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Former MSNBC host Joy Reid said during a podcast on Thursday that the liberal network was like “Sesame Street to people” and that viewers felt like the hosts were their good liberal friends.
“You have to remember MSNBC was not just a channel for a lot of people. It was a lifeline in a world in which every other network was either on the one hand, on the other hand, or right-wing. MSNBC was like a respite for people. People believed that every single person on MSNBC was their personal friend. We were their friend in their head. We were the good, liberal friend who they could talk with,” Reid told comedian Pete Dominick during an appearance on his podcast, “Stand Up! With Pete.”
Reid’s show was canceled by MSNBC earlier this year as part of a network shake-up.
“We were a diverse, interesting crew. We had all kinds of people. We had gay folks, straight folks, men, women, Blacks, Latinos, Asians, the very few of the Asian, you know, there are not that many Asian Americans that even get these opportunities. We had like multiple Asian Americans. We had all these different people. So we were relatable, right? We were like ‘Sesame Street’ to people,” she said.
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Reid also said that “White Americans” approached her frequently to tell her they missed her MSNBC show. She added that Black Americans would tell her, “I will never watch MSNBC again. We’re done.”
Reid brought up the “Sesame Street” comparison again late during the discussion.
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“If MSNBC was like ‘Sesame Street’ to people, right? I was like if Grover went and got their own show, right?” she said, arguing that viewers were more devoted to personalities than channels.
She said her viewers followed her to her podcast, “The Joy Reid Show,” because they trusted her as an individual.
MSNBC revealed this week that it would be changing its name as the company is part of Comcast’s spin-off from NBCUniversal.
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The left-leaning network’s new name will be “My Source News Opinion World,” or MS NOW.
Mark Lazarus, who will serve as the head of the new company, Versant, told The Wall Street Journal that MS NOW would continue catering to a progressive audience and prioritize “holding the political figures from both parties to account.”
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