Meghan McCain merges YouTube show with podcast as low viewership plagues program
The rebrand comes as McCain's Happy Hour podcast for Halperin's 2way network has experienced soft viewership numbers since its February launch. The last broadcast of the show before the merger was announced, which featured an interview with Fox News media critic Joe Concha, has only managed a little over 4,300 views on YouTube.
Going forward, according to McCain's announcement, the show – which had previously aired live at 5 p.m. ET on Mondays and Wednesdays – will now carry the name Citizen McCain, the podcast she first launched in 2023 and had been on hiatus throughout April. The program will continue to air live on YouTube twice a week, but move from late afternoon to noon ET, and the audio version will be broadcast on Apple and Spotify.
'Our podcast is going to be our live show on 2way like we have been doing - just now with our original Citizen McCain name because quite frankly all of you like it and the brand is already on our TikTok, socials, etc,' McCain wrote on Substack earlier this month.
'We will also be moving our time of recording to noon eastern on Mondays and Wednesdays so you can join live on YouTube, join our live zoom chat and ask questions, or just watch later on YouTube or download later on our podcast channels,' she added. 'All you have to type in anywhere is 'Citizen McCain' to find our content.'
McCain added that she knew that 'this journey with Citizen McCain has been a rocky one with different partnerships,' but that she and her co-host Miranda Wilkins are 'very confident that our partnership with 2way.' She also stated that it has 'been so fun doing a live taped show with video and believe this is the right path for us to merge the two things together,' insisting that 'NOTHING about the content is changing.'
After the original Citizen McCain podcast went dark following its March 27 episode, McCain dropped a short announcement on the audio channels about the merger on May 1, letting listeners know that the show was returning in a new form.
'Meghan and Miranda have some big news! Thank you to everyone for patiently waiting out this limbo period because we're happy to announce that Citizen McCain has officially partnered with 2WAY,' McCain noted. 'This means that the podcast will be back, twice a week and if you want - you can watch the full show live on YouTube Mondays and Wednesdays at noon Eastern.'
During the first broadcast of the reboot on May 5, McCain declared that 'Happy Hour is no more' before noting that both shows were combined 'under one roof' at 2way. Since the rebrand, however, the response has continued to be tepid.
None of the full episodes of the new Citizen McCain has topped 5,000 views on YouTube. The show's dedicated YouTube channel has only 2,650 subscribers as of Thursday afternoon.
Representatives for McCain and Halperin did not respond to requests for comment.
On top of that, since her show's facelift and merger with the old podcast, which her Citizen Cain production company had previously produced, the new episodes and clips are only being posted and shared on the Citizen McCain channel and not 2way's.
While the network's YouTube channel includes a link to her channel along with a subscribe button, noting that it is 'part of the 2way network,' the last time a segment or episode from McCain was posted to the main 2way channel was the April 30 live episode of Happy Hour with Concha.
Overall, the most views any McCain video has attracted during her 2way partnership appears to be for a two-minute clip from a February episode of Happy Hour, which featured the headline: Joe Biden's Staff 'All Hated Kamala Harris ... She Was the Joy Reid of the White House.' That video has pulled in nearly 81,000 views in nearly three months.
In general, though, most of the full Happy Hour broadcasts averaged around 10,000 views, and outside of the Kamala Harris segment and a handful of others, the vast majority of the clips from these shows drew less than 5,000 views – with many failing to even top a thousand.
At the same time, 2way itself hasn't lit the world on fire despite bringing McCain, journalist Michael Moynihan and others 'to join its growing roster of ongoing bipartisan conversations curated by the veteran journalist Mark Halperin,' as Semafor reported in February.
According to social media analysis site Social Blade, 2way has been tallying about 83,000 views a day for its programming on YouTube, with the channel publishing an average of eight videos a day. The channel has a total of 78,400 subscribers as of Thursday afternoon, placing it in 2,428th place. Across 2,211 videos, it has pulled in a total of 22.8 million views.
McCain's partnership with Halperin has raised some eyebrows, notably because she was extremely critical of the longtime political journalist after he was accused of sexually harassing and assaulting more than a dozen women in 2017, which led to him losing his plush gigs with MSNBC and Showtime.
Despite her past revulsion over some of the accusations against Halperin, which he has denied, McCain told The Independent back in February that she now sees things differently.
'With age comes wisdom and different perspectives on people. I am now a 40 year old mother of two. I have grown and evolved like everyone else, particularly in the past five years — Mark has also grown and evolved,' she said. 'Like Mark, at this point in my life I believe in giving people the presumption of grace and forgiveness as I would like it in return. I have had the fortune and misfortune of having every single thing I've ever done since I was 22 well documented on the internet and thrown back in my face by people like you.'
