Ed Schultz, Former MSNBC Primetime Host, Dies at 64

By Jon Lafayette
published

Ed Schultz

Ed Schultz

Former MSNBC Host Ed Schultz died Thursday (July 5), the network reported. He was 64 years old.

Schultz joined MSNBC as the host of a weekly talk program with a progressive point of view, The Ed Show, in 2009. The show stayed on the network until 2015.

More recently, he hosted a program on RT America, News with Ed Schultz.

Born in Virginia, Schultz had a brief professional football career. He then went on the air as a radio sportscaster in Fargo, N.D.

He became a conservative talk show host and his program was picked up throughout the region. He views later turned more liberal after visiting a Salvation Army cafeteria. 

Jon Lafayette
Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.