Down goes another far-left cable news host.
Longtime MS NOW anchor Alex Witt signed off from her weekend program for the final time Sunday, ending a 27-year run that made her the longest-tenured anchor in the network’s history.
Witt became emotional during the closing minutes of the Sept. 6 edition of “Alex Witt Reports,” after the network aired an approximately 15-minute retrospective highlighting some of the biggest stories she covered during nearly three decades at what was formerly MSNBC.
“Let’s go now to our last moments together, because there’s a great line from the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off: ‘Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it,’” Witt said.
“So with that in mind, I want to take a moment with all of you to look around at the stories, the people, and a job that has allowed me to report, in many cases, the rough draft of history for 27 years,” she added.
The montage revisited Witt’s coverage of major events including the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, the death of NBC News correspondent David Bloom while covering the Iraq War and the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando.
After the retrospective ended, Witt struggled to hold back tears while thanking longtime executive producer Nick Kovijanic, calling him an essential part of her career and crediting him with helping shape her approach to covering the news.
She then invited members of her production staff onto the set and thanked the studio crew, control-room employees and colleagues who had worked with her over the years.
Witt also addressed the audience directly, saying it had been a privilege to earn viewers’ trust and thanking them for their loyalty throughout her time in the anchor chair.
Her children also received a personal acknowledgment. Witt thanked her son and daughter for understanding the demands that decades of weekend work placed on their family.
The farewell capped one of the longest runs by an anchor in cable television.
Witt joined MSNBC in 1999 after earlier television-news work that included NBC’s “Today” and New York station WNYW. She eventually became one of the network’s most recognizable weekend anchors and has hosted a three-hour weekend afternoon block since 2011.
MS NOW President Rebecca Kutler said when Witt’s departure was announced in June that Witt had spent more hours anchoring on the network than any other personality in its history. Over the years, she covered presidential elections, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the COVID-19 pandemic and numerous major breaking-news events.
Tributes to Witt were spread throughout MS NOW’s programming Sunday. Colleagues including Katy Tur, Jonathan Capehart, Jacob Soboroff and Alicia Menendez reflected on her career and her role mentoring younger journalists at the network.
Her successor, Antonia Hylton, also appeared with Witt during the final broadcast.
Hylton praised Witt as “the anchor’s anchor” and credited her with providing viewers a steady presence during major breaking-news events. Witt responded by praising Hylton and formally handing over the weekend afternoon time period.
Hylton will host a new program called “The Assignment,” beginning Sept. 12. The show is scheduled to air Saturdays and Sundays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. ET, occupying the weekend block Witt has anchored for years.
Witt’s departure comes as MS NOW continues reshaping its weekend programming following the network’s separation from NBCUniversal and transition from MSNBC to MS NOW under Versant Media.
Variety reported before her farewell that Witt is expected to remain available for occasional daytime fill-in assignments through the end of 2026.
For Witt, however, Sunday represented the formal end of the job that defined most of her cable-news career.
“That’s going to do it for me on this edition of Alex Witt Reports,” she told viewers before signing off as her staff applauded and chanted her name.
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