Brian Williams is reportedly getting his own 30-minute late night news show

Brian Williams on Meet the Press in 2008, during happier times
(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images for Meet the Press)

It's not the NBC Nightly News, but Brian Williams may get an 11 p.m. weeknight news program on MSNBC, CNN reports, citing "sources with knowledge of the plan." The proposed 30-minute show would be a nightly wrap-up of campaign news, replacing the first half hour of MSNBC's usual replay of the night's prime-time programming, CNN's Brian Stelter said, and there's no plan to extend the show past the election.

Williams was suspended from NBC's marquee news program in February 2015 after it emerged that he had exaggerated at least one war story on air, and he was permanently replaced by Lester Holt a few months later. In September 2015, he was put back on the air at MSNBC as a breaking news anchor, but he has not had a scheduled show. "By giving it a two-month time span, signaling that it will end after Nov. 8, MSNBC is giving Williams an anchoring opportunity while limiting the potential downsides," Stelter says. When Williams was put back on the air last September, CNN asked if the public was ready to "forgive" Williams — watch the video below — and now it looks like MSNBC is willing to bet that the answer is yes. Peter Weber

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.