If you are looking Tuesday afternoon for Nicolle Wallace, the seemingly ubiquitous presence on MSNBC and various NBC News programs, chances are she will be on deadline. Her new MSNBC program, to be called “Deadline: White House,” debuts Tuesday at 4 p.m., which may take some viewers by surprise. MSNBC had not publicly unveiled the name of the show or its start date, though the NBCUniversal-owned news outlet had already informed cable and satellite operators, who have the show and its title listed in interactive on-screen programming guides.
The title “is meant to capture the urgency of covering this White House,” said Wallace Monday. “I think every White House has its own rhythm, but at 4 p.m., the day has started to take shape” in terms of what issues are getting most play in the media.
By launching Wallace in “Deadline” at 4 p.m., MSNBC is adding a new hour of political focus in a time slot it had been devoting to broader general-news coverage. As a result, the network may vie more directly with CNN, where Jake Tapper holds forth from Washington, D.C., with “The Lead” at 4 p.m., and will offer something quite different from Fox News Channel, which regularly airs Neil Cavuto’s business-focused program at that time.
Wallace says she and producers intend to rely on a group of regular contributors, hopefully getting reporters on the beat to reveal what interests them the most as their deadlines loom. But she will also welcome a wide array of experts, and work closely with Steve Kornacki, the MSNBC veteran who will appear regularly on her program. “We will put around the table the people who make the most sense on any given day,” she said. “I’m simply the shepherd of the conversation.”
