After weeks of negotiations, MSNBC has made it official — Al Sharpton will be getting his own, nightly show at 6 p.m.
The infamous civil rights activist and minister has been filling in at the time slot for much of the summer, an extended tryout for the full-time host’s job.
He will be paid about $750,000 a year for the job, according to sources.
That’s about half of what a seasoned, TV professional could command for an early primetime slot on a network-owned cable channel.
But because Sharpton is such a controversial figure and a TV amateur, no other cable network was interested in him. That left him with no bargaining position against the notoriously hard negotiators at MSNBC.
The name of the new show will be “Politics Nation,” and it starts officially next Monday.
In a prepared statement, Sharpton appeared to take note of his shaky past — including the Tawana Brawley case where he whipped up racial tensions over rape allegations that turned out to be a hoax — and says he looks forward to a new start as a cable TV anchor.
“We all learn from our pain and stand up from our stumbling and one must either learn to lean forward or fall backwards,” he said. “I’m glad they have given me the opportunity to continue my forward lean.”
The show will compete against Fox News Channel’s Washington politics show with Bret Baier as well as CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.