Chris Hayes to take over Ed Schultz's time slot on MSNBC

Chris Hayes, host of MSNBC's "Up with Chris Hayes," will be taking the 8:00 p.m. weeknight on that network, taking the slot being vacated by Ed Schultz, who is moving to weekends. According to the New York Times' Media Decoder blog, MSNBC will be making the announcement Thursday morning, mere hours after Schultz announced that he was moving to weekends.

Hayes' show "Up" has held down the Saturday and Sunday morning slot on MSNBC for 18 months, earning plaudits from viewers and critics for its in-depth and nuanced treatment of current issues, an uncommon approach in the world of the bombastic 24-hour news cycle.

The 8:00 p.m. hour is challenging, putting Hayes up against Fox News host Bill O'Reilly, who has dominated the time slot for years. Hayes will be leading into Maddow's nightly show, the most popular program on MSNBC, and the only one in the network's lineup that can challenge the kind of ratings numbers enjoyed by Fox.

UPDATE: Media Matters pointed out that "Up with Chris Hayes" is significantly different than other cable news shoes in the diversity of its guests.

According to the media watchdog group, "(W)hite men make up 41 percent of total guests on 'Up with Chris Hayes' (according to data from the U.S. Census, white men make up roughly 39 percent of the U.S. population). In contrast, CBS' 'Face the Nation,' Fox's 'Fox News Sunday,' NBC's 'Meet the Press,' CNN's 'State of the Union,' and ABC's 'This Week' host white men 66 percent, 64 percent, 64 percent, 67 percent, and 61 percent of the time, respectively."

Also, in its 18 month run, "Up" has featured nearly double the percentage of African-American guests (21 percent) than on other shows. 34 percent of the program's guests have been non-white. 37 percent have been female.