With Dylan Ratigan departing MSNBC later this month, and Martin Bashir moving to 4 PM, MSNBC will soon have a hole to fill at 3 PM. What, exactly, will it fill that hole with?

Politico’s Dylan Byers speculates, with a heavy emphasis on opinion hosts and existing talent, but the statement from MSNBC president Phil Griffin addressing Ratigan’s departure reveals a bit itself:

“I will have more to say about the 3p time-slot in the coming weeks. I’m working with [NBC News president] Steve [Capus]  and his outstanding team to develop a new show in that hour.”

Update: The “Steve” in that quote is actually the 3 PM EP Steve Friedman, not Capus, so it could end up being an opinion show. We will find out soon enough…

The implication there is that the 3 PM hour will be filled by a news program, not an opinion program, and that it will likely be a new anchor, not a current one. Given that the 1-2PM and 2-3PM hours are news shows, anchored by Andrea Mitchell and Tamron Hall, it makes sense to have a news show at 3 PM too.