Nicolle Wallace‘s latest project is changing from an audio to a visual format.
The MSNBC personality launched her new podcast, The Best People, in June, on which she chats with some of the biggest names in entertainment and news about everything from politics to their personal lives. The project, which was initially supposed to wrap up in August, has expanded in the month since its launch, with MSNBC uploading episodes to its YouTube page and even airing during select weekends and holidays on TV.
According to MSNBC’s senior vice president of digital, Madeleine Haeringer, Wallace’s The Best People podcast is set to continue past its initial August wrap date, both on podcast streaming platforms and on the small screen.
“What is new and different is that what was meant for our audio and YouTube is now being broadcast on cable,” she told Variety in an interview published on Friday, July 18. “That is unusual, and a testament to the fact that we are pretty platform-agnostic when we find that the audience wants more.”
Per the outlet, another podcast conversation between Wallace and the hosts of the MeidasTouch podcast — Ben, Brett, and Jordan Meiselas — will air on MSNBC on Saturday, July 19.
MSNBC
The podcast’s move to the small screen comes as audiences have shown an increased interest in the podcast space, which allows for more “raw dialogue” between hosts and guests than the traditional TV news format.
“I’m not worried that Nicolle or Rachel [Maddow] are going to curse more, or say something that is upsetting to the audience,” Haeringer noted. “But if it’s a little more raw and pushes that natural conversation? People love that.”
“Big talent thinks they want to get into different platforms, but it winds up being a lot more time than anticipated,” she continued, adding that blurring the line between digital and TV content opens the door to new opportunities. “We are going to keep going as long as Nicolle wants to keep going.”
The Best People has already proven to be a viewership success on MSNBC. An episode of the podcast featuring Wallace and Maddow from June became the highest-rated hour of the day for MSNBC when it aired on July 4, per Variety.
Wallace isn’t the only MSNBC personality whose podcast is expanding past the audio space. Full episodes of Chris Hayes‘ Why Is This Happening? podcast featuring video have been uploaded to MSNBC’s YouTube since April, while the network has also streamed podcast episodes from other talent such as Maddow, Alex Wagner, and Jen Psaki.
In an interview with People last month, Wallace said she was inspired to launch her podcast after President Donald Trump‘s re-election last year. “I went to my bosses and offered to do more, sort of realizing that this was a big story and recognizing that maybe not everybody is watching the news every day,” she shared. “I wanted to be sort of available in other mediums.”
Wallace said her podcast conversations would allow for “extended engagement,” adding, “And I think that’s what I was hungering for.”
