Struggling MSNBC Rethinking Its Lineup

Cable news channel MSNBC this week started discussing changes to its lineup, after its summer programming overhaul failed to make much of an impression on viewers.

Most prominently, under one scenario being considered, Ashleigh Banfield would end up losing her nightly “On Location” (7 p.m. on the West Coast), which has fared poorly in recent weeks while she has been on a tour of America.

Likewise, the news channel is talking about moving Jerry Nachman’s hourlong show (4 p.m. on the West Coast), which leads into prime time on the East Coast, perhaps to a less desirable daytime slot. As the editor in chief of MSNBC, Nachman is participating in the talks.

As for Phil Donahue, whose widely heralded return to television hasn’t lifted the channel as much as had been hoped, he is expected to spend much more time in front of a studio audience, as he did in his long-running daytime talk show, starting later in the month.

MSNBC spokeswoman Cheryl Daly declined to discuss any changes except to note that, with the conflict in Iraq heating up, MSNBC programmers “are looking at the schedule and devoting more air time to that story. We need to expand our coverage.”

Daly said that the network was looking at carving out at least an hour daily for Iraq coverage, but no time slot had been decided on.

As for Banfield, Daly noted any changes will have to wait. Banfield will cover the upcoming midterm elections and then go to the Middle East, Daly said, “for that program, for that time slot.”