Halperin, meanwhile, has 'scraped his way back' to media acceptance and prominence since his #MeToo exile. Besides launching 2way and maintaining his political analyst role with the pro-Trump channel Newsmax, he has once again become a regular presence on mainstream cable news channels, including recent appearances on Fox News.
That also includes hosting a separate podcast on the new audio and video network launched by Megyn Kelly, the former Fox News star who was a key figure in Roger Ailes' ouster amid sexual misconduct allegations.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
25 minutes ago
- The Independent
"Weapons" maintained top spot during second weekend, scaring off newcomer "Nobody 2"
'Weapons' scared its way to the top of the box office in its debut and managed to stay there during its second box office weekend, beating out 'Freakier Friday' and newcomer 'Nobody 2.' Zach Cregger's horror earned $25 million in 3,450 North American theaters, a 43% drop from its first weekend. The highly anticipated film benefitted from strong audience reviews and social media trends to attract large crowds. 'Freakier Friday,' which lost the battle for first place to 'Weapons' during its double premiere, also maintained its second spot, bringing in $14.5 million domestically. The films' staying power comes during a slower box office weekend, said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for the data firm Comscore. Both films also prevailed against 'Nobody 2,' the R-rated action sequel. The Bob Odenkirk-led film earned $9.25 million across 3,260 North American theaters in its debut weekend. 'August came on strong last year, so it makes comparisons tough,' Dergarabedian said, noting the box office success of movies like 'Deadpool and Wolverine' and the horror sci-fi 'Alien: Romulus' that premiered this time last year. This summer is unlikely to hit the $4 billion benchmark, but succeeded in provided movie goers a dynamic and diverse slate of movies, he said. "I can't find a genre that's not represented or a demographic that wouldn't be attracted to one of these films out there," Dergarabedian said. 'It's just that eclectic mix of films with appeal to every demographic.' 'Nobody 2' follows the pandemic success of the first in the series, 'Nobody," which released in 2021. In the sequel, Hutch Mansell, the assassin-turned-nice-guy, played by Odenkirk, returns to the big screen, this time taking a much-needed family vacation that goes awry. The calm weekend turns anything but as Mansell uncovers a corrupt town. Jim Orr, president of domestic distributions at Universal Pictures, said he hopes the movie's reaction scores — a 89% Audience score and B+ CinemaScore — point 'to a long and successful run at the domestic box office.' 'The Fantastic Four: First Steps" took the fourth spot during its fourth weekend in theaters, bringing in $8.8 million domestically. The film stumbled at the box office after its initially strong $118 million debut. Another sequel, 'The Bad Guys 2,' took fifth place with $7.5 million during its third weekend in theaters. Notably, Dergarabedian said, international movies made a splash in the top 15 this weekend. 'Coolie,' an Indian action thriller, debuted domestically and snatched the tenth spot, followed by 'War 2,' another Indian action movie, at number 11. The domestic re-release of 'Shin Godzilla," a Japanese film that initially premiered in 2016, came in at the 12th spot. Top 10 movies by domestic box office With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore: 1. 'Weapons,' $25 million. 2. 'Freakier Friday,' $14.5 million. 3. 'Nobody 2,' $9.25 million. 4. 'The Fantastic Four: First Steps,' $8.8 million. 5. 'The Bad Guys 2,' $7.5 million. 6. 'Superman,' $5.3 million. 7. 'The Naked Gun,' $4.8 million. 8. 'Jurassic World Rebirth,' $2.9 million. 9. 'F1: The Movie,' $2.6 million. 10. 'Coolie," $2.4 million.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Disturbing video shows lawmaker stuffing ballots in swing state that Trump only won by 80,000 votes
A chilling video has shown a lawmaker stuffing ballots in a swing state that Trump only won by just over 80,000 votes. Abu Musa, city council member of Hamtramck, Michiga n, was seen in the passenger seat of a car, watching another man deposit three stacks of ballots into a drop box. Michigan State Police have confirmed the authenticity of the video footage, which was filmed on August 1, 2025. The alleged ballot box stuffing incident took place just before the city's latest primary election on August 5. The video comes just days after two of Musa's councilmen colleagues, Muhtasin Sadman and Mohammed Hassan, were charged over forging ballots in the city's tightly fought 2023 election. Musa was previously named as 'under investigation' in the same conspiracy, but was not charged. According to an April document that Attorney General Dana Nessel issued requesting a special prosecutor in the 2023 case, two of Musa's city council colleagues had 'conspired to receive unvoted absentee ballots that had been signed by recently naturalized citizens.' The accused then allegedly proceeded to 'fill in the candidates of their choosing' during the city's 2023 elections. Musa received the most votes in the August 5th primary election, per unofficial election results released on August 6 - receiving 12.5 percent of total votes in a field of 