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Fox News
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
MSNBC's Psaki struggles to fill Maddow's lofty shoes, trails CNN in key demo through two months in new slot
It has been a mixed bag for MSNBC's Jen Psaki, two months into her new gig. Psaki, the press secretary for former President Joe Biden — who has insisted she never witnessed signs of decline while she worked for him — saw an increased role as part of MSNBC's overhaul when programming changes were announced earlier this year. Psaki took over MSNBC's coveted 9 p.m. ET timeslot on Tuesday through Fridays in May as "The Rachel Maddow Show" returned to only airing on Mondays. Maddow had temporarily returned to airing five nights a week during President Donald Trump's first 100 days in office. "The Briefing with Jen Psaki" averaged 1.1 million total viewers from its May 6 debut through July 3, losing 44% of the 1.8 million that Maddow – and a few January shows hosted by Alex Wagner – pulled in at 9 p.m. ET on Tuesday through Fridays throughout 2025. Psaki wasn't expected to compete with Maddow, who is MSNBC's biggest star by a wide margin, from a ratings standpoint off the bat. However, "Alex Wagner Tonight," which aired in the 9 p.m. ET timeslot on Tuesday through Fridays throughout 2024, also topped Psaki. "Alex Wagner Tonight" averaged 1.2 million total viewers from May 6 through July 3 last year, which is 17% more than Psaki's 2025 viewership. Psaki also shed "Alex Wagner Tonight" viewers among the advertiser-coveted demographic of adults aged 25-54, as "The Briefing" has averaged only 90,000 viewers from the critical group. Last year, "Alex Wagner Tonight" averaged 123,000 demo viewers from May 6 through July 3. But MSNBC aired three primetime specials during that time and Maddow's presence on the panel shows significantly boosted "Alex Wagner Tonight" ratings among both total viewers and the demo. Through two months, Psaki has drawn less than half the audience of Fox News Channel's 9 p.m. ET offering, "Hannity," which has averaged 2.9 million viewers since May 6. Psaki has managed to thump timeslot competition on ratings-challenged CNN among total viewers, as "The Source with Kaitlan Collins" has averaged a dismal 543,000 viewers since "The Briefing" debuted on MSNBC. However, the former Biden press secretary is trailing CNN in the key demo. "The Source with Kaitlan Collins" outdrew MSNBC's "The Briefing" by managing 108,000 demo viewers on Tuesdays through Fridays since Psaki moved to 9 p.m. ET. Fox News' "Hannity" averaged 344,000 demo viewers during the same time period. Psaki also trails cable news competitors among younger viewers aged 18-49, averaging 62,000 compared to 219,000 for "Hannity" and 70,000 for CNN's "The Source." MSNBC insiders point to "The Briefing" being the network's No. 3 most-watched daily program despite only being on-air for two months as a sign that Psaki will find success at 9 p.m. ET. "The Briefing" has built on the audience of its lead-in, "All in with Chris Hayes," which "Alex Wagner Tonight" failed to do in 2024. This has occurred as MSNBC has lost viewers overall. Psaki improved in her second month in the timeslot, as "The Briefing" averaged 973,000 total viewers in May compared to a smidge over one million in June for an 8% uptick and gained 17% in the demo. Despite the loss to CNN, "The Briefing" is MSNBC's No. 2 program in the demo, while Wagner's show was the network's eighth best in the critical category during the same time period last year. Psaki served as Biden's first press secretary from January 2021 until May 2022, and her defense of the White House made her popular with MSNBC progressives before she landed at the network. CNN also had discussions about bringing her on board. The launch of "The Briefing with Jen Psaki" coincided with a news cycle that wasn't particularly flattering for former Biden officials, as anticipation for the book "Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again," put questions about Biden's fitness for office at the forefront. It remains to be seen if Psaki can fill the shoes of Maddow, but the latter certainly hurt MSNBC by deciding "The Rachel Maddow Show" would only air on Mondays. Ratings data courtesy of Nielsen Media Research.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Analysis: Can MSNBC Afford to Have Rachel Maddow Return to a Monday-Only Schedule?
