MSNBC anchor Ari Melber is thinking of leaving the network for a competitor—or starting his own media venture altogether.
The host of The Beat, according to a report Tuesday in Breaker citing two people familiar with the matter, is weighing his options in advance of Comcast spinning off MSNBC into a new company. This includes meeting with rival networks.
A representative for MSNBC did not immediately return a request for comment from the Daily Beast.
Melber’s 6 p.m. show, Breaker notes, performs well on YouTube, which figures into the network’s growth strategy. The network’s chief legal correspondent, Melber is a “ratings winner,” the report says.
The Beat, which launched in 2017, has been able to land several interviews with those in the Trump orbit, likely contributing to increased viewership. In fact, Jay Sekulow, Trump’s one-time attorney, admitted he was a fan back in 2019.
Guests over the years include border czar Tom Homan, former Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro, former Trump campaign adviser Corey Lewandowski, and Stephen Miller, the current White House Deputy Chief of Staff.
Additional appearances include Michael Avenatti, the lawyer convicted for stealing from Stormy Daniels, who called in from jail last April.
The year prior, Melber spoke with lawyer Drew Findling, who at the time was representing Trump in his 2020 election interference case in Georgia.
That January, Melber also confronted then-Rep. Matt Gaetz about denying testimony from White House aides that he had sought a pardon from Trump in December 2020.
It was also on The Beat when Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn admitted to helping Rudy Giuliani lead the fake elector plot in 2020.
Prior to joining MSNBC, Melber was a legislative aide for Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell, and also worked on John Kerry’s 2004 presidential campaign. Melber earned his law degree from Cornell.
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