Al Sharpton, one of New York City’s most polarizing figures, is in line to get his own MSNBC talk show.
The cable network is eyeing Sharpton to replace Cenk Uygur at 6 p.m. in an effort to raise its profile.
Sharpton is in his third week filling in for Uygur. His ratings last week showed a marked uptick in viewership among older viewers, MSNBC’s “money” demo, according to tvnewser.com, which was the first to publish the story.
Sharpton, a familiar figure on cable news — and a regular MSNBC fill-in host — also increased the network’s numbers at 10 p.m. when he filled in there late last month.
A Sharpton-hosted show airing nightly would, at the very least, generate plenty of ink for MSNBC, due to Sharpton’s outspoken and often inflammatory nature.
CNN tried much the same thing when it hired disgraced “Love Guv” Eliot Spitzer last fall — two years after he resigned from office in a hooker scandal — to host its 8 p.m. show with conservative columnist Kathleen Parker (who left shortly thereafter).
That experiment ultimately backfired when Spitzer — who, like Sharpton, had no professional background in TV — failed to find a steady audience.
“There have been no formal discussions, but he is having a lot of fun,” Sharpton’s spokeswoman told The Post yesterday.
“He’s been doing talk radio for the past five years — with a daily show and several radio shows that he hosts during the weekend — so he has an audience.
“And the numbers show it.”
Sharpton’s previous regular TV gig was as the host of Spike’s “I Hate My Job.” He’s also hosted an episode of “Saturday Night Live” and has made cameos on many series.
He ran for president as a Democrat in 2004.
Uygur, who was hired last October, was never given the 6 p.m. slot on a permanent basis, but was called the hour’s “interim host,” which left MSNBC free to fill that slot without trepidation if Uygur didn’t work out.
Uygur’s numbers have “been up and down,” averaging anywhere from 500,000 to 700,000 viewers a night, according to tvnewser.
MSNBC officials had no comment yesterday.