Similar to the reasons given for the cancelation of Joy Reid's "The ReidOut," the elimination of "The Katie Phang Show" seems to align with the programming changes MSNBC President Rebecca Kutler initiated soon after she replaced former network president Rashida Jones in early February.

Some of MSNBC’s biggest stars are – in extraordinary on-air fashion – rebuking management’s decision to cancel Joy Reid and Alex Wagner’s shows and lay off their production staffs. Rachel Maddow used part of her Monday night show — MSNBC’s most watched hour — to call the move “a bad mistake.