Following the 2024 election, MSNBC’s ratings initially plummeted. The network, known for its hard news daytime coverage and progressive evening programming, lost approximately half its average viewership in the week after Donald Trump’s victory. Many left-leaning viewers reportedly disengaged from news altogether.
However, the week of Trump’s inauguration brought a significant rebound. MSNBC’s ratings surged over 60% compared to its pre-election numbers, reaching 1.3 million primetime viewers – a considerable increase from the roughly 800,000 viewers in the preceding three weeks (Nielsen data). While still slightly below its pre-election average of 1.34 million viewers, the recovery is noteworthy.
This fluctuation isn't uncommon; major news events significantly influence ratings. CNN also experienced a substantial audience drop, falling from 754,000 to 398,000 average primetime viewers in the same period. For key timeslots, most viewers have returned, but CNN’s pre-election ratings were already lower than MSNBC’s.
MSNBC's decision to reinstate “The Rachel Maddow Show” to a five-nights-a-week schedule for Trump’s first 100 days proved strategic. The show averaged approximately 1.7 million viewers, significantly outperforming CNN’s competing show, “The Source with Kaitlan Collins,” which averaged 745,000 viewers during the same period. “Maddow” had previously transitioned to a once-weekly format in 2022.
On election night, Fox News (FNC) dominated with 10 million viewers. Remarkably, MSNBC surpassed CNN for the first time, attracting 6 million viewers compared to CNN’s 5.1 million. All networks saw significantly higher viewership than their average primetime numbers, reflecting the high-profile nature of the event.
FNC’s primetime ratings experienced a minor dip, from 2.67 million to 2.63 million viewers, a less dramatic change compared to the other networks. This could be attributed to natural viewing shifts or statistical margins of error.
One might expect FNC to gain viewership due to Trump’s win and its largely pro-Trump programming. However, the network promotes higher viewership among Democrats and Independents than its rivals. Potential viewership loss from this demographic could explain some of the decline; however, ratings data isn’t always broken down by political affiliation, despite Nielsen’s capacity to match some viewers to their respective parties.
The coming weeks will be crucial in determining whether MSNBC maintains its gains, CNN attracts more viewers, and how FNC’s ratings evolve.