Rachel Maddow drinks cocktails with us (Katie Sokoler/Gothamist)
MSNBC talk show host Rachel Maddow will be staying on the cable network for a while, as she agreed to extend her contract past the 2012 election. The length of the contract wasn't disclosed, but Media Decoder says it's "several years." Maddow said, "I’m really, really happy in this job and to have the chance to extend it for a few more years, especially with the year we’re about to have, is a real blessing... This deal was about wanting more years doing what I’ve been doing."
Keith Olbermann, who encouraged MSNBC to hire Maddow in the first place, had been making public statements about wanting to work with her again, now that he's at Current. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Maddow said she hadn't spoken to Olbermann since his departure from MSNBC and was her usual self-deprecating self when "she disputed the charactirization that she is the 'face' of MSNBC. 'I don’t think we’re a one-face network,' she said. 'I actually think we have a mutually supportive and pretty cohesive atmosphere. I think that we’re working together well. We internally compete for ratings and bookings and all that stuff but it’s mutually supportive. So I like it. It’ s a fun place to work.'"
MSNBC, which is reportedly in talks to have the Rev. Al Sharpton on a 6 p.m., has recently signed The Nation's Chris Hayes (a frequent substitute host for Maddow) to a weekend show and is very happy with the ratings that Tulane professor Melissa Harris-Perry got while subbing for Maddow last week.
