“Morning Joe”

Morning Joe is an American morning news talk show, airing weekdays from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time on the cable news channel MSNBC. It features former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough reporting and discussing the news of the day in a panel format with co-hosts Mika Brzezinski (whom Scarborough married in November 2018) and Willie Geist, who regularly co hosts from Tuesdays to Fridays, along with recurring and special guests. History Morning Joe began as a fill-in program after Don Imus' Imus in the Morning was canceled. Former Florida Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough, then host of the primetime MSNBC program Scarborough Country, suggested the idea of doing a morning show instead. He put together what would become Morning Joe with Scarborough Country executive producer Chris Licht and screenwriter John Ridley. The pun in the show's title is echoed by a coffee ring in its logo. On April 9, 2007, the show debuted as one of a series of rotating programs auditioning for Imus's former slot, with Scarborough joined by co-hosts Mika Brzezinski and Ridley. Scarborough had personally asked Brzezinski to co-host with him the night before the first audition, while she was a "cut-in" presenter during MSNBC's primetime schedule on a freelance basis. Ridley quickly dropped out as main co-host but continued as a regular guest, while Willie Geist was tapped as co-host. The program permanently took over the slot in July 2007, though the decision was not officially announced until October that year. During the first quarter of 2009, Morning Joe earned higher ratings in the age 25-54 demo category than CNN's competing program, American Morning. It still had fewer viewers overall. Both programs finished behind Fox News's Fox & Friends during the same time period.