Chris Matthews MSNBC Deal Revealed

Chris Matthews has renewed his deal with MSNBC, and his new schedule as a political TV pundit probably means that his former dreams of running for office are on permanent hold — even though his long-running syndicated Sunday show will be coming to an end.

Matthews provided an extremely detailed statement on the new contract to The Hollywood Reporter. The 67-year-old said that he will air the final episode of The Chris Matthews Show, which frequently airs before NBC’s Meet the Press, on July 21.

The Chris Matthews Show debuted in September 2002. He serves as a moderator for what is often described as a roundtable discussion. “Tell Me Something I Don’t Know” is a popular segment where reporters reveal new and often surprising information that they’ve learned while working a story.

He will continue to appear for MSNBC’s Hardball at 5 and 7 PM. Despite his age, he admitted that there’s little purpose in full retirement.

“To be perfectly truthful, I’d be doing what I do on the show — talking and arguing politics — for nothing even if [I] weren’t on the air,” he told The Hollywood Reporter’s Marisa Guthrie. The statement didn’t reveal the financial terms of the new MSNBC deal, but I’m fairly sure that he’s being paid substantially more than air.

His Hardball salary has been reported to Celebrity Net Worth as a cool $5 million a year.

However, once he concludes the Sunday show, he may have more time to put the finishing touches on an upcoming nonfiction book that explores the relationship between Republican president Ronald Reagan and Democratic Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill.

O’Neill was the only speaker who served for five complete Congressional terms, and he was well-known for his quick wit as well as his political acumen. He may be a natural subject for Hardball host Chris Matthews.

However, some people could speculate that the Matthews era is coming to an end as a result of the Hurricane Sandy foot-in-mouth incident, where he stumbled along after saying he was “so glad” the country suffered the destructive storm. That might explain both the shuttering of his Sunday show and his lack of any current interest in running for office himself.

What’s your take on the Chris Matthews’ MSNBC deal?

[Chris Matthews photo by Juli Hansen / Shutterstock.com]