MSNBC: Rachel Maddow’s Real Ratings Revealed Since Trump Win and it’s Worth the Laugh
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The Rachel Maddow Show
How has Rachel Maddow been doing on MSNBC since returning to five nights a week for the first 100 days of President Donald Trump‘s presidency?
The latest viewing figures for her show hit home that she is ratings gold for MSNBC, even helping boost the shows before and after her in the cable news network’s evening schedule.
Now fans are wondering what will happen when Maddow’s “100 days” are up on April 30. Will she go back to one day a week (on Mondays) or can network bosses persuade her to stay on five days a week?
It’s no secret that MSNBC suffered a ratings drop following Trump’s election victory in November. According to Nielsen ratings, the network’s primetime average dropped to 660,000 total viewers and 55,000 in the coveted 25-54 demo between election day and December 31. This was a significant drop from December 2023’s average of 1.3 million total viewers and 114,000 in the demo.
However, MSNBC has since rebounded, in large part thanks to The Rachel Maddow Show returning to five nights a week. Maddow, who normally only hosts on Mondays, agreed to nightly coverage for Trump’s first 100 days in office, and her show has proven to be a ratings success.
In January, The Rachel Maddow Show averaged 1.711 million total viewers in primetime and 137,000 in the 25-54 demo. Those numbers grew even higher in February, reaching an average of 1.945 million total viewers and 181,000 in the key demo.
The show continues to perform strong, with the first week of March averaging 1.917 million total viewers in primetime and 167,000 in the demo. According to Adweek, it was the only cable news program outside of Fox News to finish in the Top 15 shows in both total viewers and demo.
Maddow’s show is also giving a boost to the programs around her, including All In with Chris Hayes and The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, both of which have regularly topped over a million total viewers since her return to weeknights. O’Donnell is off this week, telling Maddow last week that he is “exhausted” from all the Trump news.
With Maddow proving to be such a ratings success, there will surely be a temptation for MSNBC to keep her on beyond Trump’s first 100 days. This comes amid several changes at the news network in recent months, including the cancelation of Alex Wagner Tonight, the show that aired in the 9 pm slot from Tuesdays to Fridays.
Between November 15 and January 16, Alex Wagner Tonight averaged 679,458 total viewers and 66,208 in the demo, well below Maddow’s average. Wagner will remain at MSNBC as a contributor, while Jen Psaki will take over the 9 pm slot on Tuesdays through Fridays. Time will tell whether Psaki can keep up the momentum set by Maddow.
