Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Alex | Email Max JEN PSAKI, welcome to one of the world’s most miserable, self-loathing professions. After taking the summer to relax, Monday marked the former White House press secretary’s first official work day as a member of the cable news elite that some of her former colleagues in the Biden White House occasionally love to hate. There were some over-the-top initial reports about Psaki’s potential plans for the gig. With MSNBC in a post-Trump ratings downturn, one piece speculated that she would help lessen the blow of RACHEL MADDOW’s departure from MSNBC’s 9 p.m. spot, the highest rated hour of programming on the network for years. The idea, then and now, was to harness some of the goodwill she engendered among liberal viewers with her “Psaki-bombs” during White House press conferences. Ultimately, the network opted for a safer (and saner) offering than immediately throwing her into the primetime hosting hot seat. Instead, it promised Psaki significant airtime during major political events, and a hosting job for an MSNBC streaming show set to debut in the first quarter of 2023. But the streaming program, which has yet to be named or have any staff, is still a long way off, and Psaki’s rollout plan will be drawn out. She’s set to make her debut as a full-time contributor on MSNBC this week, and is likely to join Maddow’s actual replacement, ALEX WAGNER, as soon as tomorrow. Psaki is also expected to be slowly integrated into the network’s D.C.-based programs, including appearances on NBC’s Meet The Press, in the coming months. The former press secretary will have an office in the network’s Washington, D.C. bureau, joining other ex- Biden White House officials who are nabbing real estate there, including former KAMALA HARRIS press secretary SYMONE SANDERS. But Psaki will also head to New York’s 30 Rock this week for meetings and appearances. In a conversation last week with KARA SWISHER, Psaki said that she’d spend the next several months focused on election coverage and decoding the Biden White House for viewers, and planned to “bring that passion for explaining things, debunking things, calling out BS when you see it.” But Psaki also starts at a time when Biden often isn’t topic A on cable news. Indeed, MSNBC, like other networks, has been consumed with DONALD TRUMP’s recent legal troubles. And it could present an editorially tricky situation for the network brass: handing over air time to Biden’s former top spokesperson to wax about the troubles his main (and likely future) political opponent is enduring. For now, however, one of Psaki’s primary challenges will be to translate some of her political popularity among liberals into steady viewership, and further bolster the network’s fledgling streaming service. Sanders, who has both streaming and cable programs, has nabbed some high profile interviews with former Biden world colleagues, including one of MSNBC’s only interviews with JILL BIDEN since she became first lady. But as West Wing Playbook previously noted, the high profile guests have not seriously boosted the ratings. Psaki may also have to navigate some lingering awkwardness with her colleagues on the news side. CNN reported earlier this year that NBC News reporters, some of whom occasionally attempted to distance themselves from the left-leaning cable news counterpart, were wary of the decision to hire her, a decision which leaked out several months before she left the White House. But the former Biden press secretary is publicly embracing her new job. In a tweet on Monday afternoon, she praised her new MSNBC coworkers, sharing a picture of her new NBCU employee badge. MESSAGE US — Are you interviewing for a job as a producer on Psaki’s streaming show? We want to hear from you and we may publish your response tomorrow. Email us at westwingtips@politico.com.
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