MSNBC Gets Low Ratings Despite New Weekend Lineup
MSNBC’s recent overhaul of its primetime and weekend lineup has encountered immediate setbacks, with new shows delivering lower-than-expected ratings and widespread audience drop-offs.
The network, aiming to rebrand following the era of Rachel Maddow’s dominance, introduced several new programs, including The Weekend, The Weekend: Primetime, and The Weeknight. Initial viewership figures suggest these efforts have failed to gain traction.
The Weekend premiered at 7 a.m. Saturday, hosted by Jonathan Capehart, Eugene Daniels, and Jackie Alemany.
The show recorded 433,000 total viewers and 39,000 viewers in the 25–54 age demographic.
These numbers represent a 27% decline in total viewership and a 44% drop in the key demo compared to the previous Saturday’s slot.
The Weekend: Primetime, which debuted at 6 p.m. Saturday, performed even worse.
The show drew 318,000 total viewers and just 22,000 in the 25–54 demo, marking a 19% and 39% decline, respectively, as reported by Trending Politics.
Weeknight programming changes also saw limited success. The Weeknight, now hosted by Symone Sanders Townsend, Michael Steele, and Alicia Menendez, attracted 819,000 total viewers and 78,000 in the demo.
This performance showed a 9% decrease from the numbers in the same slot the previous Monday.
Jen Psaki’s new show The Briefing exceeded one million viewers but secured only 65,000 in the key demo.
The most notable decline came during MSNBC’s 9 p.m. primetime slot, which was formerly occupied by Rachel Maddow. Psaki’s premiere episode on Tuesday attracted 1.2 million viewers and 139,000 in the 25–54 demographic.
By the next night, viewership dropped to just over one million, and the demo audience fell to 65,000—a 53% decrease within 24 hours.
Among viewers aged 18–49, The Briefing dropped from 113,000 on Tuesday to 37,000 on Wednesday. This marked a 67% fall in that demographic.
In comparison, Maddow averaged around 1.9 million total viewers and 141,000 in the 25–54 demo during her tenure in the same time slot.
Psaki’s Wednesday episode was outperformed not only by Fox News and CNN, but also by reruns of Friends, Seinfeld, Everybody Loves Raymond, and Paw Patrol.
Reports indicated that 38 cable shows drew larger audiences in the key demo during that hour, marking MSNBC’s weakest Wednesday primetime performance since before the 2021 inauguration.
MSNBC’s primetime block as a whole averaged just over 1 million total viewers and 88,000 in the demo last week. This represents a 14% drop in total viewership and a 12% decline in the 25–54 demo.
Despite promotional efforts and high-profile hosts, the new format has not met expectations. MSNBC stated optimism that early ratings are not predictive of future outcomes.
Executives cited heavy competition from sports playoff coverage and Pope Francis’ funeral as potential factors behind the poor launch.
The overhaul also involved canceling shows hosted by Joy Reid and Alex Wagner, in an effort to usher in a new era for the network’s programming.
However, unless ratings improve, MSNBC may be forced to reconsider its programming strategy again in the near future.
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