Modern-day television and radio are filled with political pundits talking the ins and the outs of everything happening in Washington D.C. and beyond. and it's a community that former MSNBC regular and ex-radio host Ed Schultz was a part of for over 25 years. Unfortunately for those who look forward to his daily views, Schultz passed away this week at the age of 64.
Born in Virginia on January 27, 1954, Ed Schultz made a highly successful career for himself in his 64 years, and he died in his Washington D.C. home on Thursday, July 5. It's reported that he passed away due to natural causes, according to Fargo's WDay. The news was reported by the Russian TV network RT America, where Schultz had been employed since leaving MSNBC in 2015. The statement read as follows:
We at RT America are sad to announce the passing of Edward Andrew Schultz. Ed Schultz passed quietly early morning on July 5 at his home in Washington, D.C. This announcement comes as a shock to all of us here at RT America.
Though he's best known to TV viewers for his years on MSNBC, Ed Schultz got into the media world as a sportscaster in Fargo, following a somewhat short-lived football career. It was in 1992 that he started voicing his then-conservative political views as a radio host in Fargo, which eventually led to the syndicated radio program The Ed Schultz Show, which started up in 2004 and was later shortened and shifted over to the web. In that time, Schultz somewhat controversially ended up changing his party affiliation to Democrat.
It was in 2009 that Ed Schultz got his MSNBC start with The Ed Show, the weekday-then-weekend news commentary program that went through various format and schedule changes over the years, with Schultz's talking points understandably getting the bulk of the focus. It wasn't the most popular show on MSNBC, and often fell behind Fox News and CNN programs airing in the same time slot, but not always. And it was popular enough to stick around on the network until being cancelled in 2015, with MSNBC's reasoning tied to wanting more breaking-news coverage, as opposed to just commentary.
Following his exit from MSNBC, Ed Schultz started up a news-centered podcast and then found a new TV home on RT America with the show The News with Ed Schultz. That program, which debuted in January 2016, was still in production at the time of Schultz's death.
We at CinemaBlend send our thoughts and condolences to the family and friends of Ed Schultz in their time of mourning.
