Psaki bombs: MSNBC's newest primetime program sheds 53% of viewers from key demo in second episode
MSNBC's Jen Psaki bombed on Wednesday night.
Psaki took over MSNBC's coveted 9 p.m. ET timeslot on Tuesday through Fridays this week as "The Rachel Maddow Show" returned to only airing on Mondays, after Maddow temporarily returned to airing five nights a week during President Donald Trump's first 100 days in office.
Psaki, a former Biden administration press secretary, hosted "Inside" on Sundays and Mondays, and now hosts "The Briefing" at the critical hour.
On Tuesday, Psaki's "The Briefing" debuted with 1.2 million viewers and 139,000 in the advertiser-coveted demographic of adults aged 25-54, but her second episode on Wednesday plummeted to just over one million total viewers and only 65,000 in the demo.
MSNBC's newest program shed a staggering 53% of its demo viewers compared to the first episode only one day prior. Psaki's program also lost a whopping 67% of viewers between the ages of 18-49 after only one episode, as "The Briefing" averaged 113,000 on Tuesday and only 37,000 on Wednesday.
MSNBC had much better results at 9 p.m. ET last week with Maddow at the helm, as she averaged 1.9 million total viewers and 141,000 among viewers aged 25-54. Psaki's second episode managed to shed 46% of those totals among total viewers and 54% in the critical demo.
Psaki's Wednesday episode was outdrawn by 38 different cable news offerings among the advertiser-coveted demo despite the cushy timeslot. MSNBC's 9 p.m. ET program was outdrawn by everything Fox News Channel had to offer, along with 13 different CNN shows and seven MSNBC programs.
On Wednesday, Psaki's "The Briefing" also had fewer viewers among adults aged 25-54 than various repeats of "Friends," "Seinfeld," "Everybody Loves Raymond," "Bob's Burgers," "The King of Queens," and "That 70s Show," along with Nickelodeon's "Paw Patrol," Hallmark's "Reba," and TLC's "My Strange Addiction," and many other basic cable offerings.
Psaki also failed to boost her primetime colleagues, as it was MSNBC's lowest-rated Wednesday from 8-11 p.m. among both total viewers and the demo since January 8, before Trump was sworn in for his second term.
It was also MSNBC's lowest-rated 9 p.m. program among the demo on a Wednesday since Alex Wagner managed only 40,000 advertiser-coveted viewers on December 11, 2024.
Psaki served as Biden's first press secretary from 2021 until May 2022.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fox News
21 minutes ago
- Fox News
Drama Between President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk
The failed friendship between President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk continues, Bill Maher has some advice for the Democratic party, and social media drama between gold medalist Simone Biles and Riley Gaines. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Surprise Video Shows Prince Harry and His Kids at Disneyland—But One Princess Lilibet Moment Made Me Do a Double Take
We don't often get an unfiltered glimpse of Prince Harry these days—but this week, Meghan Markle shared an Instagram reel that gave us something close: a two-day Disneyland trip for daughter Lilibet's fourth birthday, complete with princess meet-and-greets, rides, cake and a surprisingly normal snapshot of family life. The video is cheerful and tightly edited, set to Peggy Lee's 'It's a Good Day.' We see Harry laughing on Space Mountain, grinning through Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters and trailing the kids around Cars Land in a backwards cap. Faces are covered with heart emojis, but there's enough to piece together who's who. Then comes the moment that made me do a double-take. Captured by Meghan Markle via Instagram Mid-reel, Meghan leads the kids into a Frozen-themed meet-and-greet. In a later shot, Lilibet—red hair, blue cap, floral dress—is seen holding hands with Elsa. Meghan's in mouse ears. Harry's filming. And suddenly, you're watching a real princess meet a fake one. Fans called it 'a full-circle fairytale,' but really, it's just a four-year-old's birthday party—with slightly more security. To that end, the real magic may not have been at Disneyland at all. In a quieter moment from the same week, Meghan posted a snapshot of Harry and Lilibet walking barefoot through a palm-lined path—her hand steady in his. 'Daddy's little girl and favorite adventurer,' she wrote. Because at the end of the day, Meghan may be the princess, but Harry is the ultimate girl dad. Prince Harry & Princess Lilibet's Bond Is on Full Display in Meghan Markle's Brand-New IG Post PureWow's editors and writers have spent more than a decade shopping online, digging through sales and putting our home goods, beauty finds, wellness picks and more through the wringer—all to help you determine which are actually worth your hard-earned cash. From our PureWow100 series (where we rank items on a 100-point scale) to our painstakingly curated lists of fashion, beauty, cooking, home and family picks, you can trust that our recommendations have been thoroughly vetted for function, aesthetics and innovation. Whether you're looking for travel-size hair dryers you can take on-the-go or women's walking shoes that won't hurt your feet, we've got you covered.
