MSNBC saw a significant drop in ratings following election night in November and has still not recovered.
Network star Rachel Maddow reportedly took a pay cut and has returned to working five nights a week after doing her show only one night a week for months. Maddow was obviously brought back in an effort to prop up their sagging ratings but it clearly hasn’t worked so far.
The numbers for January are already in and MSNBC had their worst January ever for ratings in the demo that matters most to advertisers.
FOX News reports:
MSNBC’s primetime lineup has worst January ever among demographic coveted by advertisersMSNBC’s primetime lineup finished with its smallest January audience ever among the advertiser-coveted demographic of adults aged 25-54.The news-heavy month featured an alleged terrorist ramming a truck through New Year’s revelers in New Orleans, shocking video of a Tesla Cybertruck exploding in front of Trump International Hotel Las Vegas, President Biden pardoning members of his family and political allies on his way out the door, President Trump’s inauguration, the fragile ceasefire between Hamas and Israel and other significant headlines as the Trump administration began with a flurry of executive orders.Despite the busy month of major news, MSNBC averaged only 63,000 demo viewers between the primetime hours of 8-11 p.m. ET to finish No. 31 among cable offerings. By comparison, Fox News Channel averaged 353,000 demo viewers during primetime and ratings-challenged CNN even managed an average of 118,000 demo viewers to almost double MSNBC.DePauw University professor Jeffrey McCall said advertisers typically want to do business with networks that deliver viewers from the key demo.”Advertisers seek the 25-54 demo because media consumers in that age range generally have money to spend and are not necessarily locked into brand loyalties. Younger demos have less discretionary money to spend, and older demos are more established in their consumerism habits,” McCall told Fox News Digital.
For MSNBC to have only 63,000 viewers in the key demo during primetime is shocking. The population of Missoula, Montana is bigger than that.
Bobby Burack of OutKick echoes FOX News, saying that this should have been a banner month for any cable news network:
What’s particularly concerning for MSNBC is that the month was filled with headlines, stories that would typically raise the average of any cable news channel.The month included President Trump’s inauguration, an alleged terrorist ramming a truck through New Year’s revelers in New Orleans, video of a Tesla Cybertruck exploding in front of Trump International Hotel Las Vegas, Biden pardoning members of his family and political allies, the fragile ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, and a series of new executive orders from Trump administration.And yet, MSNBC recorded its lowest-rated January on record.
Brad Slager of RedState commented on Twitter/X:
After being wrong about the election, MSNBC slipped right back into ‘resistance’ mode. It’s starting to look like the rest of the country has just moved on without them.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY