page_title: Hardball with Chris Matthews
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Hardball with Chris Matthews / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Live on @hardball. Tune in!
context_page_description: Hardball with Chris Matthews was an American television talk show that aired on MSNBC. Hosted by Chris Matthews, the program was originally broadcast on the now-defunct America's Talking and then later, on CNBC. The show took its name from a book Matthews wrote in 1988, Hardball: How Politics Is Played Told by One Who Knows the Game. The program primarily featured coverage of political issues and headlines, along with discussion from a panel of analysts and political figures.
context_section_description: Hardball was originally broadcast on CNBC from 1997 until 1999, when the program was moved to MSNBC.
  On March 2, 2020, Matthews announced that he had left the program effective immediately, stating that the "younger generation" was "ready to take the reins", but that he would still "continue to write and talk about politics and cheer on my producers and crew here in Washington in New York and my MSNBC colleagues." His sign-off also included an apology alluding to sexual harassment allegations he had recently faced from a female journalist, remarking that "compliments on a women's appearance that some men, including me, might have once incorrectly thought were OK, were never OK. Not then and certainly not today". The announcement aired in place of the program (which, thus, aired its final full episode the preceding Friday), before cutting back to Steve Kornacki to host the rest of the hour afterward. The time slot was filled by rotating hosts (under the MSNBC Live banner); on July 9, 2020, it was announced that Joy Reid would host The ReidOut in the time slot beginning July 20.
  The Wall Street Journal reported that Matthews had been considering retirement from the show, possibly after the 2020 presidential election, but that the allegations, as well other controversial remarks he had recently made on-air (such as during an interview of Elizabeth Warren, and comments made about Bernie Sanders comparing his Nevada caucus victory to the fall of France to the Nazis) had hastened his departure.
caption: Chris Matthews with panelists, including Congressmember Karen Bass, in 2018.
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