (Tuesdays-Fridays) | Succeeded by |