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Rearanging the deck chairs on MSNBC's sinking ship failed
Posted on: May 28, 2025 at 17:52:31 CT
Spanky KU
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/msnbc-s-new-prime-time-lineup-lands-with-a-thud-amid-ongoing-ratings-woes/ar-AA1FFblk?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=773717f88e244a72995876456f6e7b8c&ei=20
MSNBC’s new prime time lineup, which debuted on May 5th, failed to connect with viewers in its first three weeks as the network saw its audience decline to near record lows – especially in the key 25-54 age demographic.
Overall for May, MSNBC dropped 41% in the primetime demo and 34% in the total day demo compared to May of 2024. In total viewers, the network was down 33% across total day and 24% in prime time. MSNBC’s total day demo viewership sank to 49,000 average viewers and 73,000 in prime time – its second worst ever showing for a month behind January of 2025.
Fox News was the only of the big three networks to see year-over-year gains for May, up 21% in total viewers and 22% in total day demo viewers compared to 2024. In prime time, Fox gained 23% in total viewers and was up 32% in the demo.
CNN was down 24% in total day viewers and 27% in the daytime demo, while in prime time the network dropped 18% in total viewers and 21% in the demo. CNN’s prime time average came in at only 426,000 total viewers, compared to Fox News’s 2.5 million viewers and MSNBC’s average of 877,000 viewers.
MSNBC’s new lineup saw the 7 pm launch of The Weeknight and Jen Psaki replacing Alex Wagner Tuesday through Friday at 9 pm, while Rachel Maddow returned to hosting only on Mondays at 9 pm. Maddow returned to MSNBC five nights a week to cover the first 100 days of Trump’s second administration.
The Weeknight, Symone Sanders Townsend, Michael Steele, and Alicia Menendez’s panel program, saw viewership during its time slot decline 13% compared to the average viewership for 2025 before its launch. The Weeknight’s average of 770,000 viewers was also 36% lower than the 1.2 million viewers that watched MSNBC at 7 pm during the same period last year.
Psaki’s numbers so far also registered a dip for her hour. Psaki’s show averaged 973,000 total viewers since launch, which is 46% less than the 1.82 million average viewers that have watched MSNBC at 9 pm so far this year to see Maddow – who is by far the biggest draw on cable news outside of Fox. Notably, however, Psaki’s number is also 20% down from Alex Wagner’s average during the same period in 2024 – when Maddow was also only hosting Mondays.
Maddow’s Monday program averaged 1.8 million total viewers since the new lineup launched, which is a 24% dip from the same period last year, during which she pulled in 2.4 million viewers.
CNN and MSNBC continue to feel a ratings drag as many on the left continue to avoid overly engaging with news media, and audiences in general embrace alternative sources of information like podcasts and YouTube.
MSNBC’s new prime time lineup, which debuted on May 5th, failed to connect with viewers in its first three weeks as the network saw its audience decline to near record lows – especially in the key 25-54 age demographic.
Overall for May, MSNBC dropped 41% in the primetime demo and 34% in the total day demo compared to May of 2024. In total viewers, the network was down 33% across total day and 24% in prime time. MSNBC’s total day demo viewership sank to 49,000 average viewers and 73,000 in prime time – its second worst ever showing for a month behind January of 2025.
Fox News was the only of the big three networks to see year-over-year gains for May, up 21% in total viewers and 22% in total day demo viewers compared to 2024. In prime time, Fox gained 23% in total viewers and was up 32% in the demo.
CNN was down 24% in total day viewers and 27% in the daytime demo, while in prime time the network dropped 18% in total viewers and 21% in the demo. CNN’s prime time average came in at only 426,000 total viewers, compared to Fox News’s 2.5 million viewers and MSNBC’s average of 877,000 viewers.
MSNBC’s new lineup saw the 7 pm launch of The Weeknight and Jen Psaki replacing Alex Wagner Tuesday through Friday at 9 pm, while Rachel Maddow returned to hosting only on Mondays at 9 pm. Maddow returned to MSNBC five nights a week to cover the first 100 days of Trump’s second administration.
The Weeknight, Symone Sanders Townsend, Michael Steele, and Alicia Menendez’s panel program, saw viewership during its time slot decline 13% compared to the average viewership for 2025 before its launch. The Weeknight’s average of 770,000 viewers was also 36% lower than the 1.2 million viewers that watched MSNBC at 7 pm during the same period last year.
Psaki’s numbers so far also registered a dip for her hour. Psaki’s show averaged 973,000 total viewers since launch, which is 46% less than the 1.82 million average viewers that have watched MSNBC at 9 pm so far this year to see Maddow – who is by far the biggest draw on cable news outside of Fox. Notably, however, Psaki’s number is also 20% down from Alex Wagner’s average during the same period in 2024 – when Maddow was also only hosting Mondays.
Maddow’s Monday program averaged 1.8 million total viewers since the new lineup launched, which is a 24% dip from the same period last year, during which she pulled in 2.4 million viewers.
CNN and MSNBC continue to feel a ratings drag as many on the left continue to avoid overly engaging with news media, and audiences in general embrace alternative sources of information like podcasts and YouTube.
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Rearanging the deck chairs on MSNBC's sinking ship failed - Spanky KU - 5/28 17:52:31