MSNBC has seen its 9 PM hour viewership nearly double in Rachel Maddow’s first week back.
Rachel Maddow’s return has caused the number of total viewers for the 9 PM MSNBC hour to go from 1-1.2 million to 1.9-2.1.
Without Maddow, the 9 PM hour performed on par with MSNBC’s other programming and worse than The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, which follows it at 10 PM ET.
The viewers came back when Maddow returned, which creates a problem for MSNBC, as Rachel Maddow is cutting back to one day a week of hosting starting in May.
When The Rachel Maddow Show was at its peak, MSNBC was challenging Fox News for cable news supremacy, but without Maddow, Fox has widened its lead over MSNBC.
The network is at a fork in the road. Without Maddow, the ratings have slipped to a substantial degree, and the network will have to come up with a new star.
MSNBC very much has a Rachel Maddow audience, and a substantial number of those viewers leave when she is not on the air.
Maddow has been the face of the network for more than a decade, and her decreased presence will require an adjustment both for the audience and the future of MSNBC.
(All ratings numbers via TVNewser)
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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