We've reached the midpoint of President Donald Trump's first 100 days in the Oval Office. That's also the midpoint for Rachel Maddow's return to a Monday through Friday schedule on MSNBC. In that time, Maddow has given MSNBC a ratings boost, fueling the network to double-digit growth in primetime and total day. MSNBC suffered a sharp ratings decline after the conclusion of the 2024 presidential election, which saw Trump return to the White House for a second term. The network's primetime ratings fall by 57% between Election Day and December 31, 2024. MSNBC averaged 660,000 primetime viewers and 55,000 A25-54 viewers during that period. That was a steep decline from December 2023 when it averaged 1.3 million total viewers and 114,000 demo viewers. In January, The Rachel Maddow Show averaged 1.711 million total viewers and 137,000 viewers in the advertiser-coveted Adults 25-54 demo during primetime. Those numbers rose significantly during February to 1.945 million total viewers and 181,000 A25-54 viewers-a month-to-month improvement of +53% and +76%, respectively. The Rachel Maddow Show continued that strong performance during the first week of March, drawing 1.917 million total viewers and 167,000 A25-54 viewers in primetime. It also ranked as the only cable news program outside of the Fox News universe to finish among the Top 15 shows in both measured categories. Additionally, Maddow's presence on the schedule has lifted surrounding MSNBC programs. All In with Chris Hayes and The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell have regularly topped over a million total viewers since her return. Having Maddow on each night of the week has certainly benefited MSNBC. The question is: Will that momentum continue when she returns to a Monday-only schedule in May? MSNBC declined to comment when TVNewser reached out about their post-100 days programming plan. However, a source at the network notes that Maddow's current schedule was always intended to be temporary. This data shows the importance of Maddow to MSNBC's recent ratings performance. She is a viewer favorite and has a loyal audience who enjoy watching her takes on the current political situation. The network is trending in the right direction with its core audience of progressive viewers seeking the latest news and commentary about the second Trump administration. Incoming MSNBC president Rebecca Kutler recently unveiled a new program lineup set to take effect in April. Maddow will return to her once-a-week schedule, with Jen Psaki becoming the face of the 9 p.m. time slot on Tuesdays through Fridays. But Psaki may face a similar challenge as her predecessor, Alex Wagner. While Alex Wagner Tonight consistently finished in second place during the 9 p.m. time period in both measured categories, the show's numbers came nowhere close to The Rachel Maddow Show. Between Nov. 15, 2024 and Jan. 16, 2025, Alex Wagner Tonight averaged 679,458 total viewers and 66,208 A25-54 viewers. Meanwhile, Psaki's Sunday and Monday shows this year have a combined average of 777,684 total viewers and 70,658 demo viewers. Wagner is currently traveling the country covering the impact of Trump's first 100 days and will transition to MSNBC's senior political analyst as part of the larger programming overhaul. Back at home, Kutler is in the midst of a rebuild as MSNBC will soon be separating from NBCUniversal News Group to join the spin-off company SpinCo. The network will continue to be based in New York following the split and has announced plans to hire over 100 journalists to build up its newsgathering operations. But with Maddow returning to a once-a-week schedule, MSNBC also faces losing a consistent performer on its primetime schedule. With the cable news industry at large facing challenges as a result of changing viewership habits, the presence of familiar faces in familiar time slots is one proven way to retain existing audiences.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump: MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace, Rachel Maddow ‘should be forced to resign'
President Trump said MSNBC hosts Nicolle Wallace and Rachel Maddow 'should be forced to resign' while criticizing the network for low show ratings. 'Worse than CNN is 'MS-DNC,' which is the worst. And the good news is very few people watch them anymore,' he told reporters Thursday in the Oval Office. 'They have lost such credibility; and, frankly, what Nicolle Wallace said — I've never been a fan of hers, and she's not very talented — but I'll tell you, what she said the other day about that young man is disgraceful. She should be forced to resign,' he added. Wallace received pushback for her comments about DJ Daniels, a 13-year-old cancer survivor, who Trump gave an honorary Secret Service badge and invited as a special guest to Tuesday's joint session. The 'Deadline: White House' show host said she hopes Daniels 'never has to defend the United States Capitol against Donald Trump's supporters, and if he does, I hope he isn't one of the six who loses his life to suicide.' In addition to Trump condemning Wallace's remarks, he also hit Maddow, attacking her credibility. 'And Rachel Maddow should be forced to resign. Nobody watches her anyway. I don't know if — it's not possible they pay her as much money as I hear — but certainly she's lost all credibility,' he said. 'Both of them. But what they said the other day, they should be forced to resign, about that young person who is suffering.' MSNBC has undergone structural changes in recent months with a change in leadership after former President Rashida Jones stepped down in January. She was succeeded by Rebecca Kutler, the network's senior vice president of content strategy, who was named interim president. Kutler has since made major changes, removing shows including 'The ReidOut' and 'Alex Wagner Tonight.' The Hill has reached out to MSNBC for comment. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
