MSNBC just announced that, starting on September 8, Rachel Maddow will have her own nightly show on MSNBC at 9 p.m., right after Keith Olbermann's show at 8. She'll replace Dan Abrams, who will remain on the network. I'm working a piece about Maddow for the next issue of the Prospect; she's a fascinating figure, a great object lesson for progressives in the media, and also just a deeply sensible person.
I'm not surprised by this development, though it came somewhat sooner than I expected (As Olbermann points out in a Daily Kos diary entry about the announcement, she's only been a paid guest on MSNBC for five months). It's also worth noting that, while Olbermann's support has been part of her success at MSNBC she's also really well liked by executives there. Fans of her Air America radio show shouldn't worry, her show's executive producer Vanessa Silverton-Peel just confirmed to me over email that it will continue. As Maddow told me about doing both, "If Glenn Beck can do it" she said "why can't I?"
--Sam Boyd
