Ed Schultz will steal air time from Chris Matthews

When Ed Schultz got bumped to a single weekend slot from five weekday programs, I worried that we would run out of fodder ripe for mocking.  Perhaps sensing this and worrying that their network was getting to be taken too seriously, MSNBC has decided to bring the loud-mouthed progressive host back to a daily time slot.

I would love to have been a fly on the wall when the MSNBC chiefs told Tingles his air time was being cut in half.  Via Mediaite:

MSNBC’s The Ed Show will continue its journey through the cable news network’s schedule with a move in late August to the nightly 5 p.m. time slot.

Beginning on August 26, Ed Schultz’s hour-long format will run Monday-Friday, replacing Chris Matthews’s Hardball in its earlier slot. Hardball will continue to air at 7 p.m.

“Chris Matthews and the Hardball team have been pulling double duty for years,” said MSNBC President Phil Griffin. “This move will concentrate the Hardball audience to one key time period and enhance the flow of our evening programming.”

Read the MSNBC press release here.

Update: Eddie has more on the announcement here.