Al Sharpton’s weekday program PoliticsNation will move to Sunday mornings starting in September, and the folks on Morning Joe gushed at the new opportunities this would give the MSNBC host.
Joe Scarborough called Sharpton’s move “happy news” and eagerly told Meet the Press’ Chuck Todd “It's a perfect tee up for chuck Todd...You have a strong lead in now. You’ve got a strong number three hitter for your cleanup fourth.”
Sharpton’s show averages around 500,000 daily viewers, which comes in third versus his Fox News and CNN competitors, but for some reason Scarborough and colleague Mika Brzezinski view his Sunday move as a huge plus for both him and Meet the Press.
Scarborough continued to gush over Sharpton’s new Sunday show and suggested that it could drive the political conversation:
And you also get an opportunity to do what we do every morning and that is we start the conversation for the day. We influence the news. We influence the news makers. They tell us that at the White House, on Capitol Hill. You get to do that now. You get to influence the Sunday morning shows. And you're exactly right. If I want to reach your audience, I got to be there at 8:00 on Sunday morning.
Sharpton insisted that his new show will be aimed at “[y]our prime voter” who is “up getting ready for church on Sunday morning or going to golf. The people don’t go to the proper brunches, that eat grits and bacon on Sunday morning, that's who's going to be my audience and we're programming.”
While Todd may have been being a good team player when he expressed his enthusiasm for Sharpton’s new Sunday show, he stressed that “it's important to see different voices on Sunday morning as well. So I think it's great. So Reverend, welcome.”
See relevant transcript below.
MSNBC’s Morning Joe
August 28, 2015
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Let’s bring in right now the host of MSNBC’s PoliticsNation, president of the National Action Network, Reverend Al Sharpton, he’s here. Also, we’ve got NBC News Political Director and moderator of Meet the Press, Chuck Todd. First, I want to go to the big news, the good news, the happy news. Mika and I are very excited about Sunday morning. Mika has been talking about this for a long time about what you could do Sunday morning would be extraordinary and you were just telling us --
AL SHARPTON: No, I mean we're going to do something unusual Sunday morning. It's going to be not your usual Sunday morning show. And what all of the elitists don't understand, oh, who's up that early Sunday morning? Your prime voter is up getting ready for church on Sunday morning or going to golf. The people don’t go to the proper brunches, that eat grits and bacon on Sunday morning, that's who's going to be my audience and we're programming.
And if you're a cabinet member or a serious guy running in a primary, you're going to have to come on my show to talk to the voter who is the prime voter. I think people -- the reason people don't understand you and I, Joe, is we live on the ground where real people are and we’ve done this. You’ve run for office, you’ve done it. I’ve been on the ground, lead the marches, still do. They would rather talk about people like us than have people like us talk for ourselves.
SCARBOROUGH: Well exactly and when I heard you were moving to Sunday morning at 8:00, I just laughed and I was like that’s perfect because you’re right there are a lot of people that might sniff about it, because you’re right they go to brunch at 11:00
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Do you like my idea?
SHARPTON: I love it. She wants me to bring the children's choir in.
BRZEZINSKI: Children’s choir, church. The whole thing. On Stage.
SCARBORUGH: But 8:00 is, though, you’re exactly right.
SHARPTON: That’s where mega-churches get their crowds. How do you build mega-churches-but they miss that side-they’re reading about us, we are us-
SCARBOROUGH: And you also get an opportunity to do what we do every morning and that is we start the conversation for the day. We influence the news. We influence the news makers. They tell us that at the White House, on Capitol Hill. You get to do that now. You get to influence the Sunday morning shows. And you're exactly right. If I want to reach your audience, I got to be there at 8:00 on Sunday morning.
SHARPTON: Many of the Washington influences started e-mailing me saying I've got to watch this. I told them my goal in life, I’ve had many goals. My goal in life is by the time my friend Chuck Todd comes on he says Sharpton had him say what?
SCARBOROUGH: And here we have it. It's a perfect tee up for chuck Todd.
CHUCK TODD: There you go.
SCARBOROUGH: It's very exciting. Congratulations. And Chuck-
TODD: Absolutely.
SCARBOROUGH: You have a strong lead in now. You’ve got a strong number three hitter for your cleanup fourth.
TODD: No, no. And look, I think it's important to see different voices on Sunday morning as well. So I think it's great. So Reverend, welcome.
