Rachel Maddow's MSNBC Replacement Loses Half of Her Viewers
MSNBC star Jen Psaki took over Rachel Maddow's coveted 9 p.m. slot from Tuesday through Friday last month—and lost just about half of her nightly viewers, May's ratings reports reveal.
The former White House press secretary launched The Briefing with Jen Psaki in the slot on May 6, the flagship addition to the network's revamped primetime lineup that included replacing Joy Reid's 7 p.m. The ReidOut with The Weeknight, featuring anchors Symone Sanders-Townsend, Michael Steele, and Alicia Menendez.
Psaki averaged 971,000 viewers throughout the month, down from Maddow's 1.89 million ratings this year—representing a 47 percent drop—and even worse than former time slot occupant Alex Wagner's 1.3 million average from 2022 to January 2025, according to Nielsen ratings obtained by Fox News. Maddow hosted the show five nights a week to cover President Donald Trump's first 100 days in office.
Psaki averaged 78,000 viewers in the advertiser-coveted 25-54 age demographic, also down 52 percent from Maddow's 161,000 viewers in the demo from Tuesday through Friday, according to Fox News. While Psaki's salary is not publicly known, it is certainly far less than the reported $25 million per year the network is currently paying Maddow to host her show just once a week.
Psaki's launch coincided with a number of sporting events throughout the month, including the NBA playoffs—where game six of the New York Knicks-Indiana Pacers series drew 8.12 million viewers, and overall playoff ratings are up 3 percent from last year—as well as the NHL playoffs.
Primetime ratings were also down across all major cable news outlets during the same period, as CNN dropped 18 percent in total viewers and 23 percent in the demo and Fox News dropped 5 percent in total viewers and 11 percent in the demo, according to AdWeek.
But as MSNBC launches its new primetime lineup in the midst of its parent company Versant's spin-off from Comcast, its primetime declines—27 percent in total viewers and 30 percent in the demo—present an uphill battle as the shows work to find their audiences.
MSNBC representatives did not comment.
The Weeknight, which debuted on May 5 with former The Weekend hosts Sanders-Townsend, Steele, and Menendez, averaged 776,000 viewers throughout May, a 12 percent drop from the time slot's 2025 average with Joy Reid in the anchor seat. It averaged 72,000 viewers in the 25-54 demo, a 20 percent decrease from the 90,000 viewers the time slot drew throughout the year, according to Fox News.
The left-leaning network drew more primetime total viewers than CNN throughout May, as 1.1 million people tuned into the network compared to CNN's 481,000, the network announced last week. However, both networks saw their second-lowest months ever in the 25-54 demo during primetime, according to Forbes.
If there is any bright spot in MSNBC's ratings last month, it comes on weekend mornings.
The newly revamped The Weekend, led by Jonathan Capehart, Jackie Alemany, and Eugene Daniels, is up by 24 percent in total viewers and 21 percent in the demo.
An MSNBC source told the Daily Beast the network has managed to attract viewers due to the chaotic news cycle of Trump's first 100 days and that Psaki has managed to build her audience from 8 p.m.'s All In, hosted by Chris Hayes. They also said there were signs news fatigue as cable news ratings dropped across the board.
The network has taken a cautious approach to navigating the turbulent news cycle. Maddow's five-day-a-week tenure helped stabilize and grow ratings after a post-election drop-off, and newly installed MSNBC President Rebecca Kutler has fleshed out her leadership team and begun hiring at least 100 journalists.
Still, former hosts have criticized how the network has handled its talent. Reid told Katie Couric in an interview to promote her new online show that MSNBC was 'horrified' by her social media posts.
'They just don't like that it pulls their talent and their reporters out of their control because now you're not running what you're tweeting through Standards and Practices,' Reid said. 'It's giving your personality directly to the audience, which they don't like because it's no longer managed and curated by them.'
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