06-03-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Trump: MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace, Rachel Maddow ‘should be forced to resign'
President Trump said MSNBC hosts Nicolle Wallace and Rachel Maddow 'should be forced to resign' while criticizing the network for low show ratings. 'Worse than CNN is 'MS-DNC,' which is the worst. And the good news is very few people watch them anymore,' he told reporters Thursday in the Oval Office. 'They have lost such credibility; and, frankly, what Nicole Wallace said — I've never been a fan of hers, and she's not very talented — but I'll tell you, what she said the other day about that young man is disgraceful. She should be forced to resign,' he added. Wallace received pushback for her comments on DJ Daniels, a 13-year-old child cancer survivor who Trump gave an honorary Secret Service badge and invited as a special guest to Tuesday's joint session. The 'Deadline' show host said she hopes Daniels 'never has to defend the United States Capitol against Donald Trump's supporters, and if he does, I hope he isn't one of the six who loses his life to suicide.' In addition to Trump condemning Wallace's remarks, he also hit Maddow, attacking her credibility. 'And Rachel Maddow should be forced to resign. Nobody watches her anyway. I don't know if — it's not possible they pay her as much money as I hear — but certainly she's lost all credibility,' he said. 'Both of them. But what they said the other day, they should be forced to resign, about that young person who is suffering.' MSNBC has undergone structural changes in recent months with a change in leadership after former president Rashida Jones stepped down in January. She was succeeded by senior vice president of content strategy Rebecca Kutler, who was named interim president. Kutler has since made major changes removing shows like 'The Reid Out' and 'Alex Wagner Tonight.'
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Mark Halperin and former Politico reporter scorch 'liberal media bias' on networks like MSNBC
Political commentator Mark Halperin and Axios White House reporter Marc Caputo skewered much of the modern media for brazen bias against President Donald Trump and conservatives in general. MSNBC has been in the national spotlight after the network underwent a major shakeup, elevating former President Biden's first press secretary Jen Psaki's show to primetime, while purging "The Reidout" and "Alex Wagner Tonight." On Halperin's "2WAY TONIGHT" podcast, Caputo, who was a reporter for Politico, said Psaki joining MSNBC network at all during Biden's presidency, after she left her White House role, was an indictment of modern media. "Jen Psaki's hiring by MSNBC was one of the many examples of how utterly broken the Acela media industrial complex is," Caputo said. "For the first time in United States history, a sitting president seeking reelection had his press secretary go and work for a major media enterprise and anchor a show. And no one f---ing said anything about how irregular, how newsworthy, how out of line that was." He added "So when we come to our current moment, Jen Psaki, MSNBC represents a very particular inflection point, as does the Biden presidency, in the way in which the press covered it. That leads us to where we are today." Msnbc Cancels Joy Reid's Show As Part Of Programming Shakeup At Liberal Network Halperin agreed, but suggested, "Of all of the examples of liberal media bias denied by the people who run the big organizations, of all the examples, perhaps the most egregious is they hire media writers who are far, far left—as if they're covering the media fairly." Read On The Fox News App "If you're going to have a media writer whose job it is to hold the media to account, you cannot hire people who hate Donald Trump. And their coverage isn't subtle," Halperin added. "It's not like some of The New York Times coverage, for instance, where within the crevices of the paragraphs, you can see they're biased against Trump," he said. "They are full-on resistance writers, and that's why they write negative things about Marc Caputo, and me, and why they did not touch this Jen Psaki story." The silence of media reporters on certain specific stories, Halperin said, speaks volumes about who they are. Click Here For More Coverage Of Media And Culture "It's bats--t crazy for these organizations, who claim to be serious news organizations, to have as their media reporters leading members of the resistance - unapologetic and explicit - who, to this day, have not written about Joe Biden, the lack of coverage of Joe Biden's loss of mental acuity - to this day, they have not written about the biggest media story of all time, and instead they are writing about Stephen Miller's demeanor in a cable news hit," he said. Halperin also called out the media for not platforming now-Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and former Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., as each of them attempted to run against Biden for the Democratic Party nomination in the 2024 election. By contrast, he recalled how networks have platformed Sen. Adam Schiff of California, who was censured by the House for 'false' allegations on Trump-Russia collusion. "And they will put Adam Schiff on, whose public failures of credibility are more pronounced than Dean Phillips. And in terms of implications, I would say you could argue comparable to Bobby Kennedy's," he argued. "It's insane that they didn't put them on, but it's more insane that people whose job it is to write about the press and hold the press accountable didn't write a word about it."Original article source: Mark Halperin and former Politico reporter scorch 'liberal media bias' on networks like MSNBC
