Importance Score: 52 / 100 🔵
MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe’ Viewership Declines, Trails CNN in Key Demographic
In a notable shift in cable news ratings, MSNBC’s flagship program ‘Morning Joe’ has fallen behind CNN’s ‘News Central’ in the coveted 25-54 demographic for the past week. This marks the first time since 2022 that Morning Joe’s viewership has been surpassed by its CNN competitor in this key demographic.
Viewership Shift Follows Hosts’ Meeting with Former President
This ratings development, initially reported by Status, emerges months after ‘Morning Joe’ co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski traveled to Mar-a-Lago to meet with the then president-elect shortly after his November election victory.
The meeting sparked criticism from numerous viewers of the left-leaning network, which was already experiencing a decrease in viewership following months of MSNBC’s strong criticism of Donald Trump.
Significant Audience Drop for ‘Morning Joe’ Post-Election
Data reviewed by DailyMail.com indicates a substantial 39 percent decrease in ‘Morning Joe’s’ total audience since the election of the former president. The drop is even more pronounced in the crucial 25-54 demographic, with a 46 percent decline.
The program has experienced double-digit percentage drops in its ratings, a trend that rival networks like Fox News have successfully avoided.
Fox News Ratings Surge, Outperforms Competitors
Fox News, owned by Rupert Murdoch, has seen an increase in both total viewers and the key demographic compared to last year. ‘The Five’, Fox News’s top-rated show, is now the highest-rated non-primetime program in cable history for the quarter.
Furthermore, Fox News surpassed both NBC and ABC in weekday primetime viewership for March and throughout the entire first quarter of 2025. This represents the highest-rated quarter for weekday viewers in cable news history, potentially signaling a post-election shift in viewership preferences.
MSNBC and CNN Face Viewership Declines
In contrast, MSNBC and CNN have both experienced declines in overall viewership and within the 25-54 demographic, a segment highly valued by advertisers.
Viewer Backlash and Accusations of ‘Cozying Up’
Many viewers, including MSNBC’s largely liberal audience, voiced their disapproval of what they perceived as the networks becoming too aligned with the current administration.
At the time, the ‘Morning Joe’ hosts dismissed the backlash, asserting that it demonstrated a ‘significant disconnect’ between ‘social media and the real world.’
They maintained that the Mar-a-Lago meeting was solely intended ‘to restart communications,’ an explanation that viewers appear to be rejecting, evidenced by the ratings downturn.
Comparative Ratings Performance in March
In total day viewership for March, MSNBC averaged 629,000 viewers, a 24 percent decrease compared to the same period last year.
CNN, meanwhile, recorded 432,000 viewers, representing a more modest six percent decrease.
Fox News, propelled by programs such as ‘Fox & Friends’ and ‘America’s Newsroom,’ averaged a remarkable 1.87 million viewers, a 43 percent increase from the previous year.
The disparity was even more pronounced within the advertisers’ prized 25-54 demographic, with Fox News experiencing a 51 percent increase.
This contrasts sharply with CNN’s 78,000 viewers in the demographic, a seven percent year-over-year decrease, and MSNBC’s 60,000 viewers, a 29 percent decline.
First Quarter Viewership Trends
Similar declines were observed throughout the first quarter, spanning from January 1 to March 31.
During this period, MSNBC averaged just 1.02 million viewers, another double-digit decrease of 18 percent.
CNN experienced a less significant six percent dip in viewership, while the network is undergoing a shift towards a more digitally-focused operation.
This strategic pivot differs from MSNBC, which is preparing to launch a new channel with other Comcast-owned networks.
This initiative is part of a forthcoming spin-off, tentatively named SpinCo, which will operate independently from NBCUniversal.
Primetime Performance in the 25-54 Demographic
Within the primetime slot for the 25-54 demographic, MSNBC lost nearly a fifth of its viewers, experiencing an 18 percent decrease.
CNN again demonstrated stronger performance within this diverse demographic, often considered highly desirable by advertisers, with only a one percent year-over-year decrease.
Fox News’ ‘The Five’ and ‘Jesse Watters PrimeTime’ Lead Ratings
Fox News’ program ‘The Five’ has become the top-rated show since the beginning of the year, attracting 4.55 million viewers during this period.
‘Jesse Watters PrimeTime’ led in the 25-54 demographic, with 507,000 viewers.
Fox News surpassed non-cable competitors NBC and ABC in weekday primetime viewership for both March and the entire post-election quarter.
MSNBC Programming Changes Amidst Ratings Challenges
Amidst its challenging ratings quarter, MSNBC announced a series of programming adjustments, including the discontinuation of ‘The ReidOut’ on February 24.
This change was accompanied by others that resulted in the removal of shows hosted by Katie Phang, Jonathan Capehart, and Ayman Mohyeldin, with Joy Reid being the only prominent host removed.
Reid’s opinion-driven program, upon its debut on July 20, 2020, attracted nearly 3 million viewers per episode. However, by February 20, viewership had declined to 778,000.
Overall Network Viewership Decline for MSNBC
MSNBC’s overall network viewership has also experienced a significant decline. The network averaged 1.4 million total viewers during the day and 2.9 million during primetime in early 2021. These figures have now decreased to just 613,000 and 1 million viewers, respectively.
Fox News Outperforms Competitors in Primetime Growth
Fox News, in contrast to networks that consistently criticized the former president both before and after the election, was the fastest-growing network in primetime overall, surpassing both ABC and NBC in the 8-11pm ET timeslot.
Viewership Trends Indicate Preference for Consistency
The overall ratings results suggest a viewer preference for consistency and a potential loss of faith in certain commentators following perceived shifts in positions after the election.