Van Susteren exits MSNBC

Greta Van Susteren is leaving MSNBC after less than six months on the air at the network.

“MSNBC and Greta Van Susteren have decided to part ways,” MSNBC President Phil Griffin said Thursday in a note to employees.

The anchor joined the left-leaning cable channel in January after suddenly leaving Fox News in September.

Van Susteren’s MSNBC show, based out of Washington, struggled in the ratings even as fellow MSNBC personalities have enjoyed a boost from liberal anger and interest in the news during the Trump administration.

Ari Melber, MSNBC’s chief legal correspondent and host of the weekend show “The Point,” will become the permanent host in Van Susteren’s 6 p.m. Eastern time slot next month, Griffin said.

Van Susteren announced her exit in a brief tweet. The anchor left Fox News last year when her contract was up for renegotiation. She had been with the right-wing network since 2002.

Her agreement at Fox News included a clause that tied her commitment to the employment of the network’s late former chairman, Roger Ailes. Ailes left Fox about a year ago amid sexual harassment charges made against him. He died in May.

Van Susteren, 63, gained cable news prominence as a legal analyst during CNN’s 1995 coverage of O.J. Simpson’s murder trial. Before joining Fox, she was a primetime host on CNN.

“Greta is a well-regarded television veteran and one of only a few broadcasters who can say they’ve hosted shows at all three major cable news networks,” Griffin said. “We are grateful to her and wish her the best.”