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump says Elon Musk could face ‘serious consequences' if he backs Democrats
US President Donald Trump said he has no desire to repair his relationship with Elon Musk, and warned that his former ally and campaign benefactor could face 'serious consequences' if he tries to help Democrats in upcoming elections. Mr Trump told NBC's Kristen Welker in a phone interview that he has no plans to make up with tech entrepreneur Mr Musk. Asked specifically if he thought his relationship with the mega-billionaire chief executive of Tesla and SpaceX was over, Mr Trump responded: 'I would assume so, yeah.' 'I'm too busy doing other things,' Mr Trump continued. Alarming — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 7, 2025 'You know, I won an election in a landslide. I gave him (Mr Musk) a lot of breaks, long before this happened, I gave him breaks in my first administration, and saved his life in my first administration, I have no intention of speaking to him.' The US President also issued a warning amid speculation that Mr Musk could back Democratic legislators and candidates in the 2026 mid-term elections. 'If he does, he'll have to pay the consequences for that,' Mr Trump told NBC, though he declined to share what those consequences would be. Mr Musk's businesses have many lucrative federal contracts. The US President's latest comments suggest Mr Musk is moving from close ally to a potential new target for Mr Trump, who has aggressively wielded the powers of his office to crack down on critics and punish perceived enemies. As a major government contractor, Mr Musk's businesses could be particularly vulnerable to retribution. Mr Trump has already threatened to cut Mr Musk's contracts, calling it an easy way to save money. The dramatic rupture between the President and the world's richest man began this week with Mr Musk's public criticism of Mr Trump's 'big beautiful bill' pending on Capitol Hill. Mr Musk has warned that the bill will increase the federal deficit and called it a 'disgusting abomination'. Mr Trump criticised Mr Musk in the Oval Office, and before long, he and Mr Musk began trading bitterly personal attacks on social media, sending the White House and Republican congressional leaders scrambling to assess the fallout. As the back-and-forth intensified, Mr Musk suggested Mr Trump should be impeached and claimed without evidence that the government was concealing information about the President's association with infamous paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Mr Musk appeared by Saturday morning to have deleted his posts about Epstein. In an interview, US vice president JD Vance tried to downplay the feud. He said Mr Musk was making a 'huge mistake' going after Mr Trump, but called him an 'emotional guy' who was becoming frustrated. 'I hope that eventually Elon comes back into the fold. Maybe that's not possible now because he's gone so nuclear,' Mr Vance said. Mr Vance called Mr Musk an 'incredible entrepreneur,' and said that Mr Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which sought to cut US government spending and laid off or pushed out thousands of workers, was 'really good'. Mr Vance made the comments in an interview with 'manosphere' comedian Theo Von, who last month joked about snorting drugs off a mixed-race baby and the sexuality of men in the US Navy when he opened for Mr Trump at a military base in Qatar. The Vance interview was taped on Thursday as Musk's posts were unfurling on X, the social media network the billionaire owns. During the interview, Mr Von showed the vice president Mr Musk's claim that Mr Trump's administration has not released all the records related to Epstein because Mr Trump is mentioned in them. Vice President Vance on what it's like to be Trump's VP: 'It is my job, obviously, to provide the President honest counsel…he talks to everybody. I think it's why he's in touch with normal people.' — Vice President JD Vance (@VP) June 7, 2025 Mr Vance responded to that, saying: 'Absolutely not. Donald Trump didn't do anything wrong with Jeffrey Epstein.' 'This stuff is just not helpful,' Mr Vance said in response to another post shared by Mr Musk calling for Mr Trump to be impeached and replaced with Mr Vance. 'It's totally insane. The President is doing a good job.' Vance also defended the bill that has drawn Mr Musk's ire, and said its central goal was not to cut spending but to extend the 2017 tax cuts approved in Mr Trump's first term. The bill would slash spending and taxes but also leave some 10.9 million more people without health insurance and spike deficits by 2.4 trillion dollars (£1.77 trillion) over the decade, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. 'It's a good bill,' Mr Vance said. 'It's not a perfect bill.'