12 candidates. Of the total 1,129 votes received by Musa, 843 were cast by absentee ballot. The 286 total of election day votes received by Musa is only the fifth-highest tally. Two of Musa's colleagues on the city council were charged with felony forgery earlier this month over their conduct during the 2023 city council election. Hamtramck council members Sadman and Hassan were charged on August 11, while two other council members, Musa and Mohammed Alsomiri were not charged at the time. Nessel recused herself from the investigation into the council members because she had previously criticized policy positions taken by the council to ban Pride flags from being flown on city-owned property. The Michigan Attorney General had also 'been criticized for her prosecutions of pro -Palestinian protestors at the University of Michigan.' Nessel was additionally accused of prosecuting the campus protestors due to 'bias against Muslims and/or people of Arab descent' and foresaw similar criticisms coming her way in this case, as five of the defendants 'are of Arab descent.' Hamtamack, a city in Metro Detroit, has a population just over 28,000 residents, which is over 70 percent Muslim. The city became the first in America to be governed by an all-Muslim council in 2022. Detroit's Local 4 News reported that the initial investigation began 'after the city clerk noticed unusual patterns with absentee ballots — including identical handwriting on multiple envelopes and large bundles of ballots submitted at once.' Hamtramck City Clerk Rana Faraj told Votebeat that 'state laws are clear that your ballot should only be handled by you or a family member,' adding that 'everyone's cousins around here.' The council is made up of six members, and three slots are up for election every two years. Members serve four-year terms. Donald Trump won Michigan's 15 electoral votes in 2024 with 49.7 percent of the votes to Kamala Harris' 48.3 percent. Hamtramck's Mayor Amer Ghalib made waves last year after endorsing Trump for President as the mayor of America's first Muslim-majority city.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Movie-obsessed couple take insane $1M gamble to restore America's oldest drive-in theater
When film buffs Matt McClanahan and Lauren McChesney learned that their beloved local drive-in might be swallowed up by developers, they didn't hesitate to act. The couple emptied their savings, drained their retirement accounts, and signed on for a whopping $1 million loan to save it. The prize? Shankweiler's Drive-In Theatre in Orefield, Pennsylvania – the oldest operating drive-in in the world, which first lit up the silver screen back in 1934. For McClanahan, 35, it wasn't just business. 'It was a very personal connection, because I grew up coming here, so I had that drive to preserve a piece of my own childhood,' he told CNBC. To clinch the deal in 2022, the couple scraped together everything they could, from family contributions to their own retirement funds. McChesney, 41, even walked away from her career in health care to throw herself into the business full-time. 'I thought it was going to feel a lot scarier to give up my previous career,' she told CNBC. 'But as soon as I made that shift, it all just fell into place and made sense to me.' Their boldness wasn't without pressure. As McChesney put it: 'Because it's historic, because it's so special, there is that added pressure that we have to be successful with this.' McClanahan and McChesney's romance itself sounds like something out of a rom-com: they met when he tore her ticket at another drive-in he used to manage. 'He took my ticket, and we started dating maybe a year after that,' McChesney said. Today, they're not only business partners but also engaged to be married. Their joint mission was to breathe new life into Shankweiler's while keeping its vintage magic intact. 'Shankweiler's was a quiet backyard theater. It existed to play the movies for its neighborhood, and that was really it. We're trying to elevate that and bring it to another level,' McClanahan said. Operating America's oldest drive-in doesn't come cheap. McClanahan admitted the finances can feel like a revolving door: 'You have a ton of money going in, and then a ton of money going right back out.' To cover bills and loan payments, they've had to run year-round instead of seasonally. 'Since we had all these payments and we had to start paying our loan and we have bills, we had to be open year-round,' McChesney said. It hasn't been easy – but blockbuster nights and community events keep the dream alive. To lure crowds beyond summer, the couple has got creative. Valentine's Day saw 'Date Night at the Drive-In' with charcuterie boards and cocktails, while their annual Halloween trunk-or-treat has become a local favorite. As McClanahan put it: 'There's a lot of things in addition to the movies that customers have to look forward to when they come to our theater. It's more than the movies. It's a whole night.' And when the lights go down, the payoff, he said, is priceless 'When the movies are playing and you're watching hundreds of people share this amazing experience, and they're having a great time and everyone's happy, it's like that weight is just lifted and you realize this is why we're doing it. 'The community is coming together in this space, and we're facilitating something really